Customs and Rituals could be the title of a dusty rule book for members of a secret club. There’s an air of mystery that just plain fits. Customs and rituals are things that have meaning and make perfect sense to the people involved, but not necessarily to anyone else. And…
Stockings are what Christmas is all about. All the cheer and joy that is associated with the 25th December can be found stuffed into the stocking. Not convinced? Allow me to persuade you… The endless build-up For the whole of December, all minds are occupied by the stocking. Everything associated…
My phone kicked the bucket. I wish I had a juicy story about it. That it had a rough night out, or was hacked by Russian nogoodniks, or – at the very least – that I dropped it unceremoniously in the toilet. But no. It just died. One minute, I…
Things I Never Thought I’d Do: Add “get married” to my Google Calendar. Marriage means so many things, most of which I don’t pretend to know (maybe go ask a sweet octogenarian couple). But one thing I do know is that marriage tends to mean a wedding. And a wedding…
Sitting at the dining room table surrounded by files. The king of a castle with paper ramparts. Dad would stay up until the small hours face scrunched in concentration, reading page after page of witness statements, police reports and legalese. It looked serious and interesting but definitely not fun. A…
My grandmother – my Amah, I’ve always called her – isn’t well. She’s 85, and she recently took yet another spill. My dad’s been by her side in the hospital for the past several weeks. I did call, right after it happened. I put on a sweet 30-year-old grandchild smile…
Working with a company all about personalised books changes how you see the world. These days – like so many others – I find the news hard to stomach. Clickbait sensationalism renders shocking updates into a horrific tapestry. A sense of deep unease permeates my social feeds and dinner table…
Thank you all for being a part of The Book of Everyone in 2016. I hope your books brought a little joy and sunshine wherever they landed. When we started The Book of Everyone back in 2013, our goal was to ‘create gift heroes one book at a time’. To…
I turn 30 this coming year. In preparation for the big event next February, I’ve started by looking back. Some birthdays are more important than others, after all, and the last big one for me was 21. And it seems that, following a rather dignified 21st, my birthdays have gotten…
