This post was supposed to be called My Favourite Books of 2018 but that title felt a bit tardy, so I’ve sneakily tweaked it so that everything’s just a bit more relevant and exciting. I mean, why harp on about the past…
I’ve just finished reading the Maggie O’Farrell novel After You’d Gone, which completes my epic O’Farrell reading marathon. I’ve read all of her novels, now – five of them in the last couple of months – and I can safely declare her…
I’m a terrible one for judging a book by its cover. And I mean that literally, not metaphorically – I’m not at all judgemental or presumptuous when it comes to people: just books. Which is why, shamefully, it has taken…
This is a difficult novel to write about, because I’m not sure whether I love it or absolutely detest it. Either way, it makes for interesting conversation – or would do, if anyone I knew had read it! Have you read Eileen?…
I promised at the end of 2015 that I’d do a round-up of my favourite novels of the year and here I am, over twelve months later, with a slightly different post. It seems odd to go back to what…
If you’re still Christmas shopping and starting to panic (I have three presents left to get, I’m with you!) then prepare to be saved: not only do many of the things in my previous gift guides come from online stores with…
I’ve rediscovered my cooking mojo, after more than a year of being almost completely disinterested in doing anything in the pots and pans department. My fall from culinary grace began when we moved out of our house and into a series of…
Something a bit different, this week: the books that are on my reading list. I’ll be ploughing through these over the course of the summer, whenever I get to snatch a sunny moment in the deckchair or a couple of…
Beauty favourites were a bit thin on the ground, last month, but I did do quite a bit of reading so I’ve shared this video between reading recommendations and beautifying tips. The Anne Tyler book (here) is just a beautifully gentle, slow-paced novel,…
I couldn’t leave you for the holidays with absolutely nothing to do, so here are some of the best bumper book series. There should be something for just about everyone here, whether you like thrillers, adventure books or serious, thoughtful novels. If…
I know people roll their eyes a bit at the Kindle deals that basically epitomise “Black Friday”, but my Kindle is one of my most-used gadgets ever and, if there’s an opportunity to get one at a knock-down price then…
I was given Hugh’s Three Good Things two Christmases ago and it fell by the wayside a bit, what with house renovations and the fact that I was actively ignoring it because the cover photograph was so bad. I mean look at…
