John Cheever, Falconer, John Masefield, The Box of Delights

Falconer was another book where I simply don’t understand why it is on the list of essential novels. Another book where the protagonist is a prosperous middle-aged east coast academic, albeit one serving a life sentence in prison. The greatest praise on the back of the book came from Joan Didion, another writer on the list whose presence I don't understand (based solely on the book 'Play It As It Lays'). What am I missing? I wonder if perhaps these are writers who are thought worthy because of the total sum of their writings, essays, short stories etc, but for whom neither had an iconic book. 'Box of Delights' was a comfort read, bought as yet another attmpet to get Freddie to read more, but he wasn't interested unfortunately. Have found out since though that the Davies family (Freddie is in the same class as Abel) named their eldest Kay as they loved the book so much. William is a big fan of Abel, who he does insists on calling 'Mabel'.

Harry Pearson, The Beast, The Emperor & The Milkman

A History of cycling in Flanders, and a study of the Flemish character. Further light relief much needed at the moment. I'll concentrate on the positives though, and THFC's inexplicable progress to the Champions League Final. Still can’t believe how much we have ridden our luck and wheedled out of elimination against Inter, Barcelona, Man City and now Ajax. It's a shame to be playing Liverpool rather than Barcelona in the final, but we're there, God knows if we'll do it again in my life time. Apparently if we win it will be the biggest gap between a winner picking up the trohpy and winning their own domestic league - 69 years. . .

George Orwell, The Lion & The Unicorn, Tom Bower, Jeremy Corbyn: A Dangerous Hero, Natasha Pulley, Bedlam Stacks, Carson McCullar, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Philip Mansel, Aleppo: The Rise and Fall of Syria's Great Merchant City, Imogen Hermes Gowar, The Mermaid & Mrs Hancock, Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse 5, James McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, Bernard Cornwell, Excalibur, Francis Beckett (Ed), The Prime ministers Who Never Were, Geoff Dyer, Broadsword Calling Danny Boy, David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest, map book, Chris Mullin, The Friends of Harry Perkins

Infinite Jest was a slog, it has taken weeks and I don't think I understood a word of it. I only got through by referring to the plot on the Wikipedia page.  I had to have a few easy reads in between for light relief.  Had a really bad week as Colin Fox passed away on Wednesday, a great guy with three young sons, and Freddie broke his wrist in the school playground. He's been in so much pain and unable to sleep, so I've been sleeping on his floor for the past few nights and am exhausted. On the plus side, the cubs won the Tug-of-War contest for the first time since 2012 and inexplicably Tottenham are in the semi-final of the Champions League