France

I think you're being a bit harsh on the members of my book group Kev!

Most of the books covering the walls upstairs! Basically if I don't want to reread it or keep it for the children or my husband then it goes to the charity sale, but that still leaves several hundred. There are some books I loved but know I'll never reread - War and Peace being one, and others that get picked up regularly, Mapp and Lucia, Cold Comfort Farm, P & P, Dorothy L Sayers, Diana Wynne Jones to name but a few.

I seem to be on a roll with good books at the moment (long may it continue!) The House of Lamentations by Shona Maclean is the fifth in her series about Cromwell's agent Damien Seeker and is as good as the previous ones. She is so good at imbuing her stories with a sense of place. Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros is the sequel to Fourth Wing and is very good indeed, the sort of good where you ignore everyone in the room while you get on with the next few chapters. What's not to like about dragons, especially adolescent dragons with attitude? My only criticism is the sex scenes, I may be old and stuffy but my daughters are anything but and they agree, what Violet and Xaden get up to between the sheets does not need to be described in that detail and interrupts the flow of the story which is about dragons , their riders, other magical creatures and battles against evil. Knife Skills for Beginners by Orlando Murrin is a cosyish mystery written by a TV chef. It's light, well written, well plotted and great fun, prefect for the shift I was on yesterday which was lots of waiting around interspersed with short bursts of activity. One to look out for and I'll be reading his next one.

I think that's probably the best vampire story I've ever read and I've read quite a few.

You obviously like Iain Banks. Have you read Espadair Street? I really enjoyed that one.

I've just started Iron Flame. I'm not talking to anyone.

Kobo are launching two colour e-readers this month, one with a 6 inch screen, the other the Libra which is 7 inches. Both are waterproof. Apparently Amazon will be launching colour versions of Kindle next year. Is colour important to you? I miss it in my Kobo Libra, particularly when I'm reading something with illustrations though I'm not so desperate for it that I'll buy a new Libra before my existing one gives up the ghost. I daresay I'll be playing with the demostration models in Fnac in Bordeaux when it comes out though.

Yes, this one had a lot of plot similarities to one I'd read before (the first they wrote I think) and ridiculously useless police, both in 1990 and 2020.

Another good run; The Fake Wife by Sharon Bolton , this is a real page turner, not quite her best but still very good. Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo is the follow up to Ninth House and suffers a bit by comparison, that was so good and so different that it was always going to be a hard act to follow. This one wanders a bit in the first half but the last quarter is epic stuff. Definitely worth reading. I tried Nicci French a couple of times and always found her a bit lacking,her plot lines had 'that really couldn't happen' elements - a girl disappearing, presumed murdered, last seen at a party of her parents. Turned out her best friend who was at the party had the same coloured hair so everyone presumed she was the daughter... Anyway Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter had such rave reviews that I bought it as an ebook special. It's certainly very readable, I finished it in 24 hours - being stuck in a car that had slid into a ditch for over two hours got me off to a good start, but afterwards I got that unsatisfied feeling you get from too many sweets. A really good mystery leaves you savouring things, this didn't.

Scott is definitely a Marmite author. I used to love his books, less so now. He was a great storyteller but I think of his time, some of his attitudes stick in the modern craw particularly where Jews are concerned. My book group read Ivanhoe a few years ago and two people said that if a book by Sir Walter Scott was ever chosen again they were leaving the group!

I really didn't expect that! And yes, I've ordered Iron Flame...

Oh goodness, how often do you read three books you can't put down in succession? The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith is a prime example that certain books are definitely better suited to paper. I had it on my Kobo and gave up on it twice, long before I got to the infamous pages of tweets. Then on urging from another online book group I got a real book and was hooked, the tweets are easy to read on a proper page and do add a lot. Yes, it's too long and should have been edited but it's still very good indeed. A Stranger in the Family by Jane Casey is the 11th in her Maeve Kerrigan series and the standard is keeping up. You need to start at the beginning for these books as the characters develop and change. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros For once the sort of facile comparisons to other books on the jacket are pretty close to the bone - this is The Hunger Games with dragons (and I loved the Hunger Games). It really is unputtdownable, I got up at 6 which is very unlike me just so I could fit in some intensive reading. The pace doesn't let up and there is a totally unexpected ending.

Yes, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Btw, just finished Fourth Wing. Wow!

This is another one I really, really want to read!

Just given in and pre-ordered it!