ON THE SHELF

The kids are back at school - finally. That means two-three hours of reading time on good days. Needless to say, the bad ones invariably outweigh the good ones.

Adding to that big grin on my face are some fabulous books for review. After months of waiting, I finally get a sneak peek of Vikram Chandra's eagerly awaited (at least for me) 'Sacred Games', together with Hisham Matar's 'In The Country of Men'. As they say nothing like a cracking good read.

Before I get to that - the Byron Bay Writers Festival looms. The tickets and the leave are sorted out, now for the visas. Time to get cracking. If you haven't already read about it, the Festival is into its tenth year. My pal Janet de Neefe tells me I'll be truly shocked by the size of the receptive audience. Can't wait for some rocking good times in the month ahead.