News

What was behind the door of your advent calendar today? I had a rather lovely Christmas tree in my Angela Harding Winter Robins scene. 

I'm a great fan of her work and it's a joy to take time each day to look at the artistry of her printmaking and the beautiful colours and lines in this picture of the countryside.

Advent is a time of anticipation and preparation for the celebration of Christmas but the 24 days have long been exploited by marketing teams. Keen to sell us their products, clients or stories, advent has been an excuse to get in touch with us every day. 

I used to find that at this time of year my inbox would be filled with emails from clothing companies, charities or even professional organisations. Now they seem to use Instagram which doesn't seem quite so intrusive and is sometimes rather creative and useful!

I might not be quite so engaged by day 20 but at the moment I'm interested to see the book recommendations made by booksellers in Bath, the activities of the Anglo-Saxon boatbuilders in Woodbridge and the inventiveness of novelist and potter Elizabeth Macneil (she has embroidered her own advent calendar).

I was also pleased to see that the publication Positive News has collected a good news story for every day of advent. A few minutes on social media each day in the lead up to Christmas might be time well spent this year as we hope for a brighter, kinder, fairer future. 

Thank you for reading.

It's the end of November! We're hurtling towards Christmas and... (perhaps it's been the unseasonal weather) I'm not ready!

There's always a lot to do at this time of year, I find, but with the postal strikes I'll need to be organised earlier than usual. And this year there seem to be other pressures too - things I feel I should be doing?

There's been a steady stream of emails about 'Black Friday' urging me not to miss out on all the huge savings. In the 'cost of living crisis' I'd be foolish not to buy something I don't want or need at a slightly cheaper price than it has been or might be in the future?

Then there's the World Cup, of course. I'm not particularly interested in watching all the matches, but no need to worry because it's the top of the national news programmes and dominates the rest of the shortened bulletins. And children in Wales are given time off lessons, hopefully then to be taught how to deal with the subsequent disappointment and defeat.

The relentless pitch for Christmas is in earnest now too. The high street, hospitality trade and powers-that-be are all hoping we'll continue to spend freely to save businesses and the economy.

It is tempting to keep things as much as 'normal' as possible. But sometimes it's good to stop and pause and not get swept along with the crowd in needless frivolity, expense and indulgence. A simple meal and a small carefully chosen gift might be something to be grateful for this year. 

And a good book is always well received, I find!

Instead of looking at the bestseller charts, why not get some ideas by coming along to our meeting tomorrow evening when we'll be sharing some heartfelt recommendations of books we've discovered and enjoyed this year. To be sure I have enough chairs and mince pies, please reply to this email before noon tomorrow if you'd like to come along.

Thank you for reading.

It's the end of November! We're hurtling towards Christmas and... (perhaps it's been the unseasonal weather) I'm not ready!

There's always a lot to do at this time of year, I find, but with the postal strikes I'll need to be organised earlier than usual. And this year there seem to be other pressures too - things I feel I should be doing?

There's been a steady stream of emails about 'Black Friday' urging me not to miss out on all the huge savings. In the 'cost of living crisis' I'd be foolish not to buy something I don't want or need at a slightly cheaper price than it has been or might be in the future?

Thank you for reading.

The novelist and children's writer Roopa Farooki never considered herself to be 'political'. But when, having retrained in medicine and newly qualified, she found herself working as a hospital doctor during the pandemic, she became very animated about the people making decisions on our behalf. 

Her memoir, 'Everything is True', a diary of the first 40 days of the pandemic is hard-hitting and challenging but she believes that that time has made us all more politically engaged. 

Since its publication, Roopa has decided that it's not enough to chart what happened, or to 'sit in huddles complaining'. She has become a local councillor (while also working for the NHS, lecturing at Oxford University, being involved in three national charities and a mum to four children - yes, she is extraordinary).

Roopa says she believes she was accepted as a councillor because of the contribution she can make with her medical qualification and experience.

Speaking to me at Lavenham Literary Festival this weekend, she held the audience spellbound with much to ponder. 

Perhaps now more than ever, we need to know that our politicians have valid 'life experience', are well-qualified and informed, and take their role and responsibility seriously. It'll be interesting to see how that might be presented in the jungle?

Thank you for reading.

Finding myself watching more tv than usual now that the nights are drawing in and the weather is getting - slightly - colder, I was pleased to stumble across a new series of the book programme 'Between the Covers'. 

Last time, a key find was the novelist Mary Lawson, championed by Graham Norton. I'm not sure I'm going to follow his latest recommendation, but there were still a couple of books to add to my reading list. The participants also opened the box on whether it's acceptable to read the end of a book first...?

I was fortunate to hear Graham Norton speak about his own writing at a conference the other week. He has written three novels now and is getting good reviews. I've added them to my list. 

He was asked about choosing books to read and whether, as he is such a familiar face, he is able to browse bookshops without being interrupted. He said that as people were likely to talk to him about books, he didn't mind as he was always happy to do that! 

Last week I was in the bookshop talking about the titles nominated for the Yoto Carnegie children's prize. There have been 67 books listed for the writing prize and 58 for illustration. That's a lot of books. They have all been chosen by librarians and it's a great list to work from for Christmas gift ideas. The shortlist follows in March and young people are invited to engage with the list in discussions, reviews and events, ultimately voting for their winner which is announced in June.

But if you're keen on getting some reading ideas closer to home, we'll be having our annual book group recommendations evening on Monday 28 November. Please let me know as soon as possible now if you'd like to come along and, more importantly, if you'd like to share the details of a favourite book!

Thank you for reading.