Something bookish this way comes

Effie, brace yourself

I have birthed a new book. It is still sheltering in the neonatal incubator known as “copyediting” at the moment, but it nonetheless exists. Fully formed, fragile, and untouched by the hands of marketing and publicity. There isn’t even a cover I can share with you. There is, however, something I can share.

My lovely UK publisher (Oneworld Publications) is headed to a sales conference soon, and asked me to put together a video where I explain what my book (HUMANISH) is all about. It is my first public attempt to summarize the book. Here is it:

Now, aside from the fact that I look like my father in this video (or maybe your father?), and my new “statement” glasses make me look like a local librarian, I think I did a fairly decent job of explaining what the book is about. I am particularly happy that I found that image of Soviet Super babies that drink dolphin milk:

I am not going to provide any context for this image as it’s meant to make you want to read the book to find out what the hell is going on.

As soon as I have more I can reveal - a cover, for example - I will let you know. I am particularly excited to see the cover as the folks at my US publisher (Little, Brown) have a crack team of designers on the case. More soon!

In other news, I thought I would share with you a photo of the actual pile of books on my nightstand waiting to be read:

I am currently reading John Dies at the End by Jason Pargin. It’s bonkers, and apparently was made into a movie, which is a bold move. I like Pargin’s writing. But you do have to be in the mood for it. And I think that mood is either “slightly unhinged” or “mildly drunk”.

Next up is Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I really loved Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time - especially since it dealt with animal intelligence/cognition to some extent. And my pal Donovan (owner of The Curious Cat Books and Tea) says I will like this one. I dig Tchaikovsky’s writing, although I am infinitely jealous at how prolific he is as a writer.

Then there’s The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden, one of my wife’s favorite authors, and Klara and The Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, a much-lauded book about AI or maybe robots (I have been told). I always ALWAYS need a book about robots on my nightstand or I get antsy.

Then there’s This Book is Full of Spiders, which is a follow-up to John Dies at the End. And then Benny and the Blue Whale by Andy Stanton (of Mr Gum fame). Stanton wrote this book by giving ChatGPT a series of prompts to churn out a bonkers story that he comments on throughout the book. I am hoping this book will give me the opportunity to gloat at how much better humans are than LLMs at generating stories ideas and prose.

The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson is something I expect to be brilliant, given how much I enjoyed A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Eragon author Christopher Paolini could be good, although I started it and then relegated it to deeper into the pile as I was just not in the mood. Sometimes these “thick” Sci-fi books require a specific headspace for me to enjoy. I typically need to be on vacation to get into them.

I picked up Accelerando by Charles Stross because the book flap copy starts with “The Singularity. It is the era of the posthuman.” and I am a sucker for that kind of thing.

And finally Binti: The Complete Trilogy by Nnedi Okorafor. I read Noor and really enjoyed it, so there’s a large chance I am going to read everything ever written by Nnedi Okorafor.

And lasty, I have one movie recommendation for you. I really enjoyed My Old Ass, written and directed by Megan Park. The title is somewhat off-putting I must say, and does not convey how fundamentally sweet and endearing this film is. It was filmed in cottage country in Ontario (Muskoka Lakes) and really captures the beauty of that area, and that achingly pleasant feeling of spending time in a cabin/cottage on a lake. And the film feels Canadian, if you know what I mean. It’s a coming of age story with queer characters that somehow also involves time travel. Maisy Stella is quite phenomenal as the lead, and Aubrey Plaza gives a grounded, and utterly charming performance. I just love indie films featuring original content and comedic female leads. More of this, please.