John Lewis Gaddis, On Grand Strategy, Shusaku Endo, The Samurai, Stephen Moss, Mrs Moreau's Warbler: How Birds Got Their Names, Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Still lockdown reading! Finding it hard to get the time to read as my normal routine of reading on the exercise bike is no longer an option. I did purchase a cheap exercise bike just before the lockdown started, but didn’t read the reviews and it is too small for me. So I bodged a seat post extension, sat on it happily reading a few times until the casing snapped and I went a over t taking the bike with me. I ended up on the floor of the garage with the bike on top of me and my right shin cut to shribbons. Couldn't help noting that throughout it all the book remained clenched in my left hand on the correct page. I've rebodged it, but not high enough to sit back and read, so instead I'm listening to podcasts. On the books, I loved The Samurai, a historical globe-trotting novel from a Japanese perspective. I've put the 100 essential novels on hold with just two to go, as the two remaining, William Gaddis' Recognitions and Roberto Bolano's 2666 are huge tomes and I just can't face them without dedicated reading time. Instead I'm going to try to read some classics or oldies, hence The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Agatha Christie is on the list next.

Suraiya Faroqhi, The Ottoman Empire and the World Around It, Sam Byers Perfidious Albion

Lockdown reading. The situation in the UK seems to be getting worse and wore, as the death count rises each day and Boris Johnson has been rushed to hospital.  The UK Government's response to the outbreak has been appalling, they've not taken it seriously enough, given out mixed messages -  'stay in!' 'it's ok to go out for exercise', and our PM was only a few weeks ago boasting about shaking hands with everyone in a hospital. It looks like it will hit harder in the UK than anywhere else in Europe because of a) our government's wrong headed response and b) the deliberate underfunding of our health and social infrastructure for the previous decades. Despite this, Johnson appears to have record levels of approval, is eulogised in the press and has people all over the country praying for him.

Magnus Mills, The Scheme for Full Employment, Jerzy Kosinski, The Painted Bird

Can completely understand why The Painted Bird was on the list. It's visceral, brutal and shocking, and presents a harrowing counter-picture to Eastern Europe under the Nazis. No wonder it was banned in the Eastern Bloc as it shows the fear, cruelty, superstition and collaboration of peasants in the persecution of others under the Nazis. Very different from the official history of heroic resistance and solidarity in occupied territories. It's semi-autobiographical apparently, and it's difficult to believe that this boy being beaten, raped, tortured and witnessing horrific acts carried out so casually is only 8 years old. another reminder, like the Handmaid's Tale, that for most of humanity in most of history their lives have been miserable, fearful and oppressed.
THSFFE was a reread, and a reminder of how much I enjoy Magnus Mills. Have just ordered a load more of his books to get through the lockdown