I'VE just finished a book so charming, so delightful, so charismatic, I felt lost when it ended.

Called The 100 Foot Journey by Richard Morais, it's an international best-seller which has been around for a while and will be made into a movie directed by many luminaries including Steven Spielberg and Oprah.

I loved this book so much, the moment I finished it I went back to the beginning and read it all over again.

It tells the story of a boisterous Indian family with a flourishing restaurant in Mumbai who, after a tragedy, move to a small village in rural France where they buy a neglected estate, refurbish it and open an Indian restaurant.

This, as you might expect, deeply upsets the elegant Madam Mallory across the road who owns a sophisticated Michelin star restaurant.

One member of the Indian family, the son Hassan Haji, not only has a natural talent for food, he has an innate culinary gift, which Madam across the road has to acknowledge due to her dedication to fine French food.

After a great deal of bitter fighting with awful consequences, Madam Mallory finally gives in and encourages Hassan to make the 100 foot journey to her restaurant across the road where she mentors his talent until he conquers all the subtleties of French haute cuisine.

I won't say any more because I want you to read it. The lyrical writing, the delectable food descriptions, the well-crafted dialogue and the glorious French countryside portrayals are only outdone by the eccentricity of the characters.

After reading such captivating words and vividly descriptive passages - and feeling guilty about wanting to read the book for a third time - I had to force myself to turn to the next book on my shelf (actually, on my iPad but let's not get into silly detail).

Called Snowing in Bali, it's a non-fiction book about the prolific drug scene in Bali, an insight into the lives of Bali's top drug dealers.

After enjoying a veritable creme brulee of fine dining in The 100 Step Journey, I suddenly found myself in the notorious Kerobokan Prison in Bali with drug dealers telling me more than I ever want to know of their ugly doings peppered with the lurid language you expect drug dealers to use. It was too much. I had to put the book down.

So I've gone from lyrical food descriptions to horrific drug revelations.

Reading really does broaden the mind.