John Lewis Gaddis, On Grand Strategy, Shusaku Endo, The Samurai, Stephen Moss, Mrs Moreau's Warbler: How Birds Got Their Names, Muriel Spark, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Still lockdown reading! Finding it hard to get the time to read as my normal routine of reading on the exercise bike is no longer an option. I did purchase a cheap exercise bike just before the lockdown started, but didn’t read the reviews and it is too small for me. So I bodged a seat post extension, sat on it happily reading a few times until the casing snapped and I went a over t taking the bike with me. I ended up on the floor of the garage with the bike on top of me and my right shin cut to shribbons. Couldn't help noting that throughout it all the book remained clenched in my left hand on the correct page. I've rebodged it, but not high enough to sit back and read, so instead I'm listening to podcasts. On the books, I loved The Samurai, a historical globe-trotting novel from a Japanese perspective. I've put the 100 essential novels on hold with just two to go, as the two remaining, William Gaddis' Recognitions and Roberto Bolano's 2666 are huge tomes and I just can't face them without dedicated reading time. Instead I'm going to try to read some classics or oldies, hence The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Agatha Christie is on the list next.

Suraiya Faroqhi, The Ottoman Empire and the World Around It, Sam Byers Perfidious Albion

Lockdown reading. The situation in the UK seems to be getting worse and wore, as the death count rises each day and Boris Johnson has been rushed to hospital.  The UK Government's response to the outbreak has been appalling, they've not taken it seriously enough, given out mixed messages -  'stay in!' 'it's ok to go out for exercise', and our PM was only a few weeks ago boasting about shaking hands with everyone in a hospital. It looks like it will hit harder in the UK than anywhere else in Europe because of a) our government's wrong headed response and b) the deliberate underfunding of our health and social infrastructure for the previous decades. Despite this, Johnson appears to have record levels of approval, is eulogised in the press and has people all over the country praying for him.

Magnus Mills, The Scheme for Full Employment, Jerzy Kosinski, The Painted Bird

Can completely understand why The Painted Bird was on the list. It's visceral, brutal and shocking, and presents a harrowing counter-picture to Eastern Europe under the Nazis. No wonder it was banned in the Eastern Bloc as it shows the fear, cruelty, superstition and collaboration of peasants in the persecution of others under the Nazis. Very different from the official history of heroic resistance and solidarity in occupied territories. It's semi-autobiographical apparently, and it's difficult to believe that this boy being beaten, raped, tortured and witnessing horrific acts carried out so casually is only 8 years old. another reminder, like the Handmaid's Tale, that for most of humanity in most of history their lives have been miserable, fearful and oppressed.
THSFFE was a reread, and a reminder of how much I enjoy Magnus Mills. Have just ordered a load more of his books to get through the lockdown

Helen Castor, She Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth

First book read under lockdown. The gym has shut so my normal time reading while on the bike has stopped. As my ankle is still painful following the Surrey Half, I cannot run either. We are all allowed out once a day for exercise, so I am walking a 5 mile circuit each morning. Great for catching up on podcasts, but no good for reading. So have been reading She Wolves as and when I can, so haven't really been absorbed by it.

Seishi Yokomizo, The Honjin Murders

A vintage Japanese locked-room mystery, translated into English for the first time. It was funny to read something so familiar but in an unfamiliar setting. It reminded me of nothing so much as an episode of Jonathan Creek, with an incredibly convoluted and complicated mechanism and set up. The suspension of disbelief and elaborate staging required is entirely unbelievable, but still very enjoyable. I guess the skill of the greatest like Agatha Christie lies in making an artificial unbelievable scenario seem credible.

Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, Richard Ayoade, Ayoade On Top

I was reading Anna Karenina when TMATL was released, so I had to put it on hold for a few days. Reading two such heavy books appears to have brought on mild RSI in my left forearm. Need to stretch more. It's bad enough getting injured running, getting injured reading is silly. I really enjoyed Anna Karenina, but I am going to sound a bit chippy when describing it. It is essentially a posh soap opera, where you are invested in the characters and their story arcs. The more of the 'essential novels' I read, the more a common thread is emerging (not always there, but often). The books are about wealthy, privileged people who don't have any real problems and so invent some for themselves. The jeopardy comes from their fear of falling from their elevated position in society to a less elevated position. Still far more privileged than the majority of the population, but there you are. I'm not sure if this is because of the demographic of 'great' authors, who by definition are in the well-off, well-educated section of society, the demands of their market, as most readers will also be from the same demographic, or aspire to be in that demographic, whether the lives of the privileged genuinely ARE more interesting or whether that is just the perception. 'Ayoade on Top' was an indulgence for the very funny Richard Ayoade, but was essentially one joke - that the formulaic Gwyneth Paltrow movie 'View From The Top' is a triumph of cinema. The joke quickly wears thin unfortunately. In the meantime, If I looked up from whichever book I'm reading, I would notice the country shutting down slowly as a far-to-late half-arsed response to the spread of Coronavirus. At the moment schools are still open, but people are panic-buying and hoarding. Let's see what occurs.

Hilary Mantel, The Mirror & The Light

Read out of turn on the day of release, and the highlight of my year so far. I took 2 days off work to read it, was waiting at Waterstones in Woking for the shutters to go up to get my hands on it, and then spent the next 48 hours in various restaurants, coffee shops, pubs, exercise bikes and comfy chairs reading the last part of this incredible trilogy. Cromwell's life-long balancing act came crashing down after 1 misstep (maybe 2 - failure to engineer a divorce from Anne of Cleves and to assassinate the pretender Reginald Pole).