Magic in the mundane

Shortly after the end of the Second World War, the English playwright, novelist and commentator JB Priestley put together a collection of essays in praise of life’s simple pleasures. Titled Delight, the book was an effort to boost national morale during a time of intense austerity.

Priestley’s reflections on solitary G&Ts, cancelling plans to stay home and frying sausages outdoors became a bestseller, and 60 years on, in 2009, a new take on the book was released: Modern Delight. Like its predecessor, the 21st century version is a collection of the things, people, places and feelings that delight the book’s many authors.

is a little hardback with a big sentiment, one that suggests that true happiness is found in celebrating the everyday and the habitual; that there is no big secret to happiness, no perplexing formula that only a select few are in on. It really is the little things that make the difference between a good day