… because I like to do this from time to time, because I’ve been rather distracted lately, and because the time seems right.

A is for ALDERMAN by Georgina Farrell in my current knitting project.

B is for BRINGING HOME BOOKS I ALREADY OWN – because I like to help the library statistics of books I love when I have space on my ticket.

C is for THE CLAVERINGS by Anthony Trollope. It started slowly, I was having a lovely time spotting many things that are so typical of Trollope, but now that I am twenty chapters in I am completely engrossed in the human drama.

D is for DOROTHY DUNNETT. I have reached the end of the Lymond Chronicles, and I want to write about the last book this month. Then I can start reading the Niccolo books.

E is for EMERGENCY DASH. Two weeks ago I had to carry Briar to the vet and I thought that I might not be bringing her home again. The vet pinpointed the problem and said that her general health was very good for a dog of her age, and in in a few days she was her usual self again.

F is for FRAMING. I have had a lovely painting sitting in a broken frame for ages, but now it is been to the framer and it is back on the wall where it belongs.

G is for GOING BACK. I’ve picked up and put down a lot of books over the last few months, and I’ve decided that this month I am going to go back and either finish them or ditch them.

H is for HANDHELD PRESS – I am so pleased that Business as Usual by Jane Oliver and Ann Stafford will be reissued next year. I loved it and I really didn’t want to return the library copy that I read.

I is for ISLE. ‘Luminous Isle’ by Eliot Bliss has been sitting on my bedside table for a very long time. I do want to read it but it never seems to be the right time.

J is for JANE MUIR. I have admired her ceramics in the window of a local gallery for a long time, but I only discovered the name of their creator by chance when I was looking up another artist.

K is for KINGDOMS OF ELFIN by Sylvia Townsend Warner is a volume of short stories that I am reading very slowly, because I really don’t want to turn the last page and have no more stories left.

L is for THE LOST FUTURE OF PEPPERHARROW by Natasha Pulley. I am really looking forward to reading the sequel to The Watchmaker of Filigree Street next year.

M is for MUDLARKING by Lara Malkem is one of those books that I picked up and then dropped. I loved what I read but it wasn’t the right time for me to do it justice.

N is for NIGHT TRACKS is my favourite thing in the radio at the moment.

O is for ORGANZA BAGS. I brought a couple of packs of them and now my yarn stash is organised and easy to view.

P is for PALLISERS. I was very disappointed in the recent Radio 4 adaptation – there was some strange merging of characters, the modernisation lacked subtlety and it just didn’t work for me.

Q is for QUICKSILVER by Neal Stevenson. I spotted it on a list of best historical novels and I am trying to decide whether or not it is my kind of book.

R is for ROSA by Margery Sharp. A work email, from our shipping agents referring to Mexico’s Revolution Day, reminded me of this book and I ordered it in from the library’s fiction reserve to read again,

S is for STONECROP PULLOVER by Andrea Mowry is probably going to be the next thing I knit for myself. I have my main colour and a several possible contract colours.

T is for TIME TO FINISH. I just have half a sleeve to knit and then the Man of the House will have his new sweater. I’ve promised that it will be finished for Christmas – it’s not difficult but I don’t like knitting sleeves in the round and so I have let myself be distracted.

U is for UNDER THE TABLE. That is Briar’s summer retreat, but in the winter she prefers to curl up in her basket.

V is for VIRAGO SECRET SANTA. I have three parcels and I have a very good idea who they came from, but of course I’m not going to say who that is.

W is for WOMEN’S PRESS. I spotted a set of four of their books in a charity shop, and it brought back memories of seeing their striped spines and Virago’s green spine together in the Silver Moon Bookshop many years ago.

X is for (E)XCLUSION. There are big fences up to keep people off the Promenade while it is refurbished, and they will be there until next June at the earliest. I miss walking there and Briar doesn’t understand why one of her favourite walks has been closed.

Y is for YONGE. I have ‘The Clever Women of the Family’ by Charlotte Mary Yonge in mind for my 100 Years of Books Project.

Z is for ZAWADSKI – Alice Zawadski has been an interesting recent addition to my life’s soundtrack.