It’s that time again already?! Well.

What have you recently finished reading?

The last thing I read was Robert Macfarlane’s The Lost Words, illustrated by Jackie Morris, which I had to read in the library rather than take home with me ’cause oof, their edition is big! Like The Lost Spells, it’s a collection of poetry that tries to bring a little magic back to how we relate to wild creatures. Both seem like the poet was having fun, so though I didn’t universally love the poems (sometimes a rhyme is too obvious, or a particular word just stuck out as wrong), it was a fun read. And the illustrations are gorgeous.

Before that, I finished The Zoologist’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Arik Kershenbaum. There weren’t many surprises for me, given I have a biology degree and a pre-existing interest in astrobiology from fiction and non-fiction, and I didn’t always agree with Kershenbaum’s reasoning, but it was interesting. I should think it through more for my review, but suffice it to say that I felt like he was very focused on a belief that everything must have been advantageous in order to be maintained through generations, instead of remembering that neutral traits and behaviours can come along for the ride because they’re not selected against (and negative traits can come along because they’re advantageous in narrow but important circumstances, but he’s a bit better about remembering that).

What are you currently reading?

I’ve made a start on The Book at War, by Andrew Pettegree, which is preeeetty chunky. Looks like the app I use to track reading sessions suggests it’s going to take me five hours to finish; it feels like I’m having to focus to keep the meaning from slipping away from me mid-page, so I guess I’m not finding Pettegree the most engaging writer (though I couldn’t put my finger on why). I’ve barely started, so not much else to say yet. It’s interesting that Pettegree points out that despite the view of writers/writing/books as being enlightened, in many ways writers deliberately egged on the wars at the start of the 20th century. Pacifism came later.

As usual, I’m reading several other books at once. I’m close to finishing up with Heaven Official’s Blessing, since I’m partway through the penultimate volume. I’ve loved it so much. There’s an AO3 tag for this series, “Hua Cheng and Xie Lian invented love”, and I get it. Hua Cheng’s devotion to Xie Lian is lovely, as is Xie Lian’s slow realisation of their feelings for one another. It’s been a really satisfying journey.

What will you read next?

I got a lot of books out of the library, so I want to focus on reading some of those for a bit. Yellowface, by R.F. Kuang, just came through for me on Libby, and I know there’s someone who has it on hold after me, so I should focus on that. It’s quite likely it’s not really my thing, but I’m curious enough I want to give it a shot.

I also want to start The Mountain in the Sea, by Ray Nayler, since I’ve been curious about it for ages. Of late, I’ve been trying to reduce the number of books I have on the go at the same time, but I’m a little worried that’s part of why I’ve been having difficulty reading at the moment. I do value having the ability to hop from book to book. So I might ease up on that goal, and just go with my whims for a bit.

What about you?