Tag Archives: books

Books and s*@t

November 26, 2012 By in Guest Posts Tags: , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

I’m very excited to have a guest post from a blogger who I know to be just as much of a love in real life as she is onscreen. It’s Caroline – formerly Scribbling Mum – now Letters from Your Mum, writing about her vair vair exciting new adventure. 

Scribbling Mum bookshop

*clears throat*

‘Books! Books! Get your luverly children’s books here. Two for a tenner £11.98’

I’ve finally done it. What started as a chat with my best friend’s husband 18 months ago is now an actual thing, an actual brand, and an actual online children’s bookshop. It’s open. It’s real. We have bookmarks and everything.

Back then our working name was ‘Books and shit’ but I decided that might not work for everyone so – after many lists, polls and opinion surveys – The Green Door Bookshop was born. Please, no Shakin’ Stevens jokes. Continue reading →

Not another post about books…

October 29, 2012 By in Nostalgia Tags: , , , 16 Comments

Gift from the Sea Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Buying books is an optimistic thing to do, isn’t it?

It means you believe there is someone out there who can say what you’re feeling better than you can say it yourself… because the best moment in a book is a moment of recognition.

Or is it? Maybe the best moment in a book is discovering something right at the edge of your vision, a little beyond what you know. Something that makes you stop and say, “Oh wow. Yes. That.”
Continue reading →

What are you reading?

October 17, 2012 By in Harpenden Tags: , , , 27 Comments

street art follow the white rabbit

I am on something of a reading frenzy at the moment. DorkyDad and I are having a few weeks detox, and the nonsense on television every evening is so much less bearable when you’ve not had a glass of wine. So we’ve been turning the TV off and heading to bed at 9pm most nights for an hour of reading before we go to sleep.

My tastes have always been fairly eclectic, but I think with the last ten books I’ve read I may have surpassed myself.

Continue reading →

Map Geekery

June 28, 2012 By in Family, Reviews Tags: , , , , , , , , 18 Comments

Barefoot Books atlas

I mentioned in my BritMums post earlier in the week that once I’ve fulfilled my current commitments I’m not going to do any reviews on the blog… but that doesn’t mean that I can’t still have a big old gush about a company if I love them. This is one of those gushes. 

I’ve always been a map geek. I love them. Sometimes when I was a wee girl, instead of asking for a bedtime story, I used to sit with my Dad or my Grandpa and pore over a map of some place I’d never visited before. Maybe the Pennines, or Kansas, or Madagascar – it didn’t really matter – maps meant possibilities, adventures, fulfilling dreams. I had a brilliant jigsaw puzzle of the world, where all the countries were different colours, and you had to work out how they fitted together.

I am only slightly embarrassed to admit that I never really grew out of the map geekery; when I was eighteen I won the award for being the top geography student in Scotland. Give me a packet of colouring pencils and a map to colour in, and it still makes me happy.
Continue reading →