Well hello August, and welcome the month of (European) holidays. Pretty much everyone is on holiday at some point this month as the weather is at it’s potential best and schools are out. There is a slow atmosphere in the air, and the weather can be soporific. I am battling through this feeling though, trying to finish the book and taking advantage of not traveling (well, currently being unable to go very far anyway) by catching up on writing and transcribing. Towards the end of the month I am heading to Copenhagen for a week, to attend a conference. Suggestions of what to do while I am there are welcome!

A recipe for banana bread that uses dried figs. I am going to have to try this out.

Why you should visit Tiree, a Hebridean island. Scotchtastic crew take note!

I listened to Valeria Luiselli talk about her book on child refugees navigating arriving in the US without documents. It is a compelling listen, and a concerning topic.

This poem, by Maya Angelou.

Jay Rayner on food and the environment.

I seem to be in a memoir-reading phase. This weekend I’ve been reading Bleaker House. The story is about Nell Stevens (the author) attempting to write a novel so that she can proclaim to be a writer before she turns 30. She says in the book part of it is so she can have something to say at parties, when other people ask you what you do. (I know all about this feeling). But more importantly, she feels compelled to become a writer, to write a novel. She decides that loneliness and lack of distraction are key to the novel writing process and so goes to live on a Falkland Island for three months during the winter, when there is pretty much no one else there. The book is laugh-out-loud funny in parts, poignant in others, and deeply entertaining all the way through. It is easy to read over a weekend, or a few days, when you feel like disappearing into someone else’s world. You can find Nell talking about her book on the Shakespeare and Company podcast here.

Cultural appropriation?

Ideas on how gratitude may help boost your wellbeing. And a gratitude journal I really love.

‘Bread, butter, and honey is a great trinity‘.

Have a good week! x