Fi Phillips

I've just added a new page to my blog (you can see it on the Pages panel on the top right of this page) - my reading list for 2014 . I've drawn books from two intentions. Firstly, back in January, I told you that the nearest I'd come to making a new year's resolution would be the decision to read books of writers that I knew and interacted with online. Then in February, I told you how I was adding to my reading list by taking part in The Year of Reading Women . There are fifteen books on my list. After a busy start to the year, I'm lagging behind as I've only read the first two, although I have started on number three. I'll review some of the books on my blog (have you seen my review of the first book on my list, Ninety-Five Percent Human ?). What about you? What's on your reading list this year?

Part of being a writer is a love of books. My house is overflowing with books - mine and my family's. I'm running out of places to store them but wouldn't it be lovely to have some of these options?

Without wanting to sound like Rolf Harris, "Can you guess what it is yet?". My favourite room, if I could extend my home to build one, would be a library. To be honest, our lounge is gradually becoming surrounded by book-cases so maybe I should start calling that room 'my library'. Each move seems to incur the need to buy yet another bookcase. My excuse is that to be a writer necessitates the need to be a reader too. I love books - paperbacks, hardbacks, old and new. I not only love to read books but also to re-read them, revisiting old favourites when the whim takes me. If I could surround myself with books and more books, I'd be a very happy person but... In a world where more and more, we have to consider how we are affecting our environment, is there a place for books? Is that a gasp I hear? Or a cry of indignation? Has this woman gone mad? Surely, as a writer, she's shooting herself in the foot to suggest that there may be no place for books. Let me exp...

I've been reading a lot of Hallowe'en related blog posts about everything scary recently - carved pumpkins (that's ours on the left), costumes, recipes and films - but I was surprised how few mentioned books. So I've put together a short list of reading suitable for this night of ghosts and ghouls. I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett This is the fourth Pratchett novel about Tiffany Aching, reluctant witch and the noisy but loyal Wee Free Men. Tiffany is just settling into her new home and witchly community duties. She's doing her best but things get complicated when an evil ghost fixes its eerie sights on Tiffany. http://www.terrypratchett.co.uk/ The Witches by Roald Dahl My children love books by Dahl but I've kept this one back for now as I find it quite frightening myself. The High Witch plans to rid the country of children by turning them into mice (and if that isn't bad enough, she's placed a large order for mousetraps). Thankfully...

I love books. They invade our homes and our imaginations, and if you're anything like me, you never want them to leave. I have a whole colony of books in my house, some old favourites and some more recent purchases too. On this blog, I've shared some of my books with you and now you can find those books (without having to go through all my past posts) in a gallery on the right hand column. As I mention more books, I will add them to the gallery for your information. You can even purchase them from Amazon through the gallery.

Yes, that was me, heavily pregnant and still with book in hand. Now it should go without saying that if you want to be a writer, you should also be a reader. But you shouldn't 'just' be a reader. You should be an avid reader. Books Obvious eh? To know your genre, what's current, what's successful, you must read books in your chosen genre. A visit to the library will tell you what is popular and what the library service deem to be a book in your genre that has 'arrived'. A look around the larger bookshops such as Waterstones and Borders will let you see what is new and in the charts, who the most popular authors are and how prolific they are. Newspapers Both paper and online news will reveal current affairs, what issues are 'hot' and if you delve into the arts sections, you can keep track of the book charts. I find the Times book chart to be especially useful. Magazines What magazines do you read each month? If you're anything like me, you hav...