Reading Matters

As the weeks canter on and it becomes standard for bits of paper to fly out of my diary every time I open it, as cups of tea more often go cold than are drunk, and life seems to be changing all around me at a pace, my bed becomes my desert island. 

For a few precious moments before sleep descends, or in that bright, sunny first half hour of Saturday morning, it has become my very favourite thing to snuggle up in my duvet, with a cup of (still hot) tea at my elbow, and dip into the ever-present mountain of reading matter on my bedside table. At least until Bea decides it's breakfast time, anyway.

Usually there is at least a yellowed, vintage number or two, but this month it's been all about the shiny and new non-fiction books, and the glossy, inspiring lifestyle and craft magazines. My bed has turned into my classroom, where I prop myself up and fill my brain with all sorts of useful advice on running a creative business (all tips on doing that and working full time are eagerly absorbed!) 

The Craftsman by Richard Sennett was recommended at Folksy Summer School, and is all about the concept of craftsmanship, and its place in the modern world; a subject I find fascinating, and as a designer-maker, am very passionate about. 

I'm yet to start this one (officially, anyway. There's a copy at my work I keep trying to start in my breaks but I get interrupted!) but I found Kari Chapman's preceding book, The Handmade Marketplace very handy when starting my Etsy shop, despite it being mainly aimed at an American audience. 

I attended a talk by Doug Richard at Folksy Summer School and he was certainly energetic! I liked his direct approach when dealing with makers' business dilemmas so I'm looking forward to giving myself a taste of the same medicine with this one. Maybe a good way to get myself motivated at 7am on a Sunday?! 

A bit of a fiction free month then, though I'm very much eager to get stuck into the next read for my Pretty Nostalgic Book Club. It's a Christmas one - magazines always mean the festive season starts extra early!

Which reads are cluttering up your bedside table this month?

Pretty Nostalgic Vintage Book Club

Some of you may know I have been a contributor to a fantastic magazine a number of times in the past called Pretty Nostalgic, an independent publication celebrating all things vintage, handmade and brilliantly British. Their latest venture is the Vintage Book Club, and when they asked me whether I'd be interested in starting one well... let's just say I broke my promise to myself that I wasn't going to take anything else on without a moment's thought!

Thanks go to Amy Farry for helping me sort a fab venue in Sheffield on a pretty tight deadline, and between us we recruited the book club's first members, meeting at The Old House bar, to talk about our first vintage read. The theme of this meeting was Children's Adventure Classics, and the title, The Wind in the Willows. 

I chose this book because although I knew the story well, I had never actually read it. Also, I loved the idea of the book starting in Spring and going full circle through the seasons, and as we've been waiting for our own warmer weather to arrive for so long it seemed to be a good fit! 

So I dug out my grand grandfather's copy of the book from the 1920s, together with my more recent edition, and got stuck into this tale of friendship, adventure and British nature. And oh, how I loved getting lost in this story! It quickly became apparent during our meeting that we had all enjoyed it, and we had a good giggle imagining Mr. Toad as a sort of Russell Brand character! 

The Old House were the perfect host for our little gathering. Good food, a cosy and friendly atmosphere and one (very Mr. Toad) flaming cocktail on the part of one of our members and we were happy bookworms!

I have wanted to join a book club for such a long time, and I think the vintage element makes for a interesting twist. As it turns out, Amy and I are both BA Hons. English graduates of the same university, so I think we both enjoyed the chance to chat about old books with new friends... without a tutor demanding deeper and more insightful interpretations of our chosen text...

 Mind you, all of us did come up with some thought-provoking theories on the true meaning of The Wind in the Willows and the relationships between its much-loved characters. I really enjoyed getting stuck into a good conversation about this tale.

I'm looking forward to the next meeting already, and will keep you posted on our group's bookish journey right here. And if you're ever in Sheffield, do pay The Old House a visit. You can read all about the other Pretty Nostalgic Book Club's meetings up and down the country in the magazine itself and on their blog soon.

I'd love to know whether you have read The Wind in the Willows and if so, what you thought of it. And how about Kenneth Grahame's lesser known classic, The Reluctant Dragon? It's one of my all-time favourites!

What I've Been Reading

The Bought New

I'm not going to go into detail on this first read as I'll be sharing the fun of our first Sheffield vintage book club meeting next week. I knew the story of The Wind in the Willows well as a child through an abridged audio version of the book and the David Jason animated film, but I had never actually read it. I absolutely loved it and found it a really relaxing read.

The Thrifted

Way back in the mists of time, when this blog was but a mere dot on the blogging landscape, I think I may have mentioned my weakness - nay love affair - with the very lengthy and epic Outlander saga, the tale of Claire, a woman from the 1940's who stumbles through a stone circle near Loch Ness and finds herself in 1743. There she gets married off against her will to a dashing young scotsman named Jamie Fraser, and so far there have been nine - soon to be ten - whopping volumes telling of their adventures. Oh, and the four spin off books that you can start halfway through the Outlander series.

 Yes, the plot at face value seems a little clichéd, but what I love about these books is that Diana Gabaldon never meant for the first book, Cross Stitch (American title Outlander), to be published. Struggling to find a book she wanted to read, she decided to write one for herself, and because no one was going to read it she threw everything imaginable in there: adventure, battles, pirates, time travel, a romance I dare you not to become completely absorbed in, death, history... you name it, it's in there. 

The Fiery Cross is the fifth in the series, and I tend to read lots of other books and then treat myself to the next in the sequence as I come across them, because I know I will be instantly drawn in. This one is no exception. Anything to do with history - and particularly the Battle of Culloden - is a hit for me, and I never get tired of reading about Jamie and Claire. Claire in particular fascinates me as a strong modern doctor finding herself in a time where women should be seen but not heard. By this book her own time is the 1960's, and man has just walked on the moon. In the 1700's she's still struggling to convince her patients that they need to brush their teeth.

If you like historical fiction you won't be disappointed - the historical research for these books is second to none - so I urge you to try these books. Buy Outlander, and as Gabaldon says, read three pages. If you can put it down again she'll give you a dollar.

The Audiobook

March's Audible download came as a recommendation by Jo of The Dexterous Diva. The title immediately piqued my curiosity and I looked it up. I loved the concept Marianne Cantwell puts forth on her website so I knew I wanted to give this book my full attention. And I'm so pleased I did! It's a simple concept. So many of us feel 'caged' into our careers - we have to go to work to make money to live, and we live so we can go to work so we can live. Quite often someone else dictates where we work, whether we work, how much we get paid and how our working life looks. Too many of us are miserable spending hours each week commuting and being stuck in offices, dreaming of more freedom and counting down the days until our next bit of time off. Quite rightly, Cantwell argues that this entire concept is bonkers, and her book sets out a range of ways by which it's possible to break free of the cage and become a free range human. 

Have I quit my job? Well... no. But I found myself nodding and shouting 'that's my life!' more times than I can count throughout this book, and it really made me think about my dreams and plans for the future. I think the greatest gift this book has is the ability to change mindsets. It changed my thinking  from 'it would be great to be one of those people who could do that' to 'why not me?' I'll definitely be giving it another listen and working through the exercises, and if you've ever wondered what wondrous things you could be doing to earn a living instead of turning up to work for someone else every day, I'd recommend you give this a read/listen. It makes a lot of sense. 

As for the audio version, it's read by Caroline Lennon, and although she reads well, she seems a little well-spoken for Cantwell's enthusiastic tone and language so sentences such as 'right freakin' now!' sound positively comedic. For me, this book worked well in audio form though, as I was able to listen while exercising or in the bath, which helped me to finish the book where otherwise annoying things like getting to work on time (!) would have meant I put the book down and didn't return to it as often as I should.

Have you read any ripping good yarns over the last few weeks?

What I've Been Reading

If you've been reading this blog for a while you'll know I adore books. You may have gleaned this through the knowledge that I'm a big fan of Beatrix Potter, that I've featured my six hundred strong book collection, or that I mention children's books quite a lot. The thing is, while I talk about books a fair bit, I don't actually blog about the actual reading of them. Odd, eh?

Well, I've decided to remedy this with a new monthly feature where I share with you the books I have been reading. Not just stacking up on my groaning bookshelves, but actually reading. I'm hoping that it will be a trap for myself, too, as I don't make enough time to read these days. So here goes, the following constitutes my reading matter since Christmas:

The Bought New

Bird Brain ~ Guy Kennaway

This was an impulse buy - part of the good old Waterstones 3 for 2. The very jolly chap who served me gave a hearty chuckle when I went to pay, saying this was 'quite definitely' on his own reading list for Christmas. I always imagine bookshop staff to be connoisseurs of the paper world, so this gave a little validation to my impulsive ways. 

I wasn't disappointed. It's an odd story, all about a  grumpy, none-too-nice aristocrat called Basil 'Banger' Peyton-Crumbe. He is proud to have shot over forty-one thousand birds in his shooting career, but dies in a shooting accident practically on page one...and is reincarnated as a pheasant. What follows is a very humorous sort of murder mystery, mostly told through one confused and frightened pompous pheasant and his ex-pet dogs. 

This book was like a cross between Roald Dahl's Danny, the Champion of the World and PG Wodehouse, so I was one happy reader. I'm really glad I gave into my impulses and bought this book, and it made a nice light read, too.

The Borrowed

The Art of Non-Conformity ~ Chris Guillebeau

I have been following Chris Guillebeau on Twitter for a while now, and was curious about his life philosophy, especially for one so young. Essentially he believes is escaping the rat race, making a living through unconventional means, and helping others in the process. He is also on a mission to visit every country in the world. Having spent some time reading his blog I then spotted this book at my local library, so I knew I had to find out more. (I also liked the typography on the cover. Yes, I am that easily drawn in). 

I wouldn't really call this a self-help book*. It's more of a case of Guillebeau dancing around in front of his reader shouting, 'Yes! There is more to life! No! You don't have to do what society expects you to in order to be successful! It's a book full of ideas and pokes to re-assess what you want out of life, rather than a guide to doing it, but then a book can't tell you what to do in your personal circumstances, can it? I'd recommend this if you're after some inspiration and motivation, some reassurance that there is another way to live your life and earn money, but don't expect a step by step to actually doing it. I have his other book The $100 Startup waiting to be read too.

Slim for Life ~ Jason Vale

Now, this is a book which turned up in the internal post at work, loaned to me by a colleague. It had a post-it slapped on the front which read, 'this is not a hint that you need to lose weight. It's because you kept going on about reducing the sugar in your diet!!!' Ahem, yes well, it could be said that I have been 'harping on' about sugar a lot lately. I was a little dubious about this book simply because the title put me off and I was worried it would be one of those ' The government is evil. They are pumping us all full of chemicals and brainwashing us and we're all going to die!' sorts of books. For all I know the food industry is evil, but I don't want to be all depressed over my evening (now nonsugared) cuppa either!

So...it is one of those 'the government is trying to kill us' books. And I do now suspect that many of the foods we have been told - or have told ourselves - are good for us for decades now, are in fact terrible for our health. Like many, I've had worries about processed foods for some time. What I don't like is that this book made me incensed and angry, and confused about the reality of the food we eat. Instead I'd like to calmly take these ideas on board, then start making small changes like perhaps growing more of my own veg and eating less processed food, as well as accepting that I can't control the content of everything food I come across. This book is written from a point of view - just one point of view - and although it argues for the reader's health and liberation from the unhealthy concepts around what we eat, it's in danger of being as brainwashing and scaremongering as the food industry Vale hates so much. 

That said, it admits all this on the back cover. It states that this book exposes the sugar and food industry, and the true nature of drug-like food and drinks. If I don't like it, maybe I shouldn't read it. And did it make me change my ways with sugar? Yes. So it must have done some good. 

The Thrifted

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell ~ Susanna Clarke

This is a title which has been swimming around since 2004. If you haven't read it, you've quite possibly heard of it. I had heard of it, knew it involved magicians and Yorkshire, and knew it had to go on my list. I bagged this copy for 70p in a charity shop, and was doubly smug at the knowledge that it will also make an excellent doorstop. 

I really enjoyed this book. It was a really good, absorbing yarn full of mysterious dark houses, wintry adventures and mystery, magic and nineteenth-century history. It made me want a weekend in York and to listen to legends in front of the fire. I also thought Clarke's writing was spellbinding. Neil Gaiman liked it and so did I. 

A Taste of the Country ~ Jimmy Doherty

Another charity shop steal in autumn last year. The week I got this I had brought home a large bag full of wild garlic and another of field mushrooms. My thoughts were turning to bonfires, homecooked hearty meals and harvesting, and a quick flick through this book by the best friend of Jamie Oliver promised ideas for foodie blog posts and simple recipe ideas for all year round.

Yes, it is a recipe book, but I do like the concept of cooking with thrifted and homegrown ingredients, something many of us are interested in since food prices soared. I'd like to cook with more seasonal ingredients, and I'm not a fan of complicated cookery, so this gave me some good ideas. There are sections on gathering, growing, pickling and preserving, cooking on an open fire, and even smoking foods, which I found interesting. If nothing else, if you dream of a country smallholding like me, and simple meals by the fire in good company (and some sloe gin) you'll like the lifestyle that this book represents. 

The Audiobook

Is It Just Me? ~ Miranda Hart

I'm a member of Audible, so for £8 per month (though they often have offers of £3.99 for the first three months) I get one audiobook. Seeing as buying audiobooks full price can leave little change out of fifty squid at times, I like this service a lot. I download my book to my iPhone, and listen while doing housework, driving, exercising, etc., and it's a good way to listen to long or heavy-going books which I would like to read but know I will never make the time to sit down and pay my full attention to.

That said... there was no way on earth that this month's audiobook could be called a heavy-going book! I have wanted Is It Just Me? since it came out, then decided it would be fun to listen to Miranda Hart reading her book to me. You know, like a few hours of her sitcom to listen to while cleaning out the guinea pig and hoovering the dog. Perfection.

I really, really enjoyed it. Listening to this cheered me up after a long day. I laughed out loud. I nodded in recognition, then frightened myself that I could identify quite so well with Miranda's social awkwardness, quirks and her chapter on the relationship between a woman and her dog (yes, I celebrate my dog's birthday too). The book is not an autobiography, but more of a dialogue between grown up Miranda and her eighteen year-old self 'Little M' on various big life subjects like technology, working life, relationships and... family Christmas.  My only gripe with this book - and maybe this was more apparent in the audio version - was that Little M is presented as eighteen, yet she's a gawky, naive public school girl filled with questions about kissing boys, an obsession with Jason Donovan and excelling at lacrosse. The idea of Little M driving, drinking alcohol or being at university seems a long way off in this book, which I found a little unbelievable, and think she would have been better off being presented as fourteen. Nonetheless I loved this book and reckon it's a read for anyone wanting a giggle and some reassurance that life can be a baffling and awkward experience for us all. I really found the last chapter very moving. 

I hope you enjoyed this first romp through my recent reading matter. I am under no illusions that the list will be as long next month, but then Easter isn't far away, so I am hoping for some more relaxation time.

Have you read any corkers of the paper variety lately?







*If we might clear up the whole thing many people seem to have with self-help books while I'm here. I like self-help books, that is to say I like some self-help books. I have learned and continue to learn a lot from them, they help me take a different perspective on my own life, and through that shift in attitudes about myself and my surroundings they have enabled me to go ahead and make positive changes. What I really dislike is the term 'self-help books' and all the connotations of desperation, human weakness and the stampede for perfection that come with the label. It makes me think of Bridget Jones on New Year's Day. It's like a hangover term from the 1990's.  I will continue to use the term 'self-help' because then we all know what sort of book - or guide - I'm talking about in this series. There are a lot of truly abominable self-help books out there, like those that encourage us to go on fad diets, or 'fake it 'til you make it', but I have no problem with the concept of a book which aims to facilitate an intelligent person to make positive changes in their own life. After all, a book can't make you do anything! One of the reasons I love to read is that both fiction and non-fiction allow me to experience the world through the eyes of others, to learn how other people perceive situations both familiar and alien to myself. I'd have to meet and get to know a lot of people to get the same results without the help of books. 

My Book Collection

Back in early October blogging friend Miss Imogen Smith started a new tag, inviting her readers to share what's on their bookshelves. I've finally got round to showing you mine! Brace yourselves and please excuse some of the photos being slighty fuzzy - I've been having a few camera problems this week and this one wasn't my usual.

I think my book collection is getting near the six hundred mark now. Like many book collectors I didn't actually set out to collect them at all; I just love reading. As a child I owned only a few much-loved books, but used to borrow and devour six books from my local library each week. When I moved to Sheffield aged nine and joined a new library I couldn't believe I was only allowed to borrow three, and had to get more on my mum's ticket!

My book collection only started to really grow when I won a writing competition at the age of sixteen. Part of the prize was a £100 Waterstones voucher. That, followed by a growing fascination with literature gained while studying for a degree in English... and well, the collection just kept on growing...

Reading and writing have always been my 'things'. I love stories of all shapes and sizes and think this is reflected in the variety of genres I own. Everything from historical fiction to classics to children's books live on my shelves. 

I'm not fussy about collecting certain editions, though the nicest editions I own have been birthday and Christmas gifts. I buy from second hand bookshops, Amazon, The Book People, charity shops, car boot sales and independent bookshops. Some books have been passed onto me by relatives.

I own a lot of fiction, but this is interspersed with non-fiction on all sorts of subjects, from social history to crafts, business to poetry. Although I hate the desperate term 'self-help books' I do own several and have always found them inspiring, especially because they allow me to look at life's problems and possible solutions from a different perspective. The only genre I own very little of is biographies - I'm not sure why but I'm irritated by the way celebrities start to churn them out around Christmas time!

As Anthony Powell said, 'books do a furnish a room' and I love how cosy mine make my living space look. I have two large bookcases - one in my sitting room and one in my office. They don't match, and I have plans to back at least one of them with vintage wallpaper at some stage. 

These days my books have to live more or less in alphabetical order otherwise they'd be a mess. It's funny though, that even if I'm looking for a book and can't remember the author I can usually put my hand on it without thinking, which just shows how the colours and shapes of a book collection can settle in the subconscious so I know it better than I think. I don't think I've ever been in a bookshop and been unable to remember whether I already have a title - each book I own is treasured.

People tend to assume that I never get rid of a book, and though it's true that there are plenty of books I would like to keep forever, if I read a book and don't think I'll read it again I have no qualms about moving it on to a grateful new owner. I think books are for sharing and enjoying. 

That said, I hope I've built a book collection that future generations of my family will love to explore, that I might inspire a young reader one day... and what a gift to pass on books are!

(And yes, they are hoovered regularly. It's a mammoth job each time!)

If you fancy taking part in the book tag please send a link to Imogen and me, and I hope you've enjoyed noseying around my collection.

Have a bookish Friday,