Hello all, 

Did you read that like Jim from Friday Night Dinner? If not, go back and try again. Okay, we’ll go again, this post is a little nod to the books I’ve been reading this last month. Reading has always been a big hobby of mine, I remember being little and in bed reading Harry Potter and telling my Mum all about Herm-ee-one because my head hadn’t quite put it together as Hermione. Every birthday I would look forward to receiving “Stories for Seven Year Olds”, or whichever age I was, from my grandparents and I’d love being able to read stories for a slightly more grown up age range. 

Some of my stand out book series from when I was younger were of course Harry Potter, the Rainbow Fairies collection by Daisy Meadows, Ugenia Lavender by Geri Halliwell which I’d borrowed from the library and Jane Blonde by Jill Marshall. They were all wonderful in their own right and now as a grown-up I have fond memories of reading them. 

Reading for pleasure was very much put in a box and shoved in the loft of my brain during sixth form and university, for my A-Levels I studied 3 essay based subjects, I know how stupid was I? And I found it hard to pick up a book just to read it and it was very much the same during university. But since finishing my degree I’ve tried to become a habitual reader again. 

I’ll stop rambling about my love for books and dive into what I’ve enjoyed last month, but before I do, why don’t you check out my Goodreads account and we can be friends – I can’t lie I don’t know wholly how to tell you how to find me but try searching Lia Green? There’s not many Lia’s spelt Lia so it shouldn’t be too difficult. 

Living the Chateau Dream by Dick and Angel Strawbridge 

I really love the Escape to the Chateau television series and would love to spend an afternoon doing craft activities and chatting to Angel. The book details resotarions that they work on and you get to follow along with the progress that they make throughout a time period, I enjoyed being able to follow along and see in my head the things I’d seen on the television and match them all together but I could see how that could annoy some people if they were after something brand new. 

I liked how Angel and Dick took it in turns to write, not in a sense where one would write one chapter and then switch but they’d take it in turns in telling the same story and adding their own anecdotes. It felt more like a conversation with friends which was a nice touch. 

I enjoyed this book but it never had the feel of being a book I didn’t want to put down and took me a while to read. 

Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote 

I’ve loved the idea of the glamour that is associated with Breakfast at Tiffany’s ever since being on Tumblr as a teenager and seeing Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly appear. I watched the film with my Mum a few years ago and enjoyed it and still loved Audrey as Holly and the elegance that oozed out of her so effortlessly. I remember being in Shakespeare and Co bookshop in Paris, across from Notre Dame, and seeing the book and immediately being obsessed with the magic of Paris and the class of Audrey Hepburn and thinking I must buy this immediately. I mention the bookshop as it is the most amazing book shop I have ever been in and I love it love it love it, but I did the classic thing of buying it and adding it to my to be read list and here we are 5 years after that trip to Paris I finally read it. 

A story set in the early 1940s we hear from an unnamed narrator detail his friendship with one of his neighbours in a New York City upper east side apartment building. His friend is Holly Golightly who is outspoken, charming and she does not care what others think. Maybe we should all take a leaf out of Holly’s book? You’d be a fool to believe that Holly Golightly is a shallow girl about town, her character has complexities and although unattainable for most, an air of being human. The story is set over a year whereby the narrator and Holly become friends and he learns more about Holly’s lifestyle and past and what happens to her in the future. 

I really enjoyed reading about Holly Golightly and would love to read a whole series on the character. I’ll be keeping this book to reread again years down the line. I recommend it, it is still as wonderful as ever. 

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

The book is a hug, it is soothing, it is something to be enjoyed whilst cosy and having a cup of tea. It tells you the tale of Juliet Ashton, a writer from London who befriends a literary society on the island of Guernsey after World War II. Completely fascinated by their story she heads over to Guernsey to meet them and write a book about them, her stay is indefinite and she quickly becomes embedded into the life over there. I liked how the book was written solely in epistolary format consisting of letters between Juliet and her contacts in London. Maybe I love this because I adore writing letters and don’t it happens enough anymore, who knows? It is easy to love the characters and watch their lives, at times you feel like you are at the window watching in on their Literary Society nights (to imagine this correctly you have to be stood out in the cold, peering in through a small window onto a cosy scene with a fireplace optional). 

I really liked this book and it will be staying on my bookshelf so I can reread it again in many years. Although I do have one complaint, the ending was very abrupt and I’d have liked to have read a bit more about the circumstances and life after the event. 

I can confirm half way through August that and August reads won’t be happening as I’m not doing very good at picking my book up this month but I am currently reading The Flat Share by Beth O’Leary and I am enjoying it so far. Be sure to check out my Instagram to read my thoughts on it when I’ve finished. 

I was about to sign this off as Kind Regards like a work email, so we will stop there. Have a lovely day/afternoon/evening (delete as appropriate). 

Lia x