A Distraction at the Bus Stop

FutureLearn

Italian for Beginners - Part 6 (Open University)
The last part of the course.  Again, I was pleased with how much was going in.  And hopefully, if I do get to Italy, revision will bring it back to the surface again.


OpenLearn

Discovering Music: The Blues
The Blues isn't one of the genre of music which particularly appeals to me, but looking at the historical side was interesting.  And, like all musical styles, it has had an influence on contemporary music.

Blood and the Respiratory System
More of a challenge, in that this was an Intermediary Level science course, but generally I could follow what it was saying. And I find learning how the body is put together always interesting, and relevant.

The Search for Water on Mars
I didn't enjoy this as much as I have some of the other astronomy courses.  I'm not sure why, maybe it was because the subject was too narrow for me to find it particularly interesting.

Music and its Media
The course covered the different ways music has been recorded and passed on, from manuscript form, through printing and onto discs (records).  A significant amount of the course looks at the recipients of the media.

Intermediate Italian - Describing People
Definitely above my level, although I did understand some of what was covered.  However, the ability to describe people, not only physically but their nature is not one that I would find relevant.

This is a split post, as, although I've been doing a fair amount of cross stitch, there are a couple of projects which are close to being finished, so I'd rather wait until they're completed before posting them.  And in addition, two were for cards for friends who won't have received them yet.  I plan on posting a further craft post midway through next month as part of my 25 things for 2025, and there's no point in duplicating photos.

It's taken me a while to listen to a reasonable number of audiobooks,  not helped by not finishing one having already got about halfway through.  However, I remain at 14 books unread in my library.

The Unquiet Bones by Mel Starr, read by Stephen Crossley
The first in the Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton, surgeon.  This was on offer, and looked promising, but I grew very tired of the unnecessary descriptions of life in the 1360s, which the narrator (it's first person POV) would accept without particular thought.  I found the premise good, but it grew tedious.  I have a second in my library, so I'm hoping it might improve.

The Girl in Cell A by Vaseem Khan, read by Dev Joshi, Stephanie Cannon and John Chancer
I'm a great fan of Vaseem Khan's books.  This is his first book which is not set in India but in the United States.  It's a psychological thriller, and kept me guessing all the way through.  It's long, but worth it to build up the tension.

A Vow of Silence by Veronica Black, read by Jennifer Ness
The first in the Sister Joan Murder Mysteries, recommended by therealsnape   Audible had it for free for a few weeks, so I took advantage of the chance to try it out.  I really enjoyed it, and now have hard copies of four more in the series.  Sister Joan is a nun who is sent to a Cornish convent where strange events are occurring.  A cosy mystery, but dark things are definitely happening.

Casino Royale by Ian Fleming, read by Richard Armitage
I have listened to other James Bond novels, but this is the first, but the misogyny and arrogance (and hence stupidity) of Bond, got to me and I gave up at about the two-thirds point.

Classic Crime Series by various authors, read by Jack Shepherd and Patrick Malahide
Short stories written by both crime and other novelists.  Generally entertaining and not stories I knew.  The narrators certainly helped in the telling.

Smiley's People by John Le Carré read by Michael Jayston
Ultimately enjoyable, but it took a very long time to get there.  I'm sure such cases do take a long time to bring off successfully, but I'm not convinced we need to hear every single detail.