This running thing is going really well
I decided to do the Couch to 5K this summer, starting on Week 3 because I'm not so totally unfit that I'm at couch level, and Week 4 is going great. Yesterday I finished the last five-minute stretch with the definite sense that I could have carried on without too much trouble, which bodes well for next week. I'm actually really enjoying it.
19. The Coming of the Third Reich - Richard J. Evans, 2005 (first-time reading)
This wasn't exactly recreational reading. I got it out of the Cardiff library to prepare for our history course next year. That didn't stop me from enjoying it, though; this is an excellent history book, clear and accessible to non-historians and yet thorough and detailed. We studied the rise of the Nazis in less detail in GCSE History so I already knew the basic 'storyline', so to speak, and the important people who were turning up, but there were lots of things I learned from this that were surprising to me, such as the extent of antisemitism in Germany long before the Nazis. I'm really glad I read it; it's going to stand me in good stead for when we start doing it in school and it was an enjoyable read, but it's also something I think it's deeply important to know about in as much detail as possible. What happened, why, and how we can ensure it doesn't again are things that everyone should be aware of.
20. The Lady of the Rivers - Philippa Gregory, 2011 (first-time reading)
I really like Philippa Gregory. I know her books are fiction, and they're not exactly bastions of historical accuracy, but for someone who knows as little about the Plantagenets as I do they're still pretty educational, even just by informing me who was king, when, and what happened to them. A lot of the other stuff I'm reading at the moment is pretty heavy, so it's lovely to relax into a nice light modern novel without feeling that I'm just wasting time that I could be spent learning something. I like Gregory's style, even if it does at times become repetitive, and her creation of character through the narrative voice, and having liked and been fascinated by The White Queen this book ticked all the boxes for me. Recommended.
19. The Coming of the Third Reich - Richard J. Evans, 2005 (first-time reading)
This wasn't exactly recreational reading. I got it out of the Cardiff library to prepare for our history course next year. That didn't stop me from enjoying it, though; this is an excellent history book, clear and accessible to non-historians and yet thorough and detailed. We studied the rise of the Nazis in less detail in GCSE History so I already knew the basic 'storyline', so to speak, and the important people who were turning up, but there were lots of things I learned from this that were surprising to me, such as the extent of antisemitism in Germany long before the Nazis. I'm really glad I read it; it's going to stand me in good stead for when we start doing it in school and it was an enjoyable read, but it's also something I think it's deeply important to know about in as much detail as possible. What happened, why, and how we can ensure it doesn't again are things that everyone should be aware of.
20. The Lady of the Rivers - Philippa Gregory, 2011 (first-time reading)
I really like Philippa Gregory. I know her books are fiction, and they're not exactly bastions of historical accuracy, but for someone who knows as little about the Plantagenets as I do they're still pretty educational, even just by informing me who was king, when, and what happened to them. A lot of the other stuff I'm reading at the moment is pretty heavy, so it's lovely to relax into a nice light modern novel without feeling that I'm just wasting time that I could be spent learning something. I like Gregory's style, even if it does at times become repetitive, and her creation of character through the narrative voice, and having liked and been fascinated by The White Queen this book ticked all the boxes for me. Recommended.