A few years ago, I fell in love with The Lost Words - a stunning collection of poetry and illustrations by Rob Macfarlane and Jackie Morris celebrating the wonders of nature and preserving the words that are becoming increasingly absent from our common vernacular. With that book, I taught a class of eleven year olds what bluebells are, [...]
When I first listened to the audiobook of Katherine Arden's The Bear and The Nightingale two years ago, I knew this series was going to become a firm favourite. Her writing (and Kathleen Gati's fabulous narration) transported me straight into the winter of darkest Rus and I could feel Morozko’s breath on my cheek. She wove [...]
A little while ago, I signed up to received daily emails from The Good Trade. Ordinarily, I hate daily emails because I never get around to reading them, they're always too long and they clog up my inbox so I just end up unsubscribing. Not so with this one. The Daily Good is short, sweet [...]
Back in March, a friend shared a post to their Instagram story that was so lovely I felt compelled to share it myself. I headed over to the artist's account and immediately discovered myself lost in a world of beautiful art and words that spoke eloquently to...well...life. Morgan Harper Nichols is a talented artist, writer [...]
It's been quite a while since I've done a round up of favourites and I've discovered some awesome new things in June so it seemed like the ideal time. Below are some things I've been loving over the last month. 1. Books of Your Life podcast I love a good podcast when I'm out on [...]
Up until just over a year ago I had never really listened to audiobooks. The only thing I remember having listened to was an audio of Winnie-The-Pooh, which I bought on a whim when I couldn't sleep and wanted a bedtime story! When our lovely dog, Luna, first came into our lives, I suddenly found [...]
Every now and again there's a book that you pick up because it looks like something light and easy that you might enjoy but, quite unexpectedly, you fall completely in love with it. The Flatshare, by Beth O'Leary, is one of those books. From The Flatshare website: Tiffy and Leon share a flatTiffy and Leon [...]
For someone whose life is played out to an ever-changing soundtrack, I realised over the last week or so that music is something I hardly ever write about. From dancing around my living room to the strains of Tchaikovsky's nutcracker suite as a toddler, to belting out Queen with my family on a long car [...]
I was especially excited for the release of The Disappeared. I have followed Amy's writing for some years, reading her awesome blog over at Ten Penny Dreams, so I was thrilled when I realised that I could support her journey to publication by pledging something towards her debut release. The Disappeared was published through Unbound: [...]
This book review was originally written for ECBC Manchester's book club and can be read on their website here. You know those days when the world seems to be running on high speed around you: the days when your mind is abuzz with all the should and musts and the endless to-dos and you can’t [...]
Thrive In Chaos 