Serhii Plokhy, Lost Kingdom, Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep, Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer

Lost Kingdom was A History of Russian Nationalism, concentrating on the identity of Ukraine and Belarus. What a mess. I think I've probably read 'The Big Sleep' before, and certainly I've seen the film, and it just didn't connect with me - the same with Tropic of Cancer, which has been praised to the skies, but appears to have no plot at all to me. Talking of plots, 7 MPs left the Labour Party yesterday. Part of me is disappointed as the Labour Party should be a broad church and include all progressives, but another part of me is glad to see the back of 7 troublemakers who were actively working against Corbyn and sewing discord.  They don't feel comfortable in the current Labour Party, but I and hundreds of thousands of others feel that the Labour Party is the best it has been in a long long time. It's a real shock to hear that Labour MPs applauded the 7 for leaving, and the sympathy for their position coming from Tom Watson and other MPs makes one realise the massive gap that exists between Labour party members and MPs. This isn't over yet, as there remains a PLP heavily weighted towards centrist, Blairite liberals and a membership that is primarily socialist. There is a realignment coming, but I cannot believe there is any demand for another centrist, liberal, pro-remain party when the Lib Dems already have that territory.  Hopefully Labour will move towards a model of open primaries and mandatory reselection so we can get MPs that are selected by, accountable to, and representative of their constituencies.