What have you recently finished reading?

The last thing I finished was George the Poet’s Part of a Story That Started Before Me, a reflection on Black British history through poetry. It has introductions to most sections explaining what we know about Black people in a given period, some of which I didn’t know about already, so it was a worthwhile read for that alone. I wasn’t a huge fan of most of the selections, admittedly, though some of the poems have a heck of a rhythm to them — you can practically hear them spoken, you can’t help it — which was fun.

What are you currently reading?

I finished a lot of the books I had on the go, so I’m onto pastures new! I just started reading James Fox’s Craftland, though so far I’ve only read through (most of) a chapter about dry stone walls and the work that goes into repairing those. I’m curious what other almost-lost crafts he’ll discuss.

I’m also reading the February British Library Crime Classic, Carol Carnac’s The Double Turn. It feels very much an E.C.R. Lorac novel so far, though since it’s under her other name, I think the detectives are likely to hit quite different to her usual MacDonald. I prefer him, somehow; he’s a very humane, ideal detective.

What will you read next?

Probably Uketsu’s Strange Buildings, which is just out. I’ve been anticipating it for a while, and it arrived today, so it’d be nice to dig in right away.

Other than that, I don’t know, though I have my new Book Spin Bingo card ready… so maybe something from that, so I don’t end up reading nine books in one day again as I did on Saturday, stubbornly finishing February’s card.