Read, reading, to read

On this day in 2018 we were at the Hay Festival. It was the first time I had been and I loved it. Two years later we were all set to go with accommodation booked etc. But we all know what happened then! The Hay people were the first to get all sorts of stuff online and this was so good. 


This year it is all happening as normal at the Festival, but at the time I wasn’t that happy about going amongst the crowds. Now they are screening some of the events and you can watch them live but at home. I invested in a Pass and now have a timetable of events. It’s mostly me who all be watching, but we have both just watched John Crace and then Melvyn Bragg - both excellent. It is almost like being there. Of course I remember the buzz around the place, the excitement, the planning, the talking to people - just everything. But this is a good alternative. Maybe next year . . . 

So as this is all about books - here is the book I have just read - ‘The Sentence’, shortlisted for the Women’s Prize and a possible winner. I love it. The book I am currently reading - ‘Scenes of Clerical Life’, the start of my attempt to read all of George Eliot’s book in order, which I have done once before. This is her first published book - three short stories actually. Then the book I am going to read next - ’Tomb of Sand’, announced last night as the winner of the international Booker, most of the people whose views I value like this very much, but it’s a massive volume. And I am also reading ‘Nature’s Engraver’ the life of Thomas Bewick. None of these are what you might call light reading, but they are the kind of challenging books I like to read.  

Now back to Hay.