I took a little break from Sunday Praise during the madness of Reading Ireland Month, but given the ongoing lockdown and the rather depressing events in Northern Ireland this last week, I thought that a little reflection on the things that have made me happy lately might not be a bad thing!

• Vaccinations! In good news, my husband and parents-in-law have all received their first dose of the Covid vaccine and I have an appointment booked for May.

• Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids, but the fact that they were able to return to school just before Easter was a big relief for us all…

• It was Mr 746’s birthday this week and we went all out when we made him a cake…

• One of the things I have really been missing during lockdown is live theatre. Last week we watched Sadie, a new play from David Ireland, produced by and filmed in the Lyric Theatre, Belfast for BBC4 and it was amazing. It’s still available to watch on iPlayer and it felt almost like a trip to the theatre. Almost.

• Independent publishers Turnpike Books announced last week that they will be re-issuing three Brian Moore novels to celebrate the #BrianMoore100 centenary. Excellent news!

• I treated myself to a new t-shirt. Only fans of high concept 80s television shows starring Bruce Willis will get the reference.

• Click and collect from shops returns to Northern Ireland on Monday, which means I can take a wee road trip to No Alibis Bookstore to pick up all the books I’ve been ordering for the last month or so!

• Next week sees two great reading events in the blogosphere – Karen and Simon’s 1936 Club and Annabel’s BanksRead which celebrates the work of Iain Banks – and I’m hoping to share a post for both.

• Woodland walks…

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• The Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year shortlist was announced this week and I was delighted to see the wonderful Bina by Anakana Schofield on there.

• I am a big fan of Ludovico Einaudi and was delighted to learn that he has created the score of the Oscar favourite Nomadland. I’ve been listening to it ALL week and it is just gorgeous.

So, what in your life deserves some praise this week? Let me know in the comments!

Sunday Praise anakana schofield kerry group irish novel of the year ludovico einaudi nomadland Sunday Praise