It’s summer! That means rain-washed bunting and steamy marquees, painted toenails and flipflops, horseflies, citronella, Pimm’s and baps. Not the circular baked bun in which we cram our egg mayonnaise and cress, nor the lady protuberances we release from bikinis for an all-over tan, but Big, Addictive Paperbacks.

Baps are the sort of books that don’t just tell the story of A meeting B; they take us right through the alphabet to weave a whole new world from words. They keep us company for days, sometimes weeks, and give us the perfect excuse for an early night, a late lie-in and a lazy afternoon on a sun-lounger. Call them beach reads if you will; my favourites are bed, bath, train, car park and end-of-the-garden reads too. ‘I couldn’t put it down’ is one of the loveliest things any author can be told, which is why you might spot me stealing furtively around Waterstones with a tube of UHU this week. Yes, The Country Set is out in paperback. Cue pack shot:

Along with butterflies, orchids, fledgelings and glow-worms, my bouncy baps almost always come out in June: you can time a Fiona Walker paperback by Ascot hats and outdoor opera, and sometimes – as this year – World Cup fever.  What better excuse to buy The Country Set hot off the press and find a quiet spot to curl up with horses, dogs and handsome hunks in breeches?

Published by Head of Zeus, The Country Set paperback edition is priced £7.99. Click on the cat to buy it from Amazon UK: