2017 was a bit of a slack year for me on the old book front.

I could make up excuses about moving house and relationship changes and what not, but let’s be honest, it’s really just laziness. When you’re tired, watching the remake of Dynasty on Netflix feels EASIER than actually having to move your eyes from one side of a page to the next, over and over again.

It’s stupid really, because I love reading, and a good book is way more absorbing than the antics of modern day Fallon Carrington, so this year I decided to make an effort to read more books. And by ‘read’ I mean ‘finish’, not just read a few chapters, stack them up on my bedside table and move on to the next thing.

To give myself some focus I thought that every month I’d share with you what I’ve been reading. Pretty straightforward – no vagina gags – just a few thoughts that might give you some inspiration for your next book choice. I’m not going to bother with links or anything, you know how to work the old Google.

It doesn’t really count as reading, but I’ve also listened this month to the audiobook version of The Humans by Matt Haig. I’ve read (with my eyes) a few of his books already and love them. Matt writes with this straightforward honesty and clarity that often makes me stop and think ‘YES. That’s exactly it.’ He has a way of capturing the essence of things in a very beautiful, simple yet powerful way.

So, the books.

Margaret Atwood Hag-Seed View Post

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This month Belle had a very exciting opportunity – the chance to ask some questions of her literary hero, none other than Jacqueline Wilson. How cool is that?

Jacqueline Wilson interview

Photo credit – Trish Beswick

We actually saw Jacqueline Wilson speak at Hay Festival last year and really loved her – she had such a warm and open presence on the stage and Belle was very taken with her. For this interview, Belle invited her friends Ella, Josie, Ewelina and Georgina to our house after school and they came up with three questions each.

Here’s what Jacqueline Wilson had to say:

Is there any link between Gina from Tracy Beaker Returns and Gina from the Dustbin Baby?! View Post

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I read an amazing fact the other day. It said that £1,357 was the size of the pay rise needed to make the average person as happy as a regular visit to a library.

Topsy and Tim go to the library

I can quite believe it.

I have always felt there to be something quite magical about libraries. From the excitement of reading about Topsy and Tim’s adventures at their local library – ‘the books may look higgeldy piggledy, but we do know where to find them!’ – to the joy of creating my very own library at home, libraries will always hold a special place in my heart.

I don’t remember much from my childhood, but one thing I do remember, way back when I was about six or seven and we lived in Weymouth, was driving over to Dorchester for a trip to the  library. My sister and I would always choose our books quickly, and then get impatient as my mum browsed. I remember wandering through the rows and rows of shelves, finding her with a small pile already nestled in the crook of one arm, but with a look about her that said we’d be best off just finding somewhere comfy to sit for a little while.

When we finally got to the counter, the librarian would remove the cardboard tickets from inside the books and tuck them into our individual wallets, stored at the library in large card files so they would know exactly who had what.

Nowadays of course it all self scanners, but Belle gets as much of a kick out of placing her book into the machine and seeing the title pop up on screen as I did watching the librarian organising the cardboard tickets and stamping the dates into the front of our books. Over the years the library has been a salvation to me as a parent; somewhere soothing to go with a toddler on a rainy afternoon, a place to grab a handful of books for myself, a baby asleep in a pram, to help me feel more normal.

Libraries are being closed all over the country, but if we are all going to feel £1,357 worse off as a result, surely this is a massive false economy?

How much is a regular trip to the library worth to you?

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I love books.

I love everything about them – the way they look on the shelves, (so long as the spines are lined up flush with the edge and not pushed back, obviously), the way they smell, stroking the covers, it’s all good. Oh and reading them. I like that bit too. I’ve always tried to encourage a love of books and reading in my children too, but I also appreciate that not all children are lucky enough to have access to a wide range of books and that sometimes it’s difficult to get kids excited about reading.

It’s tough nowadays isn’t it to get children to pick up a book instead of an iPad?

Scottish Friendly Children's Book Tour

I believe that a love reading is hugely valuable – not only is it an important skill in terms of doing well in school generally, but it’s a fantastic form of escapism, a brilliant way to relax and unwind and a great way to stimulate imagination and creative thinking. Just think back to when you were young, reading a Secret Seven book in bed, how evocative the language was and how scared you were – you don’t get that with a game of Flappy Fish on a tablet do you?

That’s why I’m supporting the Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour. 

Scottish Friendly has been running a book tour far the last 14 years to support The Scottish Book Trust, an organisation looking to inspire readers and writers of all ages, not just children. They have a massive range of resources available, and browsing their website I was particularly impressed by their book lists – I will definitely be checking out some of the suggestions on the ‘female detectives’ list.

The book tour is very ‘hands on’, taking the very best UK and international authors directly into schools across Scotland and England to inspire a love of reading, writing and illustration, reaching around 6,000 children every year. Anything that gets kids excited about books is a good thing in my eyes.

What were your favourite books as a child? 

Disclosure: this is a sponsored post

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The world can be a pretty cruel place.

I went in Marks and Spencer recently for example and they had sold out of Jaffa cakes. That’s the kind of savage situation I am faced with on a daily basis.

Believe it or not, there are other parts of the world, outside the yummy mummy Bishopston bubble, that face even trickier conditions, if you can even imagine such a thing. Belle and I have been learning all about it in our new book – ‘Discover the Savage World’ from Miles Kelly.

As someone who doesn’t really like to read the news, having to face up to the fact that the earth is blighted with war, fire, sandstorms and what not is pretty scary stuff, but also quite exciting. We do live in a pretty amazing place after all and a lot of the powerful forces at work are often more impressive than terrifying. View Post

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It used to be that people wrote letters.

When an elderly relative died you would discover a box of musty smelling postcards and love notes, written in a consistent, swirly hand, the letters looping elegantly from one to the next. You’d search through them, trying to piece together the history of a relationship, the feel of the paper in your hand somehow bringing the story to life.

Nowadays we send emails or texts – often short, poorly spelt missives that do little to conjure up any sense of romance or intrigue.

Emails aren’t all bad though. Just because you can’t physically hold them, can’t bring them up to your nose and inhale deeply, imagining you catch the scent of the other person, doesn’t mean they can’t tell just as powerful a story. Thanks to Memeoirs, you can now capture those stories, pin them down onto paper and tuck them away in an innocent looking cardboard box in the garage, ready for future generations to discover and get excited by. View Post

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For my 30th birthday party, I made table games. The games revolved around world record challenges – how many spoons can you balance on your face, how many Ferrero Rocher can you eat in a minute, that sort of thing.

God I’m fun.

It’s clearly a bit of a family trait as my step-sister and award-winning illustrator Rebecca Cobb is currently involved in a world record attempt of her own. She is trying to make the world’s longest ever chain of paper dolls – 3km to be precise – to raise money for Save the Children. You can find out more and contribute your own dolls to the chain here. View Post

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Here’s a question:

You’re a busy, over-worked mum with three kids. Your 13 year old daughter has arranged a school night sleepover with her best friend as they have a school project they want to work on. They hang out a lot together and you know her mum reasonably well. Your daughter wakes up though not feeling well, and doesn’t go to school that day.

What do you do?

A. Do you ask you daughter to text her friend to let her know she can’t come over?

B. Do you call her mum in your break at work to explain the situation yourself?

C. Do you forget completely to do anything at all and remember at about tea time? View Post

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I’m pretty nosey. I love looking at other people’s houses and all the little bits and bobs that make a home unique. I think it comes from when I was a child and on Saturdays my mum would sometimes arrange house viewings, pretending she was secretly wealthy and looking to buy. (That was probably what sparked our favourite game of ‘Estate Agents’ too). I particularly love rooting around on other people’s bookcases. It’s like a library, but without having to remember your card. View Post

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Today you can win a copy of ‘Licking the Spoon’ by Candace Walsh.

My memory is not great. I can barely remember anything that happened as a child and am constantly letting my own children down by not being able to remember their first steps, first words, and other important occasions that mothers really should have etched in their minds forever.

A lot of the memories I do have are connecting with food, primarily the smell of certain foods and of meals being cooked. View Post

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Today I am taking part in a blog tour. Yes yes, I know, yawn yawn, but pay attention please because this blog tour is promoting a very special book. (Plus you get a nose round the author’s house.)

Lunchtime by Rebecca Cobb is beautiful, her illustrations are adorable and Rebecca herself is lovely. Lunchtime is, as Julia Donaldson said, “Funny and charming – as delicious as the little girl’s dinner.”

"Lunchtime by Rebecca Cobb"

But then I would say all these nice things wouldn’t I?

Why?

Because Rebecca is my step-sister.

I know, cool right? What a talented family we are! (And renowned for our modesty.)

I have already mentioned Lunchtime, but it was in a post that was a bit crowded with other things, like my collection of jugs in the shape of chickens where the milk comes out of their beak, so in this post we get to find out a little bit more about Rebecca and where she works.

"Rebecca Cobb's work place"

“This is what my work space looks like,” says Rebecca. “It is very exciting because a couple of months ago it looked like this”:

"Rebecca Cobb's work place"

“And then we attacked it with a crowbar and it looked like this”:

"Rebecca Cobb's work place"

“And now it looks like this”:

"Rebecca Cobb's work place"

“As you can see it is still a work in progress” says Rebecca, “but compared to the rest of the house, which is a bit of a building site, it is the most finished room. This is also our bedroom at the moment and having a bed right next to my desk makes it very tempting to sit in bed under the duvet to do my drawing, especially when the weather is so cold. But I tried it the other day and instantly fell asleep for 3 hours so I have banned myself from doing that!”

“I mostly draw at my lightbox because even when I do not have it switched on I like the smooth surface of the glass to draw on. I have it right in front of the window and I can look out at the garden which is a bit derelict at the moment, like the rest of the house, but it is full of birds and the next door neighbour’s cats. One of the many brilliant things about moving into our house is that we can now have a pet and I cannot wait to get a kitten!’

Lunchtime is doing a blog tour to celebrate its release in paperback so now you have no excuse for not buying it, even if you are a bit of a skinflint.

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There’s less than a week to go until Halloween. Are you feeling spooky yet?

To get her in the mood, Belle has been reading some scary Halloween stories this week from Miles Kelly. They are aimed at 6-9 year olds, beautifully illustrated and each book includes four or five individual stories. They include a mixture of classic stories with a creepy twist, plus lots of lesser known tales that have been imaginatively retold for children.

"Halloween stories"

To win your own set of three books, which includes The Wicked Witch of the West, Jack the Giant Killer and The Little Mermaid, simply leave a comment on this post, telling me what your favourite book was as a child.

A winner will be chosen on 31st October.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my competition to win a pair of Cheekyshoes too!

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