I am delighted to have finally finished a book! Since the start of January, I’ve been in one of the worst reading slumps I’ve had in years. I wouldn’t have necessarily predicted that the solution would be a comprehensive history of the Interregnum, but I am very grateful to Anna Keay. The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown starts with the declaration of the English Commonwealth in 1649 and ends with the Restoration in 1660. It thus doesn’t cover the civil wars that led up to the declaration of the Commonwealth, but of course the whole context for the Republic and the subsequent Protect ..read more

Behold, I emerge, bloodied but unbowed, having at last vanquished my foe. January is always a grim month in the world of higher education but this year it really took the biscuit. It is, however, over! Please enjoy this actual footage of me submitting the last of my marked assignments on Monday evening. I have now finished most of the other assorted January tasks, so I return at last with a review of the only book I finished over the past month (and that before I even returned to work after Christmas). Operation Mincemeat, by Ben Macintyre, is a narrative nonfiction account of – as the name s ..read more

This post is slightly belated, but I’m edging in (just) before the end of the year with the final instalment of this year’s Louloureads Awards! This week we have the non-fiction award. I don’t read as much non-fiction as I would like, but I do enjoy most of what I read enormously, so it’s still a hotly contested shortlist. This year’s entrants for the Louloureads Non-fiction Award are: A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders I have yet to read Saunders’ fiction, but I loved this book about Russian short stories. This was one of the first books I finished this year, and it feels like a ..read more

I never got around to finishing my post for last week’s Nonfiction November prompt about what makes you choose a particular nonfiction book. It’s very hard to spin “because I want to read it” out into a full post, but I honestly do not have a more sophisticated answer than that. This week, however, we have arrived at my favourite week of the month – book pairings! I’m arriving a bit late to the party, but I’m here now. This week’s host is Liz at Adventures in Reading, Running, and Working from Home. This week, pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. Maybe it’s a historical novel and t ..read more

Nonfiction November is back! I’m so grateful to the (mostly new) hosts for agreeing to organise this absolute highlight of the blogging year. I love Nonfiction November and I was sad when it seemed like it would be disappearing from the calendar, while also acutely being aware that November is not the right time of year for me to take on any new commitments. The first week is being hosted by Heather at Based on a True Story, and as ever the first prompt is about how everyone’s non-fiction reading year has been. Celebrate your year of nonfiction. What books have you read? What were your favori ..read more

The Light Ages: The surprising history of medieval science, by Seb Falk, won my heart in the first few minutes of his introduction by taking on one of my least favourite annoying stereotypes: the idea that to be a Christian (or to have any faith at all) means you are stupid and incurious. He opens by talking about the tweet thread popular historian and presenter Dan Snow posted in response to Steve Bannon’s 2017 assertion that he was going to “go medieval” on someone or other. Snow asked if Bannon might “raise a small unreliable army of ungovernable nobles and poorly equipped, conscripted peas ..read more

Or, to put it another way: 13 Books of Summer – Victory Lap! Here I am with a very late wrap-up of 20 Books of Summer – always a highlight of my summer, regardless of whether I manage all my books or not. (Usually not). In fact, the only year I’ve ever managed the challenge in its entirety is 2020, in which I had two weeks at home decorating my flat when I was meant to be on holiday, and spent it all listening to audiobooks. In hindsight, the ridiculous length of Kate Morton’s The Distant Hours meant it was going to eat up quite a lot of my commutes, and it wasn’t a very sensible choice. (The ..read more

This is a sort of cross between a book review and a holiday post. I’ve just been in the Isle of Man for a fortnight, a period which I intended to spend walking, reading, and writing. For assistance with the walking part I made use of Terry Marsh’s Walking in the Isle of Man, which contains forty walks to cover the whole country. This is the most recent edition, published earlier in 2023. It starts with a little bit of historical, geological, and logistical information about the country, along with a few wildlife notes. I don’t think this would be enough to satisfy anyone going to the Isle of M ..read more

The Reading Cure: How Books Restored My Appetite, by Laura Freeman, is a short memoir about the author’s experience of, and ongoing recovery from, anorexia nervosa. As suggested by the title, it focuses primarily on the role books have played in her recovery, although without ever falling into “books are a panacea” territory. It starts off, more or less, with her admission to hospital as a dangerously underweight teenage girl, and follows her through to the time of writing. Thankfully it isn’t told in a completely linear way – I think that would be too much misery all in one go – and since she ..read more

Red Sauce Brown Sauce: A British Breakfast Odyssey, by Felicity Cloake, is her follow-up to One More Croissant for the Road, which I read in the dark part of winter and absolutely loved. This time, instead of cycling round France, she stuck closer to home, investigating a subject close to the hearts of most Brits: what makes a perfect breakfast? She cycles all over the UK (and the Isle of Man) eating bacon sandwiches, visiting weird local museums, asking people what they like for breakfast, and trying the many regional specialities like lorne sausage, Arbroath smokies (which I first read about ..read more