Hilary Mantel, Beyond Black

 A re-read of a book I remember being very dark and scary. It still is, but on a very dull note the thing I found most interesting was that in my mind the house where the protagonists lived was on the east side of Knaphill when I read it the first time, somewhere around Strathcona Gardens near our Kev, but on the 2nd read they were nearer to Sainsbury's, Percheron Drive. I had to Google map those names. We are in the middle of a heatwave at the moment, and are expecting record breaking temperatures in the UK of 40 later. it's 10 in the morning and 31 already here, and the heat in the house is unbearable. Downstairs is a lot better, but i can't be bothered to move all my stuff down there to work. I'm sleeping downstairs and it is quite pleasant at night, but there was a fire in Woking last night so everything now smells of smoke.

Miles Russell & Stuart Laycock, UnRoman Britain: Exposing the Great Myth of Britannia

 Took a while as I was away camping with the cubs this weekend. I took the book with me, but I was never going to get a chance to read any of it. It was crazy hot, 30 degrees plus, but the cubs slept well and had a great time. We were at Walton Firs again, we'll have to find somewhere different for next year. I've picked up a bit of a cold from one of them so am coughing away and can feel it in my lungs, but have tested negative for COVID-19. Today is our 20th Wedding Anniversary, but Helen is back working in town now and doesn't get back until very late, so we can't really do anything. Hopefully we can celebrate soon

Max Porter, Grief is the thing with feathers

 That hit hard. A very short book about a father of two young sons whose wife has passed away suddenly and left him bereft, numb and unable to cope. A giant crow shows up to help him and the boys through those first stages. I'm not doing it justice, but it was a beautiful study of grief and dealing with loss and I'm rather morbidly putting it to one side in case I ever face a similar situation (God willing that doesn't happen).

Michael Crick, Militant

 A bit of a journalistic hatchet job, and some strange juxtapositions - on one hand Militant is portrayed as an ultra-disciplined, well-resourced dedicated revolutionary cadre, on the other hand the entire regional headquarters for some areas is one bloke and a rented room above a pub with some books. I'm not a revolutionary, but I'm comfortable sharing the broad church labour party with people to the left, unlike many, and I still believe Kinnock (and now Starmer) are wrong to punch left. The logic is that it makes them seem responsible, aligned to the establishment and more like a government in waiting, but at what cost? Surely the enemy are to the right of us? And if you believe the real enemy is to the left, should you be in a Labour Party?  Having said that, I do believe in democracy, and would rather live in a democracy than an undemocratic socialist state. But the answer to that isn't for the right of the Labour party to fix elections, impose candidates and expel people, it's to introduce more democracy - open selections of MPS, open primaries. If you want to reduce the risk of anti-democratic elements taking over a local party, then expand the franchise, don't restrict it.

John Fowles, The Collector

 Seemed very modern, and similar to the many gory misogynistic police procedurals where a disturbed quiet man kidnaps and tortures a pretty young woman, Much more than that though, and presumably quite original when John Fowles wrote it, even if the themes are sadly perennial

Susan Stokes-Chapman, Pandora

 A Georgian thriller inspired by the myth of Pandora. I rattled through it, enjoying the villainous uncle, the mysterious deaths, the worthy heroine and hero. Libby went back to school yesterday for the first time, and had a transition day at Woking High, which she seems to have really enjoyed. She was a bit tired and grumpy when I picked her up from her friend Ella's house afterwards, but she has been through a lot after all. Every day she seems a little better, although she is not allowed to take part in physical activities still. I don't miss all those trips up to hospital, and Libby is ok to sleep by herself again now after clinging to Helen for 10 days, so that's good.

Anna Keay, The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown

'Slogged through that, a perfectly interesting and detailed history of life in Britain during the Cromwellian era, but never really gripped me. Of course, there have been other things on our minds with Libby recovering from Appendicitis. She came home on Thursday and has been slowly recovering, although she is still in a lot of pain, has lost a lot of confidence and is very, very bored at home. She has missed a load of activities she was really looking forward to - birthday parties for Romilly and Martha and Scoutabout, so she is very down. she had visits from friends yesterday which really perked her up, and hopefully she will be able to go on her tour of Woking High tomorrow. we will see though as she needs to be able to walk a lot further than she is managing at the moment