France

I've got several favourites: Kobna Holbrook-Smith - The Rivers of London series Michael Sheen - his reading of La Belle Sauvage and The Secret Commonwealth are sublime. Christian Rodska's Falco books by Lindsay Davies (sadly he doesn't do them all) Juliet Stevenson makes even the dullest book sound wondeerful.

Goodness, how I love The Leopard! It's one of those rare books read and adored when young (about 18 I think) and was even better when re-read nearly 40 years later. Have you been to Sicily?

Hanging around and wiating to see if we're all going down with Covid, my middle daughter discovered she'd had it after coming to lunch on Sunday. Fingers crossed all round.

I read two absolutely brilliant, quite different books back to back this week. Miss Buncle's Book - D E Stevenson was written in 1934 and is the story of Barbara Buncle, an impoverished spinster who writes a book when her dividends start to dry up in an attempt to make money. Rather to her surprise her story of the goings on in a small village like the one she lives in becomes a best seller . The increasingly furious villagers realise that the annonymous aothor has been using them for copy and set about trying to discover who this "John Smith" is. The book is an absolute delight, very funny in places, acute and very satisfying. It's one of those you finish knowing you'll read it again and probably again and I'll probably get the beautiful Persephone reprint version because I'd like to have it in paper as well as on my Kobo. The Dark by Sharon Bolton couldn't be more different. After a couple of slightly disappointing standalones Sharon Bolton is back on nail-biting top form with this welcome return of Lacey Flint. Lacey is still workingfor the Marine Unit ont he Thames and trying to keep a low profile when a man snatches a baby from a passing pram and another throws a pram with a baby inside into the river. That's just the beginning of an increasingly sinister threat involving the dark web aimed at women, nearly all women and a race against time to stop a proposed 'event' whch the police fear could be catestrophic. When Sharon Bolton is good she's unbeatable, I got so tense reading this on the train I had to put it down to catch my breath, and the pace doesn't let up. Both of them are really highly recommended.

I agree and I can't imagine the guests wanting to spend 45 minutes walking around in that heat even if I say we'll keep to the shady side of the street. The evening one doesn't start till 9.30 but it's forecast to still be 33° at 9.

It's salad, salad, salad here... and I always keep bottles of cold tap water in the fridge. My laptop has just informed me that it's 38.5°C (101°F) so I'd n=better call the dog in who is catching some sun.

Lower mid thirties would be warm but pleasant here in SW France! It's forecast to be 41 in Bordeaux tomorrow and I have three shifts, two of which involve taking groups on walks, one in the afternoon and one in the afternoon.

Oh William! - Elizabeth Strout I have liked pretty everything Elizabeth Strout has written (with the exception of Amy and Isabelle which just didn't gell for some reason). Her style tends to the episodic, many of her novels are loosely linked short stories, some of them hardly mentioning the main protagonist. She writes beautifully, has the knack of making even her tiresome characters appealing and making you feel that you truly understand them and why they behave as they do. This is the third of her books about Lucy Barton, the second in the series, Anything is Possible was one of the best books I read last year. Lucy is a widow in her 60s and is asked by her first husband William who she has remained on distant but friendly terms with to go on a road trip with him as he attempts to discover more about the family he is beginning to realise he doesn't know much about. it's not a long book and is written in a conversational style as if Lucy is talking to you. I enjoyed it a lot, not as much as the first two books, but still something I can wholeheartedly recommend. This could be read as a standalone but you'll get far more out of it if you've already read the first two books.

A Short History of the World According to Sheep - Sally Coultard One of those niche books covering how sheep and their use by humans has altered history. It's written in a bright breezy style and is full of the sort of facts that make you say, 'Did you know this?' Such the oldest woolen garment yet discovered is over 6000 years old, Viking sails were made from wool and they are actually rather intelligent and sociable. Really good fun, recommended.

Blurbs are the write ups on the back of books and they aren't necessarily very true to what happens in the book. My blurbs were written by my editor and I was usually rather surprised to see what she thought was happening in my books. Taglines are as you say something like 'Winter is coming', again it doesn't have to be particularly relevant. In my experience, going back 20 years so before the lines from "review Goodreads" etc, stuff taken off proper reviews were just quotes, I think I heard of puff quotes and yes they usually came from another author, usually with the same editor who had been asked to say something nice!

I think this is probably my favourite of Jasper Fforde's books, I love nearly all of them though I didn't think the last one, The Constant Rabbit, was up to his usual standard.

Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead is set in the world of ballet, starting in the 1970s with Joan who knows she'll never make it to the top. She helps a Russian ballet star defect (shades of Mikhail Baryshnikov's escape), then after he dumps her retires from the ballet world to marry her high school sweetheart and the focus moves to her son and his best friend who are both highly talented. I wasn't expecting to like this book much, I wasn't overly impressed by Maggie Shipstead's first book Seating Arrangements, but I absolutely loved this. It didn't matter that I don't know a lot about ballet, the world drew me in and kept me totally engrossed. The ending was a bit flat but still can't spoil the effect of the book. It's beautifully written too. Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler. If you don't like Anne Tyler you'll think this is more of the same, if you do, and I automatically read everything of hers that comes my way, this is one of the best and most beguiling that she's written for ages. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. Two sisters in 18th century Ghana, one marries a slave trader, the other becomes a slave. There are two threads following the descendants of both sisters, in Ghana and in various parts of America until they intertwine a little at the end of the book. I'm a little torn in my reactions, it's an incredibly vivid book, there are scenes and events I won't forget but I found the structure, alternating chapters from each side of the family, a little bitty, particularly as we moved into more modern times there didn't seem to be time to get to know the characters and it detracted from the emotional effect of what happened to them. I don't often want books to be longer, I did here. It's still a really good book though. American Dirt by Jeanine Cummings . Lets not go into whether this book should have been written by a Mexican etc, I honestly don't know enough about the migrants, who they are and the real difficulties they face to have a knowledgeable opinion, all I can say is that as a page turner this works brilliantly. It's fast paced, the tension hardly ever lets up and if one or two bits are not very credible Jack Reacher isn't either and no-one gives that as a reason for not reading Lee Child.

I've been eyeing LJ Ross. I listened to part of one of his books on Audible (a freebie) and though it seemed like it was developing into a terrific story it was so horribly descriptive of the torture inflicted on a young woman that I had to stop. Are they all like that?

I read Patrick Gale's Mother's Boy in under two days (I was working too). It's wonderfully written and he has the knack of making characters who are not always very likeable extremely sympathetic. Loved it. On the other hand The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune which I wanted to read for ages was so overloaded with syrup that it could have given you diabetes. Childishly written too. I gave up.

I agree, this was compulsive reading. It's one I would be happy to reread if it came up for a book group choice.

Knitting is also a terrific way to help with anxiety. It also help with blood pressure.

.I had a quick look at the link, it seems the books have been selected as much for how well they sold as any merit.

I adore Pride and Prejudice, both as a book on on audio, I love listening to books I've already read and enjoyed. I used to be a firm paper book lover and just used my Kobo for travelling and in the gaps at work (I'm a tour guide and for some reason it's not seen as slacking between shifts to be immersed in an electronic device, having a real book in your hands is!). However I upgraded to a larger screen Kobo and it's so much more enjoyable.

A lot shorter than The Three Musketeers! I agree, packed with swash and buckle, huge fun!

I thoroughly enjoyed The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas though I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, I've always liked time travel stories even when i really don't understand the science involved. Likewise I know a lot of people didn't like Still Life by Sarah Winman finding it altogether too whimsical, but I loved it. It is very whimsical in places but those are counterbalanced by more serious parts and her writing is wonderful. Ulysses Temper, a young soldier, meets an elderly art historian in 1944 as the Allies are taking back Italy and they form an instant rapport. The story takes us to 50's London then back to Florence through to the 70's. It's about family, friendship, making a community and appreciating the beauty in life. A terrific read. The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams was readable, sickly sweet and utterly unmemorable. Two weeks later I don't even know what the characters were called. Odd Boy Out by Gyles Brandreth was a Kobo special and had terrific reviews, it's just like Brandreth himself, fun for a while then all gets a bit too much. Mr Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo, no, this doesn't match up to Girl Woman Other but all the same this story of the septuagenarian Barry from Antigua who is finally deciding whether he is going to come out after 50 years of marriage and 2 daughters has got to be one of the best books I've read this year.

Wow! That is some week! How did the car come to crash into the house?

I'm reading Lost Dog by Kate Spicer for the book club and longing to get on to one of the new arrivals (I succumbed to temptation...), Mr Loverman - Bernardine Evaristo, The Murder of My Aunt - Richard Hall, Astonish Me - Maggie Shipstead, Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi, The City of Brass - SA Chakraborty

Me too!

I'm in two minds about Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason. I read it at the request of a friend who wanted to know what I thought about it otherwise I'd never have gone near it, books about mental illness really are not my thing. It is fantastically well written and deserves all the praise that's been heaped on it but I couldn't warm to Martha the narrator at all, even though I could understand it was her problems that made her behave as she did she was still profoundly irritating. The real trouble is that the author obviously doesn't know what the matter with Martha was and as a result the ending felt like a huge cop out. I used to love Peter Lovesey's Diamond detective books, sadly the 20th Diamond and the Eye shows the series has run its course; Managed to finish it, but only just. Saving Time by Jody Taylor, the third in her Time Police series was a hoot, a real lift to the spirits.

I had much the same reaction to Virginia Woolf in Manhattan. I read it some time ago so can't remember the exact details but I know I was disappointed, the reviews had been uniformly glowing though the reality didn't match up.