Introducing the new editor of Woman Alive – and her love of books

In the thirteen years that I’ve run the Woman Alive book club, my editor was the lovely Jackie Harris. I’ve loved working with Jackie, who is a quiet giant – one who gets things done and lives out her faith with grace (and who has some exciting new publishing ventures lined up!). But with the change in ownership from CPO to Premier Christian Communications, we’ve moved to a new editor, Tola-Doll Fisher, whom I’m really looking forward to getting to know better. She responded enthusiastically to me interviewing her about reading, as she loves books. How fabulous is that! I look forward to her new book coming out next year as well.

Welcome to the Woman Alive community, Doll! We’re so glad you’re here.

What are you reading just now? I love reading but I put books on hold while I’ve been writing my own this year! I’m being published by SPCK in June 2020 and my editor has just literally just signed it off so I’m about to dive back into the world of reading again. The only thing I read consistently throughout was To bless the space between us by John O’Donohue. A friend bought it for me as a gift and it is absolutely beautiful. There are blessings for every threshold of life and it feels very uplifting. 

What’s a favourite book from childhood? Two interesting things characterised my childhood reading: 1) My primary school teacher told Mum that I was “slow” and behind in reading and writing. Her response was to take me out of school and teach me herself! That begun a lifelong love of books and writing. 2) Mum said television was “the enemy of progress” so refused to have one in the house! This meant I ended up reading everything we had at home – no matter the intended age. My favourite is the Almonds and Raisins trilogy by Maisie Mosco. It’s about a family of Jews who fled the pograms in Russia to live in Manchester. The books follow the journey as they settle and grow in the UK. I remember it sitting on the bureau in our hallway for years before I picked it up and I devoured every word!

Ebooks or physical? Both! Although I dropped my kindle behind the radiator in a shared flat a few years ago and never managed to recover it 🙁

Reading in a bath? In bed? On a train? Where else? My favourite place to read is in a comfy chair in a calm room with relaxing music in the background. I used to read on my commute but I often get so engrossed that I get cross when I have to get off! I also like to read in bed but I’m not very good at putting a good book down so my sleep inevitably suffers!

What’s in your to-be-read pile? I’m about to start reading Almonds and Raisins again! I love it and it feels very comforting when I read the familiar story. I’m also about to get back into another favourite book. Front Row by fashion editor Lisa Armstrong is about the friendship between a model, a model booker and a magazine editor. As an ex-model and magazine editor, this always feels hugely relevant to me. A friend and colleague has also recommended How to pray by Pete Greig which I’m looking forward to. I like to make sure I’m reading books by women and men as I find there is often slight difference in how they present.

You can subscribe to Woman Alive here – get a free Woman to Woman prayer journal! If you’d like to read my monthly reviews for the book club, they are here. And join our thriving Facebook book club group! That one is here.