I took a photo of my reads for the past 6 months (missed a couple though), and perhaps it’s books from the early 20th century, or maybe it’s just history books, but boy do they LOOK dull. I’ve loved them all regardless, but they hardly bring the excitement factor.
Jonathan Raban – Coasting (1986)- I was worried I might have fallen out of love for this writer since not reading him for 15-odd years, but his book about circumnavigating Britain delivered (yet again). My favourite travel writer I think. 4 stars.
Nicholson Baker – House of Holes (2011) – Delightfully pervy and erotic with a lot of imagination. I thought this was his best book of all. 4 stars.
Arnold Fellows – The Wayfarer’s Companion (1937) – I learnt a lot about the architecture of cathedrals and monasteries in Britain, amongst other things. 3 stars.
Julien Gracq – The Shape of a City (1985) – Magnificent tribute to his home city of Nantes, France in the early 1900’s. Almost unbearably nostalgic. 4 stars.
Maurice Ashley – Louis XIV and the Greatness of France (1946) – A shortish summary of his life and legacy. A great read. 3.5 stars.
A.R.Burn – Agricola and Roman Britain (1953) – Another short summary of this well documented Roman born AD40 just before the conquer of Britain. Loved it. 4 stars.
E.S. Turner – Amazing Grace (1975) – A bit of an embarrassing admission of mine to read about all the silly and eccentric Dukes of England. 3 stars.
Arthur Hayden – Chats on Old Furniture (1905) – Some nice old pics and strong words about the merits of  Jacobean, Stuart and French furniture. They all seem to love Chippendale too. Some of the pieces are ghastly! 3 stars.
Robert McFarlane – The Old Ways (2012) – It’s won many accolades however the best stories are in the first half, and it gets a little dull and repetitive beyond that. What’s with 68 pages of Glossary, Bibliography and Notes at the rear? 3.5 stars.
A.H.M Jones – Constantine and the Conversion of Europe (1948) – The first of the Teach Yourself History series that I had to slog through, possibly since the author seemingly had many reservations about this not very intelligent, and easily angered Holy Roman Emperor, but also because the road to Christian unity was littered with squabble after squabble with purist offshoots who all sounded similar after awhile. 2 stars.