My last (finished) book of the season would seem to have been Matt Haig’s The Radleys. I finished it in less that 2 days. I like Matt’s writing it’s a good but easy read and the ideas are interesting. It was written before The Humans but again the theme is seemingly ordinary people who can’t quite fit in (to normal life). Very enjoyable.

Then, a couple of weekends ago was the Mantova Festivaletturatura. I went only for the Saturday. I had hoped that Lola would be with me and, there was a ever-so-slight chance that F would be able to come. In the end, it was just me.

I arrived sometime after 10. I went to the office to see M and S, booked lunch at the Griffone Bianco (as always) and noticed that Kenzuo Ishiguro was on. Given that I had read The Buried Giant on holiday as one of my books, I thought I’d go along to see him.

He was quite interesting but I’m glad that I had already read the book as it made what he had to say more understandable.

I left just after they had started asking questions from the audience as I had lunch booked and the venue was quite a few minutes walk away.

I sat outside – the day was very warm, the sun shining and, to be honest, a typical Mantova day.

I had chosen my food but not yet ordered when Peter Florence appeared. He asked if he could join me and, of course, it was a pleasure. We talked about mutual friends, the Hay Festival and his son 8who was about to leave for Veterinary College) and his family and recent holiday. And, possibly, we mentioned something about me and my life but it’s hardly as interesting, as my regular readers know.

Of course, he had to prepare for his interview and I had to, as ordered by Lola, to go and see Jo Nesbø. I had read one of his books (his first) last summer. Unfortunately, lunch with Peter took a little longer than I had anticipated and so I came into the venue only just before it started and so there wasn’t a seat to be had. I ended up right at the back, sitting on a stone ledge against the back wall, looking over a sea of heads to figures that could have been anyone to be frank.

Still, it was an interesting talk – about his latest book.

Having said goodbye to the my Festival friends, I wandered back to the station via a couple of beers and made the train. I wasn’t too late back but learnt, on the way, that F had “done his back in”. I was grateful it was now rather than during the summer like last year but I couldn’t help but think that if he’d been with me, he wouldn’t have had a bad back!

And I’m now reading Colm Tóibín’s Nora Webster which I am enjoying. I’m about three-quarters of the way through.

Also, the other day, I received my T-shirt and paperback copy of the book Papercuts – which came through my Kickstarter funding. I have read a pdf copy of it but I will still read the print version. after all, the real book has got to be so much better. So that’s me set after Nora Webster.