Not very surprisingly half of the tall bookshelf was populated by books that had to do with cooking, drinking, baking, dining or etiquette. There were several thick books dedicated only to cakes and their decorations, a couple for mixing drinks, and countless for general recipes for different cuisines. At closer examination there were also books from celebrity chefs - Martha Stewart, Gordon Ramsay, Keith Floyd and so on. All of them were signed and had personal dedications to her.
The other half consisted mostly of classics - she appeared to have each and every book authored by Jane Austen, and a couple of them in several different editions. Other worn and evidently loved novels included the Brontë sisters' most famous onces, the Three Musketeers and the Count of Monte Christo, and so on. If you took a list of of Penguin Classic's 100 classic must-read books, you could tick off a fourth from that list that you saw on her bookshelf. On the other hand there were next to none very modern and resent novels, and the few that were, were historical novels.
"Dinner is served!" was the call in an over-acted British accent from the kitchen after a couple of minutes.