Reading Round-Up: March

Hello Loves!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and celebrated in a way that was appropriate for you. For me, it was spent with family and having an Easter hunt, playing games and baking scones. It’s been delightful. 🐣

However, reading wise, I’ve been fairly rubbish. I do feel really disappointed in myself but it was mock season and I moved house in two days. So, maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. I’m determined to have a better reading month in April! However, I did manage to read 5 books across the month. Let’s check out the shelves!

I’ve reviewed Away Weekend already so making a choice isn’t overly challenging here. However, I did enjoy these five books immensely and that’s what reading is all about; the joy of it.

1. I Am Malala – Malala Yousafzai. I have a Year 8 class at school where this text is part of our curriculum. Her story really overwhelms me and I love to see the reactions of my students. It makes me hope that peace is doable and that education will be there for everyone.
2. The House of Hidden Meanings – Ru Paul. Another Non-Fiction choice but one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Ru Paul is such an icon and inspiration and has done so much for the Drag community. This book gave a little insight into his life which was fascinating.
3. Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – Tom MacRae. When I was having my reading block, this play script pulled me out of it. I’ve been lucky enough to see the show so it was like going back to an old friend. Based on a true story, Jamie is born to stand out and be a star. It’s an uplifting script that came to me at the right point!

And that’s it! As I say, I hope for better in April. I’m nearly at the end of my reading choice for March which is a cracking book to share with you and thank you so much for those comments and suggestions for my April choice! Until then…

Big love all xxxx

Reading Challenge 2024: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller – Nadia Wassef

Hello loves!

I hope you’re all having a great week! I’m trying to get into the half term spirit but I’m still very much in recovery mode. However, I am continuing to get down my to be read pile. (I may have added another five books to the pile today…) Today I want to share with you my book choice for my reading challenge this year. You may remember not so long ago that the random generator picked: Read a book with a library or bookshop. When I was planning the different topics, I saw the book I chose at a little book sale ran by one of the local churches. All the books were 50p so I had to have it! I stumbled across this, Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller by Nadia Wassef. I hope you enjoy!

What’s it all about?

This book gave me all kinds of feels really! In summary, it’s a book about girl power, resilience, friendship and the power of books. Two sisters and a friend have the idea to open up a bookshop in Egypt, called Diwan. They made the decision to sell titles in Arabic, English, French and German, making them the only place to do so. We can assume that the women are the main characters but that assumption is wrong, it’s Diwan. The reader is welcomed with open arms into a world of cultural history, the diary of an entrepreneur as well as the best Egyptian titles. These three remarkable women show what life was like during turbulent times with plenty of change.

Spanning 2002-2014, the bookshop takes on a world of its own. It’s a man’s world after all and these three women are there to test it and make it their own. Nadia Wassef organises the book, mirroring the bookshop, with different chapter being different genres: Egyptian Essentials, Cookery and Self Help, just to name a few. Diwan’s first location on the upscale Nile island of Zamalek in the waning years of the Mubarak dictatorship. She, her sister Hind, and their friend, Nihal, experience the difficulties of running a business as women in a patriarchal country which is reluctant to change. People try and return the books once they’ve been read and staff steal from the shop. I particularly enjoyed the anecdote about Jamie Oliver’s The Naked Chef cookbook being blocked because of censorship.

The book ends optimistically. The women have learnt valuable and costly lessons. They’re three successful women, thriving in a man’s world. They have ten shops, 150 staff and countless fans and supporters. That is the definition of success in a society like theirs. With all the freedoms I’ve got in my own life, this book made me reflective and appreciative of that.

‘Diwan was nine years old in 2011, when Cairo erupted. She was eleven in 2013, when Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, was removed from power. She was fifteen years old when Nihal returned and revitalized her, with the help of two new business partners. My mother was right. Egypt was blessed.’

Final Thoughts

Considering I knew nothing of this bookshop, the three women involved and this book, I feel like I’ve stumbled across a gem. I found it a compelling read, despite being very late finding it. I will forever champion women and these three are class acts are bringing their love of literature or Egypt and for not accepting that they are lesser in society. Girl power all the way!

Enjoy the rest of the week! I’ll be back soon!

Big Love xxxx

Reading Challenge 2024: The Book of Wilding – Isabella Tree & Charlie Burrell

Hello!

Happy Sunday loves! Don’t we all love a weekend? Well, I am thrilled because even though this was my book for January, I’ve finished my first book for my reading challenge. You may remember that the random generator picked out: Read a book with an environmental theme. I had the perfect book in mind, in fact it was one that I got my Dad for Christmas. It’s the incredible The Book of Wilding by Isabella Tree and Charlie Burrell. Both my dad and I read Isabella Tree’s first book, Wilding, last year so I was thrilled to see they’re written another one but this time with helpful hints and tips for what we could do to help nature. Be warned, this is a heavy book but so well written. I highly recommend it!

What’s it all about?

Based on their own experiences of Knepp Estate, this book is a bible for nature. It’s about the lessons they’ve learnt, the mistakes they’ve made, beautiful maps and illustrations and practical ideas. The book is structured into different chapters covering very specific aspects to rewinding. It features what rewinding is, how it looks in our UK setting, followed by various specifics like water, plants and animals. They also provide help on funding and income streams and the science behind the whole thing. For a novice like me, I also appreciated chapter showing the ways on recording and monitoring biodiversity gains. The last hundred or so pages are all about us as people and how we fit in with the rewinding ambitions.

“You can’t simply close the farm gate, let the land go and expect miracles to happen.”

Low on space? There’s window boxes. Project managers building new housing projects? There’s ideas for you too. Likewise, architects, planners, engineers. Ultimately, the earth will heal if we all play our own parts in its recovery. As I say, they know exactly what they’re talking about because they’ve done it for themselves, turning an eye watering 1.5 million pound overdraft into a profitable landscape, putting nature at the centre. There’s even a quiz at the end for the reader to see how wild you are. There’s something for every reader in this book: education, ideas and self-reflection.

Whilst we might all not be farmers with acres and acres of land, we can all learn something from this book. It takes great courage to say that something isn’t working, something is costing too much financially as well as environmentally and that something has to change. Nature needs us to recover and survive and we need nature for our own mental heath and well-being. This book is everything and more for all of us who are desperate for the world to be better.

“There has never been a more concerning time to live on this earth but, equally, there has never been a more exciting one. In recognising the miraculous ability of nature to restore itself, we can realise our own capacity to contribute to the rewinding of this planet, our home.”

Final Thoughts

What an amazing book! I absolutely loved it. It’s a heavy one so be prepared for your arms to ache but it’s written so enthusiastically that it’s difficult to not be drawn in by it. I also loved the mix of history, hope and practical solutions that we can all follow, even if you don’t have the space to have free roaming animals. The most inspirational thing about this book is that it is written from experience. They’ve done this in Knepp (a place I am desperate to go to!) and how amazing it is that our land can actually recover itself.

What a super start to January! I can’t wait to crack on with more books. Just before I go, the random generator has pulled out the following for February!

Big Love xxxx

Goodbye 2023, Hello 2024!

Hello loves!

First and foremost, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope you had a brilliant time celebrating the end of 2023 and embracing the start of 2024 in whichever way you wanted.

I’m not really a fan of new year normally because it always feels like it comes loaded with pressure. Pressure to change or do better or do differently which ultimately leads to unrealistic expectations. At least, that’s how I’ve always felt anyway. However, I’m optimistic about 2024. I want to do my best and read plenty and see lots of places too.

Before we embrace the brand new year, I want to do what I always do and that is sign off on 2023 by sharing the books I’ve read with you and launch my new reading challenge! I hope some of you will take part. Do let me know!

2023:

I’m really pleased because in 2023 I managed to read 133 books. Whilst this is down on the dazzling heights of 2022, I’m pleased because I was more diverse in my reading, reading authors I’ve not read before. Let’s check them out below!

1. Grisham, John – The Runaway Jury
2. Moylan, Julie Owen – The Green Eyed Girl
3. Glynn, Alan – Paradime
4. Brent, Katy – How To Kill Men and Get Away With It
5. Lycett, Joe – Parsnips Buttered
6. Galbraith, Robert – The Ink Black Heart
7. Prince Harry – Spare
8. Doughty, Louise – Black Water
9. Joyce, Rachel – Maureen Fry & the Angel of the North
10. Newman, Catherine – We All Want Impossible Things
11. Whitwell, Tracy – The Accidental Medium
12. Vegara, Maria Isabel Sanchez – RuPaul
13. Moriarty, Liane – Nine Perfect Strangers
14. Priestley, J.B – An Inspector Calls
15. Hess, Megan – Coco Chanel
16. Erlick, Nikki – The Measure
17. Bervoets, Hanna – We Had to Remove this Post
18. Fay, Kim – Love & Saffron
19. Doyle, Ursula – Love Letters of Great Men
20. Woods, Eva – How to be Happy
21. Perkins-Valdez, Dolen – Take My Hand
22. Walsh, Rosie – The Love of my Life
23. Hart, Michelle – We do What we do in the Dark
24. Wei-Jing, Lee – The Mermaid’s Tale
25. Morris, Hayley – Me vs Brain
26. Hays, Katy – The Cloisters
27. Prabhat, Sandhya – Faruq and the Wiri Wiri
28. Kawakami, Hiromi – Strange Weather in Tokyo
29. Tracey, Rhian – I, Spy
30. Kane, John – I Say Oh, You Say No
31. Ault, Alexandra & Walt, Laura – Poems in Progress: Drafts from Master Poets
32. McCartney, Sophie – Mother Hens
33. Hargrave, Kiran Millwood – Leila and the Blue Fox
34. Blaikie, Thomas – What a Thing to Say to the Queen!
35. Hall, Alexis – Paris Daillencourt is about to Crumble
36. Patterson, James – Women of God
37. Tyce, Harriet – It Ends at Midnight
38. Carr, John Dickenson – The Black Spectacles
39. Swanson, Peter  – Nine Lives
40. Logan, T.M. – The Mother
41. Penner, Sarah – The London Séance Society
42. Steiner, Guenther – Surviving to Drive
43. Brown, Jo – Secrets of a Devon Wood
44. Silvera, Adam – They Both Die in the End
45. Campbell, Nancy – Thunderstone
46. Sutanto, Jesse – Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers
47. Clanchy, Kate – England: Poems from a School
48. Taylor, Matson – The Miseducation of Evie Epworth
49. Hammerstein & Rodgers – The King and I
50. Ramsey, Gordon – Humble Pie
51. Hess, Megan – Paris: Through a Fashion Eye
52. Ramsey, Gordon – Playing with Fire
53. AA Publishing – Londonist Mapped
54. Fine, Anne – Madame Doubtfire
55. Magrs, Paul – The Panda, the Cat and the Dreadful Teddy
56. Hoff, Benajmin – The Tao of Pooh
57. James, Erica – A Secret Garden Affair
58. Summersdale Publishers – She Believed She Could So She Did
59. Redpath, Ian & Chopra Jeremy – Your Daily Companion
60. Sizlo, Natasha – All Signs Point to Paris
61. Rowling, J.K. – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
62. Summersdale Publishers – You Can Totally Do This
63. Morpurgo, Michael – War Horse
64. Deary, Terry – Henry VIII’s Secret Diary
65. George, Alex – The Mind Manual
66. Lewis, Alaric Mark – Bradington Bay
67. Hess, Megan – New York: Through a Fashion Eye
68. Stevenson, Benjamin – Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone
69. Wax, Ruby – And Now For the Good News
70. Berrebi, Sophie – The Sharing Economy
71. Quinn, Julia & Rhimes, Shonda – Queen Charlotte
72. Schuler, Isabelle – Lady MacBethad
73. Kay, Sanjida – My Mother’s Secret
74. Kelly, Ruth – The Villa
75. Christie, Agatha – Bodies From The Library
76. Patterson, Glenn – Where Are We Now?
77. Randel, Weinda Dai – The Last Rose of Shanghi
78. Butland, Stephanie – Found in a Bookshop
79. Chandler, Tania – Please Don’t Leave Me
80. Imamura, Natsuko – The Woman in the Purple Skirt
81. Dillon, Lucy – After the Rain
82. Carpenter, Elisabeth – The Vacancy
83. Keyes, Marian – Watermelon
84. Shafak, Elif – The Island of Missing Trees
85. Henry, Emily – Happy Place
86. Yagisawa, Satoshi – Days at the Morisaki Bookshop
87. Tilney, Georgie – Beach Rivals
88. Hazelwood, Ali – Love, Theoretically
89. Parks, Adele – One Last Secret
90. Rosoff, Meg – Friends Like These
91. Aoyama, Michiko – What You are Looking for is in the Library
92. Middleton, Ant – Cold Justice
93. Moran, Caitlin – How to be Famous
94. Grisham, John – Calico Joe 
95. Wilson, Ryan – Let That Be A Lesson
96. Stein, Garth – The Art of Racing in the Race
97. Peppernell, Courtney – Pillow Thoughts
98. Ford, Harper – Divorced (Not Dead)
99. Kawaguchi, Toshikazu – Before We Say Goodbye
100. Kennard, Luke – The Answer to Everything
101. Shakespeare, William – Macbeth
102. Coles, Richard – A Death in the Parish
103. Radebe, Johannes – Jojo: Finally Home
104. French, Dawn – The Twat Files
105. Fitzpatrick, Noel – Keira & Me
106. Heminsley, Alexandra – The Queue
107. Dent, Grace – Comfort Eating
108. George, Nina – The Little French Village of Book Lovers
109. Kinsella, Sophie – The Burnout
110. Benn, Carsten – The Door – to – Door Bookstore
111. Emezi, Akwaeke – You Made a Fool of Death with your Beauty
112. Orwell, George – 1984
113. Shinkai, Makoto & Nagakawa, Naruki – She and her Cat
114. Orwell, George – Animal Farm
115. Gilmore, Laura – The Pumpkin Spice Café
116. Galbraith, Robert – The Running Grave
117. Dickens, Charles – A Christmas Carol
118. Bo-Reum, Hwang – Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop
119. Tickle, Louise – Between the Lies
120. Anderson, Hans Christian – Christmas with Hans Christian Anderson
121. Morris, William – The Twelve Days of Christmas
122. Atkinson, Kate – Festive Spirits
123. Moore, Clement C – The Night Before Christmas 
124. Barnett, Mac – How Does Santa Go Down The Chimney?
125. Swanson, Peter  – The Christmas Guest
126. Weeks, Orlando – The Gritterman
127. Osman, Richard – The Last Devil to Die
128. Hallett, Janice – The Christmas Appeal
129. Bickford-Smith, Coralie – The Fox and the Star
130. Cohen, Julie-Mae – Bad Men
131. Hazelwood, Ali – Check & Mate
132. Reid, Taylor Jenkins – The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
133. Shrager, Rosemary – The Proof in the Pudding

Looking back on this list fills me with immense pride really. There’s some been fabulous books of 2023. I can’t wait to see what 2024 brings! Which leads me quite nicely into my reading challenge!

2024:

I’ve thought so hard about each category and about trying to push myself into reading different things again. The blogging community it’s is perfect for that. I’ve got so many incredible book recommendations from you all! Hopefully you’ll all agree there’s some exciting categories here. To jazz it up further, I’ve added them all into a random generator to see what category will be the focus. January is:

I hope you all join in and see what bookish adventures I get up to this year. To my blogging friends, thank you for sticking by me and being part of my experience. My little space on the internet is only successful because of you lovely people. ❤️

I’ll see you next time!

Big Love xxx

Blog Tour: Soliders Don’t Go Mad – Charles Glass

Hello Loves!

Today I’m here to share my stop on the blog tour for: Soldiers Don’t Go Mad by Charles Glass. As a devoted English teacher, as soon as I was offered a spot on this blog tour, I had to take it. Teaching poetry is one of my favourite parts of the job but (in my experience) it’s sometimes hard to get students motivated by it. However, the war poets are a firm favourite so I leapt at the opportunity to read this.

What’s it all about?

Charles Glass offers a new perspective on the First World War, centralising on Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon’s experience of this time. This book explores the origins of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and their poetic responses to the war.

In 1914, at the fresh age of 24, Wilfred Owen was admitted to Craiglockhart War Hospital for treatment to help with shell shock. He spent his time here writing about the sights, sounds and experiences of being in the trenches with his fellow servicemen. When not writing poetry, he was reading poetry by Siegfried Sassoon.

Siegfried Sassoon’s narrative is the other voice in the novel. When the two poets are joined together at the hospital, a blossoming friendship forms. They’ve got a lot in common which binds them together. Their inability to fight meant that they had time to nurture their friendship and try to make sense of the world they lived in together.

Mental illness is something that only really has come to light in recent years. This book tells the story of its history, its developments and shows the lives of arguably, two of the most famous war poets of all time.

Final Thoughts

I feel immensely honoured to have a place on this tour because this book is staggering. It’s moving, eloquent and crucial for our understanding of the First World War and its impact on the brave men who fought in it. This book is a must for any lover of poetry, for someone who wants to know more about the relationship between these two poets and a period of time where there was only darkness.

See you next time, fellow readers!

Big Love xxx

Blog Tour: Thunderstone – Nancy Campbell

Hello Loves!

I hope your Monday has treated you kindly. I’m super excited to share with you today my stop on a blog tour for the amazing Thunderstone by Nancy Campbell. A huge thank you to @NancyCampbell, @eandtbooks and Claire Maxwell for giving me the opportunity to be a part of it. You can check out their instagram accounts too here, here and here. I love being a part of this community because it’s where I find out all my next reads. Hopefully, this amazing book will become one of yours! I really hope you enjoy it.

What’s it all about?

The novel opens following the devastation that was lockdown. Facing an ending relationship, it is time for Nancy Campbell to do something for herself for a change, to stand on her own two feet. She decides it is time to own a property of her own. She does this of sorts: she buys herself a caravan and decides to live on a woodland by a canal and a railway. The next chapter and the new journey begins from here.

‘On closer investigation many of the vintage caravans are not just basic, they are burned-out, mouldering wrecks described as ‘good restoration projects’. Those that have been refurbished are blighted by bunting and floral curtains. I set my heart on a tiny but van, round as a button…’

What comes next is almost poetry. There’s description of the surroundings during the summer months, how the plants and animals change, followed by quotations and references to literature and also snippets of the people around her. All these elements are intertwined together to create this book. June brings the morning birdsong and the teething problems with the van. There’s frustrations as well as learning curves. What shines is the kindness of those around and the beauty of the natural world in which we live. It’s touching to see references back to Anna, from the relationship at the beginning too,

“You have to let go. Anna has to get on with her life. You have to get on with yours. Now, what needs sorting?”

June bleeds into July, into August and September. Life is very different but it’s no less simple for Campbell. Anna’s father passes away and Nancy herself has health issues of her own. She repeatedly needs to leave the comfort and solace of her van for various medical appointments. Despite the beauty of her surroundings, there is a sense of urgency, to move quickly to find out what is wrong with her health.

‘On the screen she points out a spherical mass, which dwarfs the shadowy organs surrounding it. “It’s often the way,” she says. “A patient comes in with one concern – and we find something entirely different.”

To find out the full extent of Campbell’s journey, you’ll have to get yourself a copy of this book. As a side note, the cover really is beautiful so you’ll have no issue finding this in your local bookshop! Do check out the other stops on this blog tour too!

Final Thoughts

It’s quite difficult to review this book because there’s just so much beauty to it. It’s for a certain type of reader though, not necessarily me, but I have appreciated it. Like I said before, it’s almost lyrical. There’s pain as well as beauty and in that respect, it feels raw and honest. Personally, it’s honest non-fiction that is the unsung hero of the literature world currently. Finding something you can relate to or think about is what literature is for. I feel truly grateful for the opportunity to be a small part of this tour and for this book becoming back of my own reading experience.

See you next time!

Big Love xxx

Secrets of a Devon Wood – Jo Brown

Hello loves!

There I was, living my best life and enjoying the holiday and then it was over. It went ridiculously fast but I did manage to read plenty. I’m also really pleased because I can now go book buying again following lent! I’m absolutely certain I’ll be making that count.

I hope you’re all well and are enjoying the extended daylight. I must admit, I’m loving seeing more daylight, I feel like it really is a joyous time. Today I want to share with you a book that I saw by pure chance on a shelf in my local Waterstones. Periodically, I stumbled across a book that is just so beautiful that it is just criminal to not share it. It shows our natural world in all its glory. We really do need to preserve and protect it for future generations. I’m talking about the stunning Secrets of a Devon Wood: My Nature Journal by Jo Brown.

I really do love being around nature; it gives me a real sense of calm. So much so that I’ve made my kitchen window into a little window garden! My long term followers know that during term time I live and work in a city. However, holidays is all about the countryside. Jo Brown’s book reminded me of home and of the necessity to look all around us for the wonders of our natural world. I hope you love this one!

What’s it all about?

Artist and illustrator, Jo Brown, decided to keep a nature diary to document everything she saw in the wood behind her Devon home. This published copy is a replica of her drawings from her original hard copy diary. I’m in awe because I cannot draw like this and I also feel really lucky that she has shared this with the world.

It isn’t just the illustrations that are magical, I love the addition of the Latin names and splashes of information about plants, insects and birds.

The depth and the detail is like nothing I’ve seen before. I actually felt inspired to do something like this for myself but I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it! However, it’s given me a number of things to keep an eye out for next time I’m outside.

The perfect book to dip in and out of, the perfect book to absorb and learn from. We don’t know the true extent of what is outside but this gives us a starting point. I also appreciated the few pages at the back to start your own journal. I know I won’t use them but it has got me thinking for sure.

Final Thoughts

We are so lucky to have this world in which we live. I didn’t value it much as a child. But now I’m much more conscious. I like wildflowers and planting things that are bird and bee friendly. I’m actively trying to be better to help. I feel like it’s paying off slightly as on Easter Sunday we had a gift of a fawn in our garden. These moments are magical and to be cherished. Our natural world needs looking after. Hopefully this book will leave you feeling as inspired as I am.

I’ll see you next time for my March and April choice for my reading challenge and an update of what shows I’ve seen recently!

Big love xxxx

Love Letters of Great Men – Ursula Doyle

Hey loves!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Whether you’re a lover of Valentine’s day or not, I had to find something fitting to read in preparation for the day of love. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before so I thought, why not?

What sparked this idea off was on a recent trip to Scarborough, I saw this book of love letters from the war. I absolutely love a letter and find myself saddened that it’s dying out. However, it brought back a memory of the book, Love Letters of Great Men made famous by the Sex and the City film. It was time to give this a read and experience love through the ages.

What’s it all about?

Rather than tell you all of the letters, I’ve picked my favourite three all for very different reasons. The collection covers prolific men in history from the likes of King Henry VIII to Lord Nelson, Napoleon Bonaparte to Oscar Wilde, just to name a few. Devised in chronological order, it really is wonderful to see love and all that is associated with it through time. It made me wonder how much has actually changed over the course of history.

My first pick of the letters is by Ludwig van Beethoven. Written in July to his Immortal Beloved, the full extent of the letter is an impressive ten pages long. The reason why I love this so much is because it’s written on my birthday (many moons before) so it felt like fate. Most importantly though, you can see how it oozes romance and despair.

“Be calm – love me – to day – yesterday. What longing in tears for you – You – my Life – my All – farewell. Oh, go on loving me – never doubt the faithfullest heart

Of your beloved

L

Ever thine.

Ever mine.

Ever ours.”

My next favourite comes from Oscar Wilde. Oscar and I go way back. I discovered him when I was at university and became obsessed with everything about him: his wit, his style, his talent and his life. A soul born before his time, Wilde was a broken man following his imprisonment for homosexuality. I’ve read all of his letters but this one shows love at its most vulnerable.

“My sweet rose, my delicate flower, my lily of lilies, it is perhaps in prison that I am going to test the power of love. I am going to see if I cannot make the bitter wardens sweet by the intensity of the love I bear you.”

Finally, I’ve picked a letter by Robert Browning. Every year I teach Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and I really enjoyed seeing some of his letters back. Their love is something that I think every aspires too: overwhelming, all encompassing, complete joy. My favourite letter is from their wedding day. It makes my heart soar.

“Words can never tell you… how perfectly dear you are to me – perfectly dear to my heart and soul. I look back and in every one point, every word and gesture, every letter, every silence – you have been entirely perfect to me.”

Final Thoughts

There’s so many other incredible letters in this collection. It’s a joy to see them published. I can only imagine what it was like to receive them. There is a real art to writing a letter – I still write them now. However, there really is something special about these. We’re stumbling into these historical relationships where distance and time were real issues and where communication was by letter alone. It almost feels like a much simpler time.

Whether single, taken or in between, these letters really were something special. Love is an emotion that really has stood the test of time. These great men, all great for different reasons, all evoked the same reaction, acknowledgement of what a beautiful thing to receive. That snapshot into a little moment into these varied lives really is special. It’s a collection that will remain treasured on my shelf.

Sending you all love on this Valentine’s Day.

The Art of Buying Books part 4

Hello loves!

Am I glad it’s the weekend! I’ve got myself in a bit of a black hole. Maybe that’s too deep… but there’s definitely a fog in my head. I’ve really struggled to read, write, focus. Some of it is exhaustion but some of it is that I feel like life is just a challenge. Work is hard, too hard. We don’t live to work surely? Anyway, with good people by my side, I’m trying to find my way through the fog. The weekend always acts as a natural breaker.

As you may know, I was trying to be really good with buying books but actually, today I went on a huge book buying spree and I loved every second of it. It gave me a sense of purpose, it made me want to read again (I’ve been reading the rest of the day) and made me come back to my ever faithful blog. Here I am!

I started my little spree at my local Salvation Army. They are a cause close to my heart so I was there to drop a donation off. Books were not on my mind. However, I saw a sign on the door saying they can’t take any books as they had ran out of room. Well, this really was my time to shine! I had to step up. It was for charity after all. I had the overwhelming need to save as many as I could.

11 books for £2.75. I would have happily paid more but what an incredible bargain. There’s some great looking books here and a good mix too. I also got a stunning copy of The Girl on the Train which is going to dazzle on my shelf.

Isn’t that gorgeous? It means I can also gift the copy I’ve got on. Win-win! I also toddled along into town where it got me thinking about what other books I like. I used to collect fashion books (many moons ago) because I loved the pictures. I really wanted to be a fashion journalist at one point but I found that the books were enough for me. It was a strange thought it coming back to me. I felt foolish for forgetting about it. It dawned on me because I found this beautiful book on Coco Chanel. It’s even got silver sprayed edges.

This then got me onto another train of thought: cookery books. I love everything about food. Another idea for a career I had was a food journalist but that didn’t last long because I’m allergic to fish. It kind of narrows down the market! I did consider just cakes but that’s a hobby, not a job.

Anyway, I do like to collect baking and cookery books. Back in 2019, Penguin published the first five of Jamie Oliver’s cookbooks in their classic cover colours for their 20th anniversary. At £26 each, I knew I’d have to save hard. But then they just ebbed from my mind, until today…

At £5.99 each, I couldn’t ignore them. There’s just two more to find but hopefully, one day I’ll get them. However, they’re visually stunning and I can’t wait to see them with my other cookery books in the kitchen. So much so, I’m considering getting a floating shelf to pop them on!

It’s the first time for a little while that the fog lifted. I came home and had all these beautiful books around me and I couldn’t wait to start reading. Then, I just wanted to write about it. I’m sure this isn’t the best post I’ve ever written but I hope you’ve found it to be full of truth, admiration and purpose. If you’re in a fog like me, I hope it helped.

I’ll see you very soon for my reading challenge book for January. I hope you’re all well.

Big Love xxx

Reading Round-Up: 2022

Hello Lovelies!

Happy New Year! I am super excited to round up on last year and also launch with you my reading challenge for 2023! 2022 was a great year for my little blog because I found that I really enjoyed posting more. I hope you didn’t get sick of me in the process though! I’m on a particular high today because I should have gone back to school but the heating had broken! Yes! An additional day off. More reading time for me!

First of all, I want to round up 2022. I was really pleased to see that I managed to read 145 books in 2022. Definitely down from 2021 but that’s because we weren’t stuck at home! You can remind yourself of last year here, should you wish to. Along the way, there have been some amazing books. I’ll give you my top 5 later but I’ve honestly loved it. It’s all been about trying to get down my to be read pile and I’ve put a dent in it, that’s for sure! It hasn’t been easy, like most readers there have been slumps along the way and the inability to find a book I can get into. There’s so many factors in play at times so I don’t tend to share which books I didn’t finish because I know it isn’t the book, usually it’s me. But, I am ruthless. I do give up and move on because life is too short.

Regardless, let’s check out the books of 2022!

1. Appanah, Nathacha – The Sky Above the Roof
2. Tattersfield, Eleanor – Lockdown Secrets
3. Rauf, Onjali Q – The Lion at the Door
4. Colwin, Laurie – Happy All The Time
5. Grisham, John – The Racketeer
6. Flack, Caroline – Storm in a C Cup
7. Patterson, James – The Last Days of John Lennon
8. French, Dawn – Oh Dear Silvia
9. Jennings, Luke – Codename Villanelle
10. Priestley, J.B – An Inspector Calls
11. Tremayne, S.K. – The Assistants
12. Hazelwood, Ali – The Love Hypothesis
13. Morris, Heather – Three Sisters
14. James, Erica – Mothers and Daughters
15. Wilson, Antoine – Mouth to Mouth
16. Hitchings, Henry – Love Letters to Bookshops Around the World
17. McCartney, Sophie – Tired & Tested
18. Dowd, Siobhan – The London Eye Mystery
19. Zgheib, Yara – No Land to Light On
20. Lepionka, Kristen – The Last Place You Look
21. Halls, Stacey – Mrs England
22. Prose, Nita – The Maid
23. Donaldson, Julia & Scheffler, Axel – The Gruffalo
24. Debona, Katherine – Love Me, Love Me Not
25. Allen, Anthea – Life, Death and Biscuits
26. Ware, Jessie – Omelette
27. Shrager, Rosemary – The Last Supper
28. Schwab, V.E. – Gallant
29. Halls, Stacey – The Foundling
30. Ryn, Jessica – The Extraordinary Hope of Dawn Brightside
31. Logan, T.M. – The Curfew
32. Maher, Kerri – The Paris Bookseller
33. Penner, Sarah – The Lost Apothecary
34. Blackburn, Lizzie Damilola – Yinka, Where is Your Husband?
35. Hockney, David & Gayford, Martin – Spring Cannot be Cancelled
36. Mas, Victoria – The Mad Woman’s Ball
37. Strout, Lucy – My Name is Lucy Barton
38. Cox, Katy – M is for Mummy
39. Osbourne, Bella – The Library
40. Wahrer, Caitlin – Damage
41. Ireland, Sandra – The Unmaking of Ellie Rook
42. Gold, Hannah – The Last Bear
43. Williams, Candice-Carty – Queenie
44. Keyes, Marian – Rachel’s Holiday
45. O’Leary, Beth – The No-Show
46. Grohl, Dave – The Storyteller
47. Hargrave, Kiran Millwood – Julia and the Shark
48. Gold, Hannah – The Lost Whale
49. Steinbeck, John – Cannery Row
50. Fforde, Katie – Saving the Day
51. Keyes, Marian – Again, Rachel
52. Lockhart, E – We Were Liars
53. Hawkins, Paula – Blind Spot
54. Buchanan, Daisy – Insatiable
55. Vine, Lucy – What Fresh Hell
56. Craven, M.W. – The Cutting Season
57. McCaughrean, Geraldine – The Supreme Lie
58. Sams, Saba – Send Nudes
59. Wilson, A.K. – The Manager
60. Sims, Gill – The Saturday Night Sauvignon Sisterhood
61. Oseman, Alice – Nick and Charlie
62. Patterson, James – Honeymoon
63. Bennett, Alan – The Uncommon Reader
64. Malik, Ayisha – Sofia Khan and the Baby Blues
65. Paris, Helen – Lost Property
66. Wilson, A.N. – Lilibet – The Girl who Would be Queen
67. Carvan, Tabitha – This is not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch
68. Hogan, Ruth – The Keeper of Lost Things
69. Buchanan, Daisy – Careering
70. Benson, Jen – The Wild Year
71. Han, Jenny – The Summer I Turned Pretty
72. Cox, Sara – Thrown
73. Sutanto, Jesse – Dial A For Aunties
74. Wickers, Kate – Shape of a Boy
75. Chen, Kirstin – Counterfeit
76. Stonex, Emma – The Lamplighters
77. Candlish, Louise – The Other Passenger
78. Heydenrych, Amy – The Pact
79. Sunim, Haemin – The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down
80. Cha, Steph – Your House Will Pay
81. Backman, Fredrik – Anxious People
82. Bly, Mary – Lizzie & Dante
83. Takhar, Helen Monks – That Woman
84. Heller, Miranda Cowley – Paper Palace
85. Campbell, Michele – A Stranger on the Beach
86. Jewell, Lisa – The Family Upstairs
87. Corry, Jane – We All Have Our Secrets
88. Cave, Jessie – Sunset
89. Han, Jenny – It’s Not Summer Without You
90. Hui, Angela – Takeaway
91. Swanson, Peter  – Before She Knew Him
92. Rowell, Rainbow – Fangirl
93. Han, Jenny – We’ll Always Have Summer
94. Mulhern, Stephen – Max Magic
95. Osman, Richard – The Man Who Died Twice
96. Newson, Karl & Anganuzzi, Clara – The World at Your Feet
97. Sutanto, Jesse – Four Aunties and a Wedding
98. Jestin, Victor – Heatwave
99. Brook, Kate – Not Exactly What I Had In Mind
100. Bourne, Holly – How Do You Like Me Now?
101. Bochis, Iulia – The Sun, The Sea & The Stars
102. Hazelwood, Ali – Love on the Brain
103. Taylor, Matson – All About Evie
104. Kay, Adam – Undoctored
105. Norbury, James – The Journey
106. Gayle, Mike – The Museum of Ordinary People
107. Felton, Tom – Beyond the Wand
108. Kawaguchi, Toshikazu – Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Café
109. Shakespeare, William – Macbeth
110. Kawaguchi, Toshikazu – Before Your Memory Fades
111. Murray, Lily & Surplice, Holly – Five Little Penguins
112. Tucci, Stanely – Taste: My Life Through Food
113. Osman, Richard – The Bullet That Missed
114. Sanghani, Radhika – Thirty Things I Love About Myself
115. Doughty, Louise – Platform Seven
116. Theroux, Louis – Theroux the Keyhole
117. Du Beke, Anton – We’ll Meet Again
118. Moore, Ian – Death and Papa Noel
119. Donati, Alba – Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop
120. Kemp, Roman – Are You Really Ok?
121. Coles, Richard – Murder Before Evensong
122. Bennett, S.J. – Murder Most Royal
123. Miller, Madeline – Galatea
124. Swanson, Peter  – Rules for Perfect Murders
125. Sharma, Nisha – Dating Dr. Dil
126. Smith, Alex T – The Twelve Days of Christmas
127. Dickens, Charles – A Christmas Carol
128. Jewell, Lisa – The Family Remains
129. Collins, Bridget & co – The Haunting Season
130. Duffy, Carol Ann – Advent Street
131. Herron, Mick  – Slough House
132. Grimm Brothers & co – A German Christmas
133. Pooley, Claire – The People on Platform 5
134. Taylor-Bessent, Mel – The Christmas Carrolls
135. Sampson, Freya – The Girl on the 88 Bus
136. Macomber, Debbie – Jingle All The Way
137. Ayoade, Richard – The Book That No One Wanted to Read
138. Herron, Mick – Stanging By The Wall
139. Du Beke, Anton – Ballroom Blitz
140. Dean, Will – The Last Thing to Burn
141. Carroll, Lewis – Through the Looking Glass
142. Hendricks, Jaime Lynn – His Missing Wife
143. Lockhart, E – Family of Liars
144. Perry, Matthew – Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing
145. Garmus, Bonnie – Lessons in Chemistry 

I think we can all agree there’s some incredible books here! Picking a top five is tough but they are:

• Beyond the Wand – Tom Felton. When I reviewed it, I called it. I just knew that it was going to take a really special book to beat it.
• Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing – Matthew Perry. I’m a huge Friends fan so I couldn’t not read this book. It was utterly heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time.
• Paper Palace – Miranda Cowley Heller. One of my summer reads that I couldn’t put down. I absolutely loved it. It gave me Crawdad vibes that I’d been desperately looking for!
• The Lamplighters – Emma Stonex. Another beach read that I reviewed but fell in love with the plot after the first few pages.
• The Lost Apothecary – Sarah Penner. A beautiful cover, a wonderful story with strong female characters.

That’s it! There’s so many others that I could have chosen but I decided to stick with these. What do you think? Have you read any of these?

---

2023: My focus has now changed to 2023 and what exciting books the future holds for me here. I’ve decided I need to continue with my efforts of getting down my to be read pile. Whilst going through my monthly reading challenge last year, I spotted that some of the criteria were quite similar so I’ve worked on it and please let me introduce to you all, the reading challenge for 2023!

I’ve tried to make sure that I’ve got some things that motivate me (e.g. a beach read. Who isn’t longing for summer?) as well as things that will definitely challenge me and broaden my reading horizons. Feel free to join in with this and make suggestions for me! I get a lot of my reading list from you guys so I’m keen for any books you think are good! I really hope you join in with me!

So, onto the next book and preparing myself for the next half term.

Big love all xxxx