Some things I’ve been enjoying: August 2026

When was the last time I did one of these? Last year? Here's a collection of things I've enjoyed from the last 8 months, I suppose.

Video games

Satisfactory

I knew I shouldn’t buy this game after playing the demo, but I bought it anyway, and I’ve racked up over 100 hours on it so far. Please send help.

I bounced off Factorio as I found it quite overwhelming, but Satisfactory has a bit more exploration and silliness - the in-game AI (in the actual, sci-fi sense of the word) narrator is very GLaDOS. It’s got a variety of accessibility settings, so you can turn off combat and even replace spiders with something else.

The goal of the game is to save humanity (ostensibly, I haven’t actually finished it yet) by colonising a planet, destroying its landscape and mining it for all sorts of resources, in order to ship important components for “Project Assembly”. I can’t really articulate what it is about building numerous factories, miles of pipeline and train tracks that’s occupied me for so many hours. I showed my husband the spaghetti panic attack that is the mess of conveyors I’ve built going all over the place, and he was visibly uncomfortable. But maybe you’ll be one of those players who builds everything extremely neatly. That was never going to be me.

Pokopia

Over the years I’ve dipped in and out of the Pokémon games franchise; from borrowing my friend’s Gameboy Mini to play Pokémon Blue (and keeping myself awake at night because I was scared of Missingno) through to playing Diamond on a Nintendo DS when I definitely should have been revising for my Writing Systems exam at university, I always enjoyed them, but never cared much about buying them as soon as they came out. However, the prospect of Animal Crossing x Minecraft (not that I’ve ever actually played Minecraft!) and the great reviews it was getting were too good to pass up, and I preordered Pokopia. Let me tell you: it was unbridled joy from start to finish. I certainly can’t be bothered to catch them all (never been that kind of person) but I’m looking forward to the DLC in November to give me an excuse to play it again.

If you liked Animal Crossing, you’ll love this; even if you didn’t love Animal Crossing, you’ll probably find something in this game. Maybe the endless terraforming, or hunting for new Pokémon, or the metroidvania-style skill unlocks that allow you to reach new areas (my video-game kryptonite).

Books

The Tainted Cup/A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett

This was sold to me on the premise of “botanical technology”, and I was not disappointed. A fascinating fantasy world where mycelia and plants form the basis of science, technology and magic. A murder mystery, an eccentric investigator, and our protagonist - her assistant with a magically altered mind who can remember everything he’s ever seen.

There's a third book out, which I haven't read yet.

The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir

Set in a universe of nine Houses ruled over by the Emperor Undying, and our protagonists from the Ninth House, two queer women - one an unwilling but hilarious cavalier, the other a powerful necromancer. The first book, Gideon the Ninth, sees them gather with other cavaliers and necromancers from the other Houses to take part in deadly trials to try and become powerful Lyctors, in the fight to save the universe. As the story unfolds further through the second book, Harrow the Ninth, we learn that all is not what it seems. (NB. I’ve seen these books described with “lesbian necromancers” as a selling point, but I feel like that might just be SEO because it’s really not the main point of the book and it’s not a romance. But it’s also not wrong?)

Though it took me a little time to get into the first book, by the end I was completely hooked. I’ve just finished the second, and I’ve got book 3 (Nona the Ninth) queued up to read next. If you like sci-fi with a lot of lore and worldbuilding, you’ll love it. Spaceships! Ghosts! Bone magic! A mysterious locked tomb! Endless twists!

I love the unhinged combination of flowery prose - and archaic words I had to look up - alongside, well, references to memes and occasionally coarse language. It manages to both take itself very seriously and also not seriously at all.

TV

Heated Rivalry

If you’d told me last year that one of my favourite shows of the year would be a) about ice hockey, something I know absolutely nothing about/have never watched and b) a gay sports romance, I would have many questions for you. But I’m no different from anyone else, and I’m not immune to whatever drugs this show magically transmits into your brain. I sat on the edge of my seat feeling all sorts of emotions in the club scene. All The Things She Said made it back into my frequent rotation (though, granted, it has been in my rotation for years, because it’s a banger, and did you know Trevor Horn wrote the English version??). My heart leapt into my mouth when Scott did that thing in Episode 5 and that Wolf Parade song blasted out at the emotional peak of the episode. And then the cottage. I swear I haven’t been so invested in fictional relationships since I was 15 and ran fanlistings for Green Wing characters.

But it’s not a trashy romantic series like you might expect: it’s actually a very good show, with great performances, and great showrunning. Don’t watch it on public transport.

ER

Appreciate I’m about 30 years late on this one, but we can’t always have our fingers on the pulse. I started watching this as Prime took Elementary off (temporarily, the latter seasons are back on now) which had been the show I’d watch while cooking, so I needed something to fill the void. It was a worldwide hit for a reason: it’s VERY good. Great actors, great storylines, and some great haircuts in the early seasons.

Like most shows of its time, there are some things that haven’t aged well, such as a lot of “women, am I right??" kind of comments, and unfortunately some transphobic jokes in the odd episode. I’m hoping that will stop in later series. But largely, it’s a good show.

I’ve been watching it alongside The Pitt - created by one of the ER creators - so I’m seeing some of the same episodic storylines play out in both, but I appreciate I’m supposed to have watched it 20-30 years ago and not remember it like it was yesterday because it was.

Which brings me to...

The Pitt

Listen. Your friend’s told you to watch it; your colleagues have told you to watch it; now I am telling you to watch it. It’s very good. There have been some moments that are a little heavy-handed with the PSAs, but otherwise, thoroughly recommend.

Interview with the Vampire

I only started watching this yesterday, actually, a recommendation a while ago from my husband - but with a sprained ankle and the desperate need to do literally anything other than play more Satisfactory, I got through quite a few episodes.

I've never actually read the book, and I watched the 1994 film a while back and can remember basically nothing, so I was going in without many expectations. Unlike the film, the romantic relationship between Louis and Lestat is a focal point instead of just an allusion, and Louis's experiences as a wealthy Black man in New Orleans in the early 20th century provide a very different setting to the story.

Gardening

It’s been well over a year since I redesigned my garden, and last autumn I started to make the design a reality. I’ve largely stuck to the shape and the layout of shrubs, though I’ve been a little more free with the placement of some of the perennials.
It was looking pretty nice up until the last two months where it hasn’t rained once. We’re now in a hosepipe ban, which means I have to lug watering cans back and forth, and choose which annuals to sacrifice. I planted a load of things at the end of May and sadly some of the newer plants haven’t made it.

The drought, and seeing what’s survived versus what hasn’t, has made me reconsider some of my plant choices. I chose plants that were suited to clay soil, in both full sun and part-sun/shade, but over the year I’ve identified that a) some beds get more sun than I’d thought, and b) clay soil doesn’t really make much difference if it’s dry as a bone. I’ll probably have to replace some of the plants I’d chosen with some more drought-tolerant ones. Salvias have been thriving, as has achillea and stipa tenuissima which I didn’t think would do particularly well on the clay. I've given up trying to grow hydrangeas in the front, and instead I'm going to try planting russian sage by the front wall instead.

For all I know, we could end up with a mild and rainy summer next year, in which case I could be regretting choosing drought-tolerant plants by next August. So much of gardening is just figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

My tomatoes didn’t like the extensive heat at all, and many of them got blossom end rot until I started watering them more aggressively. I used to be able to get away without watering them every single day, but in this weather I’ve had to. I’ve had a lovely crop of cucumbers and yellow courgettes, though.

Dog

I continue to greatly enjoy dog. Here's a picture of her passed out from ripping up cardboard.