March Reading Wrapup

I’d set myself the goal of reading one library book a month this year, but partly inspired by local campaigns to save two library earmarked for closure and partly due to the efficiency of the library request service (which has just resumed after a two year hiatus during the pandemic) all the books I read in March were borrowed from the library.

The Secret of Happy Children by Steve Biddulph

Steve Biddulph was actually suggested to me by my husband who had read one of his other books, and I found this one by chance in our local library. The Secret of Happy Children contains practical parenting skills like activing listening and how to respond to tantrums, sulks and shyness as well as how to model expressing your own anger, sadness and fear appropriately. Biddulph really packs a lot into a short book from a brief description of developmental stages and keeping our expectations realistic to tips about self-care for parents and child-proofing your relationship. This is an easy to read parenting book that’s short but full of practical advice, though at times I felt he was trying to squash too much into too short a book and it lacked depth.

The Monsters of Rookhaven by Padraig Kenny

A creepy, gothic children’s story of a strange family of monsters who live in Rookhaven Manor and whose lives are thrown into disarray when the magic protecting them from the human world starts to fade and two human children cross over. The family soon discover that there are creatures that even monsters fear, but this is a gripping story of friendship, family, compassion and bravery.

The Gentle Discipline Book by Sarah Ockwell-Smith

In The Gentle Discipline Book, Sarah Ockwell-Smith attempts to redefine our understanding of discipline as a form of teaching instead of being a synonym for punishment. I really appreciated that so much of the book is based on a solid understanding of child developmental stages and reminding parents to have realistic expectations of a child’s age and stage when dealing with sulks, tantrums and a variety of other problematic behaviours. Similar to Philippa Perry’s The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read, there’s a real focus on understanding the cause of the behaviour rather than just trying to correct it and connecting with your child emotionally through the process. I didn’t agree with everything in the book, and I think some of her suggestions make it obvious she’s writing for a middle class audience that some parents may find cost prohibitive, but there’s a lot of useful advice in here that I’ll be applying with my own daughter.

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen

This YA fantasy took me a while to get into because there’s a lot going on in the story. This is a retelling of the Goose Girl fairy tale from the maid’s perspective and follows Vanja who was abandoned in a forest by her real mother and adopted by Fate and Death who raise her, before she becomes the servant of a noble family and befriends their daughter, Princess Gisele. When the nobles are cruel and abusive to Vanja, Gisele looks the other way, and in revenge one day Vanja steals Gisele’s identity and Gisele is cast out as a peasant. Vanja uses her newfound privilege to become a thief preying on the noble families who mistreated her until she accidentally crosses paths with a diety who curses her for her greed and threatens to turn her into jewels one body part at a time unless she gives back what she has stolen. Vanja is one of those characters who is deeply sympathetic though not always likable, nevertheless I still found myself rooting for her. Little Thieves is an enjoyable fantasy heist that kept me guessing right up to the end.

How to Talk so Kids will Listen and Listen so Kids will Talk by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish

Thanks to the unexpected efficiency of the library request service, this was the 3rd parenting book I read in March (meaning I read as many non-fiction books last month as I did in the whole of 2021!) but probably the only one that I’ll be buying a copy of and would recommend to parents for kids of all ages. Published in 1982, I could see how many other parenting gurus and psychologists have been influenced and inspired by the skills and ideas in this book. How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk won’t guide you through weaning, potty training or how to get your child to sleep through the night, but will give you practical communication skills to help children process difficult feelings, encourage co-operation and problem-solving between parents and children, offer alternatives to threats and punishment, how to give genuine and constructive praise, and how to let children be themselves instead of pushing them into roles or creating self-fulfilling prophecies. This is an accessible and engaging parenting book that is packed full of useful advice and skills, and one that I’ll definitely be referring to through my own parenting journey.

Have a lovely week. X

March Microadventures

March was a bit of a mixed-up and muddled month for us. We were hit by back-to-back illnesses in the middle of the month that floored us for a couple of weeks, and then after a brief respite when we were all well enough to get out into the good weather, our 2-year-old daughter caught chicken pox on the last day of the month. I am, however, making an effort to focus on the little microadventures we enjoyed despite it all, instead of dwelling on the days spent at home (and hospital!) feeling poorly.

At the start of the month, lighter days and better weather had us seeking out places to visit just a bit further away than our usual haunts, and we spent sunny afternoons strolling along the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond at Balloch Country Park, and skimming stones (or just making big splashes) by the water at Helensburgh.

We also had our first family swimming trip, and in the space of an hour, our daughter progressed from crying and clinging to us to calmly floating around in her rubber ring and kicking her legs while we held her hands. My husband and I used to go swimming every week but this was our first time back in the pool in over two years, and a couple of years of the pandemic and parenthood have definitely taken a toll on our fitness, but it felt good to swim a few lengths and we’ll definitely be back again soon with our daughter in tow.

Back at home, we’ve been enjoying playing in the garden and eating dinner in the summerhouse on light, warm evenings, and there were surprise flowers, a homemade truffle and card waiting for me on Mother’s Day.

This weekend has been unexpectedly tiring and stressful as the little one was sent home early from nursery with suspected chicken pox on Friday (later confirmed by the pharmacist) and she didn’t seem to bothered by it, but she was very restless on Saturday night with a stubbornly high fever of 39°C, and by morning she had developed an angry, red rash that didn’t look like the ordinary chicken pox spots. We took her to A&E to get checked over, and they suspected a secondary infection and decided to keep her in overnight to give her IV antibiotics (the cannula is probably one of her least favourite things along with covid swabs), though luckily we were allowed to stay with her. With 3 hourly checks and 6 hour meds through the night, it wasn’t the most restful sleep we’ve ever had but by this morning her stats were stable and improving, and she was discharged just before lunch. It’s a relief to be home again, and see the little one slowly recovering.

Between bad weather, lingering Covid19 restrictions and bouts of illness, it’s been a long winter and I’m so glad to feel the sun’s warmth again, see daffodils flowering and to notice the arrival of spring once more. Take care and have a lovely week. X

February Reading Wrapup

We’re only just getting back on our feet after a bout of illness floored us so sharing my February reading wrap-up a bit later than planned. February was another good month for reading, and Lunar New Year had me seeking out books with Asian settings and characters.

Not Here to be Liked by Michelle Quach

I started February with Not Here to be Liked by Michelle Quach, which is a YA romance about a Chinese-Vietnamese American girl, Eliza, who has been ruthlessly working towards becoming the editor of her High School newspaper, but whose ambitions are thwarted at the last minute by the cute baseball player Len, who only joined the paper last year but gets himself elected editor instead. Although I’ve always enjoyed stories with a romantic subplot, I really enjoyed how much depth this romance novel had as the teens wrestle with sexism and feminism, stereotypes and double standards, race and immigrations, and other issues. Romance is a new and unfamiliar genre for me but I adored Not Here to be Liked, it’s the perfect combination of adolescent awkwardness, humour, social commentary and romance.

The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

I tend to avoid grimdark fantasy and while I enjoyed The Poppy War (reviewed here), I found some of the descriptions of war harrowing to read, and it’s taken me almost a year to psych myself up to read the second part of the trilogy inspired by modern Chinese history. The Dragon Republic did feel like a middle book, as I found it a lot slower than The Poppy War as Rin and her allies deal with the aftermath of the previous war and prepare for a civil war between the Twelve Provinces, but I didn’t find the descriptions as distressing as those in the first book. Unsurprisingly for a character inspired by Mao Zedong, Rin isn’t always likable or sympathetic but she is fascinating and I’m really intrigued to see how this trilogy ends.

The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee

My husband bought me Jade City for Christmas, and I was only halfway through it when I rushed out to buy the other two parts so I could binge read this urban fantasy trilogy. The story follows the youngest generation of the Kaul family who lead the No Peak Clan, one of the two biggest clans operation in the city of Janloon: there is Lan the eldest brother and a prudent leader, Hilo the charismatic but hot-headed middle brother who leads the clan’s military operations and their younger sister, Shae, the business mastermind of the family. This is a slow-burn story as No Peak find themselves at war with their biggest rival, the Mountain Clan, headed by the ruthless Ayt Mada, but it’s tense, gripping and I was thoroughly invested in the fate of the Kaul family. The world building is brilliant and vivid, and I loved the setting of Janloon, though the story did sometimes get bogged down in describing the politics. I also really liked the magic system where some people can wear jade to enhance their perception, strength and give them other supernatural abilities. The final part Jade Legacy was the longest book and definitely suffered from some pacing issues as it had several time skips forward to allow the children of the next generation of Kauls to grow up but was still full of suspense, heartbreak and tied up all the threads in a very satisfying conclusion to this original and gripping trilogy.

Have a lovely week. X

February Birthdays, Snow and Gratitude

Over the last few days Winter has shown some signs of surrendering to Spring with a little extra daylight at the start and end of the day, milder temperatures and a little sunshine. Through February we were battered by consecutive storms and a few snow days but luckily we didn’t suffer any storm damage or power cuts.

At the start of the month, we celebrated our daughter’s 2nd birthday. I took the little one out to choose a birthday balloon in the morning (she chose a mermaid), then we decorated the living room while she was napping. She woke up to a room full of grandparents, presents and cake. Our daughter had a wonderful time throwing and chasing balloons, tearing into her presents to find new toys and books inside, and she was singing happy birthday to herself all week.

Our daughter at two years old is already such an interesting little person with so many interests from zooming around on her scooter and splashing in puddles, caring for her dolls and soft toys, playing hide and seek with us, scribbling and painting handprints, picking out stories to read together or demanding to watch Room on the Broom or Dug Days on TV, chattering away and bursting into song with whichever nursery rhyme happens to be stuck in her head. We’ve seen a few tantrums and defiance over the last few months but over all she has a really cheerful and sunny disposition.

Our other little girl, Mara, appears to be determined to hibernate until Winter is over, in a variety of cosy nooks and beds – including a doll’s bed that my daughter got for her birthday. It’s hard to say if Mara is slowing down in her senior years as she’s always been a lazy lump but she’s got a good appetite, still cuddly and playful as ever.

Between all the storms and snow, I’ve been feeling very grateful for the warmth and comfort of our home, and watching the news over the last week or so, I’ve been reminded how lucky we are to live somewhere relatively safe. When the world seems to be spinning out of control, it’s often the smallest moments – a hug from my daughter, a purring cat on my lap, my husband making fresh coffee in the morning, spotting the first daffodil in the garden – that stop my anxiety from spiralling and keep me tethered to the here and now. Take care and have a lovely week. X

Raising a Bookworm

We’re a bookish family and one of the parts of parenthood I’ve looked forward to most is sharing my love of stories with my daughter. I’ve been collecting books for her since birth and have given her the lowest shelf on our bookcase within her reach, but it’s only in the last few months that she’s shown a real interest in stories.

In Scotland, the Scottish Book Trust distributes free books at intervals from birth to five years old to encourage a love of reading and promote literacy. A few of my daughter’s earliest favourites were books she received from the health visitor, including a simple rhyming bed time story called One Sleepy Night and a peekaboo lift the flap book, there was also a rhyming book to help children learn to count in the most recent Bookbug bag by Julia Donaldson called One Mole Digging a Hole that my daughter really likes too.

Although I’ve read to my daughter since birth, once she became mobile she lost interest in books so I picked up a few more interactive sensory books for her from the “That’s Not My” range and a couple of Nosy Crow lift the flap books too to try to keep her interest.

As she’s gotten older, her language skills have developed and her attention span has increased we’ve been able to introduce more narrative stories. One of her earliest favourites that she demanded over and over again was Corduroy by Don Freeman, which tells the story of a bear in a department store who gets overlooked by customers because he’s missing a button on his dungarees and sets out on an adventure to find a button once the shop closes. It’s a really lovely story and one that has aged well since it was first published in 1968.

Another popular classic in our household is The Very Hungry Caterpillar (which also happens to have been one of my husband’s favourite childhood stories) which describes the life cycle of a caterpillar hatching from an egg, eating a lot of food and eventually transforming into a butterfly. My daughter practically knows this one off by heart and enjoys pointing out all the foods that the caterpillar eats.

Between Halloween and Christmas last year, my daughter discovered the wonderful rhyming stories of Julia Donaldson and has been demanding “Broom!” (Room on the Broom) and Gruffalo’s Child regularly. For those unfamiliar with these stories, Room on the Broom is about a witch who keeps losing her belongings which are returned to her by various helpful animals she meets on her journey, who all ask to travel on her broom with her and eventually team up to rescue her when a dragon threatens to eat her. It’s a fun story about helping each other and team work. While The Gruffalo’s Child is the sequel to The Gruffalo, in which the Gruffalo’s daughter sets out on a quest to find the big, bad mouse that scared her father in the original story.

I’m looking forward to seeing how my daughter’s reading tastes change and develop as she grows, and have enjoyed this chance to look back at some of the books that we’ve read together over the last couple of years. Have a lovely week. X

January Reading Wrapup

I’ve decided to try monthly reading wrap-ups instead of quarterly, and this year is already off to a strong start as I read six books this month, including one that I’m almost positive will be in my end of year Top 10.

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie

My first book of 2022 was Hercule Poirot’s Christmas which involves the frail but bombastic patriach of the Lee family, Simeon, inviting his relatives for Christmas dinner. The family is absolutely rife with resentment and rivalry, and on Christmas Eve, Simeon is murdered and his uncut diamonds stolen. The retired Belgian Detective, Hercule Poirot, is invited by the local police to help investigate, and discovers a multitude of secrets and deceptions among the household as everyone from his sons and daughters-in-law to the valet seems to have a motive for murdering the old man. I’ve read a few Poirot mysteries and I thoroughly enjoyed this one that had me suspecting then dismissing the murderer and kept me guessing until the end.

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper

I picked this up hoping for a wintry adventure but unusually for a children’s book found this a real slog to get through as it’s very slow paced and I never felt the characters were in much danger. The Dark is Rising follows 11 year old Will Stanton who finds that he is the last of the mysterious Old Ones, a group of druidic Guardians who stand against the Dark that threatens the world. I enjoyed the descriptions of the Stanton’s family Christmas and the pagan and Christmas traditions that are laced throughout the story but not enough to redeem this story for me.

Beartown by Fredrick Backman

Set in Beartown, Sweden, this story follows a group of characters all connected to the local ice hockey team. The junior team is preparing for the national semi-finals and a victory would put the struggling town back on the map bringing tourism and investment. The stakes are high and the pressure on the team is immense, but when one player crosses the line outside the rink, the town has to decide between seeking justice and hushing up the crime. Beartown really captures the stifling claustrophobia of locker rooms, high school and small towns, yet it’s balanced with moments of bravery, loyalty and loving, supportive families and friendships. Beartown was absolutely gripping, tense and full of suspense from start to the end, but not without humour and full of insight about families, friendships, community, wealth and poverty, growing up and growing older, and so much more. This is the first part in a trilogy and I’m really looking forward to returning to Beartown and all its characters, and I’m already predicting that this will be one of my favourite books of the year.

Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

After Beartown I was in the mood for something lighthearted and this YA fantasy follows a broken hearted young woman, Evangeline, who makes a deal with Jacks, the Prince of Hearts, to stop her beloved from marrying her step-sister in exchange for three kisses. It’s a very light-hearted fairy tale with a wicked stepmother, Prince Charming, capricious Fates and vampires but it’s far from predictable. This is the first book in the series and I’m curious to find out what happens next.

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

This is the first part in a fantasy series inspired by pre-Columbian American mythology and culture. Black Sun follows four different characters in the days leading up to a solar eclipse, Naranpa, the Sun Priestess, Xiala a sailor who can control the sea with the power of song, Okoa a warrior from the Carrion Crow clan and Serapio, a human vessel for the Crow God. I really loved the setting and the characters but I felt the pacing let this story down as most of the action happens in the last few chapters so at times it felt like reading an extended prologue, but I’m invested enough to want to know what will happen next.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

A Deadly Eduacation was one of my favourite books last year and while I wait for the final part of the Scholomance trilogy, I decided to borrow one of Naomi Novik’s other books from the library. Uprooted is a strange fairy-tale about a young woman, Agniezska, who is chosen to live with and serve the local wizard, known as the Dragon. Agniezska turns out to be more than just a woodcutter’s daughter and has her own destiny to fulfill as she and the Dragon attempt to stop the Wood that threatens the land steadily swallowing up villages and corrupting everyone that it touches. Uprooted has a lot of interesting ideas and plays with some fantasy and fairytale tropes, and I really enjoyed the magic in this story.

What have you read recently? Have a lovely week. X

January Snow, Scooters and Self Care

I’ve always quite liked January, partly because of the hopefulness of a new year but also because my dad’s birthday falls in the middle of the month, which always gives us something to look forward to and celebrate after Christmas. This year, my dad came up to stay with us over his birthday weekend, and we took a wrapped up walk around Mugdock Country Park together. My dad hasn’t had the easiest time over the last few years, so I feel very lucky and grateful to watch my daughter and her “papa” playing and laughing together now.

Over the last few weeks, there has been a gradual return to our normal routines. Our daughter has returned to nursery, playgroup and toddler sensory, while my husband and I have resumed work, though I’m still mostly based at home with just one day in the office.

As the weather has been fairly mild, usually in single figures but rarely dipping below zero, we’ve been able to get out to the playparks and letting our toddler zoom around the cul-de-sac on her scooter. It’s quite a contrast from last January when it was so cold that we watched people ice-skating on the frozen ponds in the park and we were still under lockdown. We did have a little bit of snow at the start of the month and had fun throwing snowballs at each other in the garden before it melted.

The weekend just passed was a busy one, starting with toddler sensory which involved a bumped head and a nose bleed, lots of tears and cuddles, coffee with our neighbours in the afternoon, and a solo trip to visit my mum chatting over tea and helping her with a few odd jobs around the house and garden.

January has flown in, it’s been a busy month, but one full of family fun and togetherness. Over the next couple of months, I’ll be prioritising self-care, for me that means yoga and reading, cutting down on junk food, caffeine and alcohol, but also reducing the amount of time I spend scrolling on my phone, and spending more time with family and friends. Take care, and have a lovely week. X

2021 ~ My Year in Books

I fell back in love with reading in 2021, I derived so much comfort and pleasure from books, and it was the first year I’ve ever managed to reach my goal of reading 52 books. My final tally was actually 66 books and I reviewed 47 of those on the blog.

I began 2021 with a mystery, a new genre to me, and where better to start than with the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, and Murder on the Orient Express. Agatha Christie ended up being my most read author, as I read five of her Poirot mysteries last year, though Leigh Bardugo, V.E. Schwab and Maggie Stiefvater were close behind with four books each. I started and finished reading whole series last year, binge-reading trilogies and quartets like Shadow and Bone, The Folk of the Air and The Raven Cycle.

Of the 66 books I read, three were actually re-reads. I re-read Maya Angelou’s Letter to my Daughter, as well as two of my all-time favourite novels Jamaica Inn, Daphne du Maurier’s thrilling and chilling tale of smugglers in Cornwall, and Emily Bronte’s gripping story of obsession and revenge, Wuthering Heights.

I read a real mix of fantasy, science fiction, mysteries, magical realism, children’s fiction with a few autobiographies, classics and even a parenting guide thrown in. More than any other genre I found myself drawn to and devouring Young Adult stories, and I found so many new favourite writers and books among them.

My Top 10 favourite books were comprised of stories that captured my imagination, left me wanting more and that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. Among my favourites were fantasy stories inspired by the legends of King Arthur (Legendborn) and Owain Glyndwr (The Raven Boys), West-African folklore (Raybearer) and Arabian mythology (The Empire of Gold) as well as enemies-to-lovers romances (The Wicked King and Dance of Thieves), paranormal mysteries (Ninth House) and even a classic (Pride and Prejudice). I couldn’t put them all in order, but I tracked down hardback copies of Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo and Naomi Novik’s A Deadly Education to survive rereads and because I couldn’t possibly wait for the sequels to come out in paperback, these two were absolute highlights of my reading year.

I’m setting my goal to 52 books for 2022 as well, though this year I’m really hoping to make a bigger dent in my TBR pile (which seems to permanently hover around 40 books) though my most aniticipated books coming out this year are the concluding parts of Naomi Novik’s The Scholomance trilogy and The Inheritance Games trilogy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, and the sequel to Legendborn by Tracy Deonn.

What were your favourite books of 2021? Have a lovely week. X

October – December Reading Wrapup

I’ve ended up with a little backlog of reviews from the final quarter of 2021 so thought I’d share a wrapup of some of the books I read between October and December.

The Hawthorne Legacy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The second part of the Inheritance Games trilogy picks up shortly after the first book with the heiress, Avery, and the Hawthorne brothers investigating the mysterious disappearence of their uncle 20 years ago that led billionaire Tobias Hawthorne to disinherit his family and leave everything to Avery instead. The Hawthorne Legacy is loaded with revelations about Avery’s identity and her connection to the Hawthorne family as well as the kidnappings, death threats, explosions and romance that makes this series gripping and so much fun to read.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

The great Belgian Detective Hercule Poirot has retired to the English countryside to grow marrows, but when the wealthy Roger Ackroyd is murdered, he’s compelled to investigate, taking on the narrator, Dr Sheppard as his sidekick. This is a very clever murder mystery as Poirot gradually uncovers the secrets each of the suspects is hiding from debt to drug addiction, until he reveals the real muderer, the motive and method. I actually guessed the murderer fairly early on, but still enjoyed as it’s far from predictable with plenty of red herrings and misdirection.

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

This had such a slow start that I almost gave up on it, but I’m so glad I persevered as by the end my heart was racing and it brought a tear to my eye. The Once and Future Witches is set in an alternative history in 1893, and follows the three Eastwood sisters, Bella, Agnes and Juniper, as they bring witchcraft to the women’s rights movement. While suffragettes campaign for the vote and the city prepares for Mayoral elections, an unnatural fever spreads and sisnister shadows stalk New Salem. Threaded by retellings of fairy tales, the Eastwood sisters each represent and subvert the feminine archetypes of Crone, Mother and Maiden, and their own relationships with one another are complex combining misunderstandings and betrayals with love and loyalty. This is a story of female empowerment but full of love, courage, family, friendship, sacrifice and magic.

Halloween Party by Agatha Chrisite

Joyce, a thirteen year old girl, reveals that she once witnessed a murder at a Halloween party, and later she is found drowned in pail used for bobbing for apples. When Poirot starts to investigate, he finds that solving the murder young Joyce claimed to have witnessed may be necessary before he can solve her murder. I admit I struggled with this mystery, partly because it wasn’t the atmospheric or spooky read I was hoping for, but also because almost none of the other characters had anything kind to say about the victim all describing her as a liar and a show-off, which seemed callous regarding the murder of a teenager.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

I put off reading this for a long time because I’d heard so many glowing reviews that I wasn’t sure it would live up to the hype. The story follows Adeline “Addie” LaRue who trades her soul in exchange for immortality with an old and capricious diety, who grants her wish but with the caveat that no one will be able to remember her once she is out of sight. Other reviews had me expecting this to be a contemporary romance, and it does focus on two significant relationships in Addie’s life, the first with the toxic, possessive and manipulative God, Luc, who granted her immortality, and the second with Henry, a New York bookseller who becomes the first person in 300 years to remember Addie, but has a few dark secrets of his own. I often find V.E. Schwab’s books have slow beginnings but I actually thought this had a fairly brisk start but lost momentum in the middle and the ending felt rushed, but the pacing issues didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment, it’s a bittersweet and haunting story of love, time, life and Faustian bargains.

Daughter of a Pirate King and Daughter of the Siren Queen by Tricia Levenseller

This is a lighthearted fantasy swashbuckler duology about a female pirate, Alosa, who is sent on a mission by her father, the fearsome Pirate King, which involves getting taken hostage by a rival pirate crew. The plot is definitely secondary to the romance between Alosa and the First Mate, Riden, but this was so much fun that I didn’t mind at all. In the sequel, Alosa turns against her father when she discovers a brutal betrayal and learns more about her Siren heritage, it’s a tense, angsty and bloodthirsty conclusion but still an easy, fun read.

Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir

The second book in this series had a very slow start, but the third lauches straight into the action. The narrative follows Laia as she tries to lead the Scholar Resistance, her lover, Elias who has become the Soul Catcher guiding spirits to the afterlife, and Helene, a Martial Warrior trying to stop the ruthless Commandant and the Nightbringer from destroying the Martial Empire . Reaper at the Gates is tense, brutal and gripping.

Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson

I was genuinely surprised to find another favourite so close to the end of the year. Dance of Thieves follows Kazi, an orphan and thief that was recruited into the Vedhan Queen’s Elite Guard, who has been tasked with tracking down a fugitive wanted for treason and mass murder, and Jase, the new Patrei and leader of the Ballenger family from a little country eager to prove their sovereignity and legitimacy. I was absolutely hooked by this enemies-to-lovers to enemies-to-lovers again fantasy romance, full of twists and betrayals as the protagonists struggle with their conflicting loyalties and secrets.

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

I don’t read much science fiction but I make an exception for Becky Chambers’ Wayfarers series because they are such thoughtful, comforting reads. A Closed and Common Orbit is set shortly after The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, following the ship’s AI which has been downloaded into an illegal, synthetic body, and a human engineer called Pepper who agrees to take care of her. The narrative switches between the AI’s present and Pepper’s past leading up to the present. It’s a slow moving but engaging story about found family, friendship, identity and purpose.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken

I picked up this children’s classic when I was in the mood for a wintry story, and thoroughly enjoyed this thrilling and chilling adventure about two cousins, Bonnie and Sylvia, who have to outwit the scheming and cruel governesses and their criminal associates trying to turn them out of their home and seize their family’s wealth.

The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read by Philippa Perry

I’ve been dipping into this parenting book since September, and really enjoyed this reassuring, informative and inspiring book that challenges the reader to consider how their own childhood experiences might be influencing their parenting and offers some solid advice on how to strengthen and improve the relationship between parent and child at any age.

Apologies for the length of this post, but 2021 was a great year for reading and I read so many wonderful books that I wanted to capture my thoughts about. Have a lovely week. X

New Year Greetings!

The Christmas tree has started to droop, branches bowed under the weight of the baubles, and tomorrow I’ll put the decorations away for another year, but I’m still enjoying the lull after a busy festive period before work and nursery resume later this week.

This is the second year we’ve hosted Christmas, and my parents stayed with us for a few nights. Our daughter loved having her papa and grandma around to play with, and all the exciting new toys and books she received. My husband deserves all the credit for singlehandedly cooking Christmas Dinner including a turkey crown for my dad (and our cat) and Quorn roasts for the rest of us. Though in addition to the Christmas cake and Dundee cakes, I also baked Zimtsterne (cinnamon stars) for the first time when my in-laws visited for a buffet.

With the exception of my parents and in-laws, we’ve kept our socialising to a minimum to avoid Covid19, but we did have a lovely playdate with my daughter’s cousins and a wee jaunt to the Solway Coast to visit close friends, where the little one also got to pet the ponies in their field.

We spent New Year’s Eve at home sipping champagne and watching Disney’s Encanto, which was a refreshing twist on the chosen one story and I loved the vibrant Latin American setting. We were all in bed before midnight but it was a cosy way to end the year. Over the last few days, we’ve spent most of our time at home, reading, watching TV and playing on the floor with our daughter and her new toys. The excitement of Christmas coincided with a developmental leap (our daughter’s language skills seem to have exploded and she’s started stringing sentences together) which has meant her sleep has been pretty disrupted all through December, but she’s such a cheerful little person and so much fun that it’s hard to mind a bit of sleep deprivation now and then.

January is a peaceful month to recover from the hustle and bustle of the festive period, a chance to reflect on the year behind and full of the hopefulness of new beginnings. Despite everything, 2021 was a good year for us with family adventures to the beach, a few playdates, and our daughter’s first visits to the zoo, aquarium and light shows. My fears about sending my daughter to nursery 3 days a week when I returned to work were completely unfounded, as she’s settled in better than I could’ve hoped and usually rushes through the door to find her friends with barely a wave goodbye or backward glance. We also undertook home renovations that we’ve been planning since we moved in five years ago to extend the kitchen and add a downstairs bathroom. Most of all I’ve appreciated time spent with family and friends after so long apart during lockdowns.

There’s been a cold wind blowing today, but whenever it dropped I felt the warmth of the sun and noticed the first hellebores had flowered in the garden, little joys to savour while we’re in the bleak midwinter. Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year! X