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When I began this piece a few days ago, we hadn’t seen the sunshine in days and the cold air was gripping beneath the grey skies. Can’t meet my friends, go to a gig or go to the cinema, never mind a disco! So I decided I had to start moving for warmth and pretending I was on holiday to lift myself out of the gloom of the winter days.

There is a quote from the play the Mourning Bride by William Congreve that "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast". In our Naxos Music Library e- resource there is music that can soothe fans of any conceivable type of music.

The Art of the Glimpse is a radical revision of the canon of the Irish story, uniting classic works with neglected writers and marginalised voices – women, LGBT writers, Traveller folk-tales, neglected 19th-century authors and the first wave of 'new Irish' writers from all over the world now making a life in Ireland.

It’s four in the morning and I can’t sleep. I reach for the book I received as a Christmas present, Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker. Is someone trying to tell me something!

Leap in by Alexandra Heminsley is one of a number of books I looked at reading because of my interest and new found habit of sea swimming.

Lady Gregory is best known for her renditions of Irish myths and legends and for founding the Abbey Theatre in Dublin with W.B. Yeats. She was an important figure in the Irish Literary Revival. Lady Gregory was of great importance for the cultural life of Ireland and played a significant role in shaping the National Theatre of Ireland.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Batman. Wolverine. Green Lantern. Superman. The Incredible Hulk. Men in Black. Captain America. The Fantastic Four. Iron Man. Spider-Man.

Last year The Very Short Introductions launched a Podcast. A concise and original introduction to a wide range of subjects - from Ancient Greece to Fashion, the Middle Ages to Children's Literature, and Atheism to EU Law - by the expert authors of the 'Very Short Introductions' series

Welcome to the 4th week in this second series. Last week we looked at the McLeod brothers from Gorey and how the Irish Army had awarded them medals for the part they played in the War of Independence.

I love reading and listening to music. Lately I have discovered some musicians who are also gifted writers. Tracey Thorn is a magnificent singer and started out in 1980s indie bands The Marine Girls and Everything But the Girl.