The sun is starting to put in a bit more of a showing here in the UK and spring genuinely feels like it’s not too far away now. With lighter days and warmer weather, everything seems better. Though I’ve not done loads of writing, some projects have progressed a little, and I’ve found time for loads fo reading this month too.

---

Hush continues to make progress. It’s still in the planning stage, and may well be for a long time yet. It’s such a different approach to story telling that I really want to plan it out. That’s not generally my style but I really feel the need for it this time.

My steampunk short story collection is developing too. Some of the stories come from drabbles and will likely appear in my “year in drabbles” collection next year. But they are spawning ideas so will be expanded on for this collection. There’s also one that’s a longer piece that I published on Medium, but it quickly grew in my mind. This is one on the docket to be worked on and explored in more detail and I’m excited for this one.

My daily drabbles collection is continuing well. The actual production of the book is not a factor too much right now, but I’m writing a single drabble every day meaning my collection is coming along nicely.

Stocking Stuffers is coming along as well. I’ve pulled together all of my existing festive stories and am in the process of seeing which of them could be expanded upon from their current guise. The game plan for this one will be to have it complete and ready to publish ahead of Christmas this year!

---

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

As a lover of true crime, I’ve been looking forward to this read. Set against the backdrop of the 1893 Columbian World’s Exposition, The Devil in the White City tells the story of H.H. Holmes – one of America’s first serial killers.

What I loved about this book is that it’s so different to other true crime offerings. It may sound counterintuitive, but it doesn’t focus on the grisly details about the crimes. It talks primarily of the work of Daniel Burnham and his drive to bring the World’s Fair to Chicago and to make it even more impressive than the previous one in Paris. It talks of political wrangling, money deals and the logistics of making such an event happen. And it tells of murder. But murder in the context of a bustling, alive city filled with visitors that many might not notice disappearing. It made for a fascinating read.

Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall

Not my normal sort of book, but this turned out to be immensely fascinating. It takes a look at the world and how geography has informed global politics. From attack and defence to expansion, resources and wealth – the policies of much of the world are governed by our geography.

It looks at conflicts in the past and current through the lens of geography. This goes a long way to informing why a country might act the way it does without ever condoning it. A fascinating read in the current global climate.

The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

Off the back of Jurassic Park, I was keen to try more of Crichton’s works. This one centres on a mysterious virus that sweeps through Piedmont, Arizona killing all bar an old man and a baby. Once it’s clear it came from space, the race is on to find a cure and understand how these two survived.

The opening stages of the book were tough going, mired in so much science things became almost too tough to follow. Things settled down and eventually resulted in an enjoyable read, though nothing much more than that for me.

Maus by Art Spiegelman

Maus is a stunning, thought-provoking graphic novel that contains two stories for the price of one. The first is the story of Art’s Polish Jew parents and what they endured prior to, during and after the war. What life was like in Nazi-occupied Poland and their struggles in Auschwitz are central to the story. The second story is that of the strained relationship between the holocaust survivor father and his troubled son. The art style is perfect and the use of different animals to convey the various groups in the book is incredible. A spectacular take on such a dark part of human history.

The Martian by Andy Weir

I’ve seen the film of this back when it came out, but the novel was something else. This was part of my 2025 reading challenge aimed at getting me to read books outside of my usual rereads. This novel came from the “A friend’s favourite book” category. I went with the audiobook narrated by Will Wheaton.

I love the style of this book, primarily told through the medium of end-of-day logs from astronaut Mark Watney documenting his fight to survive alone on Mars. It’s filled with gallows humour, sarcasm and wit that is perfectly conveyed by Wheaton. A top-notch novel that’s even better than the already-great movie.

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

I read a number of Agatha Christie stories over Christmas last year, a number including Poirot. So this year, I decided to read every Poirot novel Christie wrote. I’ve enjoyed the recent movie adaptations with Kenneth Brannagh and didn’t hate the slightly less recent film with John Malkovich as the titular detective. But none come close to portraying the great character as well as David Suchet.

So I was thrilled to set out on the first novel in the series and discover that he played the character perfectly. It was filled with all of the twists and turns I’d imagine a Poirot novel to discover that only the Belgian detective could puzzle out. The story was fantastic, while the mystery was deep without being overblown. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

---

Hidden Figures

Hidden Figures charts the story of a small group of women of colour and the important role they played within NASA in putting man on the moon. Based on historical events, it highlights the problematic prejudices of the times, and how some figures sought to break these down for the pursuit of success.

Not only does it display the incredible contribution to making moon landings possible, but the film also shows the change in views and the slow breaking of the segregation that had plagued the country at that time.

Moana 2

Having loved the first film, I was looking forward to this one. Okay, it didn’t have the incomparable Lin-Manuel Miranda at the helm musically this time around, but I was prepared to give it a fair go.

It made for a suitably fun second instalment, following on neatly from the first. We have Moana heading out to seek lands beyond her own as her passion to explore and connect only grows. She finds herself needing to break a curse with the help of her friends and, of course, Maui.

Overall it’s a fun film, though suffered from a lack of screen time for Maui, and one character whose further appearance was alluded to seemed to be forgotten by the end. While the music was catchy, it was clearly intended to play to the pop music crowds and lacked the charm of the songwriting in the first film.

Shrinking

I spent the weekend bingeing through the current two seasons of this series with my wife. I love Harrison Ford and was a fan of Jason Segel in the How I Met Your Mother days, so this was definitely in my wheelhouse. And it did not disappoint. The writing from Segel and Brett Goldstein is brilliant and the casting is incredible. Aside from the obvious, there’s a host of actors I don’t know and a number of faces from other shows that come together for an intelligent comedy that’s painted with deeper, more emotional moments.

It follows a group of therapists each with their own issues. One has an innate need to help, another is suffering Parkinson’s and the other is grieving the loss of his wife. They try to navigate their own issues, friendships, and relationships, all the while attempting to help their clients. It’s a beautiful series filled with silly humour, darker moments, and moments of deeply emotive storytelling. I’m eagerly anticipating the third season.

---

Two Point Museum

When I was little, I loved a game called Theme Hospital. A fun, management sim set in a hospital with quirky, funny illnesses to be cured. Then, back in 2018, Two Point Hospital released – a spiritual successor to Theme Hospital from the team behind the original game. This was followed by Two Point Campus and now Two Point Museum.

This is a fantastic game that builds on everything great from the first two games and takes them to new levels. It’s great fun setting up expeditions to find new exhibits, training staff and building and running a museum. It’s testing enough to be fun while being easygoing enough to be a great casual game. I cannot wait to see what the developers come up with for extra content for this game.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows

After numerous delays, the latest Assassin’s Creed game is out. I’ve been looking forward to this for some time. There have been some bang-average instalments in the series but on the whole, I’ve been a fan. So when this entry set in feudal Japan was announced I was excited. And despite the controversy (real or imagined) and the toxicity seen in some quarters of the gaming community, it’s incredible. In fact, I picked up a PS5 Pro as an upgrade to my PS5 pretty much purely for this game.

Visually it is beautiful. The landscape, the scenery and the colours are something else. The character models are immense and the physics are next level. Biased or not, I don’t care. With over 10 hours of play at the time of writing, I love this game. Everything from the graphics to the story and more tick the boxes for me and I am more than content to know this will see many hours of my free time disappear!

---

That’s everything for this month! I’m really enjoying sharing more about what I’m working on and getting up to in these monthly updates. Please do leave a comment with your thoughts on them, and if there’s anything else you’d like to see in these going forward!

You can keep up with what I’m up to on Instagram, Facebook, Goodreads, The StoryGraph, Threads, and sign up for my Newsletter to get my blog posts delivered directly to your inbox!