What Else are you Reading - 2026 > Likes and Comments

New year, new thread. What other books are you reading this year?

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Preparing for the show.

Three Shattered Souls by Mai Corland , a smash up of Ancient Korean History and Korean Mythology, 3rd book in the Broken Blades series, plus a new Dresden book this month on the 20th, Twelve Months by Jim Butcher. Finished I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom in 4 days, fun read but...

Available now on Libby brought me some T. Kingfisher things I haven't read before - I'm liking Clockwork Boys and will probably just push on with the series after.

Haaa, I finished a book yesterday and am first in line at LAPL for the latest Wayward Children book out...today! *champs at bit*

Just finished Coyote Blue by Christopher Moore.
This is one of his earlier books and not one of his best, in my opinion. The main reason it's not 5 star worthy is because of the unlikable main characters, particularly Coyote, the trickster god of Native Americans. At least we get to see the origin of Minty Fresh, a favorite side character of mine from later books.

Next is Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures by Stephen Fry.

So far I have read five books this year.
Jaws. I thought the book was great in the beginning, became somewhat dull, and then redeemed itself in the last three or four chapters. The intensity of the end was good, and reminded me of Moby Dick. I can't help believing that the story was inspired by that classic.

The Far Side Gallery 3 Another Gary Larson collection of oddly intellectual comics making fun of science, satire societies, and farming.

The Lone Ranger and the Mystery Ranch I found this book in an antique store. I used to love watching the Lone Ranger during Saturday morning cartoon time. The book read just like an old episode of the Lone Ranger and my nostalgia itch was scratched.

A SUB AND A SUBMARINE: The Story of H.M. Submarine R19 in the Great War A book written for young readers following a young sub Lt. on the British Sub R19. The book is full of non-stop action.

On Stranger Tides It was recommended that I read this book. I was told that the Disney series "Pirates of the Caribbean," was based off of this book. I was skeptical, but the book is full of see battles, famous pirates like Blackbeard, magic, intrigue, betrayal, and even a bit of sexual perversity brought on from desperation. So far, this is the only book that fits in with the genres lived by this book club.

I am currently reading: The Murder on the Links. This is an Agatha Christie mystery revolving around her detective Peroit. It started out a little slow, but I am a little over halfway into it and the pace has quickened considerably. The detective is now burdened by a second related murder to solve. I await with baited breath to learn who the killer(s) is/are, and wha their nefarious motive was. Hopefully my wife sleeps in a while longer while I get to the bottom of it.

As well as revisiting all 7 of the Dungeon Crawler Carl audiobooks, I finished These Burning Stars.

It's a complex story, bouncing around timelines and POV. I wasn't sure who I was supposed to be rooting for; none of the characters were particularly sympathetic and many were just nasty. Jury is out on whether I'll continue the series.

Read Through Gates of Garnet and Gold today. This is the 11th book in the series and with Wayward Children, odd numbers are questing tales! This installment does not disappoint. So happy to have another tale with Nancy. I love this series and all its characters so much.

Just finished Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures by Stephen Fry. This is the second book in his series retelling the Greek myths. I've been interested in mythology since before even SF so it was right in my wheelhouse. Excellently written with dry, British humor and you can hear his voice in your head as you read. I highly recommend it.
It does end sooner than you think as the last quarter is all glossary and index.

Next is Where the Evil Dwells by Clifford Simak.

I am reading The Blackfire Blade by James Logan the follow up to The Silverblood Promise which I really liked. Also doing the audiobook Twelve Months by Jim Butcher. Very interested in where this series will go after the last two books.

I jumped into Twelve Months after not reading a lot of the previous ones. I guess the last book Battle Ground (good title) was action packed. Twelve Months has been sold out at my mall B&N.

I picked up a copy of Matter by Iain M Banks in a second hand book shop. I binge read all his books years ago so this is a re-read for me. It’s a fascinating mash-up of medieval and futuristic worlds which somehow co-exist. Still love his work!

I listened to the technothriller The Oxygen Farmer and thoroughly enjoyed it. 5 stars

I’m reading The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson, a twisty tale of intrigue and betrayal set at a contest to find the next emperor/empress of a magical kingdom. It’s excellent game of thrones esque fun (but not so violent and rapey) and I think I will probably be nominating it for this year’s March Madness.

A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett is a fun read!

Finished The Blackfire Blade in 4 days, great Found Family tale. Added The Strength of the Few to finish out my first month of 2026. This year has started out great. Also read Outlaw Planet by the great M.R. Carey, one of the best Science Fiction writer out there. Not often we get the SF/ Western smashup, but Carey pulled it off, the 3rd book in the Pandominion series,

Read Twelve Months by Jim Butcher yesterday. The last several novels in particular had been building pretty relentlessly and with little respite or opportunity to recover for Harry. Then the events of Battleground were massive and overwhelming. There were widespread losses, massive destruction, and intensely personal losses by Dresden in particular in the last novel. As it landed on top of everything else Harry had endured, he reached a breaking point. Yet as I suspect many have experienced in their own lives it was the sort of breaking point in which all the people depending on him meant he had to keep pushing through each day.

Lots of major plot points still happen in Twelve Months including a largish concluding fight. No rest for the weary in the Dresden Files. But a substantial portion of this novel is focused on grief and recovery.

I actually started that then went back to Battle Ground.

I am now listening to The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant . It is so far a fun listen and short.

I read The Female Man by Joanna Russ, which was released in 1975, fifty years ago. Four identical women separated by probability are put together for a reason only revealed at the end of the novel. The novel explores how each of these women are shaped by their different upbringings. Disturbing and thought provoking.
I am reading A Memory of Light (Book #14 of the Wheel of Time) by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. The Epic Fantasy concludes. I plan to read The Price of Spring (Book #4 of the Long Price Quartet) by Daniel Abraham next. Both the cities of the Khjaem and the Empire of Galt suffered great defeats against each other. Otah and Maati must come to terms with the consequences of their mistakes.

Finished a few more,

Ticket 9672 aka The Lottery Ticket: "Though sleep is called our best friend, it is a friend who often keeps us waiting!" A strange endearing story about a lottery ticket. The first half of the book had me bored to near to death, but it finally picked up in the middle. Jules Verne is notorious for that.

The Lone Ranger Another book for nostalgia. It's a short book full of epic moments of adventure and daring. Some of the violence may be seen as too much for today's youth, which is oddly dichotomic when one thinks about the TV shows and games they are allowed to play.

Fallen Angels, Giants, Monsters and the World Before the Flood: How the Events of Noah's Ark and the Flood Are Relevant to the End of the Age This is a non-fiction book about pre-flood creatures that came about due to angels fornicating with earthly women. The book also covers the re-emergence of many of these types of creatures after the great flood. This book is relevant to this book club because it discusses creatures that have been used in fantasy novels since Homer's time.

Currently working through two books:

Pilgrim: A Medieval Horror Just started this one. I am only about 100 pages into it and have about 590 more to read. So far, it's not scary. The main character is part of a group of German people who fought to take the Holy City. There is a mention of Saladine just before the characters depart. I am interested to see how this one turns out. So far, it's different than any other book I have read.

The Lost City of the Monkey God Finally, I am tearing through this one. It is not a hack and slash, or science fiction, but there is plenty of adventure, and it has science in it. Halfway through it and can't put it down.

I just finished In Stasis by Ashley Peters. It's by a local author and I attended a book launch event last month at a local independent bookstore.

The book is set in a near future US autocratic dystopia from 2044-2050. The book was written prior to the events of 2025 and the closing of the autocratic vise is based on an array of historical regimes. The author had to write and add a note to that effect prior to publication because there are parts of the constructed dystopia that align uncomfortably close to the actual events of 2025.

This novel is different from most in the genre because it's primarily the story of Jessi and her faithful dog Janus living mostly alone and off the grid in a small house built up in a tree. The house is a place her family had already owned and all we know for certain about its location is that it's about 20 hours from Austin, TX. Jessi flees Austin in flashbacks since the "present" of the novel opens with Jessi and Janus already in their isolated tree house. The flashbacks of the couple of years leading up to her escape work well in contrast to her present reality. Every chapter is dated so there's no confusion about the time or setting.

Much of the story is therefore Jessi's thoughts as she works out how to survive and take care of herself and Janus. News of the larger world comes in flashbacks, snippets caught in radio segments when she can find a station, and news from her infrequent hiking trips to a small trading settlement about a dozen miles away.

The conclusion, however, gets more than a bit intense despite the very gradual build-up.

The writing style is almost lyrical in a lot of places. It's challenging to maintain a story told from the perspective of a person alone with their thoughts, but Ashley Peters pulls it off. I definitely recommend the novel.

Now reading:

- Someplace to Be Flying—this month's S&L pick. About 15% in and liking it so far. Looking forward to finding out more about the Crow Girls.

- Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia by Christina Thompson (audio version). Very good indeed. Thompson explains what we know about how the Polynesians spread their society through the vast emptiness of the Pacific. One thing is for sure, they were hands down the best open ocean navigators ever (before modern tools).

Scott wrote: "I just finished In Stasis by Ashley Peters. It's by a local author and I attended a book launch event last month at a local independent bookstore.

The book is se..."

Sounds interesting. Now in my TBR stack.

Just finished Where the Evil Dwells by Clifford D. Simak. I've read some pretty good books by Simak, and this was not one of them. It had an interesting, almost D&D-like premise, but just wasn't very well written. The characters had abrupt mood swings which made them unsympathetic and things happened, seemingly out of the blue. The book takes place on an alternate middle-ages Earth where, hundreds of years before, there has been an incursion from another world(?) by The Evil. It's never explained but it takes the form of typical fantasy monsters like ogres, trolls and dragons. It seems that there were openings that let in Lovecraftian type beings millennia earlier as well. Our heroes go into the Empty Lands, where the monsters live, on a quest, and the story unfolds.
The main thing this book needed was a good editor.

Next is Network Effect by Martha Wells.

In the challenge thread I mentioned Hamlet, Prince of Robots which I read for a Goodreads challenge, and some people voiced an interest.

I just want to know your reaction when it gets to Hamlet staging a play, sorry, an interactive… :-D

Just finished Network Effect by Martha Wells. I loved it. I know it was a group read a couple years ago so I won't go on about the plot. I remember discussions here about the MC being possibly autism-coded. My adult son is on the spectrum and he was absolutely reflected in SecUnit. It made it a little bit more personal for me. I'd like my son to read this some day and see if he connects to it.

Next is Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett.

Phil wrote: "Just finished Network Effect by Martha Wells. I loved it. ... I remember discussions here about the MC bei.ng possibly autism-coded."

A number of interviews with Martha Wells, but this one is freely available and among other things discusses her own neurodivergence.

https://www.newscientist.com/video/24...

I'm autistic. One of my adult children is audhd and another, after a number of discussions with their therapist think it's likely they are autistic. And that fits. Really, none of my children could really be described as neurotypical though they are pretty different from each other.

Youngest and I have listened to all the books on different road trips. The voice actor who narrates the audiobooks is Kevin R Free who we knew from Welcome to Night Vale (as Kevin). Highly recommend.

I’m reading The Gate of the Feral Gods, book four of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I’m enjoying this one much more than book three.

Just finished Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman. It was a fun, quick read. It has the feel of some of his pre-DCC work (Kaiju: Battlefield Surgeon) in that there wasn't any donut shaped comic relief.

I think it's supposed to be a warning about AGI and what it could do, but it fell a little flat. Still, the psychological warfare ideas were interesting. Distractingly, Travis Baldree was the narrator to the audiobook and every time he said 'Cinnamon Rolls' I was back in Legends and Lattes.

Also completed The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick. I found this a struggle. I had trouble keeping track of a lot of characters (a common issue for me in fantasy books with weird names and titles), I felt some of the reveals were very obvious, the magic systems were arbitrary and there was a Batman character that really didn't do anything except appear and save the day here and there. Given this character is the 'Rook' in the series name, I assume we'll learn more in the future.

Earlier in the year, Twelve Months by Jim Butcher keep me entertained. Predictably it was a 'fallout' book with most major characters dealing with the results of the previous two books. As the title hints at, it covers a full year for Harry so it did feel like nothing was covered in much depth. Still, this is book 18 in the series and it still has my interest, which is amazing really. Hopefully the next book (Mirror Mirror) is in quick turn-around and some new ground will be broken.

Finished Blindsight and Echopraxia
excellent reads.

Now reading Downbelow Station

I finished The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel for another online book club. It's more real world based than Station Eleven, but definitely still elements of at least magical realism. I won't spoil the central plot element, though it's not especially secretive. It's also not the point. The novel explores a lot of complex characters and the ways their lives intertwine through a fluidly shifting perspective and a changing timeline. The characters are rich and interesting and the themes definitely make you think. And there is a lyrical and at times almost poetic feel to the prose. I very much enjoyed reading it.

Outside S&L genre, but I also read two other books this weekend for a different online book club and upcoming in person local author book club.

The online book club read was Game Changer by Rachel Reid. It's the prequel to the novel in the series, Heated Rivalry, I believe the much discussed HBO Max series is based on. (I haven't watched the show, but may at some point.) It's romance genre on the spicier side, but a fun quick read. My favorite scene was actually one where one of the MCs comes out to his closest friends.

Probably because of my age and being a parent, when it comes to hockey romances, I personally preferred Overtime by Tracey Richardson that I also finished in audio format this weekend. But both reads were a fun escape.

Finally, the local author book club read was The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes by Elissa R. Sloan. It was definitely intense. There is one scene where a character is finally telling her teen daughter the truth that had me in tears. It's the story of a teen girl band modeled after the Spice Girls. It's told from a point in the present of the novel, 15 years after their break-up, through multiple points of view. The three years from 1999-2002 are told through the perspective of Cassidy Holmes. The characters are all so well developed, but it's not a light read. The opening line of the novel will provide a sense of what to expect.

"The day that Cassidy died, the rest of us were in London."

I'm looking forward to the in person discussion next weekend. I definitely recommend the novel.

My year is starting with rereading the Expeditionary Force to refresh my memory of everything before reading the latest three in the series I am behind on. Should keep me busy till apirl seeing I just started the 5th book.

I recently finished reading Ranger by Onley James. A previous series (Necessary Evils) by James (first book Unhinged) featured a character with psychic abilities, and I loved her style. FYI: This series, so far, has no SFF elements, but is a spin-off from the earlier series, so I'm reading it. It is MM Romance, contemporary, with a bit of vigilante violence.
Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Just finished The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson. It was fantastic although the ending is very much setting up for the second book in the trilogy rather than concluding the story.

I’m now starting No Friend to This House, a retelling of the Jason and the Argonauts myths by Natalie Haynes

I’m reading empire of silence now after everyone has suggested it to me. Almost finished with the first book and will definitely continue with the sun eater series.

I’m also reading the last faithful and the fallen book, “Wrath”. While a really good fantasy series, I think I was looking for something slightly more fast paced. However, I’ve enjoyed it. Still a great series, just a slow burn.

Finished the audiobook of The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman, book 6 of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series.
I'm taking a break from the series to listen to the new fantasy book from Adrian Tchaikovsky, Pretenders to the Throne of God

I am reading The Strength of the Few which I had to stop once The light came on to what was going on and had to go back to start again. Read Operation Bounce House which was brilliant.

Just finished Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett. I was a little sad going into this because it was the 16th Discworld book that I read and the last unread one that I owned and I had heard other people and some reviews say it wasn't as good as his previous books because of the progression of his Alzheimer's. Let's just say my mileage varied. I thought it was as great as always. The plot was fun, the characters were sympathetic, the humour was good, and the writing was so well done I found it comforting. I've been having a very rough time for a few months so it was just what I needed.
I've got a birthday coming up and I've decided to give my friends, who have read the whole series, a list of the ones I have read so they can give me 2 or 3 of their favorites from the remainder.

Next is New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson.

I've been struggling with getting into The Strength of the Few and have been dallying with The Way of Kings Prime. I guess I'll have to return Strength of the Few to the library soon. Maybe it will need to be a different time for me. I'll be putting it on the backburner.

Sometime last year I went to an author event at one of my local bookstores (Scrawl Books in Reston, VA, for anybody local!) and picked up Fran Wilde's latest, A Philosophy of Thieves, which I've started and am intrigued so far.

Non-SFF this morning I finished Listen for the Lie. It probably has some spoiler warnings that I glossed over. They were NBD for me but obviously it being a murder mystery, murder comes up as do physically abusive relationships and psychology thereof. That said, it's about a woman who's best friend is murdered. The woman was somehow "involved" but has no memory of what happened. A true crime podcaster decides to take up the story. Some of the chapters are episodes of the podcast, which worked particularly well in the audiobook. I stayed up late last night to read and then finished it this morning over my breakfast.

Huh Scrawl books is in fact local for me!

I too had a bit of a struggle with The Strength of the Few. But I finally caught on to the 3 worlds or 3 quantum timelines and the 3 Vis. 40% in and thing are going more smoothly. I would put that in spoilers but really if you knew this going in it could prepare your mindset.

Rachel wrote: "Huh Scrawl books is in fact local for me!"

<3

Stephen wrote: "I too had a bit of a struggle with The Strength of the Few. But I finally caught on to the (view spoiler)[3 worlds or 3 quantum timelines and the 3 Vis. (hide spoiler)]"

I actually did know this (from a friend on a trivia discord) and had no problem with keeping them straight. But (view spoiler)[the real world that we knew in book 1 is really boring me and the other two are kinda slow (hide spoiler)].

Joanna wrote: "In the challenge thread I mentioned Hamlet, Prince of Robots which I read for a Goodreads challenge, and some people voiced an interest.

I just want to know your reaction when it g..."

I meant to come back and comment on this when I listened to it 2 weeks ago.

I think that was a fun meta nod, but much like the work as a whole, I felt it was guilty of finding itself too clever by half and thinking too highly of itself. I'm not a Hamlet devote though, so I am willing to believe that I missed numerous subtleties.

I just finished A Philosophy of Thieves by Fran Wilde. I've read a few of her books, including S&L pick Updraft, and I've enjoyed her work. She's local-ish to me, so when she did an event at Scrawl Books in Reston, I went and brought a friend. She was doing her tour for A Philosophy of Thieves, noting that she was influenced heavily by the heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. This definitely had multiple heists! And neat tech. And a somewhat dismal future Earth. It took me a little while to get into it, but at around the 50% mark it took off and I finished it in a day or two.

Still listening to The Assassin's Blade, a compilation of the prequel novellas to the Throne of Glass series. I read them before this, so it's interesting to get the fully fleshed out back stories of each character that we see again (or see referenced) in the main series.

Next book with my eyes will be The Future by Naomi Alderman. It came recommended by two different friends in vastly different friend groups, so I'm looking forward to it.

I read Tailored Realities by Brandon Sanderson. It is a short story collection of his science fiction stories, including a new novella called Moment Zero. I am reading Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore. It’s one of the earliest examples of an alternate history novel where the South won the Civil War. History is changed using a time machine. I plan to read 11/22 1963 by Stephen King next.

Almost done with Dauntless by Jack Campbell. Nice and quick single pov milsf.

@Gary, I stumbled upon “Bring the Jubilee” a few years ago and was curious, but haven’t actually read it yet. Curious to hear if you think it is worth a read.