Flaming Nora

Back from a wonderful holiday in Portugal where I devoured the following books and heartily recommend them all. Bare Faced Lies and Boogie Woogie Boasts by Jools Holland A great autobiography of one of the nicest men in the music biz. There wasn't enough scandal or gossip, though. 8/10. Michael Tolliver Lives by Armistead Maupin If you were in Portugal and saw a lady of a certain age in tears as she turned the last page of this book, that was me. A fantastic read. 10/10 The Importance of Music to Girls by Lavinia Greenlaw An autobiography of an ordinary girl written through the music soundtrack to her life. Interesting but not great with a cover that promised more than the book delivered. 7/10 What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn A fantastic first novel and well deserved winner of the Costa award. Highly recommended even if it did take two days and a nightmare to get over it. 9/10 45 by Bill Drummond What's not to enjoy in the autobiography of the lead singer of the KLF a...

Borough market is a tourist trap after 9.30 on a Saturday morning. But it's still worth a vist for food and drink that's a bit different. This morning I braved the hoardes of tourists to pick up some Belgian beers, a wild mushroom pie (for me); chorizo pie (for blokey); sausages made from animal's parts I didn't even know existed and some farmer's market cheese mixed with ginger. Most wonderfully of all, I bought some Portuguese pastel de nata . It's the first time I've seen them outside of Portugal, where you can scoff them for a half a euro each. Needless to say, Borough Market charges more.