Reading through the darkness

We’re all familiar with the image of a person on a stormy autumn’s night sitting in a comfy chair in front of the fire, wrapped up in a homey blanked enjoying a nice book. Possibly a mug of steaming tea of hot chocolate on the table and candles blazing in the background. A lovely image if ever there was one.

Now I’m all set to fulfill that image. There’s the comfy chair (in the library no less), hot chocolate and tea a plenty and someone bigger than me seems to have taken care of the weather. Alas, no fireplace, but enough candles to fill that gap. Now you’d think that I’m taking full advantage of the situation?

Sadly, no. In recent weeks I've found it more and more difficult to open a book. My search for new things to read has been constant. A bunch of books from the library, which you’re supposed to read quickly, is gathering dust on a shelf somewhere because I just can’t bring myself to open one.

This is the time of year when our nation falls into a coma/depression. The days get shorter and shorter only to vanish completely by Christmas. The weather is wet, if not freezing cold, and a smell of rotting leaves in the air really does nothing to cheer you up. What you really crave for is a huge pick-me-up, and when it comes to reading you certainly need your book to be entertaining and maybe even funny. My recent attempts at reading have involved a 19^th century women’s prison and a street child being trained as a pickpocket/conartist by a guardian of sorts (both by Sarah Waters btw).

After 2 pages I've given both books a miss and turned instead towards American sitcoms on TV. Munching a huge bag of candy I’m all set to face the worst nature has to offer - we all have to stack up to survive winter, right?