October reading

These October days are pretty packed but I have to admit I truly love settling down in the evenings to read and I suppose one of the (many) good things about not having a TV is that there is no distraction and, as a result, I read far more than I used to. This month it's all about mystery and disappearances and possibly murder. The Hog's Back Mystery is 1930s detective fiction, written by Freeman Wills Crofts whose Inspector French is called in to solve the unusual disappearance of a retired doctor... It's well crafted with enough suspense to keep you reading and guessing and page turning and it's just right for a cold evening or two by the fire.

***Joining in with Circle of Pine Trees and The Year in Books***

rena gardiner

This arrived in the post this morning. I'd read about Rena Gardiner here and here and I immediately followed Mr. Pentreath's advice and bought a copy of the book (Little Toller Books produce the most gorgeous books, really anything from them is just fantastic) and I'm so glad I did. She was a prolific and wonderful book maker, printer, artist. I am looking forward to later on this evening when all children are in bed and I can lose myself in her wonderful work. 

June reading

How do you choose a book? The size? (I especially love slim books, 200 pages or less). The cover? The hype? The title? The smell? All of the above? When we're book shopping it's usually with the three boys. Peaceful and quiet choosing time is limited, even when we spend an age in the children's section while they choose theirs, I usually get a hurried ten minutes to see what I might like to read. Last week we were in Hodges Figgis in Dublin and as I'm nearly finished H is for Hawk I thought I'd pick up something new. Immediately I saw The Search Warrant I knew it was for me. Thin, intriguingly titled and about the disappearance of a girl in Paris during the second world war it was ticking a lot of boxes. I flipped it open about half way through and read, in the bustling bookshop, a few paragraphs. That is how I choose. If it feels right, if I like the writing, if there's an atmosphere, if the voices of the characters sound real even though I don't know the story then I buy the book. Oh, and the size, the cover, the hype, the title and the smell also count.

***This is my June choice for The Year in Books at the always lovely Circle of Pine Trees***