The February Books

February is a short month. But that's no excuse for a low-reading month. So, I come before you with no excuses -- and only two books completed (though well onto the way of March's first book!).

 "Toast and Marmalade" by Emma Bridgewater

 

 

Emma Bridgewater is one of my favorite makers of household pottery -- wonderful mugs, teapots, dishware. "Toast and Marmalade" is a memoir, but not a linear one. Yes, you get to know a bit of her upbringing and childhood family in several essays. She  jumps around -- past to present and back again, as the stories and ideas move her. It makes for a delightful telling.

But much of the book deals with how she came into the pottery design business, first through designing four pieces. She then found a factory and learned how pieces were created, from the designs to the molds to the decoration. 

And then she took off, now owning one of the main pottery factors in Stoke-on-Kent, England with over 300 employees and business over $40 million.

It's a fun story told well, interspersing stories from her own family and past with those related to her business. She's a delightful, eclectic-sounding person from a bohemian family that sounds like loads of fun. It's well worth the read, especially if you are a fan of dish ware!

"George: A Magpie Memoir" by Frieda Hughes

Frieda Hughes is an artist/poet/writer who, with her then-husband (referred to in the book as "The Ex," bought a dilapidated manor house in the Welsh countryside -- a real fixer-upper. Early on in her residence, a big storm hit and a magpie nest was blown to the ground, killing at  least one of the baby magpies and leaving behind another just hatched chick. Hughes, a lifelong lover of animals rescued the bird, named it George, and brought it inside where it co-existed peaceably (and not so peaceably) with Hughes' three dogs and less than enthusiastic husband. 

"George" is the story of how Hughes raised this wild creature in her home -- and ultimately allowed its freedom. But it's also the story of how caring and loving can build such a deeply strong relationship that it is almost obsessive and certainly one of great passion and devotion. Her book is chronological, following the antics of George the Magpie -- the sweetness, the playfulness, and the thievery! Magpies are known for taking and squirreling things away and George did it with mastery!

As we follow George's story we also follow Hughes' life -- her obsessive quest to renovate the dilapidated manor house she bought, her fraying relationship with her husband and her battles with chronic fatigue syndrome. She's a wonderful writer (it's in the genes -- she is the daughter of Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath) and the book is illustrated with drawings of George. It's a lovely book -- not only a memoir of George but of Hughes at this time in her life as well. It's an especially good read for those fascinated by birds and their development (or at least, magpies!).