A very full month book-wise and there's one book that deserves a post all of its own - that hasn't happened since Big Magic...!
Delicious! by Ruth Reichl
I picked this up on a bit of whim, having found it on a list of books you can't put down. Which was sort of true. It's the kind of story I love - a girl discovers herself through the pursuit of a literary mystery. But unfortunately, it just didn't have the guts and depth that I look for in a story that makes me fall in love.
Billie - a heroine so flimsy I had to look her name up for this post - gets a job at Delicious magazine and in the library there finds wartime letters to from a young girl to the then editor James Beard. Finding out more about the girl behind the letters is central to the story peopled with cliched New Yorkers and overflowing with purple descriptions of food.
But you know what? I enjoyed it. I wanted to know what happened next, even as I rolled my eyes at Billie's Cinderella-like transformation. It's a fun book - perhaps its cliche made me like it even more.
The Yarn Whisperer by Clara Parkes
I have never read this before and feel this was a failing on my part as a knitter. This collection of essays felt perfect for this time of year, sliding from the golden end of autumn into the slightly mushier end before the glittering frosts kick in. A book to be savoured, like a good yarn, on a cosy sofa, warm and snug with a cup of tea or cocoa.
Get it, read it, love it. Is there an audio version? How perfect would that be for long car journeys, knitting and watching the world rush by? (Obviously I wouldn't be driving!)
So Wild a Dream by Larissa Brown
I read Beautiful Wreck only a couple of months ago and loved it enough to get a last minute Viking inspired tattoo. I was delighted to see that a sequel was due out so soon after my discovering it.
I wasn't sure what I was expecting - more of Ginn and Heirik really - but in this story they are very much supporting characters to the leads of Eona and Brosa. I can't really say anymore without giving the whole thing away. But it has all of Beautiful Wreck's cool elegance, it's sweeping, poised prose and earthy characters. Read them both!
Becoming by Laura Jane Williams
This one deserves a post of its own... I attended Laura's talk at Blogtacular in the summer and only now settled down to read her book. Her blog is wonderful, her open-hearted search for love so inspiring. I am a total fangirl.
But if I hadn't been before reading the book, I certainly would be now. She writes with breathtaking honesty - she is so steady in herself that she is able to fearlessly share the darker parts of herself, the bits we usually hide away or sprinkle glitter on.
If you want to be inspired, if you want proof that you have more power than you can dream of when it comes to your own life - read this book. And then write her a love letter because that's sure as hell what I'm going to do.
The Immortals by S.E. Lister
I devoured about half of this book on two long train journeys to London, having bought it on a whim when it was recommended on my Kindle homepage.
It's the story of time-travellers, slipping through time without knowing where they'll end up next. Rosa though, has only ever known 1945, sliding back to 1st January 1945 every New Year until she breaks free of her stifling family and tumbles through various ages.
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