What we’re reading, watching, and listening to

Yannis

Reading: Fiction: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey and Strange Pictures by Uketsu. Non-fiction: The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff

Watching: The Pitt (HBO, Medical Show), Hunter X Hunter (Anime), Mo Gilligan – In the Moment (Stand-Up Comedy Special), Skyscraper Live (Alex Honnold free-solo climbing the Taipei 101)

Listening to: Rage Against the Machine (politically relevant, cathartic headbanging at its best), We Like it Here – Snarky Puppy (Jazz wizardry), Behind the Bastards (podcast about history’s worst individuals, past and present)

Else

Reading: In an currently reading Birth of a Dynasty by Chinaza Badoo (very good fantasy book) also because it is Black History month AND I really wanted to read it.
I’ve also been reading an ARC of Feminism for a World on Fire by Natasha Walter. This book (coming out in May) is a non-fiction about how the world is on fire and feminism too. But also hopeful about how we could move away from individualism and towards collective action to really change the world for the better. Also, feminism is so very very intersectional, it is not a single thing, but intersects with everything.

Watching: I have been watching THE WINTER OLYMPICS. It is one of my favorite times of year (actually every two years) in which I get two weeks of sitting in front of my TV watching other people compete in the coolest sports. Winter Olympics is great, cause everything is mega dangerous and there is also Curling. I’ve been very much into the freestyle skiing and snowboarding, and their big air event. So basically just people going down slopes on either skis or a snowboard doing flips and stuff.

Listening to: I’ve been listening to the voices in my head, but also started with book 8 of Malazan of the Fallen, Toll the Hounds. You can read all about my Malazan reread on the blog.
As for music, I’ve been jamming to Bloodywood again lately, my favorite Indian Folk Metal band. Their latest album Nu Delhi is a masterpiece. And I sometimes change it up by putting my favorite EP of all time, Cold Dark Place by Mastodon, on repeat. I managed to clock in over 550 times of listening to that EP last year, so I want to beat that PR this year of course.

Simone

Reading: Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah and The Fix by David Baldacci

Watching:  BBC Documentaries from the sixties – The Christmas Party is one of them.

Listening to: Neil Frances Mix on Spotify

Iris

Reading: Arcana Academy by Elise Kova. A magical, political, dark academia Romantasy title from a new-to-me author. Not entirely my usual fare, but I’m enjoying it so far (I love a magic school) and the magic system is great.

Watching:  I recently started a rewatch of Call the Midwife, a BBC series set in the 50s and 60s that follows a group of nurses/midwives in London’s impoverished Poplar district. It can be somewhat melodramatic, but the underlying message of community is actually kind of nice given, you know, *gestures broadly at everything*.

Listening to: Unend, a sci-fi audio drama podcast by Third Person. It’s sort of a sequel to their series Midst, or at least set in the same strange universe, but has a little less of the radio play vibe and animation, and is more focused on the narration. The storytelling and the music are incredibly impressive!

Emma

Reading: I am starting Heather Fawcett’s Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter soon.

Listening to: I have started listening again to one of my all time favorite artists, Loreena McKennitt. I really like the “Being Well” Podcast by Forest and Rick Hanson, great insights in a kind tone. Also I love Miracle Forest‘s and ASMR Weekly‘s ambience videos on YouTube for while I am crafting.

Naomi

Reading: I’m currently making my way through Cara Devlin’s Spencer & Reid Mysteries series. They are historical mystery books with a romantic subplot, about a female morgue attendant and a Scotland Yard detective. They’re fun reads with a compelling mystery each book. I’ve just finished the fourth book Cloaked in Deception, two more to go!

Watching: I am watching The Pitt: it’s an excellent medical drama with competent, kind people who are passionate about their jobs. You get one episode per week, which is honestly really fun and it means I have something to look forward to every Friday. My partner and I are also watching The Boyfriend, a Japanese gay dating show. It’s cozy and wholesome, perfect for cold evenings at home.

Listening to: I have been listening to the Maintenance Phase podcast again. I love this podcast! It’s so informative and very, very entertaining. The hosts do a great job of breaking down information on the “wellness sector” and its issues. Plus, Aubrey Gordon (one of the hosts) has the best laugh ever. I’ve also been listening to Noah Kahan’s new single, The Great Divide, non-stop. The album comes out April 24th, sorry in advance to all my colleagues.

Iris M.

Reading: I’m rereading Dragon Wing for the n^th time. It’s the first of seven books in the Death Gate Cycle by Margareth Weis and Tracy Hickman. I cycle (ha) through the series every so often after first reading these books as a kid. Weis and Hickman are definitely among the authors who set my expectations for the genre. Both the genre and my reading tastes have evolved significantly since then, but these books have stayed with me.
Speaking of, I’m also slowly reading The Fellowship of the Ring for a buddy read. It’s my first time ever reading The Lord of the Rings in English, which feels long overdue considering how much I love it.

Watching: Even though I haven’t read the books, I just watched the second season of the Percy Jackson series.

Listening to: Podcasts and audio books are not my cup of tea! Music, however, is. Today I’m listening to Younger Brother’s The Last Days of Gravity: absorbing, introverted psytrance that is a little weird but not as wacky as their big counterpart, Shpongle. An all-time favorite for me. Next up: Caroline’s Caroline 2, another turn of the screw on a mix of indie/folk/rock with a varied mix of instruments and vocals.

Bella

Reading: I’m currently reaping the benefits of working at a bookstore by reading the ARC of my favorite author’s new book. It’s called Sisters in Yellow by Mieko Kawakami. It’s a contemporary noir novel that starts off amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and then goes back to 1990’s Tokyo. It’s about a young girl, Hana. Her relationship with her mother is strained, and they’ve been living on the margins. She runs away at age 17 and starts working as a hostess at a bar and living with other women and teenage girls in the same situation. With them, she has created a found family, and things are looking up. As time goes by, the girls have to make more and more dangerous decisions… Deep betrayals, friendship, adult cruelties, and teenage dreams are at the center of this novel.
My next read is going to be a horror book! I’ve got three options to pick from:

• Ghost Station by S. A. Barnes
• Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracassi
• The Witch & The Priest – Hilda Lewis

Watching: My partner and I are watching Spy x Family season 3 together. It’s an anime about a ‘family’ of three: Loid Forger (he pretends to be a Psychiatrist, but is secretly a Spy), Yor Forger (she pretends to work at City Council, but is an assassin by night), and Anya Forger (she’s a child who can read minds!). Anya knows what her adoptive parents really are while they are unaware of each other’s real identity and Anya’s mind reading power. It’s wholesome and funny! On the side, I keep up with the weekly releases of Jujutsu Kaisen season 3 episodes.

Jilles

Reading: I am rereading The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub now that it has been announced that the third book in the series is coming at the end of the year, even though Straub has been dead for a couple of years. King writes that Straub sent him a letter with an outline for the book which he has used and added that he was “channeling” Straub while writing it.
The Talisman is an adventure novel partly inspired by Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. It tells the story of Jack Sawyer, who finds out he can travel between two worlds, this one and the Territories, where for most of us our twins live. Jack is unique, he doesn’t have a twin anymore. His reason to undertake this journey is to save his mother “Queen from the B movies” who is dying from cancer, and the Queen of the Territories, his mother’s twin who has a mysterious disease and is also dying. Accompanying him on his journey is a band of merry men, big and small, hairy and otherworldly. A really fun read and nice to revisit the Territories, with the third book in mind.

Camil

Reading: Currently reading The Wandering Earth by Cixin Liu. This is a science fiction short story collection which I thoroughly enjoy reading. Every day a new setting, idea, or situation is explored. This is also the best part about this book, it is focused on concepts and ideas rather than individuals. The Marco scale and lens of storytelling makes it really reflective and escalatory.
My favorite so far is the short story called Mountain. This is about a ex-mountaineer who has been outcast by society and now lives permanently at sea but finds new meaning when extraterritorial beings arrive.
Always surprising, varied, thoughtful, and speculative. I really enjoy reading this.

Sophie

Reading: I just finished Brawler by Lauren Groff, which is another very good, very unsettling short story collection by her. And before that I had a quick, week-long affair with four (4) Ali Hazelwood books, all of which I adored. Nerdy science humor + yearning = always a winning combo for me. (The Love Hypothesis, Love on the Brain, Love, Theoretically, and Not in Love.)

Watching: The Winter Olympics. Though not nearly as intently as the Summer Olympics two years ago. I prefer the sun to the snow, both on TV and IRL.

Listening: Still Critical Role! Keeping up with Campaign 4 every week it airs, and fully immersed in Campaign 3 now. The more I follow along the deeper I love the characters, and the actors behind them. (I’ll get to Campaigns 1 and 2 eventually…)

Lília

Reading: At the moment I’m slowly reading The Open Veins of Latin America by Eduardo Galeano, but in Portuguese. If I’m going to read a translated work, then I prefer to read it in my mother tongue. I don’t really like geopolitics, but it is something we should be aware of and keep informed about, especially with how things have been developing in the Americas.

Watching: I’ve just finished watching Art Detectives on BBC NL, and it was a fun non-aggressive murder investigation series. I don’t know if they are going to make a second season, but its 6 episodes were great fun. And I’m watching Heated Rivalry, because as a romance reader I just love to see when a good book is brought to screen. And this one certainly does not disappoint!

Listening To: I’m listening to Less: Stop Buying So Much Rubbish, written and read by Patrick Grant, known to most from The Great British Sewing Bee. He’s a designer, among other things, and big “critic of the fashion industry, particularly the environmental damage caused by fast fashion and synthetic clothing.” He advocates we should buy less and of better quality, and love the things we have, giving them all the care necessary to make them last longer. Insightful and very much in the same line as Consumed by Aja Barber, a book I reviewed a few years back.
As well as to the Bridgerton’s playlist and Calum Scott when I go cycling. No podcasts at the moment, but I love Stitch Please, Love to Sew and Dressed: The History of Fashion when I’m in the mood. All sewing related, of course. I’m a seamstress after all! ;-)

Martijn

Reading: Just finished Twelve Months by Jim Butcher (*****), Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (***)

Watching: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (*****) and Ikusagami (Last Samurai Standing) (****)

Listening To: Lux by Rosalía

Damla

Reading: The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan. I am ever-so-slowly making my way through the Wheel of Time series, and this is the fifth book in the fourteen-book-long journey (and that’s not counting the novellas and short stories in between!)
On the nonfiction front, I am reading Yuval Noah Harari’s Homo Deus. This time, Harari speculates to what humankind’s future might look like through looking at its history.

Watching: Lately, I have been binge-watching super cute Asians fall in love with chaotic bisexuals (by which I mean Heated Rivalry and Bridgerton season 4) and I am loving it.

Listening to: 99% Invisible by Roman Mars. It’s a delightfully nerdy podcast that touches all subjects design-related, ranging from architecture to graphics, objects, infrastructure, and even sounds. Any given episode can be about a small detail in your daily life that you never gave a second thought to or about the most niche, strange factoid that you are surprised more people haven’t heard of. I always dip in and out for random episodes and it really makes me see the things around me in a whole new light.