My reading habits seem to ebb and flow with the state of the news. The worse the latter, the less reading. So you can guess how much reading got done in 2022 and 2021 despite my best intentions.

Part of the problem might also be that great books can often intimidate a writer. (But also inspire, fortunately).

For example, nothing can seemingly compare to the world building in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s science fiction. His Children of Time series features civilisations of such creativity and plau...