As winter approaches, it is important to nurture ones soul as well as indulge the desire for peace and quiet ( and mulled wine). I have managed to create a little nook in our house that I keep free of clutter and assorted technical tidbits and which I defend from intrusion with ferocity. Here I keep my books: the ones I love, the ones I just bought and which are patiently waiting to be read, and the ones given to me by friends added to the “in waiting” pile. There are two Robert Macfarlane books, Emma Mitchell’s Making Winter, and Witchery by Juliet Diaz.

I’m still reading Philip Pullman’s ‘The Secret Commonwealth’ at the moment, but I still have the odd peak at the other books, and feel like I’m cheating on Lyra. But it doesn’t really matter because Winter is long and in my little nook time passes more slowly. It’s magic.