reading

So, I’ve been away a while

/ Gemma / 9 Comments

I have a collection of half-written posts on my laptop, some of which I wrote at the tail end of 2015, stating that I hadn’t posted in a while or posted regularly and how I hoped to be back. I never published them; I’m still writing them. I haven’t lost my love of blogging at all; I admit, I just haven’t made the time for it recently. Continue reading →

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Buying Books: Books and Identity

/ Gemma / 15 Comments

When I was a child, the primary place I found my books was the library. My parents didn’t instil in me a habit of buying books; instead, it was a treat. I think this is why I can vividly recall many of the occasions as a child when I would buy books, and I look back on them fondly. I remember the book fair coming to school and seeing bookcases being wheeled through the playground into the school hall where we’d usually have assemblies and lunch, but, for that afternoon, would be a makeshift bookshop. Continue reading →

The ongoing reading slump

/ Gemma / 11 Comments

I have this theory that book blogging both causes and cures my reading slumps.

This year started off as a good reading year for me – I rang in 2015 with Helen Macdonald’s H is for Hawk which I’m pretty sure will end up on my list of favourite books read this year. I picked up that book because of the numerous glowing reviews I read of it on book blogs; I’m really grateful to all of those bloggers that raved about it because, when I first heard about the book, I thought it was one that wouldn’t interest me (how wrong was I!) and was quite happy for it to pass me by. Since reading that book, it’s started this interest in nature and travel writing – basically, it’s made me start to read more nonfiction and has opened up this whole new avenue of reading for me.

And that’s all thanks to book blogs and the book blogging community. Continue reading →