I was in a bookshop recently and, having got carried away, needed to buy a bag for life. I was asked to choose a slogan, and plumped for “Life is better with books”. As they put my purchases through the till, the cashiers discussed how inapplicable the slogan was to their own lives, and that…
Category: Books
What I’ve been Reading
Each summer, I know the holidays are coming to an end when I complete a row of Woman Alive’s book bingo. This year, this is the eclectic selection I ended up with: A book that has been translated into English: Before the Coffee gets Cold, Toshikazu Kawaguchi A book published around the time your parents…
On Gardens and Wilderness, Fences and Open Space
It’s March, and colour is blooming. Light and warmth are mingling with cool, fresh air and drops of soft rain to grace our days again. I’ve got sweet pea shoots springing up everywhere, because I carefully cultivated some, while others self-seeded from last year. Daisies have popped up in with the winter jasmine, and I…
January
January has a bad rep, as months go. Known as the long, cold, dark month, January can also be a time when we force ourselves into a new year with a range of self improvement goals, which can feel exhausting. This year, I’ve been reading the thoughts of several writers about this notorious month. All…
Dear 2025 (featuring a few of the books I read in 2024)
Dear 2025, Well, here you are, another year! The world carries on spinning and, frankly, it can all be rather dizzying. As you arrive, 2025, there’s a whole lot of madness going on. Good leaders are few and far between, and in almost every country, things are being allowed to happen that are troubling. This…
Life Lately/Enchanted
It’s been a tough few weeks and I’ve teetered close to burnout almost daily. Within our family, we’ve had a storm, power cuts, an operation, a string of minor illnesses, changes and challenges in our work, the ongoing rumble of assessments and meetings about one of our children, sleep deprivation, anxiety, and the general wear…
What I’ve been Reading
A mixture of fiction and non-fiction, my latest reads have in common female characters and writers who live their lives well, showing resilience in adversity and being buoyed up by good friendships. These women, both fictional and real, are women with warm, courageous hearts, and they make very good company as I navigate my own…
Book Bingo
Summer would not be summer without a copious amount of reading time: from lazily extending morning coffee by reading a few more pages, to snatching a few minutes outside on a sunny afternoon, or extravagantly staying up all night to finish a particularly good novel. This summer, I’ve been taking part in a Book Bingo,…
12 Great Books
I’ve been doing my customary look back over the books I’ve read this year, and wow, what a lot of novels I’ve consumed in 2023! Fiction still offers so much comfort and enjoyment. Curled up with a good story is still one of my favourite places to be. And the stories I’ve read this year,…
Books, books, books
I’m going to be controversial: I have a hard time enjoying World Book Day. I know, I know, it’s great to encourage a love of books in children. And it’s so much fun. My main issue with it is that my children struggle with sensory issues and don’t like changes to routine, so the pressure…
Year in Books
2022 has furnished me with a lot of lovely reading time. I find that often, my book choices connect with the seasons, so this year I thought I’d use that, as I sum up the books I most enjoyed this year. Let me know what you have read, and how the seasons affect your reading!…
Favourites
I was rambling on to Andrew last night about what a “good run” of books I have had recently and I think he thought I was slightly loopy. I was trying to explain the difference between the love I have for all books, generally (there are very few I don’t enjoy), and the sheer delight…
Life Lived 