The Beat That My Heart Skipped – A blog dedicated to daily design inspirations. By Rohini Wahi.

I’m very excited to introduce an old friend of mine Lauren Baines [you can read more about Lauren here]. Aside from Interiors, my big passion is books; thick all consuming ones, thin thought provoking ones, brilliantly illustrated ones, magical children’s ones, fantastical ones, historical ones, real ones, trashy ones – and I’m opinionated about which of my friends should read which types of book, and have found myself in a tangle in a bookstore many a time with irate recipients [who may have their own opinions] so…I knew there was only one person I could trust with being my Book Editor. I would say Lauren is my literary doppleganger, she is the only person whose advice I will take on reading materials, and the only other person I know who writes their own name inside their books [probably so their Doppleganger counterpart doesn't steal them!]. So without further ado, I have great pleasure in introducing Miss Baines…

- Rohini

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I love a great literary quote so if you are sitting comfortably I shall begin with one. As Thomas Jefferson said ‘I cannot live without books’. I love books new, old, fiction, fact, those lovingly inscribed by relatives and friends for Christmas and birthdays. Nothing makes me happier than a book from a friend which has been loved by them, it is always the best received gift. I love the smell of books and old libraries with rickety ladders to reach the highest most treasured volumes. I love to be surrounded by books they make me feel safe, wherever I move to, I know if I have my books it is home.

I loved reading as a child and would always have my nose in a book or be listening to someone reading a book out loud. To me those who don’t read books are quite suspicious – as one of my favourite authors Anne Rice said in the Witching Hour ‘Give me a man or woman who has read a thousand books and you give me an interesting companion. Give me a man or woman who has read perhaps three and you give me a dangerous enemy indeed.

I keep a journal of the books I read with favourite quotes and passages to remind myself of enjoyable moments of reading, but perhaps the greatest joy of reading, is to connect with people that I would never meet but who’s great thoughts I am exposed to. Henry James, Alexandre Dumas, Edith Wharton, Mary Shelley are never far, as Descartes puts it ‘The reading of all good books is like conversations with the finest men of the past centuries’ and of course I would suggest to him women!

For me, reading is an emotional experience; you can read your grandmother’s favourite book and feel connected to her even if they are miles or an afterlife away,  you can be transported into a book and for each person it can be different, you can try out opinions with books and not be judged. If someone asks me what my favourite book is I ask them how much time we have. I love to hear what other people read and love, and why they read the books the do.

Essentially for me as C S Lewis states it best.  ‘We read to know we are not alone’

Cyrano, The Life and Legend of Cyrano de Bergerac
Author: Ishbel Addyman

What do you think of when you hear the name Cyrano de Bergerac? The nose, the unrequited love of Roxane or the fearless Musketeer? For me Cyrano conjures the chivalrous age of duelling and romantic liaisons which is also home of D’Artagnan and the unrivalled glamour of the French court. It is no wonder then, at the title of Ishbel Addyman’s book that I delved in excitingly hoping to find a work that captured all my loves about that time in History. I was not disappointed, Addyman searches for the man behind the nose in ‘Cyrano: The Life and Legend of Cyrano de Bergerac.’ The real Cyrano is presented as a free thinker more recognisable with our own age than that of the seventeenth century.

Cyrano was one of the first authors to write a work of science fiction. The book covers what accurate information we have to piece together the life of this extraordinary rebel. A fearless musketeer and soldier coupled with his sharp wit and intelligence makes the author’s case a fascinating window into the past.

Addyman brings forward the true character of Cyrano alongside the myths and legends that surround his name. For example did he really fight off one hundred men single handedly? Her insightful work provides the reader with an intelligent presentation of the real Cyrano and lets the reader draw their own conclusions about the lovelorn eccentric. Buy the hardcover book here for £11.89,

- Lauren