As anyone who knows me knows, I am a voracious reader. I regularly have 3 or 4 books on the go and, before you ask, yes I do sometimes get confused with the different stories and characters. I love the escape from real life reading provides, it’s how I unwind and what I use to keep my mind active while looking after tiny humans.
There are certain authors that I have discovered and become mildy obsessed with to the extent that I will attempt to read everything they’ve ever written. Once I’ve discovered a type of writing that I really enjoy, like the Texas BBQ stuffed crust pizza at Domino’s, I will go back to it again and again. It can be so rare to find authors who write in a way that you find beautiful, engaging and gripping. Whose characters are believable, well fleshed out and lovable. So why stray from what you know?

Yes they are all women, yes they are all focused on women’s stories. I don’t think that’s an accident.

Kristin Hannah- a Canadian author whose writing is near perfect in my mind. Her stories are all about women, their friendships and relationships with each other, their romantic entanglements and the challenges they have overcome. I would recommend any of the books she’s written but to give a few: The Nightingale, Four Winds and Firefly Lane (wayyy better than the TV show). Her books are always fairly long so if you’re looking for a meaty, emotional, in depth read, go grab one of hers.

Emily Henry- funny rom coms, easy to read, often a bit of grit and spice in there too. Love all of her novels but I think her latest, Happy place, is my fave.

Beth O’Leary- the British Emily Henry, if you will. The No-show has been my favourite of hers so far, but I haven’t read her latest The Wake Up Call. Light, wonderful books to cosy up with.

JoJo Moyes – the British Queen of romance novels. However, she went really left field with The Giver of Stars and it is a stunning book. I also really enjoyed her latest book In Her Shoes, which was again a step away from her usual stories. Great, easy to read books to grab if you’re in a reading slump/are on holiday.

Lucy Clarke- light destination thrillers with female leads. I first read One of the Girls with my book club and didn’t think it was amazing but enjoyed it enough to try others of hers and I enjoyed them much more. A good load of twists, female friendships and the setting is always integral to the story. Her latest, The Hike, is probably her best but they’re all very good, and not too heart poundingly tense!

There are probably more I could list but 5 is enough! Is there an author that you have read everything by?

I haven’t written in a really long time, so I thought I’d do a kind of intro post to get warmed up.

As a way to start I’ll update you on how things are with our family right now. We are at half term which means that Caleb has been in mainstream year R for 7 weeks! This may not seem like a big deal to most of you but considering when he started school in September 2022 (when he had just turned 4) we withdrew him after only 3 weeks because he was struggling and there was zero support for him, this is amazing. We are so proud of him and the friendships he has made. It’s been really beautiful to drop him off and see his friends greet him and envelop him in hugs. I swear he brings out the best in people, it’s one of his gifts. At the moment he’s doing a mix of half days and full days with the hope that he will eventually do 5 full days. But we’ll see. It feels less important for him to be in full time than for him to be happy and well regulated.

Now that we are over the hurdles of getting a diagnosis and applying for an EHCP and DLA, we are in the privileged position of not having to fill in reams of forms and fight for support, because we have it. Now we live with the day-to-day joys and challenges of parenting and living with an autistic child, which I may or may not go into further detail on in future posts. One thing I will share is the current main struggle this half term, for all the kids, which has been emotional regulation. The girls struggle with it because they’re only 2 and Caleb struggles with it because of his age as well, but more so because he’s autistic. That means Sam and I need to be even better at handling our emotions, which is tricky when you’re regularly getting screamed at by 3 tiny humans. There have been lots of tears and moments when we feel totally out of our depth and lost at what to do. Thankfully there have also been lots of moments of laughter, silliness and cuteness, otherwise we would be close to giving up!

There have been many things that have been helping me keep my sanity and joy these last few weeks, so I thought I’d share them with you. This is a phrase I’m borrowing from an author and podcaster I love called Kendra Adachi who borrowed it from Barbara Brown Taylor…

“What is saving my life now”

Books- I’ve read some real corkers recently and I’ve got my local book club to thank for that. One that I must recommend to you is American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. The protagonist is Mexican bookseller Lydia who is forced to flee her home with her young son after their whole family is murdered. The story follows their travels through Mexico to the border with the US, where they want to emigrate. There are some tough moments in the book, but it’s also beautifully written. The descriptions of the scenery and characters are evocative and the relationship between Lydia and her son is powerful and so moving. The story is gripping, heart breaking and often hard hitting. Read it, it gets 5 stars from me.

Podcasts- I have recently listened to the 3 part series Faith in Kids have recently done on Autism and the Church which you can find here. The discussions have sparked hope in me for what church could look like for us as a family with a child with special needs. It’s amazing to hear the lengths some churches are going to to ensure that families like ours feel welcomed and supported in church. There are also some really touching examples of where autistic children have expressed their own understanding of faith in their own way. It’s hard to find much content on the niche parenting/Christian/autism overlap, so I’m thrilled someone recommended it to me. I’m just so glad that some people somewhere are having these discussions and have been kind enough to share them with us.

Music- Benjamin William Hastings’s self-titled album is on repeat at the moment. Christian singer songwriters can occasionally come across a bit twee and cheesy, but Hastings’s lyrics are raw, honest and beautiful. Plus, it’s just really good music. Occasionally he’ll sing something that feels like a gut punch because it echoes how I’m feeling about my faith and life. He doesn’t tiptoe around issues of doubt or feeling distant from God and his songs about his children are enough to make you cry. It’s a long album and there are special editions of it that are even longer, but it’s great.

Chocolate- Like, how great is chocolate? My favourite (even though it’s pricey) is Tony’s Caramel and Sea Salt bar. I could gobble that up in seconds.

So there you have it. I haven’t included what TV I’m watching at the moment as it’s trash to be honest. But if you’re interested, Sam and I are watching Scandal and I’m watching Ginny and Georgia. Neither top rate shows but enough to keep you interested!

What is currently saving your life?