France

Wind in the Willows was read to me though I read Black Beauty when I was five (my mother left off reading it to me to answer the telephone and I got so impatient that I picked it up and realised I could read it myself and finished it on my own). I was home schooled, was on my own in the middle of the country and basically barely ever saw children of my own age so reading and going for long walks with the dog were my two chief occupations - passions I still have today.

I was read the Wind in the Willows when I was about six and I can remember the feeling of being utterly transported by the magic and fantasy of the story. I was already a reader but it was mostly animal stories like Black Beauty and a series about Bob the sheepdog, the Wind in the Willows gave me a taste for the magical and different which I've never lost.

It seems to me that Ann Patchett has got better and better ever since she first pulished Bel Canto and Tom Lake has to be up there in contention for my best read this year. I was initially put off reading it because it was described as a "pandemic novel" and I'm already sooo bored of reading about social distancing, lockdowns and wearing masks but this book isn't one of those. The pandemic is the cause of Lara's three very different daughters gathering on the family cherry farm for the summer to isolate and help their parents bring the harvest in and Lara is profoundly happy to have them around her. While they are working she tells them about when she was an actor and the history of her long ago affair with a now famous film star - some of it, there are things even her daughters cannot know. It's beautifully written with quiet unshowy prose that leads you from one sentence to the next, the settings both in the cherry orchard and while Lara was acting are completely immersive and characterisation is superb. The plot does assume a certain familiarity with Thornton Wilder's play Our Town, I'm not sure that it matters if you've never heard of it (like me) but it's easyn enough to look it up on line.

As I'm useless at working out how to do spoilers I sent you a message!

Kate Atkinson has a new Jackson Brodie, Death at the Sign of the Rook, coming out in August.

An Inheritance of Magic by Benedict Jacka is the start of a new fantasy series set in a London where the use of magic is a preserve of several vastly rich families who as practitioners control it's use and supply. Stephen Oakwood is an orphan, or is probably one, his mother walked out, his father disappeared, but he does have some magical skill. Then a couple of scions of one of the wealthiest families turn up, claiming he is a cousin, and hoping to use him in an increasingly heated inheritance battle. It's fast moving, refreshingly different from much of fantasy since it doesn't take itself seriously at all and Stephen as a character develops and grows. Not high literature but hugely enjoyable, I zipped through it and am greatly looking forward to the next book. The Golden Gate by Amy Chua The cover is beautiful, the writing is tedious and bangs far too many drums. Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld I like Curtis Sittenfeld's writing most of the time and I'd heard many good things about this romantic comedy between two unlikely figures, a writer on a show clearly based on Saturday Night Live and a glamerous super famous rock star. The first part is great, Sally the writer is sympathetic, smart and her insecurities are believable and the background of the show is fabulous. Noah the rock star is a little one dimensional but hey ho, it's Sally's story. The second part is good too, but it starts getting samey and drawn out and I went from loving every page to rather hoping I was near the end.

What a terrific review! Autumn Rounds is now on my wish list.

Oh so did I.

You're supposed to dislike Ove at the beginning and then what makes him so apparently grumpy starts becoming more obvious. I can't remember anything about him being more callous and indifferent to cats and dogs than other human beings. I really warmed to him by the end.

I listened to the first of these on Audible, The Cove I think, and to be honest wasn't impressed. It seemed both long-winded and Mills and Boonish

I find that most of the books I really enjoy are Marmite books, some people loathe them, others adore them. I can see why you might have found it boring, the pace wasn't fast at the beginning but the sly humour made up for it imo. Good things reading tastes are so different - it means lots of variety!

Funny how you can change your mind - I tried Slow Horses by Mick Herron a couple of years ago and it just didn't appeal. Then after having read his latest book after fervent recommendations I gave Slow Horses another go and really enjoyed it. For those who haven't seen the tv series (and I haven't) it's about a group of apparently washed up spies who for policy reasons haven't been sacked and have been exiled to a building called Slough House to do boring stuff in the hope they'll be driven to resign. It's twisty, clever, has unexpected but satisfying plot twists and doesn't take itself too seriously. I'm certainly going to read more in the series. It's been 10 years since Shades of Grey by Jasper fforde came out. It was startlingly inventive even for fforde, about an England where ever since Something Happened people have only been able to see one colour and your status in society is governed by which colour you can see and how much of it. The Greys, who have no colour vision, are the labourers and have very few rights. It was very witty, very funny and full of wonderfully daft ideas such as the rule that once something was declared apocryphal you literally could not see it, so the Apocryphal Man was able to walk around with impunity with no clothes on, stealing food off plates in the communal dining hall. A sequel was promised and Red Side Story finally arrived this year. It's worth the wait. Shades of Grey had a serious undercurrent, Red Side Story is a lot darker but it's still witty, funny and a crashing good read. I'm really sorry to have finished it.

Most French libraries have a small selection of English books in paper (most of it donated) but digital books are in French mostly and my French isn't up to reading a book.

Do you mean actually analysing note by note or books which describe the effect of music? I don't play any instruments but the novel which got me making a huge listen-to list is Trio by Sue Gee. It's a terrific book too.

delicately through a straw

Living in France helps as there are far fewer bookshops with less choice! When I visit the UK it's a different story though. I could literally barely lift my case for books last time and that was before I'd got airside at Gatwick and a look at the large airport only paperbacks!

her sister was coming

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.