It’s Wednesday, so it’s time for the usual update!

What have you recently finished reading?

I think the most recent novel I finished was Heaven Official’s Blessing volume 4 (MXTX). I’m loving the series, but I did take a bit of a pause to breathe after volume 4, knowing that the next volume answers some questions about Hua Cheng — at least, I hope it does! And I’m so ready for Xie Lian and Hua Cheng to maybe acknowledge what’s between them a bit more.

I know a lot of spoilers, as well, which gives me the fascinating puzzle of trying to figure out where things fit in.

What are you currently reading?

All That Remains (Sue Black) is the book I’m currently reading most actively, and hoping to finish today. I find it’s a lot more personal than her later book, Written in Bone, and I’ve found myself crying several times. I just read the chapter on her work in Kosovo, which is pretty heavy stuff. She has a very practical approach to death, but coupled with a great respect for grief and for what families need, and what’s owing to a person even when they’re dead.

On Serial Reader, I’m about halfway through The Murder on the Links (Agatha Christie). It’s much of a muchness with other fiction of the period, and I’m maybe liking it a bit less because I do so dislike Hastings as a narrator, and (sorry…) I’m not a huge fan of Poirot. Not that it’s bad, just not entirely to my taste.

What will you read next?

The next volume of Heaven Official’s Blessing is definitely high on my list. Other than that, I’ve been steadily trying to whittle down the number of books I have partway read at any one time, so I’ll probably pick another of those to focus on; Christina Baehr’s Wormwood Abbey, probably, but maybe also Emily Henry’s Book Lovers, since that’s not in a series and I won’t simply want to start the next book in its place.

How about you, readers?