Welcome to #SundayBrunchwithJaffareadstoo ..

In the New Year I shall be starting an exciting new Sunday Feature which introduces lots of Bloggers and Writers who will be popping onto the blog to share their favourite Sunday Brunch.

Let's get Sunday Brunch up and running!

Good morning, everyone! Happy Sunday !

What favourite food are you bringing to Sunday brunch? 

Creamy scrambled eggs on slices of thick white toast with plenty of butter. I also love toasted tea cakes so I may just have one or two of those to offer you too.

Would you like a pot of English Breakfast tea, a strong Americano, or a glass of Bucks Fizz? 

Always tea, preferably my favourite Darjeeling, in a proper teapot served in my favourite china cup and saucer.

Which of your literary heroes are joining us today? 

Well...it has to be the American author of the Outlander series, Diana Gabaldon, and she just has to bring Jamie and Claire Fraser to Sunday Brunch. Jamie is very keen on virtues of 'Scottish parritch' and Claire, although not renown for her cookery skills, is a lively conversationalist, so I'm sure Sunday Brunch would be a lively affair.

What’s the title of the book nearest to you? 

Philip Pullman's The Book of Dust Volume Two : The Secret Commonwealth which was a Christmas present to myself 😊

What’s the oldest book on your book shelf? 

My copy of The Owl Service by Alan Garner, dated 1967, was a birthday present from my brother, Jim. It's a bit bashed and battered now but nevertheless it has survived three house moves and  umpteen different bookshelves.

Harper Collins Children
1967

Which book do you really want to read but haven’t had time for …yet! 

I've been trying, and failing, to get to grips with the book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R R Martin.  I've read, Game of Thrones, the first book in the series, but I now seemed to have stalled, so I'd really like to read book two,  A Clash of Kings, this year.

Harper Voyager
This edition 2011

Do you have a guilty reading pleasure, and if so will you tell us about it? 

I never feel guilty about reading anything and my taste is quite eclectic, from really gritty crime, to light hearted romances. If it piques my interest I never feel guilty and I never feel an ounce of book snobbery or feel that a book needs to be over complicated to be any good.

If the house was on fire which book would you rescue? 

My signed copy of the 20th Anniversary edition of Outlander by Diana Gabaldon and my mum's copy of Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor because it was the first 'grown up' story she let me borrow. It was her favourite book so was very precious to her and remains precious to me too.

Do you have a reading playlist on Spotify, or a favourite CD to listen to when reading? And if so will you share with us a favourite song or piece of music that makes you feel happy? 

I do listen to Spotify when I'm reading and prefer something without lyrics, so its usually something like Einaudi, or a chill out compilation, there's a good Reading Soundtrack on Spotify which is perfect background music. When I was first reading the Outlander series I listened to Clannad's album, Banba, almost non-stop for the time it took me to read the first book in the series, so whenever I hear that album again, and particularly A Gentle Place I am back in my Outlander world.

Do you have a favourite place to settle down to read? 

I have a very untidy ' home office' which has a really comfy chair, so that's my favourite place for daytime reading, usually with Timmy curled up near me, he likes to make sure that I can turn the pages. In the evening I tend to read on my comfy couch, usually with Jaffa close by, and together we share whichever comfy throw takes our fancy at the time.

Give us four essential items that a blogger absolutely needs? 

A large diary and copious notebooks

Time to get things done

A fast broadband connection

A sense of humour

Tell us a little about your blog and why you are so passionate about books and reading? 

In 2011 I took a leap of faith and entered the world of book blogging. With no technical knowledge of where to start, or indeed of how maintain a website, I enthusiastically signed up to Blogger.

However, having the website wasn’t enough, my blog needed a name and so with the help of Jaffa, my glorious ginger cat, Jaffareadstoo was born. Initially my blog was simply a place to add my thoughts and when I started to tentatively add my book reviews, I did so safe in the knowledge that no-one would read them.

With patience and enthusiasm for what we do, Jaffareadstoo is now firmly established in the book blogging world. On most days we have several hundred page views and average between 5K-10K views each month. With over 2000 followers on Twitter and a dedicated Facebook page our blog posts regularly reach out to readers, authors, publishers and fellow bloggers.

Of course in order to review, first I must read, and I have an eclectic taste in books and can’t imagine a day where I don’t have a least a couple of books on the go. With Jaffa and Timmy curled up nearby and armed with copious amounts of my favourite Darjeeling tea, I read in the afternoons and late into the evening and can comfortably read an average length novel in a day.

Seven years, and nearly 3000 blog posts later, Jaffareadstoo continues to survive and thrive in a competitive world. Being a book blogger is an absolute joy and it’s always a real privilege and such an honour when an author trusts their work with me. We are usually found curled up with a good book and do all that we can to promote books and reading.

Thanks to ©Lorna Gray for this photograph

Where can we find you on Social media? 

· Twitter handle: @jaffareadstoo

· Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Jaffareadstoo/

· Instagram handle: @jaffareadstoo

· Blog/web url: http://jaffareadstoo.blogspot.com/



Thanks for stopping by, please come and see us again next Sunday and get to know some fabulous bloggers and writers who do so much to promote books and reading.

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