Tea – word of the month for March
I was introduced to tea by my grandma when I was around seven years old and I’ve been a tea Jenny ever since. It’s my go to drink at breakfast time and whenever some soothing timeout is required. I also like a mug of tea – and yes, I much prefer a mug to a cup – at my side when I’m writing and when I’m reading. And of course it has to made in a teapot – no teabag dunking.
Literally spilling the tea is, of course something I do my best to avoid. But I am going to be doing some literary spilling of the tea here – because the #spillingthetea challenge involves bloggers spilling, as in sharing, three books that for them best represent the letters T,E and A. So:
T has to be a book that TAUGHT you something
E is a book you didn’t want to END
A is an AUTHOR you can’t get enough of
And so, without further ado here are my TEA books
For the book that taught me something, and there are many, I’ve chosen On Writing by Stephen King. I read this more than ten years ago and it’s the book that made me believe I could be a writer. Although it’s a memoir – an excellent one – it’s also full of tips for aspiring writers. And I still dip into it to this day.
A book I didn’t want to end… That was a hard one to choose. There have been many over the years. So I decided to pick the most recent one and that is, An Autumn Hideaway by Margaret Amatt. It’s a contemporary romance set on the Scottish island of Mull and when it was one of those reads that where I was desperate to see how it all ended but also didn’t want to get to the end because I knew I was going to miss the main characters, Richard and Autumn so much.
And the author I can’t get enough of … as for the above categories it was a difficult choice. But from a list of six or so British, American and Australian authors, I chose Sue Moorcroft. She writes, entertaining, engaging and thought-provoking contemporary romances and the most recent one of her that I’ve read is A White Christmas on Winter Street.
Book of the Month
Still on the theme of books – regular readers of the blog will know that in each of my monthly posts, I like to share my most recent favourite read. And for March’s post that book is:
Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow by Jessica Redland. This is a contemporary romance (I know, who’d have guessed?) and I loved it.
From the back cover:
Can love really be found when you stop looking for it…?
As Samantha Wishaw watches the love of her life marry another woman, she’s ready to give up hope of finding her happy ever after.
But when a chance encounter leads Sam to find friendship in Thomas – a lonely, grumpy elderly widower living at derelict Hedgehog Hollow – her life is about to change forever.
Glad to have a distraction from family feuds and match-making, Sam vows to fulfil Thomas and his wife, Gwendoline’s, dreams of restoring Hedgehog Hollow to its former glory, and to open a hedgehog rescue centre.
Throwing herself into the task at hand, little does Sam realise that the keys to love and happiness may also be found at Hedgehog Hollow, when she least expects it…
And that’s it for this month. You can consider yourself officially challenged to #spillthetea and share below the three books you’d choose.
Thank you for reading!
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Great choices Anne. My daughters advise me that ‘spill the tea’ also means what’s the gossip! ☕😊
I didn’t know that! Definitely makes sense in terms of this book gossip post. Thanks for letting me know 🙂
What a fun thing to do. I wonder if I can do it. T would be Writing Down The Bones by
Natalie Goldberg, I read it many years ago but it really taught me a lot about writing. E would be The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, I really didn’t want it to end. And A (this is a hard one) ! would pick Barbara Kingsolver. I love everything she writes. Thanks for something to think about!
Thanks, Darlene. I have Natalie Goldberg’s book too. it’s another great one for writers. I loved The Shadow of the Wind. Thank you for sharing your TEA books here 🙂
I agree, no teabag. But tea is my afternoon drink—coffee in the morning!
Thanks for stopping by and for commenting. Tea as an afternoon drink is fine by me 🙂
Thank you so much, Anne! What an accolade. I’m thrilled to bits. 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
You’re welcome, Sue 🙂
What a lovely post and I’m so thrilled to that Finding Love at Hedgehog Hollow is your book of the month. Delighted you loved it and very honoured. You might go off me, though, when you discover how I have my tea – very weak and black. Squeeze that teabag and get rid. I’ll just get my coat! x
Not at all! You have your tea the way you like it 🙂 It’s a great book, Jessica.
Weak and black for me, also!