Nicholas Jubber, Epic Continent: Adventures in the Great Stories of Europe

 A great idea, to travel round Europe tracing the locations associated with the great epics of Europe - the Odyssey, the Kosovo Cycle, The Song of Roland, Siegfried, Beowulf and the Icelandic Sagas, I was interested in some of the places he visited, but the discussions about the sagas themselves washed on me. I found it very funny that early on the limits of the author's own epic journey were shown up when he was on a greek island he'd flown to for a few days away and he met some sailors who were retracing Odysseus' actual journey around the Med, taking months to make it to Ithaca rather than an EasyJet flight. Not exactly Patrick Leigh Fermor

W.E. Bowman, The Ascent of Rum Doodle

 That was marvellous. A forgotten, hilarious tale of intrepid and incompetent explorers that only seems to have come back into print because Bill Bryson has been championing it ever since picking up a forgotten copy. It's on a par with Three Men in a Boat with which it shares many similarities. Just very very funny, and apparently beloved of polar scientists, so I need to check with Helen's uncle Ray if he is familiar with it.

William Davies, This is Not Normal: The Collapse of Liberal Britain

 'A series of articles and essays written between 2016-2019, so between the referendum and the Brexit election, and already seems like a piece of history. Nothing new learnt about the cynical, anti-democratic nature of how the right have been operating politically in this period, but very well-balanced. Maybe we are seeing a return to liberal values in Britain with the popularity of Starmer's Labour at the moment, but to me it all seems so hollow. Liberal values aren't all that popular, look at Change UL, and a populist leftist party, could emerge to challenge Labour from the left, if they're canny and can find a unifying narrative - save the NHS/public services etc. Let's see. With a different leader the Conservatives could also push the scrounger/immigrant rhetoric and play on people's fears to get back in. The last sentence of the book begins  is 'this book is dedicated to my mum', which makes my like the author very much.

Thomas Williams, Lost Realms: Histories of Britain from the Romans to the Vikings, Janice Hallett, The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels

 'Lost Realms' was a popular history and concentrated on the 'failed states' of post-Roman Britain that didn't make it to the heptarchy or just disappeared from view unlike their more famous and successful neighbours like Wessex and Mercia. Very interesting on forgotten corners of these islands, like the kingdom of Sussex and the Picts in NE Scotland. 'Alperton Angels' was released on Thursday, and having enjoyed 'The Appeal' so much I was really looking forward to it. I read it yesterday, starting in Gail's at about 1pm while William was at a birthday party in the Woking Superbowl and continuing when I got home, neglecting familial duties. Like 'The Appeal' the story plays out in a series of emails and WhatsApp messages that aren't always entirely reliable. It kept me gripped and at the end I was swept away with it all. It's only later when I stop to think about it that I realise how much of it was hocum, but it fooled me and engrossed me while  was reading it. I'm very glad it didn't turn out to have a supernatural outcome as was hinted throughout the book. The deep-state conspiracy that it ended up being is much more realistic. . . 

Elizabeth Strout, Oh William!

 I'm not quite sure why I bought this. Maybe the title had something to do with it, maybe it was because it was in the Waterstone's buy one get one half price deal, or maybe it was because it had a sticker saying 'Booker Prize nominated'. Probably a bit of all three. I knew nothing about the book or the author, but I've already put some of her other books on my wishlist. It's a story of relationships and seems quite autobiographical - or if not the author has a tremendous sense of empathy an ability to  construct believable characters and relationships. Not much happens in terms of plot, it's not my normal read at all, but I kept reading as i was there with the characters as they discover more about secrets from the past

Sinclair Lewis, Main Street, Frances Spalding, The Real And The Romantic: English Art Between Two World Wars

 I struggled, with Main Street, although that might be partly because I bought a cheap unwieldy copy that was difficult to hold and read. It was very thought provoking though, particularly concerning the shortness of american small-town culture. It is such a stable, conservative, entrenched thing that it is strange to think that at it's height in the 50s there would still be people living in the town that had come as settlers to a hard-scrabble, remote life under the threat of attack from Indians. the main thrust of the novel is about one woman's quest to modernise, liberalise and beautify the small town she has ended up in, and how she is thwarted by the innate conservatism of the townspeople. in the end she comes to appreciate some of their values, or at least tolerate them. I'm not doing it justice, and the book is at its best giving wry satirical comments on small-town life. 'The Real And The Romantic' I ready like a book at university, skimming through sections that I didn't find interesting. I don't know w a whole lot about art, like poetry and classical music I just seem to be missing that part of my soul that can be elevated by such things. I like the landscapes of Ravilious though, and the response of the artists to the horrors of WWI by retreating into bucolic idylls in their art interests me. In the meantime, we paid off our mortgage on Friday, which feels like a burden lifted. We are free now and if sensible will be able to save up a lot more for a rainy day. we're in a much better position than most financially, but with everything that is happening it is difficult not to worry and I selfishly want to maintain a comfortable lifestyle for the rest of my life.

Egidio Ivetic, History of the Adriatic: A Sea and Its Civilisation

 A mini-Braudel, who gets referenced a lot. I didn't realise Braudel wrote most of 'The Mediterranean World' in the archives in Dubrovnik (referred to throughout Ivetic's book as 'Ragusa'), and I'm hankering to go back now, particularly to the Montenegrin coast. I have such vivid memories of cycling over the hills from Cavtat into Montenegro, through a scary border-post in the dingy mist and then emerging into the sunlight, and the most beautiful, perfect bay I'd ever seen, a mediterranean paradise. I'm sure my memory is exaggerating, but it would be wonderful to see again. As I write this, the sun has come out after some miserable weather and there is a hint of spring in the air, even as the NHS collapses and the country continues its journey to a neo-liberal two-tier proto-Hunger Games society

Richard Fidler, The Golden Maze. Agatha Christie writing as Mary Westmacott, The Rose And The Yew Tree

 'Read over the last few very wet days, which coupled with my very painful hips has limited the options for activities and meant a lot of reading. 'The Golden Maze' was a history of Prague, although as often turns out the case it was less of a history of the city's development and more of a collection of stories about notable inhabitants (Emperor Rudolph, the golem, John Dee) and a general history of that part of Europe, particularly the 20th century where the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the rise of Nazism and communism and then the fall of the communism didn't really say anything specific about Prague. Still an entertaining read though. I'm not sure what to make of The Rose and The Yew Tree, which had me absorbed all the way through until the end, which made no sense at all to me. An excellent novel skewering class towards the end of WWII was ruined for me with one of the main characters making a completely illogical choice and ruining so many lives. I went back to listen to 'A Good Read' which put me on to the book in the first place to try and understand, but the line they are going with was that sexual attraction surpassed all, even when one is attracted to one utterly repulsive and unsuitable. Not sure I buy that, but maybe that's just unromantic me. 

Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain

The Odyssey, but set in the Appalachians during the Civil War. A confederate deserter tries to get home to his intended and encounters trials, obstacles and strange characters along the way. In parallel, and unlike The Odyssey (I think, I haven't read it), the story of his intended is told and how she too struggles and tries to cope with the deprivations, fear and uncertainty. All very bleak and very beautiful with a heart-breaking ending. First read of the new year, and now back at work, which is very quiet at the moment. I'm in a bit of pain at the moment as I've been overdoing the static cycling and I don't stretch properly. Looking for a Pilates class or similar that I can do to learn better habits, but it's tough to find a time I can do with Helen's working hours and the kids' existing commitment. But I guess that's my resolution for 2023