Category: Reading

February Reading Wrapup

February turned out to be a quick, hectic month and unusually I found myself reading all non-fiction.

Ten Myths About Israel by Ilan Pappe

Frustrated by mainstream journalism coverage of the most recent conflict between Israel and Palestine, I picked up this book by Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe, to try to learn more. Ten Myths About Israel challenges the narrative many of us have been taught to believe about Israel as a land without a people for a people without a land, Israel being the only democracy in the middle east, that zionism is Judaism, and the two state solution is the only hope for lasting peace. It’s not without controversy, as Ilan Pappe argues that consecutive Israeli governments have undermined the peace process by refusing to negotiate with Palestinian leaders and allowing illegal settlements in Gaza and the West Bank. Ten Myths About Israel provided the context that I was seeking and I appreciated that this offers a secular history which doesn’t hold all Jewish people or Israeli citizens responsible for the actions of extremists in government or the Zionist movement.

Scattered Minds by Gabor Mate

A really interesting read (or in my case, listen) from a psychiatrist who has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, which includes anecdotes and reflection from his own experiences as well as those of patients he’s worked with.
Scattered Minds explains the symptoms and signs of ADHD, and examines the links between genetics, early childhood environment and neurobiology in individuals with ADHD.
Gabor Mate argues that while there is a neurobiological aspect, that impaired parent-child attachment and environmental stress during the  early years can also have an impact on the development of ADHD, and that we live in a fast-paced culture and society that exacerbates ADHD symptoms.
This also contains advice on how to parent a child with adhd, such as how to build attunement and attachment, overcome oppositionality and stubbornness, and how to motivate a child with ADHD.

Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis

This is an collection of speeches, articles and interviews on related themes and topics from the prison industrial complex, the militarization of the police and institutional racism which has lead to so many black people being killed by the police force, the power of collective action and intersectional feminism, and the struggle for freedom and abolition from the United States of America to Palestine. Freedom is a Constant Struggle is an interesting, informative and thought-provoking little book that really left me wanting to read more of Angela Y. Davis’ work.

It’s Not That Radical by Mikaela Loach

This is a really interesting book by a young, black female environmental activist that draws connections between exploitation of land and resources that lead to climate breakdown and social issues like the exploitation of workers and racism. One thing I found really inspiring was the idea that climate justice means more than just preserving the status quo with green capitalism alternatives, and the climate emergency provides an opportunity to create a fairer, cleaner and healthier world for everyone, but I was a little disappointed that there weren’t more practical steps to take beyond joining a trade union or protesting.

Have a lovely week all. X

January Reading Wrapup

Finally sharing my January reading wrapup, after a fairly hectic start to February. Last month, I sought out a few gentle, comfort reads to contrast the back to work blues and grim news.

Away with the Penguins by Hazel Prior

Away with the Penguins was my first read of the year, and what an emotional roller-coaster it was! I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the cantankerous and indomitable Veronica McCready as she embarks on a grand adventure at the age of 86 to Antarctica and learns so much about herself, others and penguins along the way. Parts of this were extremely moving, and reminded me of stories my own late nanna told me about how much society has changed in her lifetime. I’ll definitely be reading the sequel.

What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama

A lovely novel translated from Japanese that follows a group of characters all at different stages of life who visit their little local library, and get a personal recommendation from the enigmatic librarian. This is such a heartwarming, inspiring and comforting story about characters learning to see their own value and worth, working towards their dreams and learning to enjoy where they are on the journey too.

More than a Woman by Caitlin Moran

I’ve always considered Caitlyn Moran to be an opinionated, funny and sometimes vulgar big sisterly figure. I loved How to Be a Woman, which I read at a time when I was in a similar stage of life, and had been looking forward to her take on middle-age. As ever, Caitlin delivers an unflinchingly honest report of the joys, stresses and sorrows of life as she describes her work-life balance, housework, parenting teenagers, marriage, aging parents, botox and mid-life a fashion. I didn’t find this quite as politically astute as How to Be A Woman but at times this felt like such a reassuring chat and a cup of tea with an old friend.

Have a lovely week. X

2023 in Books

I read a total of 50 books in 2023, only reaching my target on the 30th of December as I underestimated how much time and concentration I’d have left for reading during my maternity leave.

The books pictured were my Top Five favourites, these are the stories I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since I read them. There’s some interesting overlap between my favourites with ghosts and the paranormal in both Hell Bent and The Hollow Boy, environmental themes through Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of the Dead and Leila and the Blue Fox, and aging amateur sleuths investigating murders in both Drive Your Plow and The Man Who Died Twice.

Overall I read 39 fiction books and 11 non-fiction. Most of the non-fiction books I read covered parenting/child development or environmental themes.

The fiction I read ranged across genres from children’s and YA to mysteries, fantasy and science fiction, and this year I dipped into the contemporary romance genre for the first time with writers like Jenny Colgan and Sarah Morgan. I’ve always been put off by the covers and a fair dose of literary snobbery when it comes to contemporary women’s fiction but was thoroughly captivated by relatable characters and the nuanced exploration of family, friendships and romantic relationships that I found in the small sample of stories I read. I also read four translations, one translated from Polish was a surprise favourite (Drive Your Plow), while the other three were translated from Japanese.

I borrowed 26 books from the library last year, a trend that I plan to continue this year as libraries are a such a brilliant community resource.

24 for 2024

I’ve picked out 24 books from my TBR to read in 2024, though I’m a mood reader and notoriously bad at sticking to reading plans. Many of these are sequels to series I’ve already started but some are books I’ve seen recommended by other bloggers and bookstagrammers and a few have been recommended by close friends and even one from my husband who mostly reads subjects related to his career and only reads a handful of fiction books a year. Spot any favourites?

Have a lovely week. X

December Reading Wrapup

Belated Happy New Year! I just managed to reach my reading target on the 30th of December after a very stop-start reading year, and will share my yearly wrapup and favourites soon, but first here’s my December reading wrapup.

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

This is often recommended to people who enjoyed Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows but was a poor imitation for me, the two lead characters felt derivitive of Kaz and Inej with their drawn out angst-ridden romance, and my favourite character was actually Zophia, who was written with autistic characteristics, struggling to fit into the team and navigate social situations, whom I found much more interesting and sympathetic. The story is set in an alternative version of Paris, but with a merging of science and magic that gives some people the ability to forge items with special powers and uses. The Gilded Wolves had a few good twists, lots of mystery and puzzles to solve, and some good action scenes but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped and probably won’t read the sequel.

The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers

Perfect for Christmas, instead of a snowed in story, it focuses on five aliens stranded together on a pit-stop planet forging kindness, co-operation and even friendship across ideological and racial chasms. One of the aspects of this series that I’ve really appreciated is how well described the alien races are from their biology to culture, yet these stories offer such compelling explorations of humanity with this one covering colonisation, parenthood, reproductive choices and so much more. While other books in the quartet have brought tears to my eye, this one made me laugh out loud several times, and it was such an uplifting end to the series.

Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

I loved The Christmas Bookshop and enjoyed returning to the story to find out what Carmen and everyone else was up to. This is a good sequel but the plot is a little contrived as misunderstandings drive Carmen and her Brazilian lover Oke apart, then another misunderstanding creates a wedge between Carmen and her sister. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the introduction of a new anti-hero, Jackson McClackerty, who owns a chain of tacky Tartan gift shops, which if you’ve ever been to Edinburgh you’ll know are everywhere, and loved getting to see more of the bookshop and the house above it.

The Vanishing of Aveline Jones by Phil Hickes

Set around the Winter Solstice, it seemed like a good choice to read over Christmas itself. The third book in the spooky children’s series follows Aveline and her friend Harold visiting her missing Uncle Rowan’s house as he has been gone long enough to be presumed dead. Aveline starts witnessing mysterious incidents almost immediately and decides to investigate. This has some genuinely chilling scenes as Aveline finds herself lured into a fairy barrow underground and trapped there by the cunning Fae. The plot does rest quite heavily on Aveline’s impulsiveness and foolishness, but it’s an enjoyable story of bravery and friendship with a few good scares.

The Christmas Bookclub by Sarah Morgan

I picked this up after thoroughly enjoying The Christmas Sisters. The story follows three friends who meet every year for a Bookclub holiday and the woman who runs the hotel that they stay at on this particular trip. I found parts of the story a little predictable but what I really like about Sarah Morgan’s stories are how relatable the main characters are and the strong, supportive female relationships between them as they navigate various personal dilemmas. This is an easy and uplifting read about friendship, change and new beginnings.

November Reading Wrapup

My library requests arrived early so read mostly Christmas stories in November, which worked out well as it was a cold, frosty and dark month that definitely felt more wintry than autumnal.

The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

I’ve been feeling oddly nostalgic for the years I spent working in a bookshop, though romance is a genre I’ve overlooked but this appealed to me because it reminded me of how my own husband and I met in a bookshop. The Christmas Bookshop defied all my expectations, it’s so much more then a romance, with a much greater focus on family relationships and personal agency than romance. When the department store Carmen has worked at since school closes down, she moves to Edinburgh with her over achieving, perfectionist older sister, Sofia, and starts working at a failing bookshop with the eccentric and reclusive owner. In many ways, this story feels like a love letter to Edinburgh with its idiosyncratic architecture and town planning, and I have to agree the Scottish capital is particularly enchanting around Christmas. I loved this story from start to end, and I can’t wait to read more by Jenny Colgan.

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday by Milly Johnson

The Christmas Bookshop was always going to be a hard book to follow and this didn’t hit the mark for me. It follows six people who are snowed in at an abandoned inn in the middle of nowhere: there’s the couple who met at the wrong time in their lives and had a roller-coaster romance reuniting only to sign their divorce papers, the PA with a crush on her oblivious boss, and an aging gay couple celebrating one last Christmas together after one of them receives a terminal diagnosis. This is full of festive atmosphere but it’s a very slow burn romance and I was disappointed when the couple I was rooting for didn’t end up together and the heroine I really hoped would move on ended up with her love interest whose rapid realisation and personality change just didn’t ring true for me.

The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan

This was more of a family drama than a romance, which was just as well as the romantic subplots all fell flat for me, but I was swept up in the McBride family’s Christmas reunion as all three sisters return home for the first time in years. There’s ambitious, successful and emotionally reserved Hannah, Beth who feels overwhelmed and lost in motherhood but feels guilty about wanting to return to work, and finally the most open and adventurous sister, Posy, who has never left home for fear of letting her parents down. This was an enjoyable read but quite cheesy and the personal and romantic dilemmas were all resolved a bit too easily.

The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman

Having read and loved Fredrik Backman’s Beartown, I’ve been eager to read his other works but given the heavy topics he usually covers, I knew better than to expect his Christmas story to be cosy and heartwarming. The Deal of a Lifetime is a very short but haunting story about a man grappling with living and dying, his fear of death and his quest to build a legacy that will live on after him, until he has to choose whether to do something truly selfless even if no one else will ever know about it.

The Power of Showing Up by Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson

I ended the month by finishing a parenting book that I’ve been dipping in and out of for a few months. The Power of Showing Up takes a look at how to build a secure attachment with your children, explaining attachment theory and attachment disorders, before breaking down how to build a secure attachment at any age into four specific steps. I really enjoyed the informative and practical approach this book took to a topic that overlaps my personal and professional life.

Have a lovely week. X

October Reading Wrapup

I read a real mix last month with two children’s books, two Japanese novellas and two contemporary women’s fiction.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

This is the story of a town that sacrifices the youngest baby every year to a witch that lives in a forest, and the witch accidentally feeds one of the baby’s moonlight which gives her magical powers. The Girl Who Drank the Moon is a story about sorrow and grief, and of how we can close off and harden our hearts to protect ourselves from heartache, or we can open them because love expands and can heal all our hurts. I found the back story told in bits a bit hard to piece together, but this is a gentle fairytale that gave me a warm fuzzy feeling, though I didn’t love it quite as much as The Ogress And The Orphans.

Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

This is the third book in this series, and this one changes locations from a cafe in Tokyo to the coastal city of Hakodate, but this cafe also has a particular seat that allows the customer to return to a moment in the past (or future) to meet someone who has also visited the cafe for the time it takes a cup of coffee to cool. These books are interesting explorations of grief and learning to live with the past it, and I really appreciated the new location with its descriptions of view of the marina and the hustle and bustle of the cafe, but it did require a bit of suspension of belief about how easy it is to become a comedian in Japan and how many young women die suddenly from obscure illnesses.

Crookhaven: School for Thieves by J. J. Arcanjo

This was an impulse purchase, but one that turned out to be a hit. Crookhaven: School for Thieves follows an orphan called Gabe who lives with his gran and happens to be a talented pickpocket. Gabe is eventually invited to Crookhaven, a boarding school that trains the students in the art of forgery, lock picking, pick pocketing, parkour, hacking and other skills they’ll need to know become the next generation of Robin Hoods. Along the way, Gabe starts to search for the parents that abandoned him and disappeared without a trace. This was a very refreshing take on a boarding school story full of friendship, found family, adventure and mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed and I can’t wait to read the next one.

The Last Library by Freya Sampson

I don’t read a lot of contemporary fiction, but I found this completely captivating and heartwarming. This is the story of June Jones, a socially awkward and reclusive library assistant, who has been lost in her grief for ten years after her mother died. When the council threatens to close the library where she works, she finds herself pulled into the protests and campaign to save it, finding friends, community and romance along the way. I was absolutely rooting for June from the start, a really lovely story about grief, friendship, community and libraries.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

I was a little underwhelmed by the second Japanese novella I read last month. Days at the Morisaki Bookshop follows a broken hearted woman who quits her job after finding out her boyfriend is engaged to someone else, and goes to live with her uncle who runs a secondhand bookshop. The book is split into two parts, the first is about the narrator learning to love to read, while the second part is more of a slice of life as she gets to know her aunt better and finds a new love interest. I felt like this book couldn’t decide what it wanted to be and was too short to really try to follow two different story lines.

A Very Distant Shore by Jenny Colgan

This was another impulse pick from the library. I don’t read a lot of contemporary fiction but I’ve been craving heartwarming stories to counter the increasingly bleak news reports. A Very Distant Shore follows a woman caring for her father who lives on the distant island of Mure that is struggling to recruit a new GP and a Syrian refugee who is offered a fresh start on the island. This is a short book but I felt it handled the issues of asylum seekers sensitively, and while the details are deliberately vague it doesn’t gloss over his trauma. I really enjoyed this short, poignant story and I’ll definitely be reading more by Jenny Colgan.

Bedtime Stories 🍂

We’re well and truly into autumn here in Scotland with frosty mornings, dark evenings, and the leaves turning all gold, amber and red, and decided to share a few of our favourite autumnal bedtime stories we’ve been enjoying together lately.

Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper

A story about three friends (a duck, a squirrel and a cat) who live together and all have a specific job to do when it comes to making the most delicious pumpkin soup, until one day the Duck decides he wants to try doing Squirrel’s job instead. This is a lovely story about friends falling out and making up again.

Little Goose’s Autumn by Ellie Woollard and Briony May Smith

One of two very different stories illustrated by Briony May Smith in this post. Little Goose’s Autumn is a gentle rhyming story about a goose trying to work out what she’s supposed to do in autumn by talking to other animals preparing for winter, before she finds others of her kind who show her the way.

Ollie’s Lost Kitten by Nicola Killen

We have a few of the books in this sweet little series about a girl called Ollie and her adventures. In this autumn/Halloween story, Ollie and her cat are out playing when she finds a lost kitten that she helps to reunite with his owner, but she gets lost in the forest in the process until she’s rescued by her own cat.

The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming and Nicola Slater

An amusing and fun story about a confused squirrel trying to investigate who keeps stealing the leaves from his tree in autumn, and the (long-suffering) little bird that tries to explain the changing seasons to the forgetful squirrel.

Witch in Training by Michelle Robinson and Briony May Smith

The other book illustrated by Briony May Smith in this post, which I bought as my oldest suddenly became scared of witches after watching Disney’s Tangled. This is all about a young witch learning to make potions and flying around on her broomstick searching for ingredients with her mum and familiars. A fun little story about learning, making mistakes and fixing them when the magic goes awry.

The Enchanted Dream by Sue Rawlings and Charlie Dear

Lastly, this is a recent purchase that I couldn’t resist when I saw it in a children’s boutique on our recent visit to Pitlochry and The Enchanted Forest. Written by a Scottish illustrator and writer duo, this is a simple story about a group of children and their carer making autumn crafts before going to visit the Enchanted Forest light show with lots of little references to the area around Pitlochry. It was a perfect souvenir from our recent trip.

Have a lovely week. X

September Reading Wrapup

We’re into the cosy seasons when I love to curl up with a book and mug of something warming. In September, I was in the mood for magical stories, but instead of embarking on a Harry Potter reread, I decided to try some newer children’s stories about magic, witches and wizards, and the power of stories themselves.

The Ogress And The Orphans by Kelly Barnhill

This is the story of a lonely but kind Ogress and a greedy dragon, of practical and sensible orphans, and many fearful and suspicious people in a town that used to be lovely. The writing wraps itself around the reader like a blanket, letting this gentle, meandering, enchanting and poignant story of fear, greed and suspicion, kindness, generosity and community unfurl.

The House at the Edge of Magic by Amy Sparkes

A lighthearted, fast paced fantasy adventure about a young thief called Nine who finds a a magic house and reluctantly agrees to help the cursed inhabitants, a wizard called Flabbergast, a troll and an animated spoon. This was such a fun and easy read, but one with enough mystery to leave me wanting more.

Hedgewitch by Skye McKenna

Hedgewitch is the first in a 5 part series about Cassie Morgan, whose mother went missing seven years ago, but she’s never given up hope of finding her. Just before her 13th birthday she finds out her mother was a witch and she’s taken to live with her aunt Miranda, the Hedgewitch, who guards the border separating the Britain from the land of the Fae, but someone has been tampering with the wards that prevent the Fae from crossing over and children have been going missing. This had a bit of a slow start but brilliant world building and was very reminiscent of Harry Potter and the Worst Witch.

Tilly and the Book Wanderers by Anna James

This is the first part in the Pages & Co series, and it’s such a story for book lovers. Tilly finds out that she has the ability to travel into stories and interact with the characters, but it turns out to be much more dangerous and exciting than she expected as she learns the rules of book wandering, and tries to solve the mystery of her mother’s disappearance. This was such a cosy, comfort read that had me wanting to dig out all the old classics like Alice in Wonderland, Anne of Green Gables, and The Little Princess that are referenced in the story, and I’m looking forward to finding out what happens next in the series.

Have a lovely week. X

August Reading Wrapup

August turned out to be a busier month than anticipated and I had less time to read than planned but enjoyed everything I did read.

4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman

What a refreshing and thought provoking book, Burkeman starts with the idea that the average human only has 4000 weeks of life and then delves into how we spend our time. Increasingly as individuals and society we have become obsessed with productivity and consider busyness as a status symbol, trying to achieve more and more with our finite time. Burkeman argues that instead of making ourselves stressed, anxious and exhausted by our overwhelming and never ending to-do lists we should accept our limitations and focus on creating a meaningful life with the short time we have instead. Having spent my 20s and 30s treating significant milestones and achievements like items on a shopping list, this book really resonated with me as I try to balance the competing demands of my young children with my aging parents, career and hobbies.

Leila and the Blue Fox by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

I have not stopped thinking about Julia and The Shark (reviewed here) since I read it last year, and this spiritual sequel did not disappoint. Leila and the Blue Fox is a poignant and thought-provoking story about a Syrian refugee, Leila, trying to reconnect with her mother, who left her in London, while she went to study animal migration due to climate change. The story of their incredible journey across the Arctic as they follow one determined little fox weaves so many pertinent themes from climate change to animal and human migration as well as families and friendships, this will undoubtedly be one of my end of year favourites.

By Ash, Oak and Thorn by Melissa Harrison

A charming children’s story about three little Hidden Folk (Moss, Burnett and Cumulus) who are all living in a garden after being displaced from their wildflower meadow, forest and pond by humans, when they are forced to embark on an unexpected quest to find others of their kind. This story is reminiscent of The Hobbit and The Borrowers but full of little lessons about nature, conservation and friendship. Whimsical, charming and poignant, though the ending felt like a rushed prelude to the next book.

Regenesis by George Monbiot

A fascinating critique of farming and the challenges of trying of feed 6 billion people without wrecking the planet. Monbiot starts by taking an unflinching look at some of the common practices in farming such as the use of pesticides, herbicides, fertiliser, genetic engineering of crops, the use of antibiotics, the spread of manure and the amount of land required to grow crops to feed livestock, and their impact on the environment, both local and global. He then considers the alternatives from (live)stockfree organic farming, reducing food waste and food redistribution through food banks, no till farming, perennial cereals like Kernza wheat and PR23 rice, and the development of microbial proteins (and other alternatives to meat). An interesting book about food production with some unflinching criticisms of current agricultural methods and some pragmatic alternatives for the future.

July Reading WrapUp

Sharing my reading wrapup very late as we’re all recovering from a bad cold that floored us for a week. July was a slow month for reading but I thoroughly enjoyed the three books I did manage to read.

Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman

Magic Lessons was everything I hoped for in a prequel to Practical Magic (reviewed here) going back to tell the story of Maria the founding matriarch of the Owens family and the curse she cast to protect her descendents that ripples through the generations ever after. I absolutely adored Magic Lessons and found it gripping, heartbreaking and enchanting. Magic Lessons is a story of mothers and daughters, love and heartbreak, witchcraft and witch trials.

No Drama Discipline by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson

I’d struggled a bit with The Whole Brain Child last year but decided to give this a try, and found it so much easier to understand and apply. Complex neuroscience is broken down into easy to grasp concepts about how to shape a child’s developing brain to teach them emotional regulation, morality, empathy and problem solving skills. No Drama Discipline is full of real examples of how to apply the whole brain discipline techniques that takes a contextual but long term approach to parenting, building a loving connection with your child and coaxing collaboration, though my personal favourite example was what to do when you’ve tried everything and none of it works.

The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman

The bittersweet conclusion to the Owens family saga that ties all the threads together as Sally, Gillian, Franny, Jet and Vincent all work together to end the curse that Maria Owens cast over 400 years ago. I have loved this series so much and this was such a wonderful ending reuniting all the characters and introducing some new ones too that kept me hooked from start to finish.

Have a lovely weekend. X