This month, in the absence of our facilitator, Barbara, I hosted the meeting of the Berwick Book Group and wrote the blog entry. The book we discussed was The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell. Read what we thought of it (and I apologise in advance for the punning headline; blame it on Barbara who established the trend).

The photo above is of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the most northerly English town, and, if in future the Scottish Parliament uses its tax-raising power, possibly a most unlikely tax haven. As it is, those of us living on the Scottish side regularly cross the border to go shopping. I'm not looking forward to the day when I have to complete an immigration form.

Nicola Morgan's Help! I Need a Publisher! blog is featuring an interview with crime writer Aline Templeton. I'm a big fan of Aline's books and the lady herself, who was gracious enough a few years ago to visit my local library in Duns and speak to us about writing. I also attended an excellent writing workshop she gave at Edinburgh Book Festival in 2009.

Not enough people know about Aline and her work, so if you're one of them, what are you waiting for? Read the blog and treat yourself to at least one of her books. You'll be pleased you did.

I followed Nicola Morgan's excellent suggestion for us all to get in on the act of giving away books on World Book Night when I went to Eyemouth, the Scottish Borders' only seaside town, last week to get my hair done (and there you were thinking I was a natural blonde). I left home  early and popped into Crossing the Bar, a small but perfectly formed bookshop before presenting myself for the dreaded swimming-hat-and- crochet-hook treatment. In the car it had occurred to me that the ideal recipient of my book would be Alex, the 17-year-old daughter of my hairdresser Julie. Alex is a keen reader, although her mum has no idea where she gets it from.

Sadly, the bookshop didn't have a huge range of crime books, and anyway, which one would I have chosen? So I plumped for Nevil Shute's On the Beach, reasoning that although it's as old as me, its theme of nuclear destruction won't have dated. And I remember being close to tears at the end, which almost never happens to me. I prefaced handing the book over to Alex's mum with the plea, 'I hope you won't think this is weird.' She didn't. Her only condition, which I'd already carried out, was that I should sign the book, so that when I'm a published author my gift will be worth more than its cover price.

I always feel great when I've had my hair done, but this time I felt even more content. I'm looking forward to an email from Alex to let me know how she enjoyed the book.

Saturday 5^th March 2011 sees the first World Book Night, when in order to encourage people to buy more books, lots of them will be given away. Nah, it didn’t make a lot of sense to me either. However, Nicola Morgan over on her Help! I Need a Publisher! blog has come up with a brilliant complementary idea. She’s suggesting that we each buy a book (from a real bookshop or direct from a publisher) and give it to somebody. Follow this link to read her full blog entry on the subject.

Stop press: Word has got out about Nicola's idea and there's mention of it on The Bookseller's website now.

Living where I do, I don’t often get to visit a proper bookshop, but a few days ago I did. Main Street Trading in St Boswells has beautifully laid out displays (mainly books but also a few antiques and gifty things - see the picture above) and serves up delicious food too. I sat and had a pot of organic, Fair Trade tea and a piece of mocha sponge cake, surrounded by books. My idea of heaven, and I recommend a visit (allow lots of time) if you’re ever in that neck of the woods. They've even been shortlisted for The Bookseller’s Best Independent of the Year Award.

While there I bought a couple of books, one for my husband’s birthday and one for myself. It would be cheating to use either of these as a WBN giveaway, but I’m going to Eyemouth tomorrow to get my hair cut, and it has a small but perfectly formed bookshop, Crossing the Bar. All I have to decide is what to buy and who to give it to. What a lovely predicament.

I saw my first Kindle yesterday, in the hands of another customer at my hairdresser’s. I’ve been swithering about getting one for a while, but haven’t before actually met someone who uses one. In general the Scottish Borders isn’t populated by early adopters of technology (not always out of choice - I had to involve my MSP before BT deigned to give me broadband). Even in my book group there’s no one who’s purchased an e-reader, although they all know someone who has.

The lady with the wet hair (who told me she’s in her sixties, though I found that hard to believe) was delighted to demonstrate her new toy/tool to me. The Daily Mail arrives on it each day apparently, although this isn’t mandatory, thank goodness. She showed me how you can highlight words and look up their meanings and how the size of the print can be altered. When I asked her how she chooses books to read she enthused about being able to download opening chapters before deciding whether to buy the whole thing. And it fitted in a very fetching leather wallet.

From a writer’s perspective, e-books have to be a good thing, surely, as there’s no putting them on eBay for 99p when you’ve read them. Although, according to an article I saw in a magazine recently, Amazon in the USA will allow you to ‘lend’ your copy of a publication to a friend for up to a fortnight, during which time you can’t access it yourself.

One of the major attractions of getting a Kindle would be the ability to carry lots of books away on holiday with me in my handbag, rather than having to take up valuable suitcase space which could otherwise be given over to shoes. We’ve just booked tickets for a fortnight in Arizona later this year, to celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary, and another benefit is that the Kindle can be read with ease in bright sunlight. And Arizona is full of that.

So, I have two questions before I splash out. The last time I flew, I was made to turn off my iPod when the plane was taking off and landing, the exact times when I needed the comfort of not being able to hear anything else bar my favourite music. Would the same rule apply to a Kindle? I hate flying – it’s that weird combination of both boring and scary.

Secondly, do those nice wallets come in turquoise?