Books I Read In July & August.

Hello, I thought I would have read more over July & August, but alas I didn’t even remember to swing about in my hammock with a good book. Maybe September will bless us with an Indian Summer! Here’s what I did dive into…..

The Woman In The Window ~ A. J. Finn ( 2018). I much preferred this psychological thriller to others such as Gone Girl and Girl On The Train. Anna Fox is a recluse, her everyday life is spent watching old Hitchcock movies, drinking wine and spying on her neighbours. One day she witnesses the apparent murder of her neighbours wife and the reader watches Anna’s life unravel as she tries to piece together what she has seen. There are loads of twists and turns in this book. It’s a real page turner that keeps you gripped until the end. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Highland Fling ~ Emma Baird (2018). If your looking for a little rom com escapism, I can recommend Highland Fling as a fun & sparky get away from everyday life. Our heroine Gaby needs to escape too, she finds herself the purrfect cat sitting job ( despite being allergic to them!) in a remote Scottish Highland village, where she is soon befriended by a quirky cast of characters. And then there’s a rather moody but impossibly good looking Jamie Fraser look alike who catches her eye. Plus some rather dodgy advice from a dating guru. What could go wrong! ✳️✳️✳️✳️

Murder In Midsummer ~ ( 2019). A collection of short murder mystery stories , most with a summer holiday backdrop. This book is a retro dip into the past and perfect for reading any time of year really. Some of the tales are better than others though, my favourites being ‘The House In Goblin Wood’ and ‘ The Adventures Of The Lions Mane’ . ⭐⭐⭐

The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall ~ Anne Bronte ( 1848). I must admit it’s taken me a long while to get round to reading Anne Bronte’s tale of escape from an abusive marriage. I wasn’t convinced that I would enjoy her writing as much as that of her more famous sisters. I needn’t have worried though, Anne shares the same passionate spirit as her siblings. The book is written in letters and diary form and centures around the sudden arrival of a young ‘widow’ who has come to live at Wildfell Hall, a bleak country house that has been empty for many years. Her reluctance to socialize with her neighbours makes her a figure of gossip, especially when a frequent visitor is spotted leaving the hall. Bronte writes about subjects such as alcoholism, fleeing a violent marriage and women working for themselves, all contraversial topics in the 1800s. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Adventures Of The Yorkshire Shepherdess – Amanda Owen (2019). If you haven’t discovered Amanda’s refreshing books about her life on a remote North Yorkshire hill farm yet, your missing a treat. Amanda, originally a townie from Huddersfield ,has been shepherding since she was a teenager. In her early twenties she met her soon to be husband Clive and moved in with him at Ravenseat. Several flocks of sheep, loyal dogs, faithful ponies, free wandering chickens, a cheeky peacock and ‘9’ children later , Amanda is sharing their very down to earth adventures yet again. I love all her books and I’m actually going to see her at a talk she’s doing in September. Can’t wait! ✳️✳️✳️✳️✳️

What have you read lately?

Ice Cold In Haworth.

Here I am snug as a bug in a rug. The radiators are piping hot , I have numerous throws to wrap round myself and two fur babies to snuggle up with. Bliss !

Friday night though was spent ( mostly shivering!) In a little B&B in the Yorkshire town of Haworth. I won’t say it was our accomodations fault. I couldn’t properly get warm anywhere at all. I think Yorkshire folk must be alot hardier than us Lancashire lot. The heating was on everywhere but didn’t seem to make much of a difference. I layered myself up and was tempted to keep my coat and hat on….even in bed. I have turned into a right softy!

Bronte Parsonage Museum.

Wil and I ( minus the pets) stopped over in Haworth as we were attending a talk in nearby Keighley by the Arctic adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes. It certainly seemed touch and go whether the event would take place. But of course ‘ the world’s greatest living explorer’ was easily up to the challenge of travelling from Exmoor to bleakest Yorkshire, whatever the conditions. 🙂

Despite my whinging, we did have a lovely time. The snow gave the cobbled streets of Haworth a wintery charm. The town is of course, famed for being the home of an extraordinary literary family, the Bronte’s. Writers Charlotte, Emily and Anne lived in the parsonage with their father the Reverend Bronte and brother Branwell. We had the Bronte Parsonage Museum all to ourselves on Saturday morning. Photography is no longer prohibited inside the museum,so I took a few pictures and imagined the Bronte siblings sitting at the dining room table, scribbling away. How frozen must their fingers have felt in the perishing south pennine winters.

Cobbled Streets.

Howarth Railway Station.

St Michael & All Angels Church. All the Brontes apart from Anne are buried in the Bronte family crypt, beneath the church.

Old fashioned sweet shop.

A nice coffee shop with a great selection of cakes. 🙂

Peppermint tea and a ginger bun in Villette. The café is named after one of Charlotte’s novels.

Icicles.

Inside the parsonage. The Dining Room. The sisters would have wrote here at the dining table.

Mr Bronte’s study. Emily and Anne both played the piano.

The kitchen.

The children’s tiny playroom.

Landing window.

Inside Branwell Brontes bedroom. Branwell was a troubled soul and failed to live up to the high expectations his family had of him.

A small bed embroidered with words by and about the Bronte sisters. Visitors are invited to make and unmake the tiny bed ( using the white gloves provided), to reveal the prose written in the bed clothes..

A snowy pathway.

Inside The Cabinet of Curiosities on Main Street. The shop was an apothecary even back in the days of the Bronte’s.

Book I bought from the gift shop in the Bronte Parsonage Museum.

We ended our visit to Haworth with a winter warming lunch in The Hawthorn on Main Street, whilst browsing our purchases. I bought ‘The Brief Lives of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne by Catherine Reef ( Can’t wait to start it! ) and Wil had purchased a signed copy of Ranulph Fiennes appropriately titled ‘Cold’, the evening before.

Which is your favourite Bronte sister novel?