Reading
I read. A lot. The enforced “reading rests” of my childhood summers could have turned me into a book hater but no, they actually worked as my mother intended and today my favorite thing to do with downtime is read. I love sharing my passion for reading and have been known to accost people at used book sales and opine about the book they are considering... And then happy to suggest a few (dozen) others that they really must consider.
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Here are a few favourites from over the years.
Earliest known photo of me with a book
Those books I press into everyone’s hands
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Restless by William Boyd
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Flight Behaviour by Barbara Kingsolver
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A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
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Someone Knows My Name / The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
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All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
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Purge by Sofi Oksanen
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The Circle by Dave Eggers
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The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal
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Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
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Tell The Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt
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The Cloud Sketcher by Richard Rayner
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The Guncle by Steven Rowley
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People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
What've I've read - and loved - this year
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Still Life by Sarah Winman
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Memphis by Tara M Stringfellow
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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
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The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
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How Lucky by Will Leitch
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The Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow
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The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise by Colleen Oakley
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Olivetti by Alli Millington
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How to Read a Book by Monica Wood
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The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches - Sangu Mandanna
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Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books - Kirsten Miller
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The Painter - Peter Heller
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The Bandit Queens - Parini Shroff
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The Collected Regrets of Clover -Mikki Brammer
My favourite picture books of all time
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Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes
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Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes (who am I kidding - just about anything by Kevin Henkes or by Julia Donaldson)
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The Bear and the Piano by David Litchfield
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Sophie’s Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf
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Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae, illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees
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Officer Buckle and Gloria - by Peggy Rathmann
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The Little Blue Cottage by Kelly Jordan, illustrated by Jessica Courtney-Tickle
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Knight Owl by Christopher Denise
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Dear Mr. G by Christine Evans, illustrated by Gracey Zhang
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Viking in Love by Doug Cenko
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It Will Be OK by Lisa Katzenberger, illustrated by Jacklyn Sinquett
Recent picture books I adore
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Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, illustrated by Yas Imamura
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Lala's Words by Gracey Zhang
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Apple and Magnolia by Laura Gehl, illustrated by Patricia Metola
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The Boy Who Loved Maps by Kari Allen, illustrated by G. Brian Karas (one of my favourite illustrators ever!) ​
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Fred Gets Dressed by Peter Brown
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Love, Violet by Charlotte Sullivan Wild, illustrated by Charlene Chua
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Willow and Bunny by Anitra Rowe Schulte, illustrated by Christopher Denise
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Small Things Mended by Casey Robinson, illustrated by Nancy Whitesides
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Not Perfect by Maya Myers, illustrated by Hyewon Yum