About Me

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I am a redundant journalist/sub-editor and am passionate about books, reading, and writing. I started this blog in memory of my grandmother, who ran away from her Norwegian home and arrived in England in 1915 with nothing but a trunk full of books. She always preferred reading to housework - a tradition I'm happy to maintain. My mother, on the other hand, has always tried to combine reading with other activities: she used to read while ironing, and when I was a baby and wouldn't sleep she held me in her arms and read aloud from whatever book she happened to be reading - Shakespeare's plays, Wordsworth's poems, Dickens' novels.


My father was just as enthusiastic about reading, and so is my brother and my daughters, so I was delighted when Vulpes Libris  invited me to write a guest blog on my bookish family and our relationship with books - it was the high spot of my blogging career! You can find it by clicking here. 

Since redundancy new books are something of a luxury, so I tend to re-read old favourites time and time again, as well as relying on the library, scouring the shelves of charity shops and second hand book stores, and searching online. I've also discovered the joys of a Kindle and the wealth of free, out of copyright material from Project Gutenberg, as well as bargains from Amazon. 


When I'm not reading I'm usually found doing embroidery or crochet, but I'm also researching my family history, and I'm fascinated by the history of the local area, and like to explore and discover more about the landscapes and buildings, and the people who once lived in these places. This effort ties in with a recently acquired interest in walking: after a lifetime of avoiding exercise, I am now trying to walk every day, and am learning about the plants, birds and insects I see. 

And I spend a day a week volunteering in an Oxfam book shop, which is the perfect activity for book lovers!