Dusty Piles of Books

I made a big old promise to myself this year. No more procrastinating. No more putting things off for another day. 

 To be truthful I'm human, so I'm still putting off a lot of the stuff I hate, but I'm really trying to seize the day with the stuff I love.

In the middle of all these good plans I came across a blog I'd not heard of before. A couple of people on Instagram mentioned the link and then Penny on L is for Love chatted about the year in books she was joining in with on Laura's blog Circle of Pine Trees. There are quite a few things to join in with once you blog and they're all such fabulous ideas, all great ways of growing a community of friends. I joined in with Dottie Angel's year of living thriftily a few years back now. I gained so much from all I learnt during that year and amazingly to me I stuck to it like a religion. I haven't come across anything since that I've wanted to join in with in the same way, until now.

You see this thing I want to join in with is about reading. Reading one book a month (more if you fancy, no hard rules, which suits me perfectly). That's 12 books over a year.

Once I would have thought that was easy peasy. I was the girl with her head always in a book. The quiet child hidden behind the sofa climbing up The Faraway Tree to visit Moonface and his friends, while the adults talked and laughed. The child who read on every car journey, sat in baths having to finish the chapter while the bath water went cold. My love of books led me to a degree in literature, philosophy and history of art a few years after finishing art college. Then I tore books apart, read with a pencil poised ready to make notes all over the page. I came alive within the world of literature that my very talented lecturers opened up to me. When I graduated I ended up in Fine Art PR and then Advertising for a while. Being made redundant gave me the push I needed to sign up for a post-grad course to teach post-16. I worked as a mental health secretary while I slowly built up my teaching hours so I could teach A'level English.

The strange thing was I just couldn't read for pleasure anymore. Reading had become such a high falluting thing for me, a job and also there was a fair amount of snobbery about what you should be reading. Then I changed direction and dipped for the first time into the world of Mary Wesley and Joanna Trollope. I needed fun reading to get me back to the real pleasure of what reading was about.  

Ever since I've tried to alternate my books. I read a bit of fluff and then something with a bit of weight to it.

Somehow, over the last year (I blame getting an iPad on this personally) I've stopped reading. Books are piling up on the stairs, by our bed and on the bookshelves. I haven't stopped bringing them home, just reading them. I curl up in bed with my iPad to have a quick browse before I read and before I know it I've fallen asleep.

So, I'm going to take action and change all that because I want to. Little Bun and I have started on the Malory Towers collection together. I read while she sits in the bath. I absolutely loved these books when I was her age and dreamed of midnight feasts, lacrosse and sucking orange slices at games matches. Funnily enough the school the Buns are at plays lacrosse so it's all a bit Enid Blyton there too.

As for me I'm getting back to reading Maggie O'Farrell's Instructions for a Heatwave. I've been enjoying this, I'm not gripped yet, but I don't want to add it to the pile of unread either.

If you fancy joining in too then follow this link. More the merrier I reckon. 

In other news I had a couple of parcels last week. One was a birthday gift left on the doorstep from a friend of mine. Choccies all eaten, but I don't want to light the little toadstools. I also need to find a frame for the vintage card she found for me.

I also need to find just the right frame for this gorgeous print from the very talented Jane. She designed so many fabulous ones that I just couldn't make up my mind which to choose. Then we saw Saving Mr Banks and the song just stuck in my head so that helped me choose. It also got me grabbing the girls copy of Mary Poppins off their shelves as I've never read it and want to change that this year. 

That's me done I think.

Apart from - here she goes again you're probably thinking - if you've got this far that is. I need to mention the Giveaway which is all closed now. Thankyou to everyone who's entered and left such heartwarming comments. I feel horrible that you can't all have the book and brooch between you, but there it is, that's life.
One of my lovely girlies will pick a name out a hat or a tin for me to tonight when we get in. I'll let you know who the winner is as soon as, I promise.