VAT gloom - but books are still tax free!

All day the news has been full of the increase in VAT from 17.5% to 20%.

However, there is no VAT on many items considered to be basics or essentials - and happily this exemption still applies to books. The good old-fashioned printed kind that is - ebooks appear to count as a luxury product and attract the full rate of VAT. No skin off my nose as I personally would never dream of converting!

It continues to baffle me that people will pay the same price (or sometimes greater) for an e-book as for the real thing - as I will no doubt persist on calling them until the end of my days when shelves full creaking with actual books become as unusal as a comprehensive vinyl collection is these days. And as impressive!

As you may guess, even if the price of e-books were significantly cheaper, I would still not be tempted. I'd just turn to the second-hand market once again, as often before when times are tough. Unlike music, where I can understand the appeal of carrying hundreds and thousands of songs around at any one time, I never feel the need to have more books than I can physically handle on my person - I, for one, can only read one book at a time and don't switch between many in the space of minutes.

And the sheer joy of a weighty book in my hand, with the smell of the paper, the cover, the wonderful FEEL of flicking through the pages... I can't put it into words, but you know, don't you? You know!

The Distant Hours - Kate Morton

I've previously raced through Kate Morton's earlier novels, The House At Riverton and The Forgotten Garden, so was pleased when the beautiful hardback edition of new book The Distant Hours arrived in my stocking this Christmas, as requested.

All three books follow a similar pattern - a puzzling mystery with its roots in a glamorous bygone era is gradually uncovered decades later by a character with links to the original protagonists. The story switches between both timelines as clues are gradually uncovered and a revelation with a twist results. All three books are shot through with a tense, gothic style that pays homage to 19th century classics such as Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White, and there is always a 'Big House' at the centre of the story.

I'm certainly not complaining about the repetition of this style as the msytery in each case is a damn good one, and there is always some aspect of the revelatory ending that leaves me thinking 'I never guessed that!'

In The Distant Hours, the historical setting is primarily World War Two (with some flashbacks to earlier times) which makes for lots of interesting background details, particulary about domestic life during war time - really puts our 'austerity' age in the shade!

I must admit my own domestic life was somewhat put on hold as I sped through this book - highly recommended.

Also, the hardback version comes with one of those ribbon bookmarks attached - always a good sign in my opinion!

Readers may also enjoy: The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier.