Oh there is nothing more lovely than sitting down on your favourite settee, pulling a cosy blanket around your shoulders (making sure you're feet aren't poking out) and reading a book in the flickering fire light. October, for me, has been all about books. Writing one, reading them, and writing about them. Novelicious.com, a website I've written for for a number of years about books and food, is coming back, after a few months offline, with me as editor. I am overjoyed and very excited.
So, with busy days at my computer, in the evenings I'm trying to spend a bit of time reading for the complete pleasure of it. Of being cosy, of being with my family, and immersing myself in the words of someone else.
So these are my October reads. Some I'm reading cover to cover. Some I'm dipping in and out of.
A Poem for Every Night of The Year - I received this as a birthday gift. From the front cover, to opening it and hearing that crack of the spine, to reading yesterday's poem last night for my birthday to my husband and children. I am in love.
Midwinter by Fiona Melrose - this has been sent to me by the publisher for review on the Novelicious website. It is utterly gorgeous. The cover, the feel, and the premise. It is about Suffolk farmers: father and son, Landyn and Vale, who struggle with guilt, blame and lost opportunities.
My Life in Houses by Margaret Forster - I wrote about this in my September newsletter. Then, funnily enough, it arrived as a birthday present. It looks at the meaning of home through the houses the author has lived in.
The Book of Hygge by Louisa Thomsen Brits - this is a beautiful book that looks at the simple pleasures in life. I keep dipping in and out of this one.
Hygge by Charlotte Abrahams - again a gorgeous hardback book. I received this one from the publisher and am finding it fascinating. The author is weaving in the Danish art and history of hygge with her own attempts to embrace it.
Norwegian Wood by Lars Mytting - who'd have thought a book about chopping and stacking wood could become a bestseller? I was loading up our woodstore at the weekend which made me think about this book, which I bought for my husband last Christmas. With a slightly sore back, and a few bashed fingers, I sipped my coffee and recovered, immersing myself in the words. It's a stunner.
Autumn: An anthology by Melissa Harrison - again this is one I'm dipping in and out of. It is a lovely anthology of autumnal prose and poetry. It is one of four. The winter one is being published soon.
Rhapsody in Green by Charlotte Mendelson - I am simply adoring this beautiful book. With gorgeous illustrations on the outside and in, this is the story of how Charlotte created a garden in six square metres of grotty urban soil. Can I just say I bought this on the strength of the cover alone. But the inside is just as stunning.
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