The Family Book Club.

I’m a lover of books. I love to read. I’m a big old book worm.

But I’m also a book snob. I know what I like and I like my reading material to offer me one thing and one thing only: escapism. I love anything fantastical and avoid books that are too close to home. I read Out of the Ashes (Michael Morpugo) when I was nine years old and was scarred for life. It’s an amazing read, but I cried SO much! I’m also the kind of person who finds it necessary to re-read prequels before starting the next book in a series, which is why I’ve read the first Harry Potter book eleven times. No exaggeration.

Anything with magic, vampires, werewolves, other universes is all my cup of tea, but that’s not to say that I won’t indulge other people’s suggestions. As well as being a book snob, I’m also a book finisher. I’m too stubborn to let a boring book beat me and will finish anything that I’m not enjoying out of principle. Interestingly I don’t have the same rule with films. If I’m less than half way through a bad film then it’s fair game to move on to something better, but if I’m over the halfway mark, I’m committed. But what’s life without whimsy?

The reason for this particular post is to introduce you to a new concept of reading that I hope will inspire you. For lack of a better phrase, it is essentially a Family Book Club. Now don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely no hint of Brady-bunch family idealism being upheld here. Zero. Nip. Nada. No, our little book club grew out of something considerably less cheerful! Summer 2016 saw me spend 10 days in hospital (I will spare you the details). I happened to be in York at the time, so although I was miles from home and missing Mr A and the dogs terribly, my sister came and visited me every day.

My sister and I are very close – something that I hold the five year age gap responsible for. When I was very little she endured my endless endeavours to destroy her beautifully tidy bedroom, suffered countless blows to the head by toys thrown from my cot and once had to save me from sure decapitation in a sash window… And whilst our mum worked evenings, leaving the days free for fun and games, my sister would help our Nana put me to bed and read me a bedtime story, voices and all.

I treasured her visits whilst I was in hospital and on one of those visits she brought with her a book and just like she did 20 years ago, proceeded to read me a story.

The book was one that our mother had read and sent to my sister with the hope that she would enjoy it, which she did. It is called Temeraire and is written by Naomi Novik. Temeraire is a dragon and like all good dragons, he can talk. Set during the Napoleonic War, it is a time when dragons are bred and harnessed for riding into battle in the same way horses were and we follow the adventures had by Captain William Lawrence and Temeraire.

And so from my mum, to my sister, this lovely book made its way to me and with nothing else to do in a hospital bed, was finished in two days. The second in the nine-part series was brought on a subsequent visit which included a new visitor – my dad (at this point I should add that he and my mum have been divorced 24 years). Conversation turned to Temeraire and, intrigued, he took it home with him to read and the Family Book Club was born. Dad loved the story so much that he went out and bought the second and third for himself. Number three was sent to me in Lincoln, then to mum in Swansea, then to Mrs Smith in York. I bought a second hand copy of number four and when I received the fifth and sixth on my birthday, they soon made their way to dad, who sent them to mum who sent them to my sister. Family book club!

It’s a simple thing, sharing books, but it has given us a common goal and helps me feel closer to them when we’re miles apart. Perhaps the most magical part of our Family Book Club has been the effect on my parent’s relationship. After years of living very separate lives, they now send and receive these wonderful books in the post and have a revived sense of kinship... a remarkable thing indeed!