It's the first Sunday of Advent today. Churches lit a candle, carols were sung and advent calendars are poised ready for the first door to be opened tomorrow. After what has seemed like rather a long and premature lead up to Christmas, we can now embrace the countdown with abandon.
As the days are predominantly short, dull and cold, it's lovely to have the light, hope and anticipation of this season.
And I'm pleased to say that I've discovered some positive, uplifting books to read and will be sharing them in my recommendations in the coming weeks. It's a relief to be reminded of kindness, goodness and generosity when we're bombarded with negativity, fear and conflict in the news each day.
There were some interesting books recommended in our book group meeting this week, too. As it was our last opportunity to gather this year, we shared some of our discoveries of the past 12 months, and I've listed them on my website. (There's been a little delay in making that page live so please look back tomorrow!)
A vote regarding our favourite book group book for 2025 resulted in a tie. We had equal numbers opting for this month's title, 'The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store' as well as 'The Things That We Lost', the debut by Jyoti Patel which we read together in September.
So what next? Well, we have Penny Lancaster visiting on Thursday. Still tickets available! Though if the date doesn't work for you, she'll be on television with husband, Sir Rod Stewart, talking about their family Christmas with Anita Rani on BBC One on 7 December.
And Rachel Parris featured in yesterday's Guardian as she recalled the early days of Austentatious and her friendship with Cariad Lloyd. You can buy your tickets for Rachel's event at The Riverside in February, now (scroll down for details). Something to look forward to and a lovely gift for a friend for Christmas?!
Thank you for reading.