Well we had three weeks of autumn before winter arrived. I quite like winter – Christmas and my birthday! – but I’ve realised in the last few years that at the start of both summer and winter, my lupus flares. In summer it’s the UV, that’s easy to figure out. In winter, well I guess cold isn’t good for arthritis, which is closely related to lupus, plus I have low vitamin D all year round anyway.

Which is a long-winded way of saying I’m not feeling all that healthy but I know it will pass soon. In the meantime I have been watching Gilmore Girls: a Year in the Life, which is both perfect and really not perfect at the same time. I’ve kept a log of books, authors and films mentioned, of course, which I’ll blog about soon.

I have one month left to complete my Books on the Nightstand Book Bingo card, and it’ll be tight but I think I can do it. If you want to help me pick my book for the “500 pages or longer” category, you can vote in my Twitter poll!

Books

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
This YA novel about two teenage boys called Will Grayson covers some serious and thoughtful issues while still being a fun read.

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham
Sticking with the Gilmore Girls theme, I finally read Graham’s debut novel about a young actress struggling to start her career in New York City. A light read that’s predictable but still a pleasure.

Storm in a Teacup: the Physics of Everyday Life by Helen Czerski
I really liked this dip back into popular science. Czerski has a real knack for not just explaining complicated concepts but making them truly fascinating. Took some brain power to keep up but definitely worth it. I reviewed this for work.

Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
My pick for book club at work. We’re meeting tomorrow to discuss it and I hope it went down well. I found it slow to start but really loved it by the end.

Emma by Jane Austen
Yeah, I’m still not convinced by Austen. But I do still love the story.

The Silence of the Sea by Yrsa Sigardurdottir
translated from Icelandic by Victoria Cribb
I managed somehow to start this crime series with the sixth book about lawyer Thora, but she seems pretty badass. This gets pretty dark, shockingly so. Slightly clumsy phrasing at times – not sure if that was the translation or the original.

Short stories

“From the fifteenth district” by Mavis Gallant (New Yorker Fiction podcast)

“Deer season” by Kevin Barry (New Yorker: The Author’s Voice podcast)

“An honest woman” by Ottessa Moshfegh (New Yorker: The Author’s Voice podcast)

Happy December, folks.