'What do you mean unrecognised?'

Yesterday I took some books back to the library. It has a machine-thingy you can put books in so I did that and one of the books, a card-making book, came up as unrecognised. The machine didn't spit it back out so I just ignored it. 

I'd had the book a long time so expected a hefty fine but when I came to borrow some more books - again with a machine - it said I owed nothing. 
'Ah ah,' I said, 'it didn't identify the book so hasn't worked out yet that I owe money.'

But then this morning, in bed, I suddenly thought, 'Was it actually a library book I took back or was it one of my own books?'

Not to worry. I'll check next time I go to the library. I'm sure I can't be the first person to return a non-library book. 

In the same visit I returned Britt-Marie was Here, a follow-up to My Grandmother Sends Her regards and Apologises. I did enjoy it - and began shouting at the main character because she was about to do something I thought stupid - but My Grandmother remains top of my Frederik Backman list. Probably followed by A Man Called Ove.

Swansea's answer to ...

For my #100happydays photo challenge today I've used a photo of my two current library books. Libraries make me very happy!

But what is particularly interesting about these two books is the blurb on the cover.

Jacqueline Winspear's is described by Associated Press as 'The British counterpart to Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency,' while the Spectator is more specific when they say James Runcie is 'Grantchester's answer to Alexander McCall Smith.'

I'll let you know what I think when I've read them but maybe that's where I'm going wrong in the marketing in of my books. I should get someone to describe me as Swansea's answer A McM S. It could change my life.

Quick reviews of other books I've read recently:
The White Princess by Philippa Gregory - continuing the Cousins' War series, quite good but drags on a bit for the last third of the book;
Lamb, the gospel according to Biff, Jesus' childhood friend by Christopher Moore - hilarious;
Love from both sides (can't remember author), - only read a few pages because just too crude;
The birds of the air by Alice Thomas Ellis - ditto but because too literary and descriptive for my late night reading;
A married man by Catherine Alliott - good yarn by one of my favourite romcom authors - you get what you expect.

One of my favourite bits in Lamb is where Biff is helping Jesus plan the sermon on the mount and, in particular, the beatitudes. Having decided to give the meek the kingdom of heaven the first suggestion for the persecuted is 'a basket of fruit?'