Violet Clouds

Starting off honestly, I want to learn how to surf. I am not 100% sure why or where this idea has come from. However, it is here and it is not going away. This, as a landlocked city dweller, poses something of a problem for me. As a result I have started reading books and watching films that are about surfing. If you have any recommendations please do add them in the comments!  The most recent member of this category is Wilma Johnson's book detailing her journey to surfing and a thoroughly enjoyable read. Johnson was an artist living in Ireland doing the 'earth mother' thing with three children and being made a, what she terms, surf widow when her surfer husband would disappear off to chase the good waves. When, after ten years, they make the move to the south of France and the marriage dissolves she finds her way to make good on her earlier determination to learn to surf herself. What follows is a lovely telling of her adventures. The book was funny and told a charmin...

I have been using my social media accounts attached to this blog more than I have been updating here and when I looked back at the content had very little connection to my interests now. So I have cleared the posts out, with the exception of my old book challenge, and shall start afresh! So with that in mind....a brief introduction: Reading is my comfort and my joy and I will usually have 2-6 books on the go at any one time. My reading habits hop around somewhat in terms of subject matter, at the moment my current obsessions are American History and magical realism fiction. Last year I tried to cut down my book buying habit and ended up with a bit of a library habit! This year, all ten days of it, I've been reading with a focus on mindfulness and growing out of your comfort zone. 

23. Under the tree....Brave New World. By the time this post is up the present will have been unwrapped so I feel no hesitation by posting about it here. I read this book some years ago and it has popped up on my partner's wish list so it is great joy that I will be gifting it! And that is it! I have blogged for the full month of December which is a record for me! I have really enjoyed putting the contect together and I am going to keep going with more in the new year.  A Merry Christmas to those of you who have been reading!

24. For Father Christmas.....The Night Before Christmas I think this is the edition of the book I had as a child but I'll have to check. This short poem is such a classic describing a brief encounter with St Nicolas himself. The full text can be found here .

23. The best present - The Poem That Changed America: Howl I've posted about Allen Ginsburg's Howl before but this book was a present from a friend who knew I loved it. It discusses the poem, offers the context of the society to which it was released and the obscenity trial which followed.

22. Favourite festive scene.....The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E. T. A. Hoffman This book just made to-read list! Ballet was a huge part of my life as a child and I remember the first time I saw The Nutcracker at the Birmingham Royal Ballet. There is something about the opulence of the show that just captures Christmas not just as it is can be; with lovely decorations, time with friends and family, getting dressed up but how it can exist in your mind. All the luxurious foods are there in dreamy colours and exotic flavours and the feeling of it being a party is overwhelming. 1 / 2 / 3  I've seen so many different versions but the one I return to is Matthew Bourne's as it is so colourful and sweet. It adds clarity to the plot and a great deal of contrast between the Christmas party by making it very stark to make the brightness of the fantasy world all the brighter.   1 / 2 / 3 I really want to read this book now to see how it was transformed from ...

21. To be read.....Dream School by Blake Nelson Where to start? I was very tempted to take a picture of my bookshelf for this! I'll choose Dream School by Blake Nelson because it is the one I am most curious about. I read the book 'Girl' as a teenager and loved it, mainly because Andrea Marr was everything I wasn't, although not necessarily who I wanted to be. The thing that lasts with me about the book is the sense that I knew her, as a whole and complete character, the good and the bad. Finding out this month that there is a sequel put it firmly on my to-read list although I am approaching it with a certain amount of trepidation. Will reading about her now I am an adult change how I feel about her? The book is about her student days at an elite university and from the sound of it she is as much searching for her identity as she ever was. Also on the list are.... The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer Prince Lestat by Anne Rice Wild by Cheryl Strayed