My tastes, I suspect, are product of my time, my upbringing, what I encountered while I was still un-molded clay, instead of the brick I am now. I got involved in a discussion about authors on the must buy list and the comfort re-read list.

I’ve been through a very stressful few years, and I must admit I have struggled to read ANYTHING new. I really didn’t want nasty surprises. I wanted books that were going to leave me feeling better, feeling able to cope. Books that were old friends when things were tough.

I’m hoping that – if tomorrow’s final semi-trailer removal (the house was on top of it, moving it up here) the rest of the job though not easy will be a little less like going over the Niagara Falls in a barrel. I really must get back to exploring new books again. But… I am a product of my time and place. I like Simak, Zenna Henderson, Poul Anderson, James H Schmitz… that kind of thing. More recently Pratchett or Niven.

So: what’s recent that would fit the bill? The last ‘recent’ YA I read had me throw the book in the bin after ripping it up.

Recommendations for Dr Monkey?