I am a member of Johannesburg’s coolest book group (we think it is, anyway). When I joined I was told this was not a book club, as that has all the wrong connotations — but, to be fair, the core elements are the same: firm friendship, enriching discussion, good food, plentiful wine.

At our first postlockdown gathering, one of our gang felt compelled to make an admission that she feared might see her ousted. She had stopped reading books, she said, and she now only listened to them...