"Some people say that life is the thing but I prefer reading." - Logan Pearsall Smith
From the Alleghenies to the Hebrides: An Autobiography by Margaret Fay Shaw
Paris.
Brown bread and butter.
Whisky and Crabbies.
Piano buying.
Mrs Stewart of Fasnacloich.
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The 21/2 Pillars of Wisdom by Alexander McCall-Smith
‘..a pleasant journey’.
‘Don’t worry, you will get a fair trial before you are shot.’
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Five Go on a Strategy Away Day by Bruno Vincent
Clunk of tinnies.
The Picnic.
A Dirty Martini.
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Five Go Parenting by Bruno Vincent
Four adults.
Shifts.
Nose unblocking.
Getting dressed.
Leaving the house.
Meeting people.
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The Pupil by Caro Fraser
Water biscuits and wine.
Vegans.
‘I sometimes wonder if her lift goes all the way to the top floor.’
Socialising.
Money worries.
Those who don’t have them.
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The Shore Unknown by Coral Smith Saxe
Bodice-ripper cover.
‘You are my home.’
‘Author resides with her husband..’
‘..and several hundred head of longhorn dust bunnies.’
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Tall Tales & Wee Stories by Billy Connolly
Aberdeen beach.
‘In you go, ya big Jessie.’
Grandfather.
‘He didn’t want anybody in his house.’
‘Well, I’m sure you’re a very busy man...’
‘Well, you’d better set oot before it’s dark...’
Salad Buffet.
Mingle.
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And The Band Played On by Christopher Ward
Violinist’s grandson.
Titanic parents’ evening.
‘An encouragement for young people to aspire to brave things, not to be deterred by the fear of catastrophe.’
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Iris: A Memoir of Iris Murdoch by John Bayley
A river swim.
‘..nearly forty-five years ago.’
‘..drying ourselves on Iris’s waist-slip.’
‘I still have the waist-slip.’
‘I rediscovered it the other day, bunched up at the back of a drawer, stiff with powdery traces of mud.’
‘France, inhabited entirely, in my eyes, by writers and intellectuals who sat in cafes and wrote books between drinks.’
‘A little drop of white wine, a dash of Angustora bitters, orangeade, a good deal of water.’
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The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow
‘Mr Bennet leaned back in his chair, satisfied now that his wife was thoroughly agitated.’
‘..fresh scenes and different people.’
‘..closeted in the library.’
The Lakes.
The Wordsworths.
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The Wicked Wit of Jane Austen compiled by Dominique Enright
‘I will not say that your mulberry-trees are dead, but I am afraid they are not alive.’
Letter to Cassandra, 31 May 1811
Chaperoning.
‘I am put on the sofa near the fire and can drink as much wine as I like.’
Letter to Cassandra 6 November 1813
‘..you should always be contented, but especially at home, because there you must spend the most of your time.’
Mrs Morland, Northanger Abbey, 1818
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Motherwell: A Girlhood by Deborah Orr
Ravenscraig.
Mother’s 18” waist.
National Costume dolls.
Ladybird books.
Enid.
The Classics.
‘..being good at something’.
Poetry prizes.
Queen’s Guide.
St Andrews.
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The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell
Going native.
Rye bread.
Berries.
Standing desks.
Adult Night at the pool.
Cabin fever.
‘He who understands how to listen often sits and thinks about something else.’
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My Friends the Miss Boyds by Jane Duncan
...
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