Rae of Light

Ten months into my self-imposed reading challenge on Goodreads and I actually find myself 8   books ahead of schedule.  For those of you who think I’ve lost the ability to count – I didn’t actually start this challenge till February. The reason I'm this far along though is primarily due to books loaned to me by several fabulous students: Ari, Tobi and Tianna as well as the magnificent collection of Jacqueline Wilson at the charity where I teach.  It’s a difficult thing entrusting your beloved darlings to someone else but my students have faith in me and I hope I’ve not let them down by spilling spaghetti sauce all over the pages of their precious books. In quick summary: the way I’m attempting to get through this challenge is by reading 3 books simultaneously.   I read one #bookatbreakfast), the second is my #bagbook and the third my #bedbook. Reading this at bed time  makes for very exciting dreams My summer holiday in...

Photograph courtesy of Elisa Tomassi Despite the fact I’m a summer baby and love nothing better than sunshine beating down on my bare skin, I’m rather taken with autumn.  I love the turn of colour in the leaves, the gusts of wind that steal my hat and give me earache, the scurrying of squirrels hastily storing food for the oncoming winter, the leaf litter piling up ungathered on my unkempt lawn. But these are only a smattering of the reasons why I think autumn is awesome.  Here are a few more. I start looking longingly at my winter wardrobe and anticipate the hats and scarves I’ll soon be able to reclaim from my accessories shelf. Many are birthday gifts from friends and others are gifts I gave myself.  I love a new hat or two.  And then there’s the jacket I bought while in Edinburgh in September.  I’m on tenterhooks as I wait for the weather to turn cool enough for me to don this fabulous garment. Then there’s the steamy baths aft...