In some ways it has been an ideal November – mostly very cold and sunny with blue skies, with just the occasional intense storm. I’ve taken the dog for some lovely walks and read some great books.

I also saw Wet Leg live, who were awesome of course. And I went to the Bristol Drama School production of Kae Tempest’s Brand New Ancients, which I found powerful (though the friend I went with was less convinced). Tim also took me to the cinema to see the new Running Man film, which I really enjoyed.

December has started with non-stop rain since midnight. I foresee lots of snuggly reading time this month.

Books read

Tongueless by Lau Yee-wa
Translated from Cantonese and Mandarin by Jennifer Feeley
A fascinating thriller about two teachers in Hong Kong whose lives are turned upside-down by the requirement to start teaching in Mandarin. What starts as petty bullying in the teachers’ lounge quickly turns horrific. The story is told from the perspective of Ling, a complicated woman who will lie and cajole her way through life wherever she can.

The Restaurant of Lost Recipes by Hisashi Kashiwai
Translated from Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood
This is the sequel to The Kamogawa Food Detectives, which I read at the start of the year. It continues to be sweet and gentle. Father-and-daughter duo offer an unusual detective service – they recreate dishes from their clients’ pasts. It is a little formulaic but when every chapter starts with a description of a delicious meal served to the client on arrival, I can forgive some repetition in storylines.

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
This is the fourth and final part of the Wayfarers series, which began with The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. In this novel, three strangers are passing through a small habitat dome on a planet called Gora while they await their turn entering a wormhole to continue their journeys. A disaster leaves them temporarily trapped with just each other, their host and her young child. The visitors are all different species, living very different lives. They have expectations and prejudices to deal with, as well as concerns about their delayed journeys. This is a beautiful, humane, generous story. I loved it so much.

Resist: Stories of Uprising edited by Ra Page
Short stories and essays about moments in British history when people rose up in protest, from Boudicca rising against the Roman occupation of south-east England to residents of Grenfell Tower raising safety concerns. These are not happy stories for the most part, and few led to positive change. But they are an important part of history to remember nonetheless. A really important book.

Bikes in Space 2: More Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction edited by Elly Blue
The title kinda explains it all, but this is another excellent volume of short stories. As you might expect from a Portland-based publisher, the writers are diverse and so are their characters. There’s a definite socialist, anti-corporate, queer-inclusive leaning, which is my kind of feminism.