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Shorter cool days are the perfect time to snuggle up with a good books, cosy throw and a cup of tea. Light a few of your favorite candles not only for a pleasant sent but for a little atmosphere and your are all set for a relaxing evening.
I have found a little bit for everyone, cookbooks, home decor, the kids in your life, classics and more.
13 Books to Cosy Up with This Autumn
Beginning with new evidence that cites the presence of books in Roman villas and concluding with present day vicissitudes of collecting, this generously illustrated book presents a complete survey of British and Irish country house libraries. Replete with engaging anecdotes about owners and librarians, the book features fascinating information on acquisition bordering on obsession, the process of designing library architecture, and the care (and neglect) of collections. The author also disputes the notion that these libraries were merely for show, arguing that many of them were profoundly scholarly, assembled with meticulous care, and frequently used for intellectual pursuits. For those who love books and the libraries in which they are collected and stored, The Country House Library is an essential volume to own.
Following the success of Welcome to the Farm, Shaye Elliott shares how she celebrates family and farm traditions year-round in Seasons at the Farm. With her engaging storytelling and gorgeous full-color photos, Shaye brings to life how to entertain simply yet beautifully without mortgaging the farm. Simple recipes, decorating advice, and projects make this an inspirational and aspirational sequel to her beloved previous books.
The Great Big Pumpkin Cookbook
Pumpkin is not just for pie! With help from Maggie Michalczyk, registered dietitian and creator of the popular Once Upon a Pumpkin blog, you can discover brand-new ways to use your pumpkin, whether fresh or canned. From snacks and side dishes to breakfast, dinner, and dessert, you’ll never get tired of the creative ways to use your pumpkin!
Beloved for her gorgeous cookbooks A Kitchen in France and French Country Cooking, Mimi Thorisson, along with her lively family and smooth fox terriers in tow, immersed readers in the warmth of their convivial lives in rural France. In their newest cookbook, the Thorissons pause their lives in the idyllic French countryside to start a new adventure in Italy and satisfy their endless curiosity and passion for the magic of Italian cooking.
The rich colors and elegant illustrations of I. O. Sawa pull all of the beauty of autumn into this Easy To Read counting book.
… High above the ground below,
The sky is white. It starts to snow…
As autumn starts to turn to winter, count along as each snowflake falls and a gentle flurry hides the leaves until, at last…
Everything is all snowed in,
Tucked away in Winter’s bed.
Leaves of Yellow,
Leaves of Red.
As trees sway in the cool breeze, blue jays head south, and leaves change their colors, everyone knows–autumn is on its way!
Join a young girl as she takes a walk through forest and town, greeting all the signs of the coming season. In a series of conversations with every flower and creature and gust of wind, she says good-bye to summer and welcomes autumn.
Ali Smith’s new novel is a meditation on a world growing ever more bordered and exclusive, on what richness and worth are, on what harvest means. It is the first installment of her Seasonal quartet—four stand-alone books, separate yet interconnected and cyclical (as the seasons are)—and it casts an eye over our own time. Who are we? What are we made of? Shakespearean jeu d’esprit, Keatsian melancholy, the sheer bright energy of 1960s pop art: the centuries cast their eyes over our own history making.
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.
The Haunting of Bryn Wilder(free with First Reads)
After a devastating loss, Brynn Wilder escapes to Wharton, a tourist town on Lake Superior, to reset. Checking into a quaint boardinghouse for the summer, she hopes to put her life into perspective. In her fellow lodgers, she finds a friendly company of strangers: the frail Alice, cared for by a married couple with a heartbreaking story of their own; LuAnn, the eccentric and lovable owner of the inn; and Dominic, an unsettlingly handsome man inked from head to toe in mesmerizing tattoos.
But in this inviting refuge, where a century of souls has passed, a mystery begins to swirl. Alice knows things about Brynn, about all of them, that she shouldn’t. Bad dreams and night whispers lure Brynn to a shuttered room at the end of the hall, a room still heavy with a recent death. And now she’s become irresistibly drawn to Dominic—even in the shadow of rumors that wherever he goes, suspicious death follows.
In this chilling season of love, transformation, and fear, something is calling for Brynn. To settle her past, she may have no choice but to answer.
Meg is the eldest and on the brink of love. Then there’s tomboy Jo who longs to be a writer. Sweet-natured Beth always puts others first, and finally there’s Amy, the youngest and most precocious. Together they are the March sisters. Even though money is short, times are tough and their father is away at war, their infectious sense of fun sweeps everyone up in their adventures — including Laurie, the boy next door. And through sisterly squabbles, their happy times and sad ones too, the sisters discover that growing up is sometimes very hard to do.
Based on Louisa May Alcott’s childhood, this lively portrait of nineteenth-century family life possesses a lasting vitality that has endeared it to generations of readers.
This is a town where the shoes in the window always fit, where you can buy a love potion at the corner shop, and where the woods at the outskirts of town just might be the door to another world. And, of course, there’s Autumn, Avening’s beloved resident witch. From what’s known of its mythical founding, Avening has always been a haven for people who are a little bit different, a place where they can come to discover what makes them so special. When Autumn receives news that she’s been promoted to a higher coven, she also learns she has to replace herself. But who in Avening is in tune enough with her own personal magic to take over the huge responsibility of town witch? Autumn has a list of thirteen women and men who just might have what it takes-but how can she get them to open their eyes to the magic in their lives? This endlessly surprising and heart-warming debut is the story of coming to terms with the magical things we take for granted every day-our friends, our community, and, most of all, ourselves.
For more than two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that has gone wrong in their Massachusetts town. Gillian and Sally have endured that fate as well: as children, the sisters were forever outsiders, taunted, talked about, pointed at. Their elderly aunts almost seemed to encourage the whispers of witchery, with their musty house and their exotic concoctions and their crowd of black cats. But all Gillian and Sally wanted was to escape. One will do so by marrying, the other by running away. But the bonds they share will bring them back—almost as if by magic…
The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue
France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever—and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.
Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.
But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
Have a great day friends!
Monday Musings No. 125
Friday Favorites No. 577 from Foodess, What’s Gabby Cooking, Butter Your Biscuit, and more.
Monday Musings No. 112
Jolabokaflod: Start a New Christmas Tradition
Love this so much! That last book looks amazing! What a bargain—to live forever—but to be forgotten by everyone you meet. 🙂
Happy day!
KariAnne
Some good reads as always – you are great to share with us. I did read The Night Circus some years back – found it 'different' even strange lol!
I would love Mimi T's Italian cookbook – what a charmed, and busy, life she leads. . . . . .now 8 children I think, numerous doggies, a chateau reno, and so much cooking. I no longer have young children of course, and my small cottage home will never be mistaken for a French chateau, however I still do an awful lot of cooking, especially since March 2020!
Happy day my friend – Mary