The cough has developed into a full-blown-whatever-it-is (bothersome sinuses, chesty cough, dry throat) and I’m still slogging through book three of The Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros, like what the sigma????

Full disclosure- I love dragons and magic, but I skip through the unimaginative (!) sex parts of the book. I’m in the middle part now where they finally find Andarna’s kind and the fucking cunts reject her because apparently, she’s the dragon equivalent of someone with special needs. Anyhow, 500+ more pages to go!

Here’s what’s next:

Forbidden Notebook by Alba de Cespedes, translated by Ann Goldstein
Out running an errand, Valeria Cossati gives in to a sudden impulse - she buys a shiny black notebook. She starts keeping a diary in secret, recording her concerns about her daughter, the constant churn of the domestic routine and her fears that her husband will discover her new habit.

Girl With Curious Hair by David Foster Wallace
In these short stories, the author renders the bizarre normal and the absurd hilarious, from the eerily real, almost holographic evocations of historical figures.

Checkout 19 by Claire-Louise Bennett
A fresh take on the coming-of-age novel-one in which we don't already know how the story will end, or if it will have an 'ending' at all

You Like It Darker by Stephen King
Short fiction from one of my favourite authors whose long works I now kinda avoid.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The dystopian classic, but in comics form!

Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata
The strange, surreal, humorous and the grotesque as only Japanese writers can write them

Ghost Roots by Demi Aguda
Debut short-story collection by a Nigerian writer that was a finalist for the 2024 National Book Award for Fiction.