What I’m reading: Sept 2026

Temperatures are cooling, and that autumnal, back-to-school feeling is in the air. Hurrah! I tend to set my resolutions in September each year rather than January, so I’m excited to start on a brand new year of reading.

First up, I’m looking forward to reading Intentional: How to Finish What You Start by Chris Bailey. The author was kind enough to send me a copy at launch, and I’ve been saving this specifically for my September reading list. If you haven’t read it, or any of his other books, I’d highly recommend them. The paperback edition of Intentional is on pre-order and comes out in January 2027.

Next on my list is Clive Humby’s latest: “AI, Data Judgement, and the Enterprise:
Why the next competitive advantage is data maturity, not model access”. I’m always interested to hear Clive’s take on the industry. I still use one of my favourite Clive quotes with clients: when it comes to data, ‘be cool, not creepy’.

I’m a big fan of literature in translation – not a massive surprise, given I studied modern languages at university with lots of translation papers in my finals! Sadly, Japanese is not (yet) one of the languages I speak, and so I’ve devoured Mieko Kawakami’s other novels in their English translations. I can’t wait to read Sisters in Yellow.

What I’m reading: June

New month? New reads! I usually have several books on the go, which I understand is controversial in some quarters, but it’s the way I prefer to read. I love making connections between different books, genres, ideas, disciplines… and my habit of switching between books helps me to do this. Currently in my reading stack:

Demystifying Evaluation – David Parsons

Last year’s Social Research Association conference piqued my interest in the differences in evaluation between the social/third sector and the private sector. Much of the terminology – and the methods – seem similar across both sectors, and I’m enjoying digging into a new frame of reference. More news as I have it.

Fun fact: the author, Professor Parsons, also runs the evaluation training courses for the SRA.

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What I’m reading: April

I read a lot; I always have done. Daughter of a librarian – it was always inevitable that I would spend a lot of time with my nose in a book. Books make me see the world in different ways, from different perspectives, and frankly, they make me a better researcher (and human).

With that in mind, I thought I’d share what I’m reading at the moment:

Hybrid Ethnography – Liz Pryzbylski

Enjoying this one so far. Liz is a musicologist who immerses herself in the communities she researches, online, offline and in-between. She researches hip hop performance practices and popular music, which is fascinating, but her methods apply widely.

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Social Research Association Conference: blurring boundaries & crossing frontiers

I attended the Social Research Association Annual Conference in London recently. As a Market Research Society member, it felt a little like going undercover… but I immediately felt very much at home. And much like the MRS Annual Conference, it was inspiring to be surrounded by so many smart, creative researchers and to spend a day learning from their work, their challenges and their successes. So here are my key highlights and takeouts from this year’s SRA conference, ‘Blurring boundaries and crossing frontiers in social research’

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Marie on ResearchLive: uncertainty & the insight community

I was delighted that Research Live asked me to contribute to their series of industry vox pops. Their first question was:

“How do you think uncertainty – political, social, economic – is impacting the insight community, both clients and agencies?”

Click here to hear my comments, and keep an eye out for my client and conference co-presenter, Ruth Hinton from Vue Entertainment’s views later on.