Time to get lost in a good book?
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With so many activities cancelled, postponed or altered by coronavirus restrictions this year, reading is one pursuit that can continue unaffected in a lockdown.
But what to read? Do you want to escape, learn, laugh or be moved to tears?
As the Border's annual literary festival Write Around The Murray begins this week - itself transformed into a virtual event - some of the authors taking part have offered their suggestions for a good isolation read.
Jane Rawson
At the beginning of the pandemic, I re-read Elizabeth Jane Howard's The Cazalets series, which starts with The Light Years.
This is the story of an extended English family living their lives as World War II looms and then hits, with most of the action taking place in a house in the country.
It felt familiar - the sense of impending doom, the isolation - but also deeply comforting, reminding me that none of this is all that new, that bad times come and go, and good books usually help.
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Rebecca Giggs
There's a lot of space now for reading but at the same time, I think everybody's attention is sort of a bit fragmented so I'm inclined to recommend something short or something like a short story collection.
I read early on in lockdown Olivia Laing's Crudo, a slightly more experimental book about digital culture and the feeling of being caught up in the news.
Another one is Her Body and Other Parties, a short story collection by Carmen Maria Machado.
You can dip in and out of that quite easily and it's sort of a bit surreal and fantastical but also very topical.
Paddy Manning
Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth by Brian Stelter.
It's essential reading to understand the coming US election, which will determine so much about our future.
Write Around The Murray opens on Wednesday, September 9, and continues until Sunday, September 13, via the festival website and Facebook page.
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