Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain

 I feel ashamed of my own inadequacy, but I slogged through that, skimming large sections, falling asleep with the pages open and not really taking it in. the premise and the milieu appealed: a young man visits a pre-war mitteleuropean spa and gets seduced in to its luxurious, regulated and languid lifestyle, gradually becoming a patient who stays for 7 years. Time and reality seem to alter and take on new shapes and meaning. 700 pages of this though was too much for me. In an endpiece Thomas Mann suggests readers read it twice (to be fair, he does say if you didn't enjoy it the first time, don't reread), which caused me to say pffft. 

Florian Illies, 1913: The Year Before The Storm

 He must have had so much fun writing that, and I'm not sure what the brief was, but Illies has decided to concentrate on what was happening to a handful of Teutonic intellectuals and notable  in 1913 - Freud, Mann, Kafka, the Habsburg royal family  and loads of others I've not heard of or who I'm not clear of why they are well-known. So not quite the bird's eye end-of-an-era overview of the world (or even Europe) I was expecting, but still lots of trivia and vignettes. 

Margery Allingham, The Tiger in the Smoke

 Not what I was expecting from an inspector Campion mystery, which shows my ignorance. I thought it would be  twee, polite and murder at the vicarage, but it was a lot darker, set post-war and not a whodunnit at all - but rather a clash between good and evil personified by a priest and an escaped convict. So not the cosy crime caper I expected, and at the time it must have been a shocker, but it seems dated now when we are so used to the darkness of Scandi Noir and its many cousins. January seems to be going on forever, I can't wait for Spring. i had my first 'well man' check up last week as I am getting on now. Waiting for the results of some tests still, but generally they seems happy with my health and fitness and reassured me about my hips and any chance of developing dementia, so it was worth it for peace of mind.  

Catherine Fletcher: The Roads to Rome: A History

 A lovely eclectic read, but it's a pig to categorise. Its not about roads during the Roman empire, it's not a travelogue along Roman roads, and it's not a history of Rome or Europe, but it’s a mix of all of these , taking events in the last 2,500 years of European and Mediterranean history that have occurred on or near the Roman road network - Belisarius' conquest of Italy, Charlemagne visiting Rome to be crowned, The Crusades crossing the Balkans, the Grand Tour, Mussolini's march on Rome, the Allied invasion of Italy and more. Full of interesting information by a personable writer full of enthusiasm for her subject. I haven't a clue where to put it in the bookshelf though. It's got Rome in the name though so History of the Roman Empire it is.

Alejo Carpentier, Explosion In A Cathedral

One of those books I read to try and improve myself and expand my knowledge, but it was too much for me. I was tempted to jack it in after the first sentence, which I didn't understand at all, it was 10 lines long and contained at least two words I'd never heard of. It's described as the great Cuban historical novel and a tour-de-force, but honestly I was 100 pages in before I even realised it was set in the 18th century and had no idea what was going on. It seems to be about a gentlemen called Victor Hugues, who was instrumental in taking the French Revolution to the Caribbean. But one moment i register him as a chap in a warehouse and then he's somehow ruling Guadeloupe and I don't know what happened in between.  The historical note at the end was very clear and made it plainer, but all the same, none of it went in. I'm disappointed in myself, as Caribbean history is one of my blank spots and I should know more, but really I'm just not equipped for such complex literature. We're in the middle of a cold snap at the moment and yesterday there were even people iceskating on Wheatsheaf Common. I've been for a couple of runs as the ground is frozen rather than muddy, trying to find a safe run between Stonehill and Chobham as it is horrible running along the road. i found one yesterday, but some Tory in a norfolk jacket flagged me down to tell me I was on a private road. I'm a little miffed by that as I was doing no damage and it was a tarmaced road that the usual land rovers and range rovers were chugging along to get to stables and whatnot, but that's the country we live in. I'll try again when I can and try and stick to the footpaths.

Tim Robey, Box Office Poison: Hollywood's Story on a Century of Flops

 An entertaining read, one can never tire of reading of other people's hubris and disasters. A mixture of cinematic criticism and tales that would have been at home in the Book of Heroic Failures, chronicling some of the biggest box-office flops in Hollywood history. Some have become classics, some guilty pleasures, but most were utterly misconceived and poorly executed. I've publicly vowed not to buy any more books until my birthday, let's see how I get on. If I can make it to the end of the week I'll be beating my average. If I make it to the end of January I'll be astonished

Paul Murray, The Bee Sting

Loved it. Kept sneaking back to read a bit more, woke up early to read some and was so invested in the characters. The story of a dysfunctional family, the tragedies they have to deal with and the ghosts and regrets they carry with them. It's told from the point of view of the 4 main characters, and you learn more and sympathise with each of them as you understand more about what has taken them to where they are. I was dreading how it was going to end, but the end is deliberately ambiguous with the final sentence being one any of the 4 characters could have said. I think. IRL, William started Scouts yesterday. I didn't think he was a t all ready as he seems so young compared to the others, but he looked so smart and grown up in his shirt I almost blubbed. He seemed to really enjoy it so hopefully he'll stick with it. He's got one term with Libby before she moves on to to Explorers.

Nathen Amin, Son of Prophecy: The Rise of Henry Tudor

 The story of the Tudor ancestors of Henry VII, and his biography up until Bosworth. Very Welsh-centric, so gave a different perspective on a familiar period. Far too many dynastic squabbles and betrayals to keep track, but always fun. Also on the theme of betrayals, Series 3 of 'the Traitors' has just started on BBC 1, and looks to be as wonderful as the first two series. even Libby has deigned to watch it with us.  We're hoping for snow this weekend, and there is a slim chance of it - let's see.

Lev Grossman, The Bright Sword

An Arthurian Epic, but set in the hangover after Arthur has left for Avalon and the polity he established has collapsed. The remaining knights of the Round Table are exhausted, disheartened and in no shape to restore Britain. Lots of elements of Faerie too, and I very much enjoyed it, but at 650+ pages it took up a lot of time over Christmas. During this time i also suspect I saw a beaver, but it could be just wishful thinking. Freddie, me and the dog went for a walk round the nature reserve by the river Trent where the beavers have been released, and before we got to the reserve as we were walking along the canal we passed over a brook. I saw something to my left and saw what I thought was a big black dog jump in into the brook and disappear. But it was in a place where there wouldn't be a dog and there was no owner around - and there was a dam very near by. so I think I may have disturbed a beaver and just glimpsed it.