Where is your favourite spot to read at home? What makes it such a good reading corner?
I have a special library nook - it's a narrow room next to the kitchen (essentially a glorified corridor) and it's where the previous residents put all their children's toys. I've filled the shelves with books and I have also put my favourite and most comfortable chair there. It's an Ikea chair from when I first moved out of a house-share and lived on my own and it's upholstered in blue corduroy and I love it so much. For many years, I had to put it into storage as I moved around a lot and couldn't take it with me, but now it's dusted off and fits perfectly into this spot. We furnished this part of the house specifically with reading in mind, so I thought through all the things I want when I'm tucked up with a good book: a comfortable chair, a small table I can put a cup of tea on, a radiator and great light. The ceiling is glass, so I can look up at the sky and watch the seasons change in between chapters.
What is it about your reading corner that allows for stillness and escaping to another place?
I like the fact that it feels contained: it's the smallest room in the house and so you feel cocooned there but not entirely separate. I can hear cooking noises from the kitchen or Huxley, our ginger cat, will come and purr at my feet, but I can also be totally immersed in my imaginative world.
“Reading has helped me understand the world and myself. It fosters imaginative empathy and is an antidote to loneliness. A great book can make you feel so seen on the page that I simply can't imagine my life without it. Reading has genuinely made me who I am, and continues to shape my perceptions.”
