Today I began a new book, one of several I had for Christmas. I always have the latest Phil Rickman as soon as it comes out in December, though I waited until Christmas morning to unwrap this from our eldest daughter. I know his characters well, and the areas he sets his books in, and it was such a joy to open this today and start reading.
There is such joy (and a sense of indulgence) in settling down and opening the covers of a new book, beginning to read and becoming totally absorbed (despite a very rotund stripey Ghengis-cat trying to get first dibs on my lap!) Having several new books I was spoilt for choice, but I thought I would skip through this the quickest and then could take my time over the others.
This was another Christmas book, which we bought on one of our late autumn trips to Hay-on-Wye. I adore Robert Macfarlane's writing and his connections with Edward Thomas. I often wonder if ET was writing now, would he be writing books like this? Yup, pretty sure he would.
This is a recent biography of ET which had been on my wish-list since it was published earlier last year. My husband bought this for me.
Another from my Amazon wish list, only found in Hay-on-Wye, in the excellent Poetry bookshop. A first edition (not that I am normally bothered by such niceties).
I've just finished reading these books, kindly loaned to me by Dawn over on Doing It For Ourselves blogspsot. The first book, Place of Stones, was swiftly read and returned, as these will be shortly. I can recommend all three books - they tell how the author and her family came to be the owners of a North Wales farm, and how they struggled against the weather and the limitations of the soil and landscape to make a living for themselves.
This is my bedtime reading. After seeing the programme about Amanda Owen and her family with Ben Fogle, I had a spending spree on Amazon and bought this for a penny plus postage. An excellent read - and a tough lass.
Finally, a little treat for me today, partly as it has the antiques trends for 2016 (hmmm, not sure if that was much help) and partly because it had a free calendar and some interesting articles.
I am nursing a bit of a cold at the moment, but I will be back tomorrow with some photos of the slowest and shortest walk up the hill behind our house, and what is growing and blooming there.
