*Summer Booklist - Part 1* As promised - a round up of what to read whilst supine on your sun lounger/the beach/under a shady tree in the garden. Listen to me waffling away, or scroll on for potted reviews. (Further instalments to follow because Instagram thought my longer video was inappropriate content and it needed to protect your delicate sensibilities from my saucy books content...) At The Table - Claire Powell @fleetreads @littlebrownbookgroup_uk A brilliant, heart-lifting debut. It opens at a disastrous lunch – at which Linda and Gerry tell their two adult children they’re separating. It then cycles through the fall out over the next 12 months and through four characters. So astute, so beautifully written, I want to give it to everyone I know. I’m Sorry You Feel That Way - Rebecca Wait @riverrun_books For my money, this is this year’s Sorrow and Bliss. A wryly funny story of a dysfunctional family and the thorny complexities of sibling relationships. Terrific dialogue and comic set-pieces. A joy. The Exhibitionist - Charlotte Mendelson @panmacmillan I adore CM’s writing; so sharp, intelligent and clear-eyed. Monstrously egotistical artist Ray looms over his three children and his lovely wife Lucia – who has sublimated her own talents to nuture Ray’s. He’s awful. The family are messy and dramatic and teetering on the brink - there’s all kinds of ebbing frustration and longing here. It’s set to explode. Deliciously dark.