Hello strangers! I’ve been so caught up with planning for my theatre tour (not so subtle plug, sorry) that I’ve totally neglected book reviews despite having read some utter delights recently. Today though, that changes!

Meg Mason’s Sorrow and Bliss is not a book that has arrived quietly. Although Mason herself says she wrote it pretty much in secret, it has been received with enthusiasm from reviewers and fellow authors to the extent that, despite a self-imposed book buying ban and a general dislike for heavier, more expensive hardbacks, I was desperate to read it.

As I mentioned in a previous blog post I’ve found the last couple of months challenging. Oddly enough it’s this period in the pandemic when I should be imbued with optimism that I feel most helpless and overwhelmed. I mention this only to explain why I’m doing a May/June culture wrap up rather than a monthly one which is that I’ve really just not been reading much.

This month was a delightful one for reading. I found myself constantly engrossed in a one book or another and ended the month with my nose still in about three different novels!

I loved Emily Henry’s debut adult fiction book Beach Read last year, so I was delighted when her publishers sent me an advanced Netgalley copy of her new one!

Another month, another wrap up! March has heralded the glacial opening up of our world! That, accompanied by an improvement in weather, has meant that my life of being near constantly glued to a screen or book is, well not over, but certainly adapted. Still, some delightful culture has been consumed and enjoyed. Here we go!