September was a good month. We saw friends, went on long walks and bike rides, then went on holiday where we did more long walks and bike rides!

We also watched a lot of films, old and new. I would recommend Prey, Midsommar, I Care A Lot, Smokey and the Bandit. I’m also halfway through another K-drama, which I will probably review soon despite all these read books piling up un-reviewed.

Book-wise, I started the month with literary titles that I enjoyed but found slowgoing, then moved on to science fiction that I tore through, before ending the month with a book that arguably combined the two: a sci-fi novella that was philosophical and ponderous, and largely set in a single room. The Vonnegut and McAuley were definitely my favourite reads this month, in quite different ways.

Books read

Segu by Maryse Condé
Translated by Barbara Bray
This is a historical saga following one family in the city state of Segu, in what is now Mali, starting in 1797. Dousika’s four sons embody the forces of change in their region. The Atlantic slave trade is at its peak but soon Europeans will abandon it one by one and turn to other means of stripping resources from West Africa. Islam is spreading from the east with a determination to eradicate the older “fetishist” religious beliefs. And hot on its heels comes Christianity from the west, which is equally capable of being used as pretext for seizing power. Among all this are local historic rivalries and personal grievances. The writing is gripping and evocative but I did have a problem with the number of women who are raped and then fall in love with their rapist, and the fact that the women are all background characters – despite the author being herself a woman.

Autumn by Ali Smith
After completely adoring Smith’s Girl Meets Boy, I must admit I was a little bit disappointed in this title. It’s 2016 and Britain is deeply divided after the EU referendum result. Art history lecturer Elisabeth muses on how her town has changed over the summer, from racist graffiti to her strained relationship with her own mother. She’s regularly visiting Daniel, the elderly man she grew up next door to, and through flashbacks we learn how he taught her about art and critical thinking. It’s a snapshot in time that is both timeless and is specifically 2016.

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
How to describe this weird, wonderful book? John, our narrator, had set out to write a biography of deceased atomic scientist Dr Felix Hoenikker but along the way discovers Hoenikker’s secret final invention that could destroy the world; a Caribbean island with an eccentric dictator; and the strange religion of Bokononism, which he has clearly ascribed to by the time of narrating this book. It’s playful, gripping, funny and bitingly satirical.

Austral by Paul McAuley
The most straightforward of the three SF novels I read this month, but no less of a good read. Austral, our heroine, works as a prison guard at a penal colony in Antarctica – a continent that since the climate catastrophe has become home to huge mining operations and corrupt politics. As a husky – a human with edited genes – Austral is physically well adapted to the Antarctic climate but discriminated against wherever she goes. When her prisoner boyfriend asks for a favour that goes wrong, she finds herself on the run, trying to survive everything people and nature throw at her. It’s a thrilling adventure and a terrifying depiction of how one of Earth’s most beautiful places might end up if we fail to combat the climate crisis but continue to put selfish immediate needs first.

The Flames by Olaf Stapledon
This novella requires concentration. In the aftermath of the Second World War, Cass has been in Germany assessing the living conditions of children, and this has left him troubled. So he goes on a walking holiday in the Lake District, staying at a remote farm where the only person he ever sees is the landlady who brings his food and coal for the fire. Here he encounters his first “living flame” – telepathic entities that require intense heat to survive, but for all their physical limitations have greatly surpassed humans in philosophical thinking. The rest of the story is Cass’s attempt to understand what the flames want from him and his vacillation over whether or not humans should indeed work with these advanced beings. It’s complex, told in old-fashioned dry language, and deeply melancholic.