A Month in the Country — J L Carr

A veteran of the Great War arrives in Oxgodby, Yorkshire, to strip the whitewash off the chancel arch to reveal the medieval masterpiece underneath. He lives in the bell tower. Tom Birkin is a damaged veteran, his face twitching as he speaks, one whose wife, Vinny, has run off with someone else.

It is one of those summers you can only experience once and which live with you forever as an icon of contentment.

Nothing much happens, but what does happen seems important. A lovely book.

This week's book is J L Carr's A Month in the Country and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.

The Player of Games — Iain M Banks

The Culture — a human/machine symbiotic society — has thrown up many great Game Players, and one of the greatest is Gurgeh. Jernau Morat Gurgeh. The Player of Games. Master of every board, computer and strategy.

Bored with success, Gurgeh travels to the Empire of Azad, cruel and incredibly wealthy, to try their fabulous game ... a game so complex, so like life itself, that the winner becomes emperor. Mocked, blackmailed, almost murdered, Gurgeh accepts the game, and with it the challenge of his life — and very possibly his death.

This week's book is Iain M Banks's The Player of Games and we'll be meeting at The Fletcher Moss on William Street in Didsbury.