Here is what I’ve read over the last few weeks. The order is an interesting accident. All of these books – ‘of course!’ you’ll mutter – ponder what it is to be human in the face of all the odds. Or in the case of The  Island of Dr Moreau in the is-that-even-a-face of all the seriously-odd. It has been a wild galloping meditation on confronting mortality, the will to survive, and belief in humanity. There is nonsense, sexism, fumbled attempts at adressing sexism, awkward sex and a hero who will only kiss to the right. I’ve had a whale of a time. Highly recommended.

The Bees – Laline Paul

The Earthsea Quartet – Ursula le Guin

The Island of Dr Moreau – H.G. Wells

The Chrysalids – John Wyndham

Invasion of the Body Snatchers – Jack Finney