Andrew Lownie, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York

 A real treat. 400 pages of frank revelations about the awful Yorks. Andrew in particular came across as an awful person - self-centred, immensely privileged and rather stupid. A wonderful argument against having a royal Family, but if I'm honest, a lot of wonderful salacious gossip that I gulped down.

Julian Rathbone, The Last English King

This left a positive impression on me when I first read it, which must be at least 20 years ago. It was historical fiction of a different sort, not as earnest as I was used to, a bit more irreverent and dialogue written in modern english rather than full of stilted 'have at the varlet' type prose. Rereading it it surprised me how much I had forgotten. In my memory it was the story of one of Harold's shield-bearers after Hastings. And although that is true, I don't remember at all his trip to Constantinople and the Near East, which takes up a large part of the narrative, only his recollections of the battle.

Jon Gower, The Turning Tide: A Biography of the Irish Sea

 Bought from the National Trust while on holiday in Conwy as it seemed apposite. Not really what I was expecting though. I assumed it would be a chronological narrative of the area and the peoples that surround the Sea, from the end of the ICE Age through the Iron Age trading and migrations, early christianity and vikings etc. That was all in there somewhere to some extent, but the book was more eclectic and focused on the author's areas of interest and particular knowledge, so there was far more than was deserved about (for example) birdlife on the south west coast of Wales and south east coast of Ireland. Liverpool, Cumbria and the Isle of Man hardly featured. We went over to Harmondsworth yesterday for Mum's birthday. It all got a bit much for Dad and he had a bit of a sob. I'm not sure what more we can do to help him.

John Wain, A Winter In The Hills

 I thought a lot of this, but it seems to be almost completely unknown. It was mentioned briefly in The Rough Guide to Snowdonia or somesuch, and I like to read about the place I am visiting, so picked up a second-hand copy. It was so much better than I was expecting. Written in the sixties and set in a fictionalised Caernarfon, it's the story of a directionless academic who moves to Gwynedd to learn Welsh in the hope of bagging a job in Sweden, mostly to meet attractive young women. As I read the first few chapters I thought it was a refreshingly honest and unflinching confessionals of a male psyche. the main character is only interested in sleeping with young women, and is constantly thinking about this. To me this was a very open outlook, but since then have read a review which gave me pause for though. Apparently what I see as an honest confessional is the mark of a misogynistic creep and dinosaur. Both things are probably true,  but I'm not sure  that those men who have come of age in the new millennium are genuinely no longer thinking about sex all the time, or whether they still are and are covering it up as it's not the done thing any more. as the novel develops, he does redeem himself and moves on from being quite so wretched at least.

Nige Tassell,Final Destination: Riding Britain's Trains to the End of the Line

 Still playing catchup logging my holiday reads, and this was excellent holiday reading. Light, funny and full of HMHB references. The conceit is travelling to forgotten/neglected/picturesque spot at the end of railway lines, so full of quirky British characters, tales and nuggets. Fred got his Maths A Level result today, A*. So proud of him, he works so hard. He is so different from me in his approach - diligent, responsible, organised. He still doesn;t have a clue what he wants to study or where to go for Uni though. The world is his oyster. I'm feeling a bit guilty as work has been a bit fraught at the moment so i as lying awake last night thinking about that rather than him anticipating his result. Priorities need to be sorted, David

Anne Bronte, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

First of the holiday reads, and as I haven’t enjoyed much I'd read by her sistesr, I wasn't expecting a lot. I may be being unfair and misremembering, but the Bronte novels I've read seem to  have women fall in love with utterly horrible, unsuitable men and idolising them. Anne Bronte also has her heroine fall in love with an utterly horrible, unsuitable man, but she at least quickly realises this. I really enjoyed it, and loved the quiet rage and seething anger against men, all of whom are useless, venal and lazy. It's not difficult to see why it is considered a feminist novel. most of the book was read sat in a comfy chair with a wonderful view of the Conwy estuary from our idyllic holiday cottage, Cymryd Uchaf. Absolutely loved it there - the space, the character, the solitude, having cows, sheep and horses for neighbours. Probably I'd quickly tire of the narrow lanes and slog over Bryn Seiri to get anywhere, particularly in the winter, but what a lovely place to be.

Nicholas Higham, Rome, Britain and the Anglo-Saxons

 Last book I read before holiday, so seems a long time ago now. Quite academic, and dated from the early '90s so not so up to date. Still interesting for all that, and I am getting more and more interested in the period of British history between  the collapse of Roman rule and the emergence of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The strange anarchic mix of Christianity and paganisim, of Roman, British and germanic cultures seems to appeal to me