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“By the smallest of one’s actions, one can restore some sense of order to the world.” 🎩 Think ‘Russian novel’ and your mind will inevitably conjure up images of snow-clad roads and country estates, fur coats, and trains. But Amor Towles’ Russian novel takes place entirely inside a luxury hotel in Moscow. The year is 1922. Count Alexander Rostov, a former aristocrat, a Former Person, has been sentenced to house arrest by a Bolshevik Tribunal. Stripped of his title, his liberty, and most of his possessions, the Count must spend the rest of his life behind the doors of the Hotel Metropol, as Russia undergoes “decades of tumultuous upheaval.” 🎩 Despite such bleak circumstances, the tone of the novel is decidedly light. For the Count, the hotel must contain the world, and for thirty years, wonder abounds at every familiar turn. The hotel opens up, room by room, visitor by visitor, decade after decade; waiters, chefs, seamstresses, piano players, bartenders, actresses, journalists, officers and spies, all find themselves in the hotel at one point or another, until the novel begins to weave its threads together and comes to a heart rendering, breathless end. 🎩 The novel mostly takes place inside Count Rostov’s head, and what a charming, witty and generous head it is. 🎩 This lovely book has been my faithful companion for a while. It is not a weekend read. Amor Towles admits the first half may bog down readers enough that they may abandon the book. BUT DON’T! Towles has written a witty, moving and wise novel that must be read and savoured. 🎩 “I’ll tell you what is convenient,” he said after a moment. “To sleep until noon and have someone bring you your breakfast on a tray. To cancel an appointment at the very last minute. To keep a carriage waiting at the door of one party, so that on a moment’s notice it can whisk you away to another one. To sidestep marriage in your youth and put off having children altogether. These are the greatest conveniences, Anushka — and at one time, I had them all. But in the end, it has been the inconveniences that have mattered to me most.” 🎩 #bookstagram #amortowles #agentlemaninmoscow #bookrecommendations #books #instabooks #instareads

I love choosing which of my 2 year old’s books to take with us when we travel, even if it’s a quick weekend getaway. THE TIGER WHO CAME TO TEA 🐯☕️ is her absolute favourite these days, followed closely by SNOW ⛄️ ❄️, which has a wonderful poem in it but I just end up making up my own story through the illustrations, which are fantastic. WHERE’S BEAR 🐻 and WHERE’S SPOT 🐶 are both fun “hide-and-seek” books, and finally, ITSY BITSY SPIDER, which continues the nursery rhyme with many more adventures for our friend the spider. Do your kids love any of these books? Do you have similar recommendations for me? . . . #childrensbooks #toddlerbooks #raisingreaders #bookstagram #booksfortoddlers #books #picturebooks #childrensbookstagram #booksforkids #kidlit

Do you ever find yourself browsing your own bookshelves and realising you bought two versions of the same book? And you haven’t read either one? #angelacarter #themagictoyshop #bookstagram #bookshelves #books #bookhoarder #bibliophile #addictedtobooks #bookaholic

Why do Japanese children consistently come out on top in global health surveys? Through research, interviews and memories of her own childhood in Japan, Naomi Moriyama discovers seven secrets you need to know to nurture your child’s health: 🥗 1. Make your family meals more nurtrient-dense: that means more fruits and vegetables, more fish, more whole grains, and less processed foods (like fast food or packaged food). 🥗 2. Don’t demonise unhealthy foods as ‘bad’ and don’t ban them either. Instead, celebrate healthy food, and when it comes to unhealthy food, practice ‘flexible restraint’ as a family. 🥗 3. Inspire your child to enjoy new foods: gently encourage your children to enjoy a wide variety of healthy foods, but don’t force them to eat anything. 🥗 4. Serve smaller Japanese-style portions to pick and choose from (including plenty of fruits and vegetables). 🥗 5. Inspire Your Child to Enjoy Daily Physical Exercise: most children in Japan walk to school; even if that’s not possible for your family, make some kind of physical activity an everyday routine. 🥗 6. Eating healthy is easier when your family’s lifestyle is built around healthy habits, what the authors call a ‘Wrap Around Lifestyle’: eat family meals together, practice healthy home cooking, involve your children in buying, preparing, and enjoying good food. Basically, be healthy and your children will follow. 🥗 7. Finally, be an ‘authoritative parent’ not an ‘authoritarian parent’ — authoritarian parents set strict rules without explaining why, and are focused on unquestioning obedience, power and coercion. Authoritative parents also have rules that children are expected to follow, but the big difference is that these parents are responsive, willing to listen and are more nurturing in their approach to discipline. They are assertive but not intrusive or restrictive. 🥗 Ultimately, try and remember this hard-to-accept but important rule: “parents are responsible for what food they serve to their children, and when and where they serve it; children are responsible for how much of that food they eat and whether they eat any of it at all.” #healthyeating #bookstagram #parentingbooks #healthychildhood #books

Page 1 and a cup full of coffee. What more could I want? 📖 ☕️ . . . #bookstagrammer #lovebooks #bibliophile #bookstagram #reading #amreading #booksandcoffee #thewritingroomtravels

I saw and loved the movie before I read and loved the book. When I brought it to the till at the bookstore, the man started gushing about the book. “You just... It’s just... Just read it.” And then I knew just what he was trying to say. ⭐️ The story is told in barely a hundred pages, but there is something so lovely and intimate about reading a small story about ordinary people going about their lives... until, of course, you rent an apartment in the same building as larger-than-life Holly Golightly and for a little while, your life takes an unexpected turn. ⭐️ Brought to life by the iconic Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 movie, Holly is one of the most interesting characters you will find in modern literature, a woman both endearing and infuriating, adamant to live life on her own terms, but struggling to grapple with the consequences, while still trying to grapple with her past. ⭐️ In so few words, Capote tells a dazzling narrative, showing us Holly only through the eyes of Paul Varjak, adding to the strangeness of her character and the poignancy of their budding relationship. ⭐️ This the perfect little book for readers who love oddball characters in a brilliantly written and supremely romantic love story. Head to my instastory for some of my favourite passages from the book! . . . #bookstagram #books #bookstoread #reading #amreading #trumancapote #breakfastattiffanys #readersofinstagram #lovebooks #bibliophile #bookworm

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