Aaahhh! An Ann Patchett. Not only do I devour any book she writes, I have endless admiration for Patchett’s ceaseless championing of other authors and independent booksellers (she owns an amazing bookshop called Parnassus Books). Tom Lake is a sublime meditation on youthful love, married love and the lives parents have led before their children were born. It is a hopeful, joyful read yet it doesn’t shy away from the foibles and complexities of human nature. I got halfway through Tom Lake and panicked a little thinking, ‘oh no, this is wonderful but maybe it isn’t as good as her previous books’ but I’m pleased to report that by the last page I was nodding with tears in my eyes and muttering ‘oh yes, the brilliant Ann Patchett has done it again.’ Easily one of my top reads of the year so far.