Holiday reading

 One of my favourite things about self catering holidays in the UK is discovering the cottage bookshelves!

My ultimate holiday bookshelf so far was around 6/7 years ago when we stayed in Cornwall. The cottage had a little walkthrough area between the bedrooms that had a lovely view of the woods nearby and an extensive bookshelf with a comfy seat alongside it. Many an evening was spent in that little area and I found a book which I started to read but failed to finish! It was called "The chocolate Girls" and was set in WW2. It was several years before I was able to source the book and finish it! (It was a quest!)

Since Covid, the holiday bookshelves have not been so impressive. I understand why books were remove during the pandemic, but it feels a shame that they haven't been returned to their former glory! I am a little obsessed with "cottage libraries", often asking friends to send me pictures of the places they stay in if they have a bookshelf! I find myself zooming in on the titles and googling ones of interest to add to my tbr pile!

This year, we had a weeks break in Seaford, Sussex and I was very happy to find a shelf dedicated to adult fiction (with some children's books and games on another shelf!) I found a mixture of autobiographies, local interest books and some fiction. I have, of course, noted the books I would be interested in reading should I come across them outside of the cottage - it is another way of expanding my reading! 

There were many crime novels - so I finished the book I had brought along with  me (The Sixth Wife by Suzannah Dunn) and placed it on the bookshelf for someone to enjoy whilst on their holiday. 

I was very restrained with my book buying this year. I usually end up trawling bookshops and coming home with way more than I could read. My bookshelf has many a "holiday buy" from holidays over the last 4 years which I still haven't got around to read! I only really went into one bookshop on this holiday and it was fantastic! Highly recommend www.boonbookslewes.com and their reasonably priced books, with a wide range of genres and titles to choose from. I found myself a "Blind date with a book" and 2 other book from the general fiction section which came home with me to join the tbr shelves.

Am I the only one who loves a good holiday cottage library?