‘A Thousand Splendid Suns,’ by Khaled Hosseini, serves as a companion to his acclaimed ‘The Kite Runner’. Against the backdrop of the social and political history of Afghanistan from the late 1970s to the early 2000s, Hosseini paints a portrait of the lives and loves of Mariam and Laila, from their girlhood onwards.

A birthday jaunt recently took me to ‘Michaelangelo, Leonardo & Raphael’ at the Royal Academy of Art. 

I was very excited to receive this book for Christmas - 21 short stories inspired by ‘Jane Eyre,’ one of my favourite classic novels, in a collection compiled by Tracy Chevalier, my favourite living author.

I’ve read a number of good books this year, but the only one worth reading every day is THE Good Book, so I make no apologies for ‘reviewing’ the Christmas story this month.

At the last minute, we managed to get seats, in the very back row of the balcony, to see Jools Holland and his band at the Cambridge Corn Exchange. What a great, upbeat evening - Jools’ effervescence carrying us, through back-to-back songs, from one style to the next and one guest to the next.

Travelling through Hampshire, David and I broke our journey at the Gilbert White Museum, a delightfully rambling house dating from the 1500’s which hosts the collections of 3 explorers - Gilbert White and Frank and Lawrence Oates.

Who doesn’t love an Agatha Christie Murder Mystery? A sleepy English village or university town; vintage cars and costumes on screen or in the mind’s eye;

At book club last night we discussed Tracy Chevalier's ‘Burning Bright’. It's a historical novel about William Blake, described by Brittanica as an English engraver, artist, poet and visionary. He’s most well-known for his poem, ‘Tyger, tyger burning bright’ hence the novel’s title.

I belong to a book club at my local library. If you love reading, have you ever wondered about joining a book club? I prevaricated for a long time, unsure about: the pressure of reading one book per month; reading books I hadn’t selected; the cost of purchasing the books.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz comes to cinemas this month. Watching the trailer on social media has prompted me to find my copy and start reading it. I was given it a year or two back and it’s been languishing in the ever-growing ‘to read’ pile? Do you have one of those?

David and I have been gripped by seasons 1-3 of ‘The Chosen,’ the first multi-series drama about the life of Jesus and his first followers. Created and directed by Dallas Jenkins, it’s the largest crowdfunded project in TV history.

Is it just me, or do you sometimes feel both inspired by and envious of someone you admire? Author friend, C.F Dunn’s memorable strapline, ‘History, Mystery, Suspense,’ recently had me turning a distasteful shade of green, while whooping ‘Go Claire!’

Do you recall the wager in the film ‘Shakespeare In Love?’ Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) persuades the Earl of Wessex (Colin Firth) to bet £50 that a play cannot capture the nature of true love?