Bare Minimum Dinners by Jenna Helwig
2021
I wholeheartedly support the philosophy of just doing enough cooking to get by – god, I am so sick of preparing meals every single day for 30 years – but most of the recipes were very meaty.
The Best Cast Iron Baking Book by Roxanne Wyss and Kathy Moore
2021
At least one of those godforsaken meals I prepare every single godforsaken day is cooked in one of my grandmother’s cast iron pans so this was right up my street.
Body Harmony by Nicole Berrie
2022
If you, like the author, are heavily into juicing, food combining rules, and sitting on the table with your bare feet beside the bowl of salad you’re tossing, then this book is for you.
Charles Dowding’s Skills for Growing
2022
A really enjoyable, informative book on vegetable growing. I love his spirit of experimentation.
Cookies: The New Classics by Jesse Szewczyk
2021
Some interesting ideas, but I think I prefer the old classics.
Down to Earth by Lauren Liess
2019
Decorating for rich people with homes that are already extraordinary.
Dusty Answer by Rosamond Lehmann
1927
Young Judith Earle grows up next to a country house occupied by five cousins slightly older than her and longs to fit in with them. The complicated relationships among them all continue into their twenties, with immature, naïve Judith learning hard life lessons along the way.
I wasn’t sure about this one at first, but it grew on me. It’s surprisingly modern for a book written almost a hundred years ago.
Flea Market Garden Style by Caroline McKenzie
2022
Books like this always confuse me. Are there really people who decorate their yards with mirrors and rugs and pillows and such? Do they carry them in and out of the house every day or they do they leave everything outside to be ruined within a week?
From Burnout to Balance by Patricia Bannan
2022
Filled with such groundbreaking advice as: eat lots of vegetables, get enough sleep, find a kind of movement you enjoy and do it, etc.
Get Messy Art by Caylee Grey
2021
I expected this to be about lightening up on expectations for artmaking in general, but it’s about creating art journals, which is fine, but not a particular interest of mine.
Knit Like a Latvian…Accessories by Ieva Ozoliņa
2021
Not many patterns I’d make, but I love the colourwork charts. Really lovely work.
Mrs Robinson’s Disgrace by Kate Summerscale
2012
True story: In the mid-19th century, Isabella Robinson was trapped in a marriage to a philandering, money-grubbing, uncaring arsehole and made the mistake of confessing to her journal her lust for the other men in her life. Mr Robinson snooped through the journal while she was ill, became outraged, and took her to divorce court with the journal as a very public Exhibit A.
Depressing and infuriating, but it’s my pick for most fascinating of the month, for sure.