Phillip Pullman, The Book of Dust vol II: The Secret Commonwealth, VS Naipaul, A House For Mister Biswas, Diarmaid MacCulloch Thomas Cromwell: A Life, John Le Carre, Agent Running In The Field, Jean Rhys, The Wide Sargasso Sea, Billy Bragg, The Three Dimensions of Freedom, Antony Beevor, Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944, Frank Herbert, Dune. James Agee, A Death In The Family, John Hooper, The Italians, Eric Vuillard, The Order Of The Day, Robert Stone, Dog Soldiers, Raynor Winn, The Salt Path, Sarah Perry, Melmoth, Norman Dixon, On The Psychology Of Military Importance

Ouch, have left it far too long and haven't commented on the last 16 books until now. It's the day after Boxing Day and I'm back at work.  Fred is in a permanent grumpy pre-teen phase, Libby is as lovely and loud as ever and William is very funny - dinosaur and biscuit obsessed. Dad has just had a triple heart bypass but seems to be making a very rapid recovery, the Tories won a majority at the election and everyone is blaming Corbyn. He was certainly part of the reason, but its not as simple as that, and even now, if her were to stand for reelection the majority of members would vote for him. I don't see any standout candidates. I would have voted for Angela Rayner, but she appears to be not standing. Ian Lavery is my next choice, in part because I have a fiver on him at 100/1.  On the books, it's worth noting that 'The Wide Sargasso Sea' is one of those rare things, an 'essential novel' that I enjoyed and that deserves it place. Not the novel I was expecting at all, as I have a deep dislike for the passive heroine and awful selfish hero of Jane Eyre. This book however showed Rochester as the sadistic snobby worthless shit he really was, and charted what had driven Bertha mad.