Now that spring is – almost – putting in an appearance, things have changed massively in the last few weeks. Covid-19 has an impact on all our lives and, like most of you, I’m missing my friends and family. Whilst we can keep in touch in a variety of ways, there’s nothing like a cuddle from a grandchild to perk up my day!

I’m now ahead with my reading list and am happy I’m a reader. As a child, we always lived out in the country so I’m well used to my own company – perhaps that’s why I’ve always enjoyed books. This month I’ve read a wide choice of genres and enjoyed almost all of them. So many deserve the book of the month choice, but once I finished Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, I knew that nothing else would surpass it. I tend to avoid ‘the books that everyone is talking about’ so deliberately waited to read this one when most of the hype had died away. It is a stunning read, using the most beautiful prose and is quite different to all others.  It’s a book I can see me re-reading in coming years, and I give it my highest recommendation.

My list for April has 24 novels, and I like to think that I’ll stick to that. All being well, I’ll see you at the end of the month again. In the meantime, stay safe, stay well and please heed all the government advice on social distancing. Life is just too precious to throw it all away!