I recently borrowed two library books by favourite authors, which felt like meeting up with old friends. One is by cult author Richard Brautigan, the other by so-called Liverpool poet Brian Patten.

Brautigan wrote surreal bizarre tales of misfits, and his style is unmistakable and inimitable. I’m enjoying revisiting his Dreaming of Babylon: A Private Eye Novel 1942 which I haven’t read for twenty years.

Patten writes exquisite verse, some of the finest love poetry around and really entertaining poems for children. I’m currently recalling love affairs from long ago, helped by his Collected Love Poems.

Other favourite books that I’ve read many times over the years include The Wind In The Willows, An Island To Oneself, Those About To Die and any collection of Guy de Maupassant’s short stories.

They all lift my spirit in different ways.

Which books do you think of as friends?