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It's been another week of beautiful weather but my desire to sit in the sun with a good book hasn't happened yet. Any time I've been able to spend outdoors has involved jobs in the garden, or admiring the view of the river! So my 'to be read' pile remains undiminished.

And this week I learned of another reading list!

This one marks the Queen's Jubilee where librarians, booksellers and 'literature experts' from 31 countries are celebrating great books from across the Commonwealth in a collection of 70 titles, ten for each decade of the Queen's reign.

The Big Jubilee Read includes “brilliant, beautiful and thrilling writing... shared stories that define our social and cultural heritage”.

Naturally the selection has been met with some differences of opinion but, although I'm rather overwhelmed at the thought of so many books which have passed me by, it is great to be introduced to some less familiar authors and works.

It will be interesting to see how the Platinum Jubilee celebrations are supported by literary endeavours in the coming weeks.

I hope soon to be able to tell you about the 'New Suffolk Garland', an anthology of writing from and about Suffolk which has been compiled by a team led by the Aldeburgh Bookshop, and published in honour of the Queen.

And at the beginning of June I'll be talking to the author of a book called 'Queen Elizabeth II for Dummies'. Although I tend to wince whenever I refer to the titles in this very popular and successful series of books, they are packed with facts and it will be interesting finding out more about the work that goes into creating them, and this title in particular.

More on those two next week but tomorrow we will be catching up on our reading over the past month as we meet to discuss 'Barcelona Dreaming' by Rupert Thomson. If you're planning on coming along, please reply by noon tomorrow to reserve your place and receive the details.

Thank you for reading

What a glorious weekend! I hope you've been able to enjoy the beautiful weather in the garden, beach or countryside! We've said it before, but it certainly lifts the spirits to have a bit of sunshine, and springtime is particularly special with all it promises for the year ahead.

We are certainly privileged to be able to enjoy a relaxing weekend when we listen to all that is happening around the world, and things certainly don't seem to be getting any better on many fronts. 

While my reading recommendations this week aren't particularly buoyant, they do speak into our current situation with some hope and positivity, I think, in keeping with the message of this Easter weekend.

For example, we may choose to ration our intake of news from the usual sources, but in 'We Are Bellingcat' we are encouraged to take better ownership of what information we receive, and are encouraged to interrogate it with authority and insight. It's very liberating and encouraging, I think.

And the children's book is all about having 'Too Much Stuff' - a great message for me this weekend as  I was forced to have a bit of a clear out, a spring clean!

Getting rid of things we don't need frees us up for new opportunities, not least some of the places we might go and people we might meet in the coming year.

Arts and literature festivals are in our diaries again and we begin next weekend with the INK Festival in Halesworth.

I have very happy memories of visiting The Cut arts centre and wandering from one studio to another to see a wonderful array of short plays on offer. After the two year gap, things are a little different this year - there are now stages all over the town! You can read more about it in my article here. Or take a look at the programme and book your ticket here. See you there?

But this month is flying by and it's time for a reminder of our forthcoming book group meeting. It's just a week away, so if you would like to come along to discuss 'Barcelona Dreaming' on Monday 25 April, please reply to this email and I'll send you the details.

Thank you for reading.

It's difficult to know how to respond to everything that is happening in the world today. The issues seem so great and it's easy to feel helpless. How can we halt the climate crisis? How can we get alongside the homeless and dispossessed? What can we do for the people of Ukraine?

The novelist Andrey Kurkov, 'Ukraine's greatest living author', was interviewed in the Guardian this week and was asked what we might be able to do to help Ukraine. His response was to recommend that we read non-fiction. 

"Find out more about Ukraine," he says. "Read about our history: Serhii Plokhy's 'The Gates of Europe', Anne Applebaum's 'Red Famine'; Timothy Snyder's 'Bloodlands'. It's really important to understand the difference between Russia and Ukraine. If you really want to know about Ukraine's history and why this is happening, read those books."

Fiction titles were harder for him to suggest as, he says, Ukrainian literature doesn't tend to have a universal message. Nevertheless he does make some suggestions, and his own novels 'Death and the Penguin' and 'Grey Bees' have sold in high numbers in recent weeks.

Although my recommended titles this week don't refer to Ukraine, they do shine some light on difficult situations - the wise and wry words of Margaret Atwood's essays address big subjects with authority and insight, while the children's book is a clever, funny and moving presentation of what it might be like to be homeless as a child. 

I was in the bookshop this week when someone picked up the book 'The Life of an MP: Everything you really need to know about politics" by Labour's Jess Phillips. The customer decided it would make the perfect gift for her Tory-voting father: "that's how we got into this mess," she said, "by not reading someone else's point of view". Whether or not we agree, it's good to read about different perspectives and experiences to our own.

Thank you for reading.

There are certain cornerstones in my week. One of them has been 'Desert Island Discs' on Radio 4. So I was rather disappointed this morning to find that it had finished its run. In its place was 'Reunion' and the subject matter was the 2004 tsunami.

I have to say that I've rather had my fill of disasters, tragedy and catastrophe and I turned it off before the programme got fully underway. So you may think that my book recommendation this week is also poorly timed.

'When the Dust Settles' is a memoir of a woman tasked with dealing with the aftermaths of disasters.

I received an advance copy of the book some weeks ago and devoured it. When I enthused about it to friends at the time, I had some strange looks. I'm pleased to say that now that the book has been released, it has received a flurry of good reviews and has been the Radio Four Book of the Week.

The book is brilliant, in my opinion, because far from dwelling on or detailing what are of course horrific and harrowing situations, the author clearly exhibits such empathy and insight that knowing she is at work in these places is strangely soothing, reassuring and uplifting.

It was good to hear from someone who is calm and compassionate, skilled and knowledgeable, who knows how to lead well. And it was frustrating to hear of the times when she had been thwarted because of people who felt they knew better yet had none of her years of experience or study. It's a beautifully written book. I hope you'll give it a try.

Spring has arrived!

It's been so lovely in the past few days to feel the warm sunshine and anticipate the longer days now that the clocks have gone forward.

I've been fortunate in being able to enjoy the good weather alongside the water. Ahead of hosting an event for Maldon Bookshop with the printmaker and illustrator Angela Harding on Thursday, I was able to take a walk to the riverside where a number of spectacular Thames barges were moored alongside the quay. Their red ochre sails looked stunning against the sparkling blue water and golden marshes.

And this weekend I coxed two sweep oar crews along the River Deben.

It's not often the water is flat calm, empty of other river traffic and a glistening bright blue but early on Saturday morning it was just about perfect. The beauty and tranquility of our environment lifted our spirits, and possibly improved our technique, so we returned to the clubhouse feeling triumphant! 

We had been able to get out on the water because we had all made ourselves available to form a crew, and then committed to playing our part in moving the boat through the water - an individual and a collective effort. And though we are far from making any comparisons to an Olympic crew, my reading this week inspired our outing along a Suffolk river. Scroll down for details!

Tomorrow evening we will be meeting in Woodbridge to discuss this month's book 'Actress' by Anne Enright. We'll be taking all the usual precautions so please let me know if you are planning to come along so that I can send you all the details. 

Thank you for reading.