Set in 1414, this is a really interesting short novel about the imagined intersection of the medieval lives of Margery Kempe ( who published the first ever autobiography) and Julian of Norwich - who wrote the earliest surviving book in English written by a woman.

I love the Wainwright Prize - I think it‘s the one prize that I try to read most of the longlist and end up loving most of them! Got 6 of these so far and working my way through!

I‘m about halfway through so far and loving this one - learning lots about how previous generations and civilisations have shaped how we access land, what paths we take and how the countryside is shaped.

What are you reading now?

Listened to a podcast last week that led me to discovering Ethel Haythornthwaite, a major environmental campaigner in the U.K. on the 40‘s & 50‘s. Cant wait now to read more about this remarkable woman.

The endpapers of this are just gorgeous! #prettybooks

#wonderouswednesday
1- 52 books and 20,000 pages! I try not to make it too much of a stretch so I don‘t shy away from slow reads.
2- By the last 50 pages of my current book I like to be planning my next read. I hate finishing a book and not knowing what comes next.
3- I‘ve learnt so much, walking in other people‘s shoes, helping me connect with a wider world. And of course - bookish friends!

Wow - how is this a debut! Fantastic story telling, amazing working and characters that will live with me for a long time. The best I‘ve ever read on intimacy, complexity of character and what it means to be a woman. Add to that trauma, historical legacies and the power of memory and place and you‘ve got a cracking novel.

Loved this biblio mystery. It took me into a world I knew little about, and reimagined that world so brilliantly I could smell the leather bindings, feel the creaks of the wooden floors amongst the shelves and imagine the thrill of the ‘chase‘. It was a great delve into obsession, greed and the ugliness of arrogance. I feel it should have had a content warning though for desecration of books - my heart didn‘t like it!!

I‘m never usually lucky at the Goodwill - but today was my day! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Perfect combo!

Just discovered this website - it has a huge collection of replica books jackets heaps of golden age crime ones…. Might be tempted the get one and frame it for my little reading space.

Loved having this read to me by Nigella whilst following along in print. Her enthusiasm for food is infectious & her passion for pleasure, adaptation & full flavour. Each chapter begins with rumination on a theme, then chat recipes, and then the recipes themselves. She swops things in and out with availability and seasons and sent me back into the kitchen excited to see what was in the fridge! Also appreciated her contentions to ‘solo supper‘.

Good start to my new book! 🤩

Loving this so far. The ‘painter‘ Gainsborough was born and work a few towns over from where we live and I know his work well. It‘s really engaging to read the fictional story of how some his most famous pieces were painted - a real behind the scenes type tour!

One shirt (c8,000 ! Memories of the film - priceless!

I loved the beginning of this - Miss Marple in the early 1960‘s with new housing reaching the village, a self service supermarket, and vacuum cleaners taking over from carpet sweepers! There‘s a really humorous take on what changes and what stays the same in a community over time. The mystery was very guessable - and I don‘t like that. I never even try to guess but this one just falls on your lap early on!

Perfect bookmark pairing for this one!

Very sympathetic biography of a pioneering Victorian plantswoman. Told with wit and generosity, this story of inheritance, love, friendship and daffodil bulbs is well researched and engaging. Each chapter begins with an archival object and that really brought to life the process of retelling this amazingly unconventional woman‘s life. I will never look at a daffodil the same way again. Loved it!

I‘m really enjoy this - I‘m listening to the audio and reading along. Never done this before with a cook book and it‘s a really a lovely experience. Highly recommend it.

An enjoyable mystery superbly written. The characters are lively and well drawn - with many quirks and oddities! Put these characters into an equally complex setting where the smallest details create atmosphere and builds a strong, visual stage and it becomes a much more complex and engaging mystery than many. Written in 1932 it is evocative of its time.

Interconnected stories of the lives touched by a particular house in Delhi. The power of this slim book is in the detail brought to everyday activity - a range of characters doing small things against the evocative backdrop of the city. It‘s full of longing, sadness, class issues and politics - played out in everyday minute scenes. The food and heat bring a welcome warmth to the reading of this book. A fab debut.

The atmosphere of this novel, with its Victorian parlours complete with buffet tables laden with blancmange & walls bursting with taxidermy was fun! The characters were memorble & they gave a window into the spiritualism scene in early Victorian London. Especially liked seeing a ‘mature‘ female leading character. How a séance would have been conducted and how mediums create the atmosphere for these was fascinating. A fun read. Not too taxing!

Love a book and bookmark set!

Love this list! I‘ve read two, loved them both and have a further 2 waiting on my shelf! Feel pretty chuffed with my reading choices! 👍🏼

Cooking from this book this month - pleased to discover Carlin Peas - a U.K. native pea a bit like a nutty chick pea. Great to see heritage crops back on the shelves. 👍🏼

This is the second new bookshop near to us that has opened in the last 6 months - so happy to see bookshops revived and breathing life back into the high street 🙏

Really wanted a lie in this morning and a hour with my book - but I just couldn‘t concentrate with Woodford‘s eyes boring into me! Needless to say I did one chapter then we did a 10k forest hike! He won! 🤣

There are advantages to a rainy Saturday afternoon!

I was listening to a podcast this week that talked about Immersive Reading - Reading a physical book whilst simultaneously listening to the audio. I‘m going to give it a go. I picked this one because who doesn‘t like the idea of Nigella talking about food she loves!

Really moved by this story - it was a heartbreaking account of the effects of police brutality on a family and community. The pain and anger builds strength across generations and the effects of the injustice only intensifies as time passes. Deeply moving story, well told with a pace that draws you along. The only thing I didn‘t quite buy into was the character voice - some of the younger ones didn‘t sound their age.

Thanks for the tag @Cuilin
1- Gotta love Miss Marple
2- Dr Will Raven & Sarah Fisher
3- Charlotte Holmes

#TLT

Linford takes units of time - seconds, minutes, hours, weeks etc and writes short entries on how that unit of time effects different food from the exact minutes to make a perfect cup of tea to the years to mature a port. She meets lots of amazingly talented and dedicated farmers, producers and shops who champion quality and heritage. Very engaging read, full of little snippets of knowledge and windows into other worlds. Loved it

I promise myself every time I pick up this book to try something different. But I love these amaretti cookies - so back to the old favourite I go! 🤣

You can never have too much brownie right? Tried this new recipe from the tagged booked today - really gooey middle which is fabulous. It‘s going to be great with ice cream! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Thanks for the tag @Crazeedi
My 3 quirks!
1- I‘m a neat freak - everything has to be in its place !
2- I‘m wary of food that has an odd texture!
3- I can only read one book at a time!

#thelistthursday #TLT @dabbe

Sorry I‘m a bit behind ! Thanks for the tag @Texreader ♥️
1- Give our neighbours as much support as we can - they‘re going through a tough time.
2- Tag An interesting take on time as an essential component in coming. I‘m reading all about ‘minutes‘ at the moment!
3- adventurous and thorough… maybe???

Now January comes to a close - and my #audlangspine reads are in the bag - I‘m moving on to this years reading theme - books about food !

Once you start making bread - it‘s hard to know when to stop! Sourdough, rye, focaccia and a sourdough baguette - bread for dinner tonight I think! The tagged book is fab it‘s a slim, down to earth volume that just tells you enough to get you started.

That a fabulous start to a new reading year. Thank you @monalyisha and @Singout for getting the year off to a cracking start
#auldlangspine2024

Of course - I live in a house with books everywhere! This little shelf is my plant department! Care to share something for #nationalshelfieday ?

Pleased to pick this up in my little local bookstore today. Humphrey‘s is very inspiring and encouraging of everyone to get outside and enjoy nature. As a response to climate issues and national honey pot sites being over visited his new ideas are about taking one map - where you live - and exploring it grid by grid.

The fiction, nature and city section of my shelves seem to be dangerously near capacity! What to do!

This was really honest, thought provoking and full of good advice. Really loved the chapters on boundaries and changing perspectives and the themes running throughout which gives praise to being kind to yourself, managing expectations and finding a longer lasting, sustainable happy. One small niggle - so many of the examples and case studies were about motherhood and being a parent. Thought she should maybe have cast the net a little wider.

A heart wrenching account of the care system during the height of the opioid scandal. Likeable, complex, full of heart & shame Demon is an engaging character that carried the story in tense fever pitch mode for 500+ pgs. As a reworking of David Copperfield it is a genius novel of powerful themes, questions around social justice & fate, but even if you put that genius aside the story is brilliant & Lee County will stay with you for along time.

Starting my third #auldlangspine2024. Think this one is going to be a heart breaker! Thanks @Singout for getting me to this one!

I‘m a little late to the party with this one - but January seems to be a good month to bump it up the TBR! I‘m going in …..

Celebrating its centenary this year - this book is perhaps better described as a youthful adventure with high jinks than a mystery. Anne was sweet and foolhardy and alongside her band of fellow adventurers this felt like a grown up Famous Five adventure! There are aristocrats, politicians, jewel thieves, ocean voyages, distant lands, all with an Empire feel. Harmless - but I‘m glad Christie experimented and then moved on!

Wow - that was intense. Thank you so much @Singout for pushing me out of my reading comfort zone. In another life I want to be a researcher - to be able to build worlds, recreate lives and give voices to people and tell them they matter and they‘re loved. A amazing story that went wide and personal and taught me a lot. #auldlangspine

I‘ve loved doing this puzzle and spotting the 90+ clues to Christie‘s novels that it contains!

I should really start my next IRL Bookclub book - but I enjoyed my first #auldlangspine book from @Singout so much that I‘m diving into the second pick from her list ( bookclub isn‘t for a few weeks - I‘ll speed read that one!🤣)