I am probably the last bookish person to stumble across this photograph of Nigella Lawson’s private library (who knew!?) but, if you haven’t already, check this out….

Ordinarily I would look (with great envy) at this photograph and perhaps glimpse my own bookish future within it….however, this week I’m beginning to doubt myself. After throwing myself into and thoroughly enjoying The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, perhaps through sheer exhaustion, my reading has ground to a complete halt this weekend. Feeling rather excited, I plucked Cannery Row out of the bookshelf only for it to sit unopened on my bedside table (I know, I’m disappointed with myself as well). Hoping to cure my exhaustion I have, in the meantime, plumped for an old favourite in Guy de Maupassant, hoping that A Woman’s Life will give me just the right balance of domestic drama and comfortable prose that I need…