Aren’t we having a lovely summer? Well we are here in Bristol and I hope that you are too. Not that I’ve had a lot of free time to enjoy it properly, but it’s still nice to have long sunny days. I’ve been busy helping my Mum celebrate her 60th birthday, visiting Oxford with my friend H, redecorating the living room (still a work in progress) and I even squeezed in writing an article for For Books’ Sake. Not to mention, y’know, doing my job.

Somehow, I also managed to get through several books this month (I’m halfway through two more as well), though I notice I only read three short stories. Three! This despite the New Yorker opening up its content free to all for the summer, including their wonderful short stories. I must make time to read some of them before they’re locked down to subscribers only again.

Here’s to continued summer loveliness, with added free time to enjoy it.

Books read

Weyr Search by Anne McCaffrey (review here)

Parasites Like Us by Adam Johnson (review here)

The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir who got Trapped in an IKEA Wardrobe by Romain Puértolas (review here)

Gold by Dan Rhodes (review here)

Paintwork by Tim Maughan

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (review here)

Short stories read

“How many miles to Babylon?” by Megan Arkenberg (Lightspeed Magazine, issue 20)

“Gene wars” by Paul McAuley (Lightspeed Magazine, issue 20)

“Always true to thee, in my fashion” by Nancy Kress (Lightspeed Magazine, issue 20)

Happy summer everyone!