Desperate Reader

I find the end of summer beginning of autumn a deeply depressing time of year, no season of mists and mellow fruitfulness for me, instea...

About a year and a month ago I had an email from Rosy Thornton asking if I’d like a copy of her book to read, these kinds of offers are ...

‘Westwood’ turned out to be a bit of a reading journey for me - it looks quite innocent but at 448 pages there’s a lot in there to think a...

Desperate Reader is two years old today which has caused a moment’s reflection on my part. Last year I talked about what a great thing blo...

One of the very early posts on this blog (almost exactly two years ago) was about Stella Gibbons ' Nightingale Wood '  which had...

It’s that time of year again – the blackberries are ripe in the hedges, I’m asking my friend L about the state of her father’s plums (alth...

I’ve been flirting with the idea of making my own chocolates since 2003 when Chantal Coady’s ‘ Real Chocolate’ came out. I didn’t buy i...

It’s only two weeks since I finished this, but it feels like a lifetime – a lot’s been happening since I got back and I have found myself ...

Inspired by my sister and the river cottage ‘Fruit’ book in almost equal measure (but sister’s summer pudding was quite remarkable so sh...

I had meant to post this on Monday night but got transfixed by rioting first in London, and then as it spread to Birmingham and Nottingh...