Hello, I’m Mo — the reader behind MoMoBookDiary 👋

MoMoBookDiary is my cloud bookcase — a place to keep track of the books I read, the characters I loved and the stories that stayed with me after I’ve turned the final page.

MoMoBookDiary began in September 2016 for a very simple reason. I was spending so much time reading — often disappearing into books as an escape from real life — that I was beginning to lose track as I moved from one story to the next. I wanted somewhere to record what I’d read, how those books made me feel, and the stories I wanted to remember.

In 2015, I left my full-time job and the life I’d built in the Central Belt and moved to Orkney to become my mum’s full-time carer during the final months of her life.

It wasn’t all sadness. We made lovely memories together and enjoyed the slower pace of island life, and being able to care for Mum during that time was a privilege I wouldn’t change. But caring for someone you love around the clock, while knowing where that journey is ultimately heading, inevitably brought its own emotion, stress and anxiety.

Books gave me somewhere to escape for a while without ever being far from where I needed to be. When I wasn’t reading, I was usually out walking Birsay, my Jack Russell and constant companion — often with an audiobook playing in my ears.

And somewhere amongst all of that, MoMoBookDiary was born.

More Than a Book Blog

After Mum passed away at the end of 2016, I returned to the Central Belt and began trying to build a new life. Reading was still part of it, although there were quieter periods when I read and reviewed much less.

Just as I was beginning to settle into that new life, another challenge arrived. Early in 2018, I was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Its location means it is inoperable and even determining exactly what type of tumour it is isn’t straightforward.

Since then, I’ve lived with what is known as “watch and wait”, or active monitoring. Rather than receiving treatment, the tumour is regularly monitored for changes. Thankfully, it has proved to be slow-growing, but it still causes problems that affect what I’m able to do in everyday life.

The uncertainty was much harder for me to come to terms with. When I was first diagnosed, I didn’t know what my future might look like — or how much of one I might have. It has taken me years to stop living with that uncertainty at the front of my mind.

Eight years later, I’m still here. And perhaps for the first time, I’ve stopped simply waiting to see what the future holds and started properly living in it.

A huge part of getting to this point has been having my family around me. My sister may technically be my cousin on the family tree, but in every way that matters to us, she is my sister. She and her husband have completely welcomed me into their family, and I’m very proud to be Auntie to my niece and nephew — regardless of what any family tree might say.

Their love and support, along with that of the close friends who have stood beside me through the years, have given me strength when I’ve needed it most. The people I love, the time we spend together and the life we’ve built around one another have helped me find my way back to living rather than simply existing.

My life isn’t the one I once expected to have, and the effects of the tumour mean I’m unable to hold a conventional job. For a long time, I struggled with what that meant for me.

I don’t anymore.

These days, reading and MoMoBookDiary give my days structure and, more importantly, purpose.

I think of MoMoBookDiary as my work — because this is what I do. It may not look like a conventional job, but I’ve learned that my life doesn’t need to look like anyone else’s.

And this is work entirely on my own terms.

I choose the books I want to read, the reviews I want to write and the opportunities I want to accept. When I commit to a review or a blog tour date, I take that commitment seriously, but I’m also learning not to take on more than I can comfortably manage. If my health says not today, then not today.

The only person setting targets for how many books I should read, how often I should post or how much I should achieve is me — and I’m getting much better at telling her to behave herself.

Most importantly, I still love reading. That’s the part I never want to lose.

Birsay 💛

And then there’s Birsay.

Birsay came into my life in 2013 when I adopted him from my very good friend Sharon in Orkney, who still has Birsay’s mum and sister. From the minute he took ownership of me until his last breath, he was my shadow, my safe place and my constant companion.

When I moved to Orkney to become Mum’s full-time carer, Birsay came too — and he became part of our little team. He was brilliant with Mum, but just as importantly, he looked after me while I was looking after her. He gave me a reason to get outside, kept me company through the difficult moments and helped me through losing Mum when the time came.

He was there when MoMoBookDiary began, through my diagnosis and through everything that came afterwards.

I had to say goodbye to Birsay in November 2020, but he is still very much part of me — and part of the identity of MoMoBookDiary.

The little dog in glasses you see across the blog is Birsay, beautifully drawn for me by Sharon. He isn’t simply a reminder of how this blog began. He remains part of its story.

And always will.

One Book at a Time

One of my favourite places to be is in my rocking chair beside my south-facing window, where I can sit in the sunshine with a book and vacation wherever the author decides to take me — all without leaving home.

Taking off my varifocals helps with the illusion, because I can’t actually see what’s happening outside.

Glasses off: Ah yes, Tuscany. ☀️📖
Glasses on: Bins. Neighbour. Scotland. 😂

Books have been different things to me at different times. They’ve been an escape, a comfort, company and something to look forward to. They’ve made me laugh, made me cry, quietened my brain and taken me to places I may never otherwise have visited.

Today, they also give me purpose.

Ten years after creating a little online space because I couldn’t remember all the books I was getting through, my cloud bookcase is still here.

So am I.

There are still difficult days. Days when my health wins and I have to stop, rest and try again tomorrow.

But a difficult day doesn’t take away the life I have around me — my family and friends, the books I love, the purpose I’ve found in MoMoBookDiary, and a future I’ve finally learned to believe in.

I have an inoperable brain tumour. It doesn’t have me.

I’m not simply existing anymore.

I’m living.

And after spending so long wondering how much future I might have, I intend to make the most of the one that’s here — doing what I love, surrounded by the people I love and, whenever possible, vacationing somewhere considerably more interesting than the view from my window.

Glasses off, obviously. 😉

One book at a time.

Mo