Hello!

Happy October!

Book News . . .

When I was a kid, I chose books by weight. If there was a choice between two novels, I’d select the biggest one – then, if I liked it, there was all the more to enjoy. All my life, my bags have been heavy with books as big as bricks!

So it’s been an unusual change for me this month to be writing a short story! And, to my surprise, I’m really enjoying it. It’s a completely different challenge from writing novels, and it’s also given me the pleasure of returning to the world of Dirt – the story is a spin-off featuring Sam and the town of Newbeck. I’ll update you on how it turns out when I've finished it…

Reading recommendation

This month, Substack magazine Bending The Arc returns with a new edition! I’m part of the editorial team, gathering stories, poems and features that aim to bend the arc of the possible towards a thriving future on earth. It’s free to subscribe, and you’ll get a daily post for a fortnight – sign up here.

If you’re after a chunky YA book to read, check out Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. It’s a space opera epistolary novel set in 2575! I didn’t even know I liked novels set in space, but this one had me absolutely hooked. The story of teenage colonist Kady and her boyfriend Ezra is told through a secret file of accumulated documents, and the design of the pages is fabulous – it really feels like you’re holding a bulging folder of classified reports, censored emails, CCTV transcriptions, interviews and more. There are illustrations including diagrams of spaceships and pages that are entirely black, with words looping across them like flight trails. A compulsive, gorgeous book!

Lazy green wins #16

Searching the internet is an everyday essential, but recent AI innovations means that many searches are taking 10 times more energy than they used to. Search engines like Bing and Google are automatically using AI to return results and create summaries – Google’s energy usage has increased by 50% since 2019.

You can save emissions without expending any energy yourself!

To avoid AI summaries you don’t want:

1. Choose a search engine that doesn’t use them, like Ecosia or OceanHero, and set it as your default browser or homepage.

2. Feel good about every search – Ecosia plants trees and OceanHero collects plastic bottles from the oceans on your behalf.

3. Use bookmarks/favourites (or type URLs in directly when you know them) and cut your browsing-related carbon emissions by 35%.

Easy!

Do you have any tips for ethical internet use or online shopping? Let me know if you do!

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Until next time, Happy reading! Laura

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