
Books & Memories: How a book is not just about the story but where it's read
I started thinking about the title of this blog recently when I was looking through my bookshelf and pulling books out and I realised something: as I held the book in my hand, not only was I reading the title of the book and the author but…

The Healing Power of Story
I am nocturnally challenged. Many years ago, upon sharing this information with someone I met, he looked me in the eye and said 'Get your beloved to read to you.' I wasn't sure what my beloved would think of that, but I asked him, and he did.…

✳︎ 6 Books for a Compassionate Christmas ✳︎
How is everybody coping as Christmas edges ever closer? I don't know about anybody else, but when December hits and Christmas starts carolling towards us, as much as I love this season, I sometimes feel like burying my head under a pillow and…

Encouraging Reluctant Readers
I recently had an article published on 'How to Encourage Reluctant Readers' on the Advice for Parents section of Simply Learning Tuition (a London based tutor-company). Click here to have a read of it!

#FeministFebruary - A shout out from India
Virginia Woolf
As February draws to a close, I am sneaking in with a quick blog post to celebrate #FeministFebruary as I only discovered its existence the other day. Coincidentally, I am reading Virginia Woolf's book A Room of One's Own (1929) at…

My favourite 5 books from the second half of 2017
It's been a busy six months: publishing my third novel, packing up our house & leaving Nairobi. But I've read more than ever. Reading is a constant for me, an anchor and refuge and my day is never finished without losing myself within the…

Stuck for last minute Christmas gifts? How about one of my top 5 reads of 2016?
I am delighted to unwittingly discover that my top 5 reads of 2016 have all been written by women. I have absolutely nothing against fiction by men; I have also read many books written by men this year and have always been fairly gender-blind…

Why reading aloud to older kids is not just special, it's vital
When is a good age to stop reading stories aloud to children?
Well, how about never?
Alright, so what are the chances really of being tucked up beside our seventeen year old reading a bedtime story. But many believe that once children have…

Win a small treasure: The Gifts of Reading
'This story, like so many stories, begins with a gift. The gift, like so many gifts, was a book...'
So begins Robert Macfarlane's masterful and luminous essay, on the gift and power of giving and receiving books. This small, beautifully bound…

Why should we read Historical Fiction?
I'm going to let you into a little secret: I never intended to write Historical Fiction. It's not that I didn't enjoy reading it from time to time, but in my pre-novel days when I focused on the short story form, they were almost always set…