Trying to keep on top of my reading for you, my dear readers, and not have to scramble to post everything at the end of the year.

January

Becky Chambers – A Psalm for the Wild-Built

Jose Saramago – The Gospel According to Jesus Christ (Weird and deep and thick – read it hot on the heels of The Alchemist and that was a strange combo. A great read if you’re well versed in the gospels but can deal with what is often considered blasphemy by the faithful.)

Hedda Beekman – Simone op de Schaats (Charming little Dutch story of a teenage girl who helps a friend who lost use of her legs to enjoy the ice. About my level of Dutch comprehension.)

Herman Melville – Moby-Dick (A reread inspired by a Bluesky group under the hashtag #AMonthOfDick. Always a joy. Not just 101 Uses for a Dead Whale.)

February

Becky Chambers – A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Chambers does it again with this two-part look at what the world could be like if we do it right. She recognizes that we have to fuck it all up entirely before we can get there. And we seem to be doing that sooner rather than later.)

Chloe Dalton – Raising Hare (Enjoyable story of a woman who discovers a baby hare in the snow at the start of Covid and learns to raise it and look after its offspring as well, learning lessons of ecology and history along the way.

March

Ocean Vuong – On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous (Very good and also sort of niche queer literary fiction.)

Catherynne Valente – Space Oddity (Sequel to Space Opera and also really good. She’s up-front that what she’s created is the intersection of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and the Eurovision Song Contest. What is amazing is that she’s made it work. Beautifully.)

Robert C. O’Brien – Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Hadn’t read this since I was about 11. Someone on the socials mentioned it and I wanted to read it again. Still good.)

Ian McEwan – What We Can Know (My first McEwan and I don’t know if his focus on the ins and outs of academia and literary research is just in this volume or if it’s a thing with him. That said, I loved how the second half answers almost all of the questions of the first and how the answer to the book’s central mystery isn’t answered until literally the last page.