We started the month on holiday in Paris, then spent the rest of it hiding from the miserable rain and wind back home in Bristol. On the plus side I’ve read some excellent books and watched most of a fun new K-drama series called Marry My Husband.

Happy St David’s Day and here’s to spring coming soon.

Books read

The Thing About Lemons by Tasha Harrison
While on holiday in Paris I treated myself to a few new books. This was a fun light read, a YA novel about a British teen who visits her grandfather in France. Ori has made a big mistake that messed up her romantic prospects and most of her friendships. Suddenly bereft of summer plans, her Mum encourages her to accept an invite from her estranged granddad. An initially dull, awkward road trip to the French countryside becomes, of course, a life-changing experience.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
This book is brilliant, a space opera with masses of world building, complex politics and interesting science fiction plus fantastic well-written characters and bags of diversity. The Wayfarer is an old, patched-up spaceship that tunnels wormholes with a practical crew from a variety of species and locations across the galaxy. When Rosemary Harper joins as their clerk, she is hiding a secret, but will that be what puts the crew in danger? Or will it be the mysterious business opportunity they’re suddenly offered? Or will it be the extremely illegal goods one of the crew orders in the name of love? I loved this book so much and am definitely planning to read the sequels.

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli
Translated from Arabic by Elisabeth Jacquette
In the past few months I’ve seen a lot of lists of Palestinian book recommendations, and this title is on almost every list. It’s a story in two parts. In 1949, Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian desert are “clearing” the area, which leads them to the horrific and brutal kidnap and murder of a young Bedouin woman. In the 21st century a Palestinian woman in Ramallah stumbles across this story and becomes obsessed with this “minor detail” of history. We see the constant restrictions and stresses of life under occupation. This is a tough read.

Do Tell by Lindsay Lynch
It’s 1939. Hollywood actress Edie O’Dare is months from the end of her studio contract and she knows full well it won’t be renewed. She has been paving the way for a new career by feeding insider tidbits to a gossip columnist. And now she is served up the biggest juiciest story yet. This scoop could make her famous but it could also ruin lives. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s funny and glamorous but still covers the dark, seedy and destructive aspects of the Golden Age.

A Short History of Queer Women by Kirsty Loehr
I initially struggled with the tone of this, veering a little silly and coarse for my taste. But it grew on me, largely thanks to the excellent stories packed tight into its pages. And while there might not be any footnotes or references, there is a pretty thorough bibliography. Loehr covers the history of women who loved women and/or lived as men from Sappho to Megan Rapinoe. She is careful not to apply modern labels to historical figures but she does delight in quoting from letters of famous women that reveal queerness that has been ignored or suppressed by most history books.