Book Blog with

Welcome to my book blog - somewhere to share things about reading that I hope you might find interesting!

March 18th 2025

You'll probably have noticed the colourful chair logo that keeps cropping up on my website - you can't miss it!

Like everything in life it has a story, and as so many of you have remarked on my chair I thought I'd share its story with you..... so I hope you're sitting comfortably!

Once upon a time ....the chair belonged to my Dad, Terry.

When he died in 2020 I couldn't bear to part with it .... but it was in a bit of a state.

After a bit of Googling I found The Upholstery Cabin in Ringwood, owned and run by Vicky Grubb. She was offering exactly what I was looking for: an opportunity to work on a piece of furniture of my choice, being guided and taught along the way in a small group.

And so we began .......

I invested in some absolutely gorgeous Hollyhocks Spring velvet fabric by House of Hackney. I wanted the chair to feel joyful ... and the result took my breath away!

In fact, I loved it so much that when Vicky suggested it would make a great logo for my bibliotherapy service, I didn't need much persuading. The chair feels like an invitation to sit, to take time out and reflect on your unique experience of being you. In comfort.

Needing to reproduce the chair in graphic form in a way that captured it's spirit, and having been an admirer of the gentle style of Rebecca Maguire at The Wildflower Illustration Company in Cheltenham, I approached her to see if she would be interested in helping me. She accepted the commission ...... and ..... well, you know the rest!

My Mum used to say "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade". There are times in our lives when we feel we're doing a lot of lemonade-making but the people you meet during the process can be inspirational. Thank you Vicky and Rebecca!

And if you'd like to hear Vicky talking to me about my chair, you can listen-in on her podcast 'Sit On This' Chair Stories.

Until next time .......

Sam x

January 14th 2025

Is it to late to wish you a Happy New Year? I hope not!

I hope your Christmas was a happy one. For many of us it was a time we had looked forward to with excited (if tired!) preparation and anticipation. But that's not the case for everyone. Many people spent Christmas alone, many find it a challenging time, and it can be especially hard after the loss of a loved one.

However you spent your Christmas, I hope you had a chance to rest .... and maybe even to reflect on your reading over the year. Did you have a favourite?

One of my favourite reads of 2024 was a book I picked up in Canada when I went out to visit my son last February. He was living in the small Rockies town of Fernie that has a lovely small bookshop full of treasures and I found myself walking out of there with a complete impulse buy. (Know the feeling?!)

The book was 'All The Color In The World ' by C S Richardson and was shortlisted for the 2023 Giller Prize.

It's difficult to identify any one reason why this book felt special. It's a stunning combination of form, voice, character and context that had me hooked from the very beginning.

Unusually, it's written in the second person 'you' which felt remarkably immediate and intimate, drawing me right into the shoes of Henry. Henry is the main character, an art historian and teacher living in Toronto in the mid 20th Century.

The form is refreshingly simple, alternating historical and philosophical context with Henry's experience of life, in particular his relationship with art.

It's as though Henry is thinking aloud, trying to make sense of being him while we have the privilege and pain of witness. Each vignette is short, succinct and beautifully written.

Sadly I haven't been able to find the book in the UK. I've wanted to prescribe it for a client but it's not available here - and I'm not parting with my copy

So why am I telling you about it?

I just want to encourage you to step away from over-planning your reading in 2025.

Be open to books that you find in unlikely places, that intrigue you, that somehow call out to you to be yours!

And whatever you do .... don't compare your reading with the reading of others. What you need and take from a book will be utterly unique to your own life experiences and sense of self so just do you!

And if you need any help working out what that is, or if you'd like to explore/ reflect on your current or past reads, you know where to find me!

Sam x

December 3rd 2024

In the aftermath of the debate in Parliament last week over assisted dying, I want to reach out in a personal way in the hope that it touches or helps someone else.

The books that I'm sharing here are some of the books that have helped me to know and understand my own grief over the last few years as I cared for and lost friends and family, including my parents to Covid.

I wish we all talked more about death. Dying is a fact of life. It does and will affect us all. Let's be open about what works, what we each think we might need to have 'a good death' if circumstances allow.

If you are struggling with any of this in any way I send you my love, and hope that you find something meaningful among the pages of these beautifully written books.

Sam x

Time Lived, Without Its Flow by Denise Riley - a beautiful essay on grief and time by critically acclaimed poet Denise Riley. I found it stimulating and comforting .... a rare feat.

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak - a wise novel with love and grief at its centre. It both educated and enchanted me.

Grief Is The Thing With Feathers by Max Porter - a genre-defying fable/novella/essay on grief full of profound emotional truth.

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell - arguably holds the most visceral and sensitive account of the death of a child that I have read.

To Start The Year From Its Quiet Centre by Victoria Bennett - poems that meditate on love and loss as the poet reflects on caring for her dying mother.

Inside the Wave by Helen Dunmore - a profoundly intimate window into the thoughts and feelings of this dying poet.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse