Thomas Asbridge, The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power behind Five English Thrones, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Boyhood Island, Tristan Gooley, The Walker's Guide to Outdoor Clues and Signs

 The last in the list was a bit infuriating. Lots of lore about how to navigate by the stars or the trees which basically amounted to immensely complicated ways to work out which way north was, and then the smug author impressing various indigenous tribesmen with his ability to predict there was a volcano round the next bend by the shape of leaves. I do wish I knew more about the natural world, but I just want to be able to tell one tree from another really. New Year's Resolution to go out with a Collins Guide and identify trees maybe? Once they have leaves on to make it easier, obvs.

Another volume of Knausgaard, which has become very moreish without really having a plot or events. It's just one person laying himself bare, and s many of his neuroses and awkward feelings strike a universal chord. William Marshal was great fun, the Angevins really deserve a GoT style mini-series. 'The Lion in Winter' with its one set just doesn't cut it these days.

George MacDonald Fraser, Flash For Freedom!

I don’t think I've read 'Flash for Freedom!' since I was 16 or so, but it's so familiar and I remembered so much; and yet I struggle to remember the names of books I read last month, let alone the content. I enjoyed it so much, I'm such a fanboy for GMF. I spoted a book of his I'd never heard of before last week, but I'm not sure - his later output was a bit patchy, and if it wasn't good enough for release while he's alive. It may not be up to much.

Agatha Christie, Poirot Investigates, Max Adams, In the Land of Giants: Journeys Through The Dark Ages

Comfort reading at Duesseldorf Airport, and then a very of-the-moment meld of dark ages history and travels through the british landscape. V aspirational, we all want to be Max Adams as he travels leisurely through the islands with no day job, having serendipitous encounters with local experts, or seals, or undiscovered Iron Age Barrows. I'm completely, utterly jealous of his life ;-)

Bibs is being absolutely charming at the moment. He fetches my slippers when I get through the door, gets Helen a cup for her tea and is just generally lovely and so easy to make laugh. The long campaign to rename him Billy is still bumping along: Libby has pledged her preference for 'Billy', but has yet to use it, and Fred doesn't like it. It does sound odd on him, to be fair: 'Bibs' has become fixed in my mind for him.

Peter Frankopan, The Silk Roads: A New History of the World, Giuseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa, The Leopard, Philip Cowley & Denis Kavanagh, The British General Election of 2015

'The Silk Roads' wasn't quite what I was expecting; I was hoping for a history of medieval Central Asia, but it was actually a geopolitical history of the world emphasising the role of the region as a key point. Very ambitious and readable, but I was just after a narrative and was required to think. The Leopard has passed me by; not sure I appreciated quite why it's considered one of the most important works of literature in the 20th Century (maybe something was lost in translation), but it made me smile in places and just want to visit the never-changing Sicily all the more.

The latest Nuffield study was devoured on a business trip to Germany. Very pessimistic reading of course, and right now it's difficult to see how Labour will get back into power for generations. Scotland is lost to the SNP, voters in the north don’t see the Labour Party as representing them any more and are edging in enough quantity to UKIP and in the south, 'Tory Lite' doesn’t convince when the real thing is available. And now Corbyn is in power (whose policies I agree with and for whom I voted), we're moving further and further away from being seen as a centrist party capable of governing.

I'm calling Bibs' first word; it's 'banana'. He's definitely saying 'nana' when I point at one, and while Nana may claim he's saying 'Nana', it's 'banana' alright.

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.