December 2025

Read:

Novels:

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (K)

Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper (K)

Shorts:

I'm ranking 5 coffees from beyond this world(literally)

Non-fiction

What the moral problem of Large Language Models tells us by Stewart Hotston
AI’s Innate Bias Against Animals by Tse Yip Fai & Peter Singer
‘They didn’t de-extinct anything’: can Colossal’s genetically engineered animals ever be the real thing? by Patrick Greenfield
I grew up in the world’s coldest city without central heating. Here’s what the world can learn from us by Yangang Xing

Watched:

Megson (online)
Buildings in the Landscape (online)

November 2025

Read:

Novels:

The Green Man’s Holiday by Juliet E. McKenna (K)

Shorts:

The Fires of Mercy by Spencer Ellsworth
Our Fire, Given Freely by Seth Dickinson
Fireskin by Joanne Rixon
After the Fire by Aliette de Bodard
Daughter, Mother, Charcoal by Akis Linardos
In the Zone by Lisa M. Bradley
Postman, Soldier, Traitor by Vijayalaxmi Samal
They Must Be Angels by Elle Zi Dong
WELCOME TO SPRUCEWAY by Brianne Battye
The Shift Room by Mary Wanjiru
The Hungry Mouth at the Edge of Space and the Goddess Knitting at Home by Renan Bernardo
Finer than Silk, Brighter than Snow by Shveta Thakrar

Non-fiction

Camouflage clothing may be having a moment – but in our violent world, is that wise? by Ellie Violet Bramley
Unified Cutlery Theory by Umbral Reaver
Ex Novo by Martin Nerurkar and Konstantinos Dimoloulos
Don’t argue with strangers… and 11 more rules to survive the information crisis by Naomi Alderman
Michel Houellebecq: The Unhappy Oracle by Anton Jäger
Treating Gaza’s Collective Trauma by Mohammed R. Mhawish

Watched:

del Toro’s Frankenstein

October 2025

Read:

Shorts:

Blood, Ash, Braids by Genevieve Valentine
The Blood Portal by Mary E. Lowd
A Catalog of 21st Century Ghosts by Pat Murphy
Motherhood by Pat Murphy
Crossing the Threshold by Pat Murphy

Non-fiction

Rebellion, Activism, Imagination: Why We Need Witches More Than Ever by Asa West
The Hole Truth by George Monbiot
Are we living in a golden age of stupidity? by Sophie McBain

Attended:

Al Stewart (farewell tour, The Empty Pockets supporting)
Motorhome and Caravan Show
Merlin Sheldrake 2025 @ The Barbican (online)

Jabbed:

‘flu
COVID 19

ETA: Bought:

Pebble 2 Duo

September 2025

Read:

A Legacy of Spies by John le Carre
The Quiet Mother by Arnaldur Indridason (K)
The Human Division by John Scalzi (K)

Shorts:

Last Meal Aboard the Awassa by Kel Coleman

Non-fiction

Exploring Gender and Trans Identity in the Worlds of C.J. Cherryh by Gwen C. Katz
Israel’s ecocide in Gaza sends this message: even if we stopped dropping bombs, you couldn’t live here by George Monbiot

Attended:

Bromyard Folk Festival

August 2025

Read:

Shorts:

Without Sunsets or Snow by Mari Ness
What the Crab Apple Tree Near Miranda Spaceport Saw by Elijah J. Mears
And Then There Were(N-One) by Sarah Pinsker

Non-fiction

When do you know when it’s time to stop cancer treatment? She knew – her final act of control by Kirtan Nautiyal
The Heisig method for learning sinographs by Victor Mair

Attended:

A New Day

Nothing much to see here. Just work, a few outings, and a whole heap of fatigue. Hey ho! Onwards with the program.

July 2025

Read:

Shorts:

All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt by Marissa Lingen
Better Living Through Algorithms by Naomi Kritzer
Monster by Naomi Kritzer
Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything by Effie Seiberg
The Lord of Mars by Megan McCarron
Instructions for Rewilding the Wasteland by Emma Burnett
Let Sleeping Hyenas Lie by Rutendo Chidzodzo
Outlier by R.L. Meza
Paths, Littlings, and Holy Things by Somto Ihezue

Non-fiction

A Tribute to Sheri S. Tepper's Speculative Fiction by Robin Anne Reid
On the Architectural Hostility of Doorknobs by Robert Kingett
The Definitive, Insane, Swimsuit-Bursting Story of the Steroid Olympics by Amit Katwala
The Fairy Tale Heroine’s Journey: A Structure for Writers by Kate Farrell
The great abandonment: what happens to the natural world when people disappear? by Tess McClure
Wing and a Prayer by November Kelly
Beware of the Google AI salesman and its cronies by Gisele Navarro
Protect the Wild - A Decade Fighting for British Wildlife by Robert Pownall

June 2025

Read:

Novels:

The Foot on the Crown by Christopher Fowler (K)

Shorts:

Why Don't We Just Kill the Kid In the Omelas Hole by Isabel J. Kim
Negative Scholarship on the Fifth State of Being by A. W. Prihandita

Non-fiction

I Do Not Remember My Life and It's Fine by Marco Giancotti
Thames Water: Britain’s biggest utility just got captured by toxic private credit markets
Telling Gaps and Domestic Tyranny: Georgette Heyer’s Regency Romances by Lee O’Brien
Screams in the Vault: Public Domain Horror in the Age of IP by Sterling Dudley

Attended:

Gryphon @ The Junction

May 2025

Read:

Shorts:

Across the River, My Heart, My Memory by Ann LeBlanc
Zeitgeber by Greg Egan
Making Us Monsters by Sam J. Miller & Lara Elena Donnelly
And Now the Shade by Rich Larson
The 4:10 to Tarick by Alex Atkins

Non-fiction

Tech Companies Apparently Do Not Understand Why We Dislike AI by Soatok
‘The crux of all evil’: what happened to the first city that tried to ban smartphones for under-14s? by Amelia Gentleman
Beorn and Bombadil @ ThoughtsOnTolkien
The value of institutional memory by Tim Harford
The Price of Remission by David Armstrong
Garmin Pay: yes, you can do NFC tap-to-pay in stores without big tech by Thom Holwerda
GrapheneOS: Where Licenses Matter More Than People @ https://fireborn.mataroa.blog

Visited:

Wimpole Hall (grounds)

Attended:

Henry Normal and Brian Bilston @ The Corn Exchange
Burnaby Recital @ Emmanuel College
The Waterboys @ The Corn Exchange
Peggy Seeger (online)

ETA: Spotted:

Little egret (on Ditton Meadows)

ETA:

No current death watch beetle found. Evidence of past dwb and historic woodworm, but the noises we heard must've been "some other boring beelte".

... a bit late with this ... hey ho!

Read:
Shorts

- Indiana Jones’ Last Day of Work by Hannah Forsyth

Non-fiction

- How Google tracks Android device users before they've even opened an app by Connor Jones
- Agatha Christie by Lucy Worsley (K)
- ‘We’re going to talk about death today – your death’: a doctor on what it’s like to end a life rather than extend one by Dr Stefanie Green

Visited:

- Stow Landscape Gardens
- Petworth House and Landscape Gardens
- Plough and Fleece for Sunday lunch
- mjp @ The Shepherds for Friday lunch
- Houghton Mill

Attended:

- Dracula as survival cannibal: Shipwrecks, starvation, drinking blood at sea (organized by Romancing the Gothic)
- Burnaby concert at Emmanuel, plus dinner in hall

Read:

Shorts

Who the Dickens…? by Juliet E. McKenna
Old Litkinov by Tom Cox

Non-fiction

Attended

Goths for Breakfast (organized by Romancing the Gothic)

Apparently fiction's not my thing right now. Though I did read the first half-dozen chapters of LOTR.

And I'm on day 24 of my advent calendar yarns. So one more colour and then ribbing, neck and sleeves. Sweater may be readty for next winter.

eta: event attendance omitted

January 2025

Read:

Shorts:

The Reminder by Ida Keogh
Not Lost(Never Lost) by Premee Mohamed
7:55:46 AM, EDT by ohtempora
GHOST-BOYFRIEND COMES TO DINNER by Chelsea Sutton
good bones by mumblemumble

Non-fiction:

Courtiers: The Secret History of the Georgian Court by Lucy Worsley (K)

Floated through the month, achieving little. Need to shake myself out of this.

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Between blotch and blok

twa corbies making a mane

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