Just like in 2020, the number of books I read last year dipped below the 100 mark. For most people, reading 74 books in a year is still a lot, but in 2022, I wanted to prioritise reading for fun again. To hold myself accountable, I'm going to write a post every two months picking out my five favourite books from among those I've read. So far, this is working well: it's the end of February and I've already read 22 books. Here are the five that I most enjoyed reading.
After two years of travelling abroad only twice and to short-haul destinations — Malta and Porto — I got to travel to East Africa with work in January. Planning a trip that required visas and vaccines on top of the COVID requirements was a little overwhelming at short notice, but it was all worth it. I've never been to East Africa before and although I didn't have much free time, I got a real taste of both Kenya and Uganda and can't wait to go back for a longer holiday.
While I was running some errands ahead of a work trip I'm taking later this week, I passed the new Store St Espresso coffee bar on Bishopsgate, just opposite Liverpool Street station. The cafe only opened a week ago today so of course I had to check it out.
UPDATE: Sadly, The Gentlemen Baristas' Piccadilly cafe is now permanently closed. You can still visit them at Borough Market.
The original Gentlemen Baristas was one of my favourite coffee shops in my neighbourhood — Bermondsey and Borough — for over seven years. While spending a lot more time closer to home over the past few years, I've been stopping by more often, usually to get a piccolo to go. If you like your coffee shops to combine cosiness with dapperness, this is the place to go.
The original Rosslyn Coffee has been one of my favourite London coffee shops since I first visited in 2018, thanks to its consistently excellent coffee, warm hospitality and gorgeous design. It's through Rosslyn that I discovered artist Melisa Dora, whose mugs and other ceramics adorn my shelves at home, and it was also thanks to them that I heard about Saint Nine Coffee, now also a favourite of mine.
