Are You Sitting Comfortably? With Piglet’s Pantry

READ YOURSELF HAPPY this Valentine’s Day

We welcomed another series of Are You Sitting Comfortably back this month with Alex Hay and his thrilling Victorian deception novel, The Queen of Fives.  High stakes and high society, plenty of skullduggery and so many twists and turns your heart will be racing!  5 moves and 5 days to dupe a duke – the game is on for Quinn Le Blanc, London’s most talented con woman.  Catch up with this month’s Live here.  

Huge thanks to our sponsors Piglet’s Pantry who sent us the perfect Valentine’s Day treats this month.  To share the love, Rebecca L and I just simply couldn’t resist bringing you a special Valentine’s Day reading recommendation to accompany all those delicious goodies.  After all, what could be a better gift for someone you love than afternoon tea, cake and….a book?  

AYSC fans will know that we’re huge fans of the lovely Daisy Buchanan and we chatted to her in September last year when her novel Pity Party came out.  

When it comes to book recommendations, Daisy always has a list as long as your arm – if you’ve listened to her chart-topping podcast, You’re Booked, you’ll know exactly what I mean.  Not only is Daisy the best writer but she’s also one of the best readers I know.  So, imagine our delight when she told Rebecca L and I that her new book was going to all about discovering the healing power of books and reading to inspire, comfort and fortify.

Hand on heart, this one is really a book of pure joy.  Daisy Buchanan’s Read Yourself Happy should be on prescription.  Forget ‘self-help’ this is about embracing ‘shelf-help’.

As Daisy reflects in the book, anxiety has never been more widespread and we are all trying to find ways to navigate and ease our anxiety and overwhelm.   Read Yourself Happy is the perfect tonic for frazzled minds and times – I found such comfort in the story Daisy shares of her own journey of finding connection and a way to ease her own anxiety through reading.

In this brilliant celebration of books, Daisy lights the way to help others rediscover a love of reading, with books to make us laugh, feel braver, summon our inner storyteller and so much more.  You can even find your own happily ever after in the Read Yourself Romantic chapter – a highlight of the chapter is Daisy’s interview with the one and only David Nicholls.  More original interviews abound too with authors such as Emma Gannon, Ruby Rare and more, sharing their reading loves and insights.  Read Yourself Happy is bookish wisdom which brings us balm for the soul and a wondrous set of perfectly curated book lists.  We LOVED it.  It’s the gift of book love everyone needs in their lives.

Looking to buy a copy?  Why not support local booksellers on Bookshop.org and get it here?

A huge thank you to Piglets Pantry for sponsoring this month’s Are you sitting comfortably? The combination of cakes and books would steal anybody’s heart this Valentine’s and Piglets Pantry have put together the most delicious hamper of sweet and savoury delights.