Philip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass, Steven Runciman The Fall of Constantinople 1453, William Faulkner, The Sound and The Fury, Gerard Reve, The Evenings, Tim Marshall, Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of Flags, Philip Pullman, La Belle Sauvage

Loved the first book of the new 'equel' to His Dark Materials, although I did get a little lost as it became increasingly mystic and dreamlike as they journeyed down a flooded Thames Valley. Reminded me a lot of 'The Dark is Rising' for these very reasons - I also struggled to follow that at first as the deluge swept away the earthly world and replaced it with something stranger. Really glad I took the time to reread the first three books, and 'The Amber Spyglass' in particular made a lot more sense the second time round- not sure if I read it more closely, or whether I'm just more comfortable with metaphysics and theological debate now. In between, 'The Sound and the Fury' and 'The Evenings' passed me by; yet more classics I do not understand.