I felt like I started the year rather more slowly than I usually do on the reading front. Not sure why – it certainly wasn’t that I was spending the time writing. I had more DNF so far in 2026 than I do over the course of most years. Anyway, here’s the usual quick wrap-up.

FICTION

The Raven Scholar, Antonia Hodgson. This boots along at a good clip, has just the right amount of world-building, and goes unexpected places. I quite liked it.

The Auctioneer, Joan Samson. This classic has been on my ‘to read’ list for ages, but it finally showed up at the library. It didn’t disappoint. Economical, chilling, and a bit too relevant to today. A mysterious man arrives in a depressed rural town and the next thing you know, you’re giving up everything you own…

You Dreamed Of Empires, Alvaro Enrigue. A ‘not strictly realistic’ version of the meeting between Cortes and Montezuma. Weird, vivid, gory, and trippy.

Everything Will Swallow You and Villager, Tom Cox. I admit it, I read these because Tom Cox does great threads on Bluesky featuring farm animals and the best alt-text ever. I thoroughly enjoyed both Everything, a novel about a used record dealer, his unusual companion, and their friends, and Villager, a collection of linked stories centering on a rural village. I suspect they both reward rereading, so will have to break down and get my own copies. And seriously, follow him on Bluesky.

NON-FICTION

Paper Girl, Beth Macy, Part memoir, part sociological study, this is another excellent book by the author Dopesick. She goes home to the small town of her childhood and complicated family and discovers what’s changed, and what hasn’t.

The Tigress of Forli, Elizabeth Lev. Sex, power, riches, battles, politics, the church – all the good stuff from Renaissance Italy appears in this book about the life of Catarina Sforza, who held her own with the Medicis and the Borgias.

The Creative Habit, Twyla Tharp. One of my favourite ways to avoid writing is to read books about creativity. I particularly enjoyed this bit of advice: “If you’re at a dead end, take a deep breath, stamp your foot, and shout “Begin!”. Probably works better in a dance studio, but it’s worth trying.