Book of the Weekend... Summer at Fairacre

Just yesterday, I was convinced that summer had finally arrived.  It's been a wet spring and while it's done wonders for the gardens, lawns and weeds, it hasn't allowed for much time outdoors.  Just today I was finally able to plant our modest vegetable garden, with lots of help from two little boys.

It seems that everything around us is in shades of green - emerald, spring and chartreuse.  Our part of the world is particularly blessed with such lushness at this time every year, and I love it.  Those bare patches in the perennial borders have finally filled in and the delphiniums and roses and pinks are about to burst open.  And then, that first heady day of clear, blue sky and warm rays of sunshine gets one ready for the season to come.

Not one to wait for much of anything, I am always looking ahead to that next season (or holiday, or meal, or... you get the idea) and in my search for summer, I turn to a familiar source - books.  Every year I seem to revisit a few favorite tomes at specific points and they've become like old, very welcome friends.  First on my list are always the books of Miss Read, famed chronicler of the Cotswold villages of Fairacre and Thrush Green.  For sheer coziness, Miss Read cannot be beat.

Summer at Fairacre begins in the early spring and takes one through a typical English summer.  Descriptions of gardens, the countryside, food and friends pull the reader in completely and the homely adventures of Miss Read and her fellow villagers interest and entertain.  If you've read any of the Miss Read books before, you will know that familiar characters are sure to make appearances - the grumpy, put upon Mrs. Pringle, keeper of the schoolhouse with a leg that "flares" whenever she's taken umbrage at some comment or action; Amy, Miss Read's far more elegant and worldly school chum and countless others like the vicar with his leopard skin gloves and Henry Mawne, the bird-loving bane of Miss Read's happily single existence.

While any of the Miss Read books will provide you with comfort and warmth, Summer at Fairacre is a lovely way to start off the summer.  Visit your local library or bookshop and get a copy of Summer at Fairacre.  Pour yourself a cup of tea and settle in for a delightful visit to Fairacre.  You may not want to come back!

You can now find this and other great Miss Read books in the Dapper and Dreamy bookshop!