David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

 'It's been on the 'maybe read one day' list for a while and finally got around to it. I knew it was a collection of interlocking stories throughout time, but the thread biding them together wasn't always clear to me. Certainly not as effective as similar books like Italo Calvino's 'If on a Winters Night. . .' and the superlative 'Charlie Cook's Favourite Book'. Helen and I went out together for the first time in far too long on saturday to see the revived 'Jerusalem' with Mark Rylance. It really was as incredible as people say, Rylance's performance was astonishing, no idea how he does that every night and twice on saturdays. Spent too much time celeb-spotting too. We saw Jarvis Cocker looking a bit lost on Shaftesbury Avenue (I wish we'd asked him if he knew how to get to St Martin's college), and Tim Robbins bumped into me twice at the interval. He's very tall, he must have struggled in the tiny seats in the Apollo.

Scott G. Bruce, The Penguin Book of Dragons

 'A compilation of mythology, literature and lore relating to the mythical creatures common to many cultures - savage, winged reptiles with a greed for gold and other very human characteristics as well as the ability to terrify and destroy. It was a bit dry in places, and I did skip the excerpt from Spenser's The Faerie Queene that went on and on in Elizabethan english. I read this with my niece Amy in mind, who loves mythology and animals and I thought she might like this. I've whatsapped her about it, but she hasn't yet replied to her dull uncle who keeps forcing books on her. 

Libby is in the middle of her SATS at the moment and seems to be coping, but it is incredible the pressure some of the kids are under - they are being hothoused, tutored, removed from normal after-school activities. I don't understand. The outcome will be a higher grade than the grade the student is naturally capable of, meaning they go into a higher class with more expectations that they won't be able to meet without more tutoring, hothousing and stress, and on and on through university and life. It's a recipe for miserable people in positions they are not capable of performing and the concomitant stress and misery.

John Le Carré, A Murder Of Quality

 His second book and more of a murder mystery than a spy thriller, although Smiley remains the central character. There is an afterword written recently by Le Carre which is eviscerating about the english education system and the divisive nature that  causes so much damage to society. He said it far more eloquently than I could ever manage, but the dilutes the force of his argument by admitting that he did, of course, send his own children to private school. William had a lovely 8th birthday in the end, although his part is still to come next weekend. Libby has SATS this week and so many of her friends and parents are freaking out with the pressure, another sign of our broken education system

Graham Robb, France: An Adventure History

 'I bet he had fun writing that. Not quite a history, not quite a travelogue, but a book by someone who loves France, loves cycling, and particularly loves cycling around France and writing about it. Luckily I love cycling, love France, and love reading about someone cycling around France. Freddie got back ok from his expedition to the Brecon Beacons. It took him a few days to recover, but he made it up Pen Y Fan and seems rightfully proud of himself for all his efforts. Tomorrow is William's 8th birthday, and we haven't done nearly enough to prepare. I should spend more time and effort with him, I'm beginning to understand how tough it is to be a younger sibling and have to fight for attention. To often he is an afterthought and that's not right

Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go

 Now that was a great read. Not at all what I was expecting, and I still can't believe that a man, let alone a man who went to school in Woking, was able to create characters who seemed so real, normal and with so much empathy. I would have assumed it was a female writer If I wasn't aware of the author's identity. On top of that it was such a well-realised and imagined alternative world, as real and disturbing as Gilead with it's almost identical parallel to our own world with one slight twist that alarms and changes so much. I'll be adding in to Helen's pile for her book club reads, and have put 'The Remains Of The Day' on to my wish list. The children are growing up - William and Libby are at the school disco tonight and Fred is off on a 4 day expedition to the Brecon Beacons. Mind you, he's just made such a palaver of going into Woking to get his own tea. 'What if they ask me questions?' 'What if i don't know the answer?' 'Should I take a bag?' 'What sort of bag should I take?' Bless him i think he's just a little nervous, hopefully he'll thrive.

Tom Holland, Athelstan

 Part of the pocket-size Penguin Monarchs series, and fewer than 100 pages. We've been watching The Last Kingdom on Netflix, and Kev was asking about the historicity of it so I thought I'd have a refresh. The earlier series revolving around Alfred's court seemed to have been fairly historically accurate as you'd expect from Bernard Cornwell, but the more recent series seem to take  much larger liberties (which is fine, it's all just a bit of fun). Freddie is off on another explorer trip this weekend, this time to the Brecon Beacons, He is a little worried, but I'm very proud of him

G.K. Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday

 'Not sure why this is revered so much - 'the best spy book ever written'  apparently, when it is nothing of the sort. It's very Victorian and stiff, and while the idea of a group of anarchists where everyone there is actually a secret policeman is a funny one, there's no understanding or attempt to understand the motives behind anarchists and terrorists and when policemen trust the personal honour of the anarchists not to reveal who they really are, well. . . . Great title for a book though.