Bookish confessions

I was charmed to receive a Stylish Blogger Ward this week from two sources: Lynne Rees at The Hungry Writer (click here) and llevinso (here) at the Sarcastic Female Literary Circle (but was she sincere…?) No matter, acceptance speeches have been made, and I shall spare you those here.

First rule of acceptance is to reveal seven facts unknown to your readers, which I’ve decided to do in the form of books – books I love, not because they make me look clever, but the books that make me seek out a large comfy chair and wallow in pleasure.

Susan Hill’s Howard’s End is on the Landing. A year of reading from home – this is Hill’s premise. No more buying books, but rediscovering old favourites. Along the way, her insight about books, life, reading and authors makes you feel you are sitting by the bookshelf with a wise friend.

F Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night. I’ve chosen this one because it’s set on the French Riviera, but it could have been almost any of the others; The Great Gatsby is my longest-standing favourite book. And just look at that glorious old cover!

Rick Stein’s Mediterranean Escapes is the whole deal: sumptuous food, travel, light, colour, and he’s a cultured cove. How many other restaurateur-cooks would write (or talk to camera, as this is the book of a TV series) about Corfu with a book by Lawrence Durrell in their hand?

Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca is a very old friend, and literary godmother to a novel never far from these pages…

Pleasure Gardens in Provence: The Art of Michel Semini by Louisa Jones and Anita Ortiz. I have a quiet fantasy that one day I will become a Vita Sackville-West and create a garden paradise in the sun. If I could afford him, I would definitely hire Michel Semini to design it. Many happy hours have been spent with this book.

               

Antoine de St-Exupery’s novella Night Flight is the kind of read that takes armchair travel to a different level, a dark world of astonishing courage from the early days of aviation, when men flew across the mountains of Latin America with the mail service in open cockpits at night with few navigational aids beyond the stars.

Up the Garden Path by Sue Limb is a joyous, hilarious, life-affirming comfort read. Love's Labours, its sequel, is just as good. She now writes mainly for teenagers, and my daughter and I adore her Girl, 15 series.                                   

The second part of the award is that it should be passed on to fifteen other bloggers. Well, it doesn’t say you have to do it all at once, so here are my first five shout-outs:

La Fourchette s’est Emballée, a consistently outstanding photography and food blog that comes to us from Aix-en-Provence.

Cornflower Books, of which I’ve been an avid reader for years, long before I began this little endeavour. Karen’s original blog – simply, Cornflower – is for food, craft and photography, and if we get really lucky, she makes the perfect biscuits or cake for certain books and serves with a flourish.

A Writer’s Lot in France, where Vanessa blogs about the practicalities and idiosyncracies of living in France, and I really enjoy the tone of her writing.

French Essence is so successful it hardly needs any accolades from me. Australian writer Vicki Archer’s blog is quintessentially stylish and essential reading for anyone interested in Provence.

Avignon in Photos is full of stunning photography, but also of quirky detail – open it, meet Nathalie and you’re being driven around Avignon and the surrounding areas on the inside track with a local.

So there you are, you don’t need to do anything more with it if you don’t want to. Just have your moment in the knowledge you are appreciated. If you want to take it further, make your own seven confessions and fifteen awards. Oh, and acknowledge who gave you the award. Enjoy!