Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin

Had to slog through this at first, but it had me captured by the final 200 pages and I neglected other activities to finish it! I am a bit dim though, so needed to check with wikipedia afterwards to make sure I'd understood what had happened. Just as well as I didn’t realise it was built around a novel in a novel in a novel rather than just a novel in a novel. Maybe some light reading is needed to follow

Had a lovely haul of books for Christmas; Barry Cunliffe's new book, Nairn's London, a biography of William Marshal as well as my standard post-christmas hoovering up of the books I wanted but didn't get. The Nuffield study of the 2015 election is out now, which I'll devour (all the time feeling the pangs of agony at the result), but have just started on The Silk Roads, a present from Helen's Mum and Dad

Andrea Camilleri, The Scent of the Night, Simon Goddard, The Smiths: Songs That Saved Your Life

A couple of lovely bits of easy reading, although reading through the second, it's surprising how many Smiths songs I'm unfamiliar with. All that untapped (for me) great music. Dylan's Basement Tapes is the next big project though, so Morrissey & Marr will have to wait. Current favourite bedtime songs for Libby are Morrisey's' Interlude', the White Stripes' 'We Are Going To Be Friends' and (still) Emily Barker's Blackbird.  Fred seems to have gone off the idea of songs at bedtime, but we’ve been reading 'Stig of the Dump' recently. Some nights he seems to be really into it, and then other nights he shows no interest at all and want to read fact books about cars and animals instead. He really seems to struggle with sustaining interest in a story. I'll keep plugging away until we find a book that stimulates him. Might try Norman Hunter next

Graham Greene, Our Man In Havana, Jenny Uglow, A Gambling Man: Charles II and the Restoration,Robert Merle, City of Wisdom and Blood, Tom Buk-Swienty, 1864: The forgotten war that shaped modern Europe

Reading rate has increased substantially as the daylight hours diminish. Too dark to run in the mornings now, so the default setting is now an hour on the bikes in the gym, which is where most of the above were read. I'm tantalisingly close to hitting my target of 550 miles run for the year, even after falling out of a tree. Two more runs and I should be there; I'm hoping to go out tomorrow lunchtime as I'm working from home.

Helen's been back at work now for a few months, and it's tough. When the kids are well we can just about manage, but when one or more is ill we really struggle. Both of us have run out of leave now, and if one of them falls ill (as has been happening frequently over the past weeks) we're stuffed.  I'm seriously considering grabbing redundancy if it's offered and not working for a few years to look after the kids and home. I talked to H about it last night, and she's not up for it, as it would mean her going back full-time. Right now though it's so difficult to cope. Luckily I have a very understanding boss and can work flexibly.

Four very good books. Our Man In Havana was an indulgent reread, Uglow's book has been sitting on my shelves for years, and was finally picked. I'd bene put off thinking it was a straightforward biography, but it's far wider than that. Merle was the second in the Fortunes of France series which are now becoming available in translation. A cast of thousands, with characters either goodies or baddies - like Dumas, Sabatini or Cornwell. Lovely enjoyable stuff.

Neil McGregor, Germany: Memories of a Nation

Neil McGregor has recently announced he's leaving the British Museum to go and work in Germany, which is obviously a country he has a great deal of affection for. The book is not a history of Germany as such, but an attempt to explain the German character and culture through experiences and art from the 15th Century onwards. It's very readable, no specific knowledge is required, and some of the illustrations are fabulous. Lovely maps too.

Freddie had his first swimming gala at the weekend, finishing 10th out of 11th in Front Crawl and 11th out of 11th in Back stroke. He was really disheartened at the time, bless him, but we're trying to encourage him as it was his first ever gala and the others (although the same age) are a lot more advanced. We've been swimming since, and he was back to having a smile on his face and being cheeky to the teacher, so hopefully he'll keep enjoying it.  We've just signed him up for cello lessons next term too. Helen and I had a bit of a spat about an incentive for him if he completed the course. Helen suggested £10, which I thought was just insulting for all the work he'd have to do. Maybe I'm too soft.

Captain Marryat, The Children of the New Forest

The Children of the New Forest has been on the bookshelf for ages now, and my Tsundoku backlog has got so big the bookshelf in the small room broke, and now only holds non-fiction, with fiction piled by the radiator. I think I bought it for Ella, and it's a book I'd love Fred to read in a few years, although right now he doesn't seem interested in 'chapter books' at all. Every now and then it seems we've cracked it and he gets really into a book, but it only seems to last a night and then it's a trial to try and get him to read again. Factual books seem to interest him, but not fiction. Having said that, we've been reading a graphic novel of Tom Sawyer which he does seem to want to read independently, but he doesn’t seem to have much comprehension of what has happened. Even with me reading to him he only wants the first chapter or two and then isn’t interested. Danny The Champion of The World, the BFG, The Dark is Rising: We've read the first few chapters of each before he has lost interest.

The Children of the New Forest is set just after the civil war, about 4 noble children whose father died fighting for Charles I, and have to fend for themselves hiding in the woods with the support of some loyal retainers. Naturally it all turns out ok in the end, but it's a good read for kids longing to escape adult controls and society. Although obviously sympathetic to the royalist cause, it's not as laughably one-sided as the Scarlet Pimpernel at least.

Being the uncultured slob that I am, the thought of the Scarlet Pimpernel conjures up the image of Sid James as the Black Fingernail in my mind, with Kenneth Williams in  hot pursuit. Fred came home from school the other day full of enthusiasm for a poem Mrs Sinhal had read - The Jabberwocky. He seemed stunned that I knew it, and as he enjoyed it so much I had him listen to Rambling Sid Rumpo's 'The Ballad of the Woggler's Moolie' which he found absolutely hilarious, something he has in common with his Grandad (and his Dad, for that matter). I've downloaded the album now and he barks with laughter in the car. I'm hoping a lot of it will go over his head for a few more years at least. .. 

Ian Bell, Once Upon a Time: The Lives of Bob Dylan, George MacDonald Fraser, Mr American, Catherine Merridale, The Red Fortress: The Secret Heart of Russia's History

Dylan is fascinating me at the moment. Obviously I'm very late coming to him, but the quality of his songs and his seeming ability to pluck them out of the air is incredible. I'm approaching him chronologically, and am up to Highway '61 Revisited at the moment, so there are decades more to come. I've added a few of his songs to our evening repertoire too. Freddie likes The Girl From The North Country, Libby likes Don't Think Twice It's Alright.

Particular favourite songs at the moment for Libby are Emily Barker's Blackbird (still), The Pogues' 'Rainy Night in Soho' and 'I'm a Man you don’t meet every day', Madness' 'The Sun and the Rain. She's pretty much word perfect on all of them, certainly on the choruses which she belts out.

Bibs is really close to talking now - he can just about manage 'mummy', 'daddy and 'geggy' which cover everything interchangeably. He understands a lot though  'coat', 'bath', 'Freddie', 'Libby' etc. He really enjoys FaceTime on the phone too, so we're speaking to the Sawyer family a lot at the moment. Freddie has started cubs, with me helping out there. We're both really enjoying it, although that may change after this week, as they are going for their home help badge - ironing, sewing and window cleaning. .  . .

Arthur H Cash, John Wilkes: The Scandalous Father of Civil Liberty, Laurie Lee, Cider With Rosie

Well I never. A very different portrait of John Wilkes than the one I'm used to; a noble man of principle heroically opposing tyranny rather than an unprincipled irresponsible rake only concerned with self-advancement. I'm not convinced, but it was interesting to get a different perspective. Cash is an American Historian, and treats Wilkes with a reverence usually reserved for the founding fathers.

Shamefully, this was the first time I had read Cider With Rosie, although we did study some extracts in school. It was lovely, an ode to a lost, enclosed world where little had changed since christianity arrived in the valley - and even before then.

My latest Hobby That Will Soon Be Abandoned is apples. We've had a glut this year, and I picked a load at the weekend. Then went out and spent a fortune on a juicer, bottles, funnels and so on. This weekend I'll get juicing- no doubt the crates of apples will equate to one coke can's worth of juice, working out at a cost to me of £200 a litre. . . .