Girlbooker's Tea and Toast

Readers of this blog will know that I have been looking for my ‘forever job’ for a few months now. Although I am currently working, it isn’t full time, so I have been getting into the groove of  a slower pace. Yet I am surprised at how busy life still feels. A few reflections on what that so called slower pace looks like. Life is simpler. Because I don’t have money to splash around, I am conscious of not spending unnecessarily. Apart from a couple of times, this has generally made life a whole lot simpler. I am spending way less time agonising over what to buy, how much to spend and whether I need one or two of something. The default answer is ‘no’ and it saves a lot of mental energy. When I do spend money, I really relish it as something special, even if it’s just a muffin as well as a coffee . I’m also doing quieter things, like staying home and reading, and the extra time to read has been such a beautiful gift. I have read more in the last six months than I have in the pre...

In what is currently masquerading as my day job, I was asked to list my top 5 books for the year. For various reasons, I wasn’t able to list the books that I had read and REALLY loved, so here is the list of my heart: books I read (that were not necessarily published) last year, and would bore anyone about at a dinner party/bus stop/ queue for overpriced pastries in some hipster laneway, as long as they were stupid enough to ask me about what I’d been reading: The Answers - Catherine Lacey I love this woman’s work so much I would read a toilet roll if she wrote on it. Just amazing, amazing, amazing; here is another review if you want to know more. Swing Time - Zadie Smith  I’ve never read any other Zadie Smith, but this book got completely under my skin. It's one of those books that tackles big, broad themes yet also delves into a really captivating small, character-based story, and I adored it. The Green Road - Anne Enright Enright won the Booker a few years ...

I’ve been intrigued by the possibilities of connection between food and mental health for a number of years now. A few years ago, I went through a really tough time, and one of the things that acted as a life buoy for me was cooking. I had never been an especially engaged or talented cook, but through this time I slowly developed familiarity with ingredients and techniques, and came to rely on the soothing, calming process of kitchen creation so much that I now get sad and moody if I go more than a few days without cooking.  I’ve spent some time musing over what exactly it is that works such magic on me, and I’m not 100% sure, but I do know that I’m not alone in seeking solace in food, and in particular, food creation. I have been delighted to discover some books in the last couple of years that have shared these ideas with me. The Happy Kitchen by Rachel Kelly is most explicit about this topic. It’s been written by a writer who has struggled with depression, and a nutritioni...

I've just finished a delicious pot of tea while glancing through the window at the day slowing beginning to light up, and since everyone here is still asleep I have an unexpected window of time free to blog! I am still looking of my 'forever job' but I am working  - back in a bookshop and gearing up to do another Christmas in retail. I honestly thought the day I walked out of that shop with the semi-regular flooded carpet in the back room and the co-worker I dubbed 'The Human Snail' would be the last day I ever said "would you like a bag?" to a complete stranger. But no. Here I am again. It's been a lesson in remembering what I love and hate about work. I sort of knew all of it already but it is now crystal clear. I don't like a job that's too easy and/or boring. I don't like inefficiencies that I am powerless to fix. I do like books. In fact, I fucking love them! And that is a summary in less than 100 words of my current working life. ...

I was waiting for a train the other day, and had a sudden flash of happy memory; a book I had read largely on public transport a few weeks earlier popped into my head and I enjoyed a brief moment of enjoying it all over again. (The book in question, in case you’re wondering is The Portable Veblen, one the best books you’ve never heard of, in my humble opinion). So this got me thinking about books and travel.   Are there certain kinds of books that are better suited to reading on the go than others? And if so, what are they? First and most importantly, it’s best to avoid deeply emotional tear-jerker books in public. I’m a big crier, and it really doesn’t take much to set me off so I need to be especially careful, but sometimes it’s just unavoidable. A couple of weeks ago, the woman standing behind me on the train was reading and working her facial muscles like a gymnast in order to hold back the tears. Personally, it just made me want to give her a hug and then become best frie...

As a child and teenager, I used to constantly reread. That habit has fallen away for a few reasons, to the point where I feel almost stressed at the thought of it. In fact, I get a little twitchy if someone mentions they are re-reading something, especially if the person in question works in a bookshop or publishing house. One of the reasons I don’t do it anymore is that I feel overwhelmed at the thought of all those books out there that I would probably love but will never, ever get the chance to read, because there are just. so. many.  Working in bookshops for a number of years has no doubt exacerbated this. It’s also meant that I usually can’t bear taking recommendations from others because my own personal list of Books To Read One Day is so long. I don’t have time to waste on something someone ELSE thinks has value! And the third habit that this work has instilled in me is that I won’t keep reading something that I don’t enjoy. Life is too short, and the book list too lon...

Paris and New York are my two biggest dream destinations. “What about Tuscany?” I hear the Cliche Police ask. Well, maybe when I turn 50 I’ll develop  a sudden urgent and passionate desire to buy a Tuscan farmhouse and make lots of bean soup in it while I write my memoirs (which will consist of a combination of authentic Tuscan bean soup recipes and hilarious anecdotes involving me, the neighbours and a crazy misunderstanding about a goat).  But for now, my twin destination obsessions are Paris and New York. I’ve been to Paris several times but I’ve never been to New York, so I have to satisfy myself with reading books or watching things that have been set there.  I am actually pretty happy being an armchair traveller at the moment, and particularly enjoy devouring a book set in New York.   The longevity and richness of New York’s place in culture and literature is a big part of what makes it so mythical and enticing to an outsider like myself. One of my lit...