The Second Sleep – Robert Harris

I think I have read all of his fiction, and this is another scorchingly good novel from Robert Harris. 

The previous one I read was Munich (confusingly, the Italian printing of this is called Monaco, which is what the Italians call Munich!) and while I did enjoy it, it wasn’t as gripping as his other novels.  

The Second Sleep really is brilliant.  It’s set in a medieval England that is entirely believable, with people who largely behave in character and where the daily grind, the mud, the cold and the sheer monotony of life is made clear.  The language the characters use is believable too. 

It’s a neat story, with the usual Harris twists and turns to the story and some amazing, jaw-dropping surprises. 

Somewhat ironically (given the title), I lost sleep over this, so anxious was I to finish it off.

My Book Blog – an introduction

I am a maths teacher who does lots of different things (music, running, learning Spanish) besides work.  I haven’t, however, been reading enough books.  (Lots of newspapers, lots of blogs, but not books.)

During the 6 weeks of the school summer holiday I am setting myself the target to read at least two books per week.  Some will be fiction, some non-fiction.  Some will be books I have read before and some will be new ones. 

I will then write a short essay about each one.  It won’t be a review of the book, it won’t be an explanation or synopsis of the book but will pick out a few things that resonated or interested me.  The entries will be brief!