Mother’s age: 85 Reading habits: Historical romances are popular for my mother. Other clues: My mother loves watching Turner Classic Movies and playing music. Although she is 85, she plays in a musical group for the “old folks!” Patricia Coulter, Cold Lak

That is amazing that your mother is in a musical group! I’m sure that she has so much fun doing that. A great novel for any music lover is last year’s Giller prize winner,

Us Conductors by Sean Michaels. This novel is inspired by the true life of scientist and inventor Lev Termen and tells of his experiences from 1920s New York to Stalin’s Soviet Union through a letter to the love of his life. Termen invented the ethereal and haunting theremin (if you haven’t heard of this instrument, you should look it up and be amazed by it) and this novel reads like music itself.

I noticed that Turner Classic Movies is celebrating the films of Orson Welles during the month of May, which makes now seem like the perfect time to read Me and Orson

Welles by Robert Kaplow. This story explores the world of American theatre in the 1930s and particularly looks at one teenager who gets a role in a young Orson Welles’ production of Julius Caesar. Another delightful behind the scenes tale is A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott, which I think would be perfect for your mother. This novel is about the filming of Gone with the Wind, the love affair between Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, and the Hollywood that gave life to so many of the films that your mother still loves. Carmen