And hopefully a slightly more interesting post than that title sounds!

In our study (aka my craft room) we have two Billy bookcases and two of those shelves are devoted to my collections of Good Food and Olive magazines which are growing. The oldest magazine dates back to 2003, a year after we bought this house and clearly when my recipe know-how was starting to fade a bit...

And with so many magazines, it was getting hard to keep them upright so I had a plan.

I headed off to the big orange DIY store clutching my measurements and managed to get there on a day when the big cutting machine was working. Handing over the sizes I wanted cut I waited for the man to do his stuff and left with lots of smaller bits of MDF!

Back home I got to work to insert the cut MDF as uprights

Even though my measuring - and the cutting - was accurate, there were some variations between the space and the MDF upright, so I added some draught excluder to the top of the MDF to help wedge it in place.

This worked well and ensured the uprights stood firm, and I took a moment to work out what to do next.

That was to carry on and repeat this for the second shelf before putting the magazines back in place. I've left the MDF unfinished and unpainted as it's already a close match to the colour of the unit, and I think it works well.

With the uprights in place, there was only one thing left to do - and that was to step back and admire my morning's work.

It looks like there's enough space for my subscriptions to carry on for a little while yet!

I was right to think that my reading "spurt" might be short-lived when I last wrote about what I was reading. I seem to have got stuck on one book right now. Not because it's a dud, but because I'm struggling with reading about how a young cancer patient copes with their treatment. It's beautifully written but as you can imagine, quite emotional.

Instead of reading I've been getting my craft on, so all is not lost - and if you want to see what I've been up to take a peek here.

After a beautiful weekend, the summer seems to have truly gone now - we've heavy rain forecast here for this afternoon, I thought I'd share the last of what I consider my 'summer' reads:

1. A Very Big House in the Country, Claire Sandy

The story is set in a rented holiday home, and a very big one at that as there's three families there sharing a holiday. Between them there's a few kids too, the Teenagers and the Eights as well as a baby. There's drama along the way too - as you'd expect from a family holiday, and the C-word (cancer, nothing ruder!) threatens to raise its head, but doesn't quite make it. It's a busy fortnight, one that starts with a bang and involves you in the trials and tribulations of the families dramas. And there's more than one. Definitely worth a read.

2. Uncluttered Attic Secrets, Jan Christensen

I didn't want this book to end. There is an attic and it is very cluttered, which is out of keeping with the rest of the house which has been inherited by Leslie. With her friend Tina they start to sort through the attic and they make quite a discovery and one I hadn't thought of. As the story unfolds there's more drama too, let me just say this book involves secret rooms and some undercover amateur sleuthing along the way too.

3. #PleaseRetweet, Emily Benet

Another book I couldn't put down. It's a lighthearted read and follows the main character - @sparkymay - as she starts a new job helping celebrities with a tendency to be a bit of a loose cannon look good in the Twittersphere. The job gets too much with unintentional consequences, she starts to think in hashtags, lose a sense of purpose and lose touch with reality. An amusing read and one that I hope none of us ever succumb to.

4. And what now?

Well, I'm going to carry on reading The Boy in the Mirror by Tom Preston, which is the book I mentioned earlier. It is powerfully written and it's one that I need to find time to read as reading it in bed before turning the lights out isn't working for me.

And looking at my current reading pile it seems to be dominated by magazines and a single subject! I'm sure I've got some books along that genre too.

I'm hoping that changing genre will help, but what do you do if you get stuck on a book?