Book 39: Solvej Balle's On The Calculation Of Volume Vol. IV and a Vault City Mini Choc Eggs stout.

I was right to be excited about this; very probably the best book I have read all year.

Book 38: Esther García Llovet's Sanchez (one of today's @vocebooks.bsky.social purchases) and a DEYA Off Piste Campfire S'mores.

Modern British Studies Conference 2026 - University of Birmingham Conference information

Registration for MBS2026 is now open! Registration link and the conference programme can be found here: www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/moder...

Book 37 is one I've been looking forward to: Polly Barton's What Am I, A Deer? (from @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social).

(But I do basically treat these books as holiday reads, so I'm not too bothered by that.)

I find them a bit too clever by half. I have enjoyed the Yokomizo novels I have read, but the resolutions strain credulity...

I'm enjoying Tokyo Express (about a third of the way through) far more than Inspector Imanishi Investigates. I like the feel of both, but the latter felt quite contrived...

A stack of books consisting of (in the order in which they were read) Eduardo Halfon's Tarantula, Sunil Amrith's The Burning Earth, Seichō Matsumoto's Inspector Imanishi Investigates, Ya'ang Shuāng-zi's Taiwan Travelogue, Asako Yuzuki's Hooked, Meiko Kawakami's Sisters In Yellow, Yukio Mishima's Voices of the Fallen, and Seichō Matsumoto's Tokyo Express. Plus my lovely heron mug.

Books 29-36 were read in Vienna or in Maastricht or on trains in between.

I suspect this is true - for me, at any rate. I have been on some form of social media since Usenet* in the '90s, and if this place doesn't survive I am probably done.

* Ask your dads, kids.

Book 28: Shahrnush Parsipur's Women Without Men and a Fauve Bière Tiramisu d'Occitanie.

I suspect a bit of both. There is a definitely lack of carrying in the pack without Tom Willis and (Tuilagi aside) England have not had a centre of the requisite quality for about twenty years.

Well, there's also knowing what the data tells you to do and having players able to execute that...

I think that data-heavy approach is just how elite sport works now. Has been true in football for some time now (and you can see how metrics like xG have changed how the game is played).

Book 27 is something a bit different: Sam Larner's Attacking The Space and a DEYA Hotel Frog.

Book 26: Matteo Melchiorre's The Duke.

Book 25: Dorothy Tse's City Like Water and a DEYA Nitro Hokum.

Worlds Unknown YouTube video by Cut Worms - Topic

Cut Worms (aka Max Clarke) has done what he always threatened to do: made a Big Star record.

A stack of CDs against the backdrop of my spotty wallpaper, including - takes a deep breath - Big Special's National Average, Cut Worms' Transmitter, Bill Callahan's My Days of 58, The Wave Pictures' Gained/Lost, Iron and Wine's Hen's Teeth, The Delines' The Set Up, Lucinda Williams' World's Gone Wrong, Bonnie Prince Billy's We Are Together Again, Kieran Hebden and William Tyler's 41 Longfield Street Late '80s, Greg Freeman's Burnover, Margo Cilker's Valley of Heart's Delight, Bonny Light Horseman's s/t album, Wednesday's Bleeds, Waxahatchee's Saint Cloud, Case Oats' Last Missouri Exit, and Rolling Blackouts C.F.'s The French Press.

Two days of marking has not made for a fun weekend, but it has been an excuse to listen to a lot of records...

Book 24: Saraid de Silva's Amma.

Book 23: Antonella Lattanzi's Things That Go Unspoken.

Book 22: Elisa Shua Dusapin's The Old Fire and a DEYA BA Imperial Hokum.

Book 21: Sigrún Pálsdóttir's Boudoir.

Book 20: Yoshiko Shibaki's Susaki Paradise - one of today's @vocebooks.bsky.social purchases - and a @verdantbrew.bsky.social Putty.

Rahkeem Cornwall's AMAZING Five-Wicket Haul! | CPL 2024 YouTube video by CPL T20

For the uninitiated. "What a time to be alive!"

The fact that cricket offers a place for the likes of Rakheem Cornwall is, in my opinion, one of the best things about the sport.

Book 19: Maria Stepanova's The Disappearing Act (from @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social).

Book 18: Neige Sinno's Sad Tiger.

Book 17: Eimear McBride's The City Changes Its Face and a Põhjala Faraway Friends.

Book 16: Liliana Colanzi's You Glow In The Dark - a @vocebooks.bsky.social recommendation - and a Pühaste Kuuvalge.