Ms Thomas said: "This will be the 46th year of the book fair, but my fifth year.

"It has definitely changed in the last few decades, everything is more multi-media now.

"It is the second largest book fair in the world.

"We have people from 135 different countries coming to the event."

The huge book fair picks a different country to celebrate every year, this year Poland has been chosen, and Ms Thomas has been reassured there will be lots of vodka around.

A vast variety of books are at the book fair, from cookery books, school text books, early readers' books, novels and scientific books.

Although Ms Thomas loves books and living in London, she spends a lot of time in her home county.

"I was brought up in Somerset and I was married there, it is utterly beautiful.

"I have a place in Bishops Lydeard, and I love the Quantocks. It's great that within an hour you can be in the hills or by the sea.

"Somerset has so much culture and art. There are loads of festivals and books and music. The pubs are great and are always good for a book swap, if I want something new to read - I just go to the pub."

Ms Thomas said she would love to bring a book event to Somerset if there was an appetite for it.

The book lover says that this year is a big year for anniversaries, as 2017 sees 20 years of Harry Potter, 30 years of Terry Pratchett's Mort, and 200 years since Jane Austen's death.

One thing Ms Thomas says is that there is "a book for every occasion", which she feels is important when discussing events like Brexit, as she believes that books are the basis of most things.

She added: "Everyone is still waiting to see what happens with Brexit.

"There is some concern for academic funding and research, the book fair will get people talking about it.

"Whenever there's an issue, there's always lots of books about it.

"Satire is making a come-back, there are lots of satirical takes on the world."

source: somersetcountygazette.co.uk