Peter Hennessy, Muddling Through: Power, Politics and the Quality of Government in Postwar Britain

 I bought this thinking it was a fairly recent book, but actually it's from the early 90s, so I've probably read it before! It certainly went over familiar ground in Hennessy's avuncular style, and it was based on his R4 series rom the time. I was a little disappointed with the discussions between those giants Enoch Powell and Tony Benn when they were discussing parliamentary procedure, as both of them did indeed appear to be muddling through and neither had any clear idea how things did or should work. If they don't know, who does?

Graham Swift, England And Other Stories

 Started reading this collection of short stories thinking 'Meh, I don't really like short stories, I struggle to follow the change from one story to another', and by the end I was really invested in it. The stories share an englishness, a humanity, a vulnerability, a mostly contemporary setting and they really spoke to me. Wasn't expecting that at all!

Maurice Gorham, Back to the Local

 A reprint of a post war paean to the London pub, glorious nostalgia of conviviality, green tile and glass and beer. Even in the 1940s the author was bewailing how times have moved on and traditions were dying out as pubs moved with the times

John Buchan, Prester John

 I was expecting a book about, um , Prester John, so was surprised it had very little to do with him and instead was centred on an uprising in Southern Africa in the early 20th Century and how a young 19 year old Scottish storekeeper thwarted it through honesty, derring-do, and being a massive racist. This isn't going to get a reprint any time soon, it's rooted in the assumption that British imperialism is a benefit to Africa, and that native people are inferior and must be guided and controlled.

Max Adams, The Mercian Chronicles:King Offa and the Birth of the Anglo-Saxon State AD630-918

 The 5th book on Anglo-Saxon England by Max Adams I've bought, and probably a lot of my decision to buy them is based on how lovely they look on the bookshelves. Nice easy-to-read popular histories, and the Mercians seem to have been neglected and overlooked as there are more sources north and south - Bede for the Northumbrians and Asser for Wessex. Spring appears to have arrived, and it's another glorious sunny day today. Freddie and Libby were both on their DofE expeditions this weekend. Libby had no problem with her bronze, a nice relatively short walk from Gomshall to Newlands Corner. Fred's was a practice session for his big expedition in April, and after two days walking 25k and sleeping overnight in sub-zero conditions, the poor lad is shattered today (monday). Helen had to give him a lift to college as he can barely walk due to his blisters. He's going to be downhearted for a bit as he will worry about how he will cope on the expedition itself. Tonight he is planning it with his friends, hopefully that will help give him confidence.

Carsten Henn, The Door-to-Door Bookstore

 An unchallenging, feel-good, life-affirming short book about an aging bookseller, his love of reading and his love for others, which he shows through encouraging their own reading habits. Very sweet (and may explain my current toothache, which is definitely not due to troughing a box of milk tray yesterday) and will go on Helen's shelves, as it is ideal book club fodder. I caved this weekend from my 'buy no books until birthday' resolution (and tbf, I'd already broken it by buying books for others and buying for myself in an NT second-hand bookshop because it's just the done thing), and bought three books include Max Adams' new book on the Mercians which I'm currently reading.

A.J. Lees, Brazil That Never Was

 I thought this was a work of fiction, and I'm still not entirely sure (I'll check after this). The South American setting helped of course, but it was very reminiscent of magical realism, and also Roberto Bolano's work, where it is written as non-fiction but in a fictional world - lots of verisimilitude and citations. Ostensibly it's the story of an english academic and his interest in a victorian explorer, Carruthers, and his quest for lost cities in the Amazon. He goes in search of the truth, and it becomes stranger and more mystical. . .