Reading round-up: my November shelf

This November has pretty much been characterised for me by reading on-the-go—and not always exactly as intended. Reading on my long-haul plane ride to the US was ideal—but then there was the time I was so engrossed in Little Women that I went north instead of south on the Victoria line and ended up in Finsbury Park before I even realised. Even worse was the time I took a three-hour ferry-and-train combo from the Isle of Wight, before discovering I had left behind the sole copy of the annotated manuscript I was due to hand in at 5pm that afternoon. Yeah, there was a bit of extra travelling involved in that cock-up. So it’s lucky I’ve had such brilliant books on hand to keep me company!

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Jo and Laurie’s unpopular ending was Louisa May Alcott’s best move

This month, I finally got around to reading Little Women, after somehow managing to avoid it for 24 years. And—well, I had pretty mixed feelings, to be honest. I loved reading it (I mean, it opens on a Christmas scene; it’s like it was written specially for me), and I got really attached to the characters—but I found the messages pretty hard to get on board with. I just wanted to read about Jo’s adventures without Louisa May Alcott preaching at me all the time. However, after doing a bit of digging into the life of Alcott herself, I may have come full circle.

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Reading round-up: My October shelf

A question I’ve been asking myself this month: if you don’t have heaps of bubbles, a glass of prosecco and a good book—is there even any point having a bath? (Answer: nope.) As this October chill has crept in, and London has turned a little greyer and a little dirtier—my bubbles have become the highlight of my evenings. And these are the books I’ve been submerged in while I’m…submerged.

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