Kate Atkinson, Death At The Sign of The Rook

 I'm sure I've read previous works by Kate Atkinson, but there is nothing in my library so it must have been fiction that I gave away. This was a very enjoyable murder mystery, really well constructed and fun. It's one in a series of 'Jackson Brodie' mysteries, I'll keep an eye out for more.

Terry Deary, A History of Britain in Ten Enemies

 Ostensibly written for adults, unlike Terry Deary's Horrible Histories, but a very similar style - very sweeping and entertaining. He's much more critical of Britain, monarch, imperialsim and our role in the slave trade than I've picked up on before, I mistakenly had him pegged as a bit of a right-winger. I don't feel right putting it in the history bookshelves though, so it's going in the playroom, snob that I am.

Rudyard Kipling, Puck of Pook's Hill

 Glad I've read it, as it fits in with my love of stories of English faerie, and Kipling's Puck is definitely in that category. Puck is a magic spirit older than Britain who is accidentally summoned by three children and conjures up figures from the past to tell them stories about these isles. It's charming, but very twee and Victorian. All the characters are bold, faithful and perfect gentlemen, and there's never anything sordid or dishonourable. Norman and Saxons have mutual respect for each other, the Romans are jolly sporting to the Britons, and even when some Saxons are captured by Danes and turned into galley-slaves, everyone gets on, they go to Africa together, kill a gorilla that is terrorising the natives, become incredibly rich when they are showered with gold, and then get dropped home on the Kent coast on the way back to enjoy their share of the spoils. 

Lucy Mangan, Bookish: How Reading Shapes Our Lives

Lucy Mangan lives the life I want to lead and writes how I'd love to write. Funny, self-deprecating, bookish, socially anxious and just wanting to be left alone. Massive envy now for her purpose-built library and I feel better about the 2,000 book sin our house when she has 10,000 in hers Didn't get as many new book recommendations as I normally do from reading her work, but maybe, and incredibly, I have finished mining the seam of her knowledge now I've read three books of hers that are full of recommendations. IRL, I am recovering from the Chichester Harbour half marathon ten days ago, which really sapped my strength. Helen, Libby and William all have shows coming up so it's a busy time as well as it being year end at work.

Percival Everett, James

 A retelling of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of the escaped slave that accompanies Huck on his adventures, Jim. It had very good reviews and was shortlisted for the Booker, but I wasn't too enthusiastic about it as it didn't really appeal. Maybe because Huck Finn isn't a book i love (i may not even have read it, but I know the story), and I'm not a huge fan of slave stories (that's my white privilege showing). However, the book had such an impact on me and I feel so guilty now. It gave me a whole new perspective on the hopelessness of being a slave, and the way Everett turns a 2-dimensional stereotypical character into an intelligent, sensitive, thoughtful person trapped in an impossible situation and having to watch his every move and utterance while living in constant fear of death or punishment - wow. I feel admonished, but hopefully I'm a little wiser and more sensitive now.

Peter Hennessy, Muddling Through: Power, Politics and the Quality of Government in Postwar Britain

 I bought this thinking it was a fairly recent book, but actually it's from the early 90s, so I've probably read it before! It certainly went over familiar ground in Hennessy's avuncular style, and it was based on his R4 series rom the time. I was a little disappointed with the discussions between those giants Enoch Powell and Tony Benn when they were discussing parliamentary procedure, as both of them did indeed appear to be muddling through and neither had any clear idea how things did or should work. If they don't know, who does?

Graham Swift, England And Other Stories

 Started reading this collection of short stories thinking 'Meh, I don't really like short stories, I struggle to follow the change from one story to another', and by the end I was really invested in it. The stories share an englishness, a humanity, a vulnerability, a mostly contemporary setting and they really spoke to me. Wasn't expecting that at all!

Maurice Gorham, Back to the Local

 A reprint of a post war paean to the London pub, glorious nostalgia of conviviality, green tile and glass and beer. Even in the 1940s the author was bewailing how times have moved on and traditions were dying out as pubs moved with the times

John Buchan, Prester John

 I was expecting a book about, um , Prester John, so was surprised it had very little to do with him and instead was centred on an uprising in Southern Africa in the early 20th Century and how a young 19 year old Scottish storekeeper thwarted it through honesty, derring-do, and being a massive racist. This isn't going to get a reprint any time soon, it's rooted in the assumption that British imperialism is a benefit to Africa, and that native people are inferior and must be guided and controlled.

Max Adams, The Mercian Chronicles:King Offa and the Birth of the Anglo-Saxon State AD630-918

 The 5th book on Anglo-Saxon England by Max Adams I've bought, and probably a lot of my decision to buy them is based on how lovely they look on the bookshelves. Nice easy-to-read popular histories, and the Mercians seem to have been neglected and overlooked as there are more sources north and south - Bede for the Northumbrians and Asser for Wessex. Spring appears to have arrived, and it's another glorious sunny day today. Freddie and Libby were both on their DofE expeditions this weekend. Libby had no problem with her bronze, a nice relatively short walk from Gomshall to Newlands Corner. Fred's was a practice session for his big expedition in April, and after two days walking 25k and sleeping overnight in sub-zero conditions, the poor lad is shattered today (monday). Helen had to give him a lift to college as he can barely walk due to his blisters. He's going to be downhearted for a bit as he will worry about how he will cope on the expedition itself. Tonight he is planning it with his friends, hopefully that will help give him confidence.