If the national press can give you tips for summer reading, then so can I. I can vie. I can vie with the Times, its summer reading special behind a paywall, as mine, dear readers, is not. So here you go, 10 novels from which to choose some holiday reading - being my 10 most enjoyable reads of the year so far. Incidentally, my list differs from those you'll find in the mainstream meej by being chosen simply from the books I've read since January 1 - that is, all of them and not just the recently published ones. But, if like me you are a normal human being (yes, I am!), then you won't be reading only the very latest thing, because you'll have a lot of catching up to do. You may therefore not have read some off this list. In alphabetical order, my 10 recommended holiday reads:
Abide with Me by Elizabeth Strout
After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell
Body Surfing by Anita Shreve
The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott
High Wages by Dorothy Whipple
A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry
My Lover's Lover by Maggie O'Farrell
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle
And if you try any of them and don't agree with my judgement... it's not my fault. You may take my advice, but you embrace your freedom in doing so.
