Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Gavin Maxwell, Lords of the Atlas: The Rise and Fall of the House of Glaoua 1893-1956, Jez Butterworth, Jerusalem

Loved Fahrenheit 451, although some of the ideas went over my head a bit. But the whole idea of a future world where books are dangerous and subversive, and how this affects society was brilliantly imagined. Sadly, like so many dystopian visions, it seems apposite at the moment, in our era of celebrating ignorance and 'having had enough of experts'. Maxwell's book has been on my wishlist for over 12 years, since we went to the wonderful city of Marrakech. I'd love to go back, but our budget is now so tight it's just impossible. With 3 kids, we struggle to afford a caravan for a week in august - £1200! £1200!. I read 'Jerusalem' in one sitting, having given up on the chance of ever seeing Mark Rylance play Rooster

Gavin Fridell, Coffee, Douglas Adams, The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe.

'Coffee' was about coffee statecraft, and was a very dry economic study that critiqued the 'free market' approach to coffee production and trade. TRATUE made me smile a lot, but all very familiar. A bit of a comfort read

L.G. Mitchell, Charles James Fox, Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Saul Bellow, The Adventures of Augie March

Here we go again, another Great American Novel that I struggled to wade through. It was just a slog. Augie, the 'born recruit' went from one job to another, never seemed to come alive to me as a character, and I just didn't care what happened to him. I'm obviously a philistine.

Fox surprised me - I know very little about him beyond the high regard he has among some politicians and historians. Reading his life, and his apparent dislike of active politics, I couldn't understand what it was that inspired such reverence. Was it just that in an era of conformity, he dared to be different by supporting the American and then the French Revolution? Neither seems to have cost him much as he relaxed in Chertsey, and nothing he did gave active support to either revolution from what I could glean.

Virginia Woolf, Mrs Dalloway

 Nope, still don’t get it. A novel about an upper-class woman with no real concerns organising a party for the evening with some old flames interwoven with the story of a shell-shocked combatant. Like 'To The Lighthouse', I'm obviously missing something.

Catherine Nixey, The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World, Stefan Zweig, Beware Of Pity

Two books I really enjoyed, and with a rather depressing connection - both are concerned with the end days of great civilisations (the Roman Empire and Austria-Hungary) under assault from the book-burners and intolerant zealots. Horrible that this should ring so true in our era of Brexit and Trump.

Denis Johnson, Tree of Smoke

We've been sleeping in that tent ever since the last update, it's been so hot here. This doesn’t include Helen, obviously, but me and the kids have been out there every night and it's lovely and cool. I need to take it down tonight though as the lawn man comes tomorrow :(

I struggled with Tree of Smoke, a sprawling epic concerning the American experience in Vietnam that blurred the line between fiction and reality. It probably would have been easier to follow if I was American and older, and had experienced the impact of Vietnam on the previously accepted certainties of American life following the heroism of WWII - that America was the good guy and was saving the world for democracy and that the American military was all-powerful. Vietnam ended that perception for millions of people as it became clear that America wasn't particularly interested in democracy or self-determination for others, were more interested in protecting capitalism than liberty, were unwelcome by the locals who considered them an occupying force, and that their military wasn't nearly as effective as they'd assumed. Quite a jolt for the top nation

Sam Selvon, The Lonely Londoners, Annie Proulx, The Shipping News, Sarah Churchwell, Behold, America: A History of America First and the American Dream, China Mieville, The City And The City

Haven't enjoyed a book as much as 'The City And The City' in a long time. It's a standard police procedural, but set in a Balkan city that shares space with another city - they're in the same physical space but there is a collective agreement not to 'breach' the divide. 'Behold America' was chilling, a reminder of the white supremacist. 'pure American' tradition in US culture and politics. Hard to believe it's come to the forefront again with Trump. We saw her speak at Hay and she was so passionate

I've just bought a new tent as our old one was too small for the family. It's up in the garden at the moment and we've been sleeping in it as it is just too hot in the house