Article: Adele Hamilton from women24

Friendships happen. Some last for life, others drift away into sweet memory, and some self-destruct in a blaze of incompatibility. And to tell you the truth, some of my best friends are books.

So when faced with the combination of a megastore full of books and payday, I get the same feeling as when I enter a room full of people. Should I look for familiar faces, or should I be open to making a new connection, and possibly a new pal?

Look, I'm not gonna lie, if a favourite author like Marian Keyes, Robert Harris, Rayda Jacobs or Ian McEwan has produced a new book, the conversation pretty much ends there. Cut to the chase, head for the till, I'm good.

Failing that, I drift around the new releases, usually growling under my breath about the number of books brought out each month and how I can never read them all, and wouldn't someone please like to pay me to just read books and nothing else all day. In my pyjamas.

A striking or beautiful cover will catch my eye, but if the back blurb is trite, it's like trying to make small talk with the wrong person at a cocktail party. Look across the room, catch Marian Keyes's eye and make your excuses.

I am the very sucker at whom cover blurbs are aimed – listen, if Ian McEwan says the book is vivid and memorable, I'm going to give it a chance. If you ask me, the curse of death for an unknown author is if J M Coetzee liked their book – the man and I just don't share the same taste, it seems.

But the best way to make new book friends is through other friends – human ones. If you're lovely and interesting, and I want to chat to you all night, chances are I will want to spend the evening with your favourite reads too. It's not a sure thing, but it's a good basis for a trial friendship.

One old friend I became reacquainted with this month is Richard Mason, who wrote our Book of the Month for August, The Lighted Rooms. As with his first two novels, he has created incredible full and vivid characters, three generations of women facing crises within a realistically dysfunctional world.

A whole box of potential new friends will arrive on the doorstep for our Book Club winner Catherine Norton, who will receive our whole top 10 list from Kalahari.net, as well as a case of Perdeberg wine. Hopefully you'll bond for life with at least one of them.

Let us know how you choose a book to spend time with. Have you formed any wonderful surprise friendships lately?

When faced with a variety of book choices do you stick to authors you're familiar with or do you branch out and try something new? Share your thoughts with us in the comment box below?