Seasonal Reading

October 24, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / 2 Comments

This last week I have realised that my reading habits are changing with the season. I spent the last few months doing as much of this as possible.

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I especially love sitting by the sea but reading outside anywhere is something which gives me a huge amount of joy.

It has suddenly got much colder though and although I am still reading outside when I can – I hope to do so tomorrow as it is meant to be sunny – I am also tending to spend much more time curled up inside with a blanket and a book. Cats are optional.

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I love autumn and this has to be one of the best bits!

The actual books I read are changing too – I have read many lighter books over the summer but I am now definitely craving some more serious books. I am currently in the middle (almost exactly!) of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell which I have been meaning to read for simply ages. After that I have three classics already lined up – Frankenstein, Sylvia’s Lovers and Framley Parsonage. At least, that is my plan at the moment. I will almost certainly feel a desperate need to read something different in between!

In Praise and Celebration of Book Clubs

October 3, 2018October 3, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / Leave a comment

For many years I wanted to join a book club. The idea of meeting a lot of like minded people to talk about books was wonderful but I was hampered by two things. Firstly, there weren’t any near me and secondly I was hesitant about committing myself to reading books I didn’t like. Not that I expected to hate them all – I just knew there would be some I didn’t.

However, when there was an opportunity to set one up at work I jumped at the chance. I am so glad I did! Yes, there have been books I really did not like but there have been others that I loved – even some that I would not have picked up if left to myself.

I have also genuinely enjoyed the discussions and it is great to be able to have them with a group of people who love books just as much as me. Besides, I’ve learnt that if I really hate a book I don’t have to finish it. That makes an interesting discussion too.

Side note: this is neither a book I hated, nor one I didn’t want to read. I suggested the group read it for our meeting next week and I am gripped by it. Hopefully they have been enjoying it too!

Book Festival Fun

September 26, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / Leave a comment

We are currently in the middle of one of my favourite weeks of the year – Appledore Book Festival.

I love book festivals anyway but there is something about Appledore which makes me extra happy – perhaps it is the sea or the fact that the sun always seems to be shining!

I always have a stall at the book fair, this year on the first Sunday of the festival. It is always nice to share my books with so many book lovers and I had a great time.

Bookseller’s view of a book fair

I also spend a few days working at the festival which is another joy. I get to meet so many fascinating people and, again, talk to loads of other book lovers.

Perhaps best of all though is the reading time – it doesn’t get much better than this!

Book Review – Pages & Co

September 20, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / 6 Comments

I love books about books so I was very excited to receive a review copy of Pages & Co: Tilly and the Bookwanderers by Anna James from Harpercollins. The heroine lives in a book shop – what could be better?

Publisher’s Blurb
A captivating, curl-up-on-the-sofa debut about the magic of books and the power of the imagination.

Since her mother’s disappearance, eleven-year-old Tilly has found comfort in stories at Pages & Co., her grandparents’ bookshop. But when her favourite characters, Anne of Green Gables and Alice from Wonderland, appear in the shop, Tilly’s adventures become very real. Not only can she follow Anne and Alice into their thrilling worlds, she discovers she can bookwander into any story she chooses.

Tilly’s new ability could even help her solve the mystery of what happened to her mother all those years ago. But danger may be lurking on the very next page.

I was so excited to read this one – not least because one of Tilly’s favourite characters is Anne of Green Gables so I was predisposed to like her. From the very first chapter I was sucked in. Pages & Co sounds like the very best kind of book shop with log fires, plenty of comfy places to sit and the most amazing sounding coffee shop. I really want to try some of Jack’s delicious concoctions.

Tilly is very like me in a great many ways so I was right at home in this book. The idea of bookwandering is wonderful and I spent a lovely few hours lost in Tilly’s world. It is a charming book and I was so absorbed that I really didn’t want it to end. It might be aimed primarily at children but it is perfect for book lovers of all ages.

Book Details

Pages & Co: Tilly and the Bookwanderers by Anna James

ISBN: 9780008229863

Publisher: Harpercollins

RRP: £12.99

Summer Book Stall

August 10, 2018August 10, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / 2 Comments

As well as reading voraciously I also love to talk about books. One of the best ways to get to do that is to sell them so that is what I do – I have a stand of vintage books which I take to local shows.

Last weekend was my local village fête and my stall and I went along to take part.

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I am very particular about the books I sell. They are all either books I have read and loved; books I really want to read – which unfortunately makes me reluctant to sell them; or books I would describe as, ‘Nice.’

Nice is one of those words English teachers try to discourage. It is overused and there are so many better, more descriptive words which could take its place. However, in my family it has a very specific meaning and describes lovely things which can’t really be quantified any other way. They are just nice.

All this means that I can talk enthusiastically about any of the books on my stall with anybody at any time. There is nothing quite like the feeling you get when you recommend a book you think someone will love and they actually take your advice. It makes my day.

I had a lovely time at the fête and took the opportunity to wear my new dress. How could I not?

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Summer Reading

August 3, 2018August 3, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / Leave a comment

“One benefit of Summer was that each day we had more light to read by.”

Jeannette Walls – The Glass Castle

I absolutely agree with the sentiment in this quote. Even though we have artificial light there is nothing quite like a summer evening spent outside with a book.

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I generally read a lot of classics but I do like to intersperse them with lighter reads, especially in the summer. One August a few years ago I exclusively read Enid Blyton and it was wonderful.

Recently I have had a bit of a run of cosy crime books. I started with Agatha Christie’s The Man in the Brown Suit which I first read on an archaeology field trip when I was at college. There was a copy lying around the youth hostel which I naturally picked up and I loved it. I have always remembered it as one of my favourite of Christie’s books.

I was not disappointed on re-reading it either – I still loved it and just wish there were more books featuring Anne Beddingfeld.

What are you reading at the moment? Do you have any recommendations for good summer reads? I would love to hear them!

Welcome

July 22, 2018August 23, 2018 / Eleanor Jane / 1 Comment

I have been a bookworm for as long as I can remember.

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I am the sort of person who will actually read the cereal packet if there is nothing else to read and it is very rare for me to leave the house without a book in my bag. Even if I know I won’t get a chance to read, I hate the idea of being caught without a book.

I can’t remember the first book I read by myself but I do vividly remember my first Famous Five book. We went camping when I was seven and my parents gave me an omnibus edition of the first three books. I guzzled it down and finished it within a day. I haven’t really looked back since.

In fact, a lot of my fondest memories involve books. When I was thirteen we studied Great Expectations at school but, as often happened in our English class, we only really read a few chapters. I borrowed a copy from the school library and finished it over the summer, mostly sat on a raft with my feet in the stream. That book happened to be the Everyman edition and now whenever I see one of their books I am transported straight back to that summer.

Books have always been a very important part of my life and I love to share them. Welcome to my bookish corner of the world.

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