The Librarian

October went by without me finding a book that I felt deserved the mantle of being a bookchat book :(. But happily I found just the one for November. It is a darling little book that I came across at a library that I don't usually visit. I'm so glad I did. It is called The Knitter's Home Companion - a heartwarming collection of stories, patterns, and recipes by Michelle Edwards. ` Published byMelanie Falick books Everything about this book appealed to me: the size (little), the illustrations, the inclusions of patterns, the book recommendations, recipes, and the writing. The writing (a collection of essays primarily about knitting, but encompassing the full richness of life: of mothering, being part of a community, and of humanity at large) is just beautiful. After enjoying the book so much I just had to google the author, and seek out more of her work to read. What I came across on her  website , and the browsing that followed, reminded me just how steeped in...

Every quite often it seems a New Zealand author writes a book that I love so much that I can't stop talking about it. In the last few years there was Let Me Sing You Gentle Songs, then Mr Pip , and this time it is..... The Conductor by Sarah Quigley. The Conductor by Sarah Quigley It's cold, it's spare and it's very stark, but Sarah Quigley has created something powerfully beautiful in this book that follows the story of the composition and first performance of Shostakovich's 7th symphony amidst the seige on Leningrad by the Nazi's in 1941. Based around the story of Shostakovich’s single-minded endeavour to write his 7 th Symphony, and see it performed, the book shows the lengths that an artist will go to to express himself. While most people are fleeing the city, and others starving and dying, Shostakovich determinedly writes his piece of music, and it falls upon conductor Karl Eliasberg to rise above his own starvation and grief to bring toget...

Oh, why am I being such a slow reader?! I still haven't finished my book chat book. It is still good though, and I soooo look forward to sharing it with you. In the meantime, for August's book chat here is one of my favourite books by one of my all-time favourite authors. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver I'd like to read this one again this winter. It's so beautifully written, and the characters and relationships so real, that the book demands to be read more than once so you can check in again with the place (the Appalachian mountains) and th characters to whom you become so attached. This book came out around the same time as Kingsolver's highly acclaimed The Poisonwood Bible , and it strikes me as an antidote for the intensity and dark desperation of that amazing book, because there is a real lightness to Prodigal Summer that is both uplifting and very beautiful. And, before I go any further I must say a gre...

A comedy of classic proportions My friend and I have been at war. She laughs in the face of danger, she claims   to dislike Jane Austen without even opening one of her books or at least watching the BBC version of P&P. While of course part of me is just miffed that she doesn't like something that I so love, the other part of me finds it hard to understand the lack of curiosity...after so much general female adoration of Mr Darcy, doesn't she at least want to see Colin Firth and that wet shirt scene? I thought maybe we would have to part ways until she gently reminded me that we liked lots of the same other sorts of things, like vintage tea cups, cute little chickens, op shopping, pretty scarves,  you know general sort of nice things, so maybe we could just overlook our differences about Jane Austen. Nothing beats a rational argument like that. Yet, though I knew she had a point, it was still abit of a niggle, so when she said one day "I don't like Jane Austen...

Hello friends! Book chat time again. Thank you so much for your replies to last month's book chat. I love knowing you are out there!! Don't forget to add your latest book recommendations this month too.   My book recommendation this time is Common Table , a delightful little book written by two old school friends, Janice Marriott and Virginia Pawsey, who met at a reunion and began writing to each other. Their letters have been published in two books. The first, Common Ground , chronicled their gardens, one in central Wellington and the other in Canterbury hill country. In Common Table they share recipes and reflect on the differences between city and country life. It's lovely!     Remember, I promised I would bring food to book chat? Well, this month I am very excited to welcome bake club  to book chat. Have a look at their fabulous blog. And, aren't these macarons amazing. Basil lime macarons Talk soon. Love, Library ...

Welcome to our first Cup of Tea and a Bit of Book Chat session Surely, one of life's greatest joys is having friends who recommend you good books. With that in mind, I really want to start monthly blog book chat sessions with you all. I'll start with the best book/s I've read during the month (I'll try to limit myself to two!) and would love it if you post your latest read too. Bring your favourite vintage teacup, and I'll bring the baking. This is going to be fun! Well.....down to it then. I've had such a great pile of books beside my bed this month, that I'm having trouble choosing! I will go with the two books that have inspired me the most of all: Short Fat Chick in Paris by Kerre Woodham & Gareth Brown - published by Harper Collins If you are having trouble dragging yourself off the couch to fulfil your ambitious new year sporting resolutions, then this is the book for you. A follow-up book from Kerre Woodham's first book Short Fat Ch...