Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

 An unchallenging, feel-good, life-affirming short book about an aging bookseller, his love of reading and his love for others, which he shows through encouraging their own reading habits. Very sweet (and may explain my current toothache, which is definitely not due to troughing a box of milk tray yesterday) and will go on Helen's shelves, as it is ideal book club fodder. I caved this weekend from my 'buy no books until birthday' resolution (and tbf, I'd already broken it by buying books for others and buying for myself in an NT second-hand bookshop because it's just the done thing), and bought three books include Max Adams' new book on the Mercians which I'm currently reading.

A.J. Lees, Brazil That Never Was

 I thought this was a work of fiction, and I'm still not entirely sure (I'll check after this). The South American setting helped of course, but it was very reminiscent of magical realism, and also Roberto Bolano's work, where it is written as non-fiction but in a fictional world - lots of verisimilitude and citations. Ostensibly it's the story of an english academic and his interest in a victorian explorer, Carruthers, and his quest for lost cities in the Amazon. He goes in search of the truth, and it becomes stranger and more mystical. . .

Douglas Smith, Former People: The Last Days of the Russian Aristocracy

 A bit too partisan for me, as the author seem determined to see the Russian Aristocracy as uniformly noble, sensitive and cultured and as blameless victims of a monstrous revolution. True of some no doubt, but the tales of eking out a post-revolution living as a museum curator in their old dacha, or having to sell paintings to survive or having to flee to relatives in Switzerland aren't anywhere near as harrowing as what other elements of Russian society had to deal with, both before and after the revolution. Easy for me to write in my comfortable chair in my comfortable house in my comfortable life having never known any hardship.

Emmanuel Carrere, The Moustache

 A very quirky story of a man who shaves off his moustache, and then finds that no-one remembers he ever had one - he slowly goes mad when faced with what seems like gaslighting and begins to question everything. It all led up to a very dark ending. Libby and I have been making a 'book nook' in the evenings, a little doll 's house-style bookshop to snuggle into a book shelf. It looks lovely and it was so nice to do something together. It's her birthday tomorrow so I've ordered a garden-themed one for her room that we can do together. Fred is back from Manchester and seems to have enjoyed it, but is the normal teenage tired now and lounging around after all his exertions.

Annie Gray, The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker: A History of the High Street

 A  fun, informal social history of the 'High Street' in Britain, how it has evolved from marketplaces and chophouses to arcades, and then on to shopping centres - and now appears to be dying. Fred seems to be enjoying it up in Manchester, he was disassembling PCs yesterday, got on well with everyone in the office and was going to play darts last night. Really hope he enjoys it.

Olgar Tokarczuk, The Empusium: A Health Resort Horror Story

 A combination of The Magic Mountain and The Wicker Man, with the benefit of being nowhere near as impenetrable as The Magic Mountain, while also conjuring up its beguiling world or pre-war mitteleuropean luxury and spa life where time has no meaning.  for me though, the very dreamlike and unreal air meant that the horror of the villagers sacrificing the occasional sanatorium patient was diluted. When you are not sure what is real and what is a dream, it's difficult to feel the chill of an impending death. Today is the first day of Freddie's work experience. He's travelled up to Lancashire to stay with Duncan and Louise and work for IT Brains for the week. It's a big adventure for him, he went up on the train by himself and was very worried about it. I certainly miss him, and I daren't go and look at his room as I'm worried I'll well up when I see his empty bed. He very thoughtfully sent a message this morning to say it had been great so far, I hope he means it. It'll be good for him to get away from home for a bit, and also maybe hanging around with Alex and his friends will help him come out of his shell a bit. 

Simon Kuper, Impossible City: Paris in the Twenty-First Century

 Kuper's book 'Football Against The Enemy' had a big impact on me when I read it in the early '90s - it combined two things that I was interested in - football and geopolitics - making connections that I had never thought of before. A wonderful journalist and writer, and he can only be a few years older than me. Since then, he's published a few books and worked at the FT, and now has his own column where he can write what he wants, and this book fits into that category - his own experiences of living in Paris in the 21st century since he accidentally moved there. Very readable, enjoyable, full of insights and made me want to live in Paris (as long as it's inside the periperique). I've been learning French and Spanish on Duolingo for a few years now, but I'm not sure how i would cope in a real life situation. I'm pretty good at understanding simple sentences, but constructing my own is very hard, Duolingo is limited in that respect. Libby is learning Welsh that way too, as she has become rather pro-Celt and wants to go to Uni in Wales. Good for her.