Linda Colley, The Gun, The Ship & The Pen: Warfare, Constitutions and the Making of the Modern Worls, Magnus Mills, Mistaken for Sunbathers

 Colley's book was a history of constitutions more than anything else and consequently a bit dry. I remember being very impressed with her 'Britons' back when I was a student, and it changed the way I thought about Britishness and seeing it as an 18th century invention that along with empire has passed it's sell-by date. Magnus Mills is on autopilot, more of the same, but I still enjoy the formula. The kids are on holiday now, Libby is in theatre cams each week putting on productions at the end, which I took Fred, William and cousin Jack to see on Friday (I have 3 day weekends throughout august, wonderful). It was a production of Matilda, and she played Bruce Bogtrotter, who steals  cake and does a gigantic burp. she was a little nervous, bless her, but it all came off and she does seem to enjoy performing. William has been gettting more and more into football and has signed up for GPR next year - let's see how it goes.

Helen and I went to see The Proclaimers on saturday - they were marvellous and finished with Joyful Kilmarnock Blues, so I was very happy.

John Steinbeck, The Pearl

A later work, and more of a dark parable, this time set further south on the Gulf of California. Very bleak and not sure what the moral really is! Don't be greedy, don't try and improve your lot in life? There's no escape from the drudgery of daily life? Everyone is out to screw you? I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as those books set in the Salina Valley or on cannery Row where at least there is a love of the landscape and making it bloom or some humour. None of that in The Pearl.

Andy Friend, Ravilious & Co: The Pattern of Friendship

 Not a lot of the detail went in, but it was nice to know more about an artist who is having a bit of a moment. I'm one of the herd, with a Ravilious calendar on my left and a print of his 'Chalk Figure near Weymouth' on my right. It was nice to read about a bohemian group and their lifestyle between the wars, a gentler England of train journeys, tumbledown cottages and telegrams. It would have been lovely to have been well-connected, well-educated and independently wealthy in those days, but then again I guess that's true of any era.

Geert Mak, The Dream of Europe: Travels in a Troubled Continent, Celia Fremlin, Uncle Paul

 A sequel to Mak's book on Europe on the 20th century, and despite being mostly written before COVID-19 and the invasion of Ukraine, thoroughly depressing about the current state and future prospects for the continent. Maybe we can yet pull through, but the decent into intolerance, protectionism, right-wing politics and curtailing liberty, democracy and freedoms is frightening and disheartening. it's nice to take refuge in the simpler world of a caravanning holiday in the 'fifties in 'Uncle Paul', even if it is build on an escalating psychodrama ending in an attempted murder in a holiday cottage. First day of the school holidays today. Helen doesn't work mondays so we are ok for today, and I've taken fridays off this month, but how we will cope Tues-Thurs I dunno yet.

Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions

 A strange disjointed mangling , but full of witty and biting commentary on the United States and the hypocrisy on which it is founded. Written when the Vietnam war was raging and the place of America in the world and whether it was the force for good it considered itself to be were being discussed. Read this while i should have been packing up the big tent (I got it done with Fred's help).

Carolyne Larrington, The Norse Myths That Shape The Way We Think

 'Not the book I was expecting, much more about pop culture that normal in these books, and I can't help but think the author was picking things they enjoyed rather than going for a complete overview if the impact of the Norse Myths. Lots about  Game Of Thrones and The Vikings, but to be fair Wagner was in there too. I went for a cycle down to Littlehampton yesterday, through Petworth and Arundel, two of my favourite places. I had to get up and walk up two hills, which were 20%, so i need to find another route with a gap to get to the south coast! The big tent has been taken down as high winds were forecast for this weekend, but Libby is now camped out in our small festival tent which I took to cub camp last weekend. It's very nice, but it's not going to last in inclement conditions. this is the last week of term so the kids are a bit demob happy, will need to keep them busy during the holidays. William and Libby are in clubs for at least some of the time, but Freddie will just mooch around if we are not careful

Magnus Mills, Sunbathers in a Bottle

 The second of three by one of my favourite authors, but it appears to have been self-published, I don't understand why he isn't more popular. I've been trying to work out what I like so much about his books. They tend to share a first person narrative by an anonymous narrator who despite doubts about where things are headed goes with the flow to get into increasingly bizarre situations. They also appear to be a commentary on the world of work and the pointless tasks we do to tick boxes or because we are told to do them, or because we just want to be busy.

Anthony Sattin: Nomads: the Wanderers Who Shaped Our World

 'A revisionist view of nomads, seeing them as catalysts for change and symbiotically linked to settled communities rather than as primitive, barbaric outsiders to be tamed, exterminated or converted. A vast, wide-ranging topic which was fun to read, although as you would expect there is much concentration on central Asia and sources are very sparse other than what settled communities thought or their nomadic contemporaries, which is hardly objective. William and I are going away camping with the cubs tomorrow, we really should get packing. Helen is off at Wimbledon today though and we are all going to Fred's school this evening to watch a DofE presentation

Elizabeth Strout, My Name is Lucy Barton

 'I read 'Oh William!' by Elizabeth Strout not realising it was 3 in a series of 4, this one being the first. I don't remember much about it, I even had to look up the title. I do remember enjoying it though, and this is more of the same, an author who (apparently) bares all without shame or mercy about their characters' lives (which are presumably autobiographical). It's a book for writers. like so many highly-praised books. I'm not sure I appreciate all the technique and sentence structure but it kept me reading anyway.

David Grann, The Wager: A tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder

 'Lots of hype around this and it is on all the 'Best Summer Reads' lists. A grisly tale of a disastrous seafaring expedition in the 18th Century reconstructed in incredible detail and dramatised. Would probably be best read in a lighthouse or a cabin by the sea with the waves crashing and storms blowing rather than in a deckchair under the apple tree in the garden on a balmy July afternoon. Libby and Freddie both survived their camps this weekend, and Libby in particular really enjoyed it, which is great as she was reluctant to go for so long. I think she has the makings of a great scout, i hope she keeps it up. the fact that she is already helping out with the cubs is brilliant. While they were away, Helen and William came to Bentley Copse with me to scout the route for the hike next week when I'm taking the cubs away. William volunteered to come, which also made me very happy! A few things remain to get sorted for next week, but hopefully all will be ok. William is also really getting into playing football, we might need to look for a club for him for next year.