Well, Tim and I have both now had COVID and survived, which makes the world feel a bit less scary. Obviously we know we can be re-infected, and it wouldn’t necessarily be the same a second time round, but for now we’re enjoying the higher level of immune protection and the psychological relief of our worst fears not being realised.

I read four books this month, which is a big drop from Jan and Feb, but three of them were science fiction and two of those I found pretty challenging. Plus I had COVID and then the weather got glorious and I mostly wanted to be outside.

My favourite book this month was The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders (see below for a brief summary), which I liked so much that even when I felt absolutely awful on my first day of having COVID, I avidly read for the majority of the day. Usually when I’m sick I struggle to read and turn to TV instead. Not sure if it’s because COVID is a different kind of sick to my usual, or if I’m turning to the wrong kinds of books at those times.

I did also watch a lot of TV as per usual, don’t get me wrong. This month I discovered Man Like Mobeen, This Way Up and The Woman Across the Street From the Girl in the Window – which are all ideal if you need to laugh. And as for films, even just the really good ones make for a long list. I can recommend Mixtape, A Quiet Place, Columbus, Encanto, Colombiana and Tick Tick Boom.

Last weekend I went to visit family and friends in the Forest of Dean for the first time in months, and it was really lovely to see everyone, as well as taking the dog on multiple long walks in proper woods. I’m hoping today’s snow flurries don’t mean the spring is postponed for too long.

Books read

The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders
I loved this. It’s an SF novel about a tidally locked planet that was settled by humans hundreds of years earlier, long enough for its own various histories, societies, myths and politics to develop. There are some very alien aliens and some interesting geoengineering. But it’s also a story about some fantastically interesting and varied characters, who each have their own journeys to make – physically and emotionally.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin
This was chosen for my work book club on the theme of gender, which it certainly explores in an interesting way and did result in a great discussion. It’s structured as a report by an envoy to the planet Gethen, whose people have evolved from humans as we know it to become androgynous. It’s a very cold, hostile planet and Le Guin cleverly ties this into how Gethenians have developed and structured their societies. As it was written in 1969, the attitude of the envoy feels very old fashioned now, but Le Guin’s core idea remains brilliant.

Tower by Bae Myung-hoon
Translated from Korean by Sung Ryu
Another high-concept SF idea, but this time an Earth-bound one that examines power structures and local-level politics. This book is a collection of short stories set in a 674-storey skyscraper called Beanstalk that is a sovereign nation. While we get glimpses of the high-level government, border issues and disputes with other countries, most of the stories look at something much smaller that explores an aspect of this concept. For instance, one is about an elevator architect who is frustrated by the rivalry between vertical transport teams and horizontal transport teams – a rivalry so extreme that it’s become part of many citizens’ political identity. Another story is a series of letters between a man employed as private security on Beanstalk and various members of his estranged wife’s family. I mostly loved this, but sometimes Bae got a little too into the minutiae of bureaucracy, which I know was making an important point but did make the writing slower-going.

Mr Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo
This is a sweet, funny – and sometimes sad – novel about a 74-year-old Antiguan man who thinks it might finally be time to leave his wife of 50 years for the man he’s secretly been in a relationship with for 60 years. It doesn’t ever make sweeping statements about the Caribbean community in Britain, but is still very much centred in that world. Our hero Barry can be rather old fashioned and misogynistic, but of course that gives him space to evolve over the novel. I like that Evaristo acknowledges both that Barry was in some ways a great husband who treated his wife well, but also that the situation is ultimately painful and unfair on both of them.