This week, we finally managed to install our new (not new ) item of furniture - a mid-18th Century grandfather clock. It's not bright and shiny like more modern ones, but a dark oak with a warm patina which the beeswax polish is drawing out. In order to set it up, we had to do a certain amount of research - how to hang the pendulum, where the weight went on the endless chain - and it got me thinking... where and when did certain divisions of time come from? The time periods which I have written either had household clocks or didn't, I have not written novels from the time of their invention. Clocks have been around for a long time, and the obsession with measuring time in an ordered fashion dates back to at least the ancient Sumerians. It was they who established a circular reading of time and, I imagine, the sixty seconds/minutes came about as much because it was an easy way to divide a circle as anything else. But it wasn't until much later that the precision of seconds ...
We couldn't do what we do without our readers. Thank you so much for supporting us over the years. In return, we've created this fun little reading challenge which will hopefully help you discover and rediscover some amazing books. All you have to do is use our hashtag #CrowvusReadingChallenge on your reviews of the twelve books listed. You don't have to do them in the order we've put, and you don't have to wait a month between. All you have to do is share them by the end of 2026. Next January, we'll draw one reader at random and reward them with a £30 voucher for their favourite bookshop. Happy Reading!