Good Morning Blue Sky! Hope you’re all ok and today I’m currently reading the final chapters of the amazing SF heist novel Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto - so good! What are you reading at the moment?
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Ooh that sounds good! I have just finished Saint of Bright Doors (😍🤩😵💫) and given the resulting book hangover, next up is Monstrous Regiment until my brain calms down 😁
Morning Womble! I'm reading Noreen Masud's memoir A Flat Place which is really good - thought-provoking, with some lovely landscape writing mixed in. (I share her affinity for flat landscapes, and they are under-represented in nature writing.)
Hi Womble, I'm reading Realms of Imagination, a book of essays that accompanied the British Library exhibition of the same name, which I visited about a year ago.
I'm almost finished 'Butter' by Asako Yuzuki -- it took me a while to get into it but I'm glad I stuck with it, I understand there was a broader point I'd completely missed. Not sure what I'll read next!
oh! also reading an ARC of Yelen & Yelena by @cmrosens.com
this queer dark gothic fantasy is consistently amazing me with the lush foresty vibe and lyrical writing. I really love how the world-building is so casually yet effectively written. it appears to be about to get monster-loving spicy 🌶️👀
Just finishing The Root and The Seed by @weyodi.bsky.social !
its a really great Indigenous Futurism novel that is a breath of fresh air! lots going on w/ corporate clone security forces, found family, internet espionage, new found love. I absolutely love it
Good morning Womble! Reading my first TJ Klune book - The House In The Cerulean Sea, which I’m loving very much. And finally getting back to my Discworld reread with The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett.
Good evening, Womble! Today I started Aliette de Bodard’s A Fire Born of Exile (audio, narrated by Tuyen Do) and I really like it! I finished a reread of Patrick O’Brian’s The Nutmeg of Consolation (audio a Ric Jerrom) this morning. Print: Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson—love it!
I just finished For Whom the Belle Tolls by @sea-ya-later.bsky.social which was absolutely brilliant even if it did make me cry enough to get through an entire box of tissues.
Just finished Butcher's Crossing only minutes ago. Best book I have read in ages! Now sitting here in the warmth, with cups of tea on the go, contemplating how well i would get on in a similar frontier adventure, while also not liking the thought of scraping ice from my windscreen shortly
Leech by Hiron Ennes is gloriously nasty, bit more that my usual taste. Reading Ascension by Nick Binge, good opening. Also De Profundis by this Wilde chappie.
I'm listening to The Secret History by Donna Tartt on audio. She's narrating it & making a good of it which is not always the case when an author reads their own book. I read it years ago but needed a refresh as it's a book club pick #Books #BookSky 💙📚
Hello Womble! I’ve just finished Maya Deane’s Wrath Goddess Sing & got lost in some also-incredible interviews w/Deare about the project.
(Now to decide what’s next: all my holds have come in at once.)
Just finished Die Farbe der Rache (The Colour of Revenge) by Cornelia Funke - so fun to return to the world of one of my favourite childhood books twenty years on
Morning Womble - and happy new year. My last book of 2024 was the novella Blood Red Roses by Lin Anderson. First book of 2025 was The Dark Palace by R N Morris.
Good morning! I just finished What If... Loki Was Worthy by Madeleine Roux, a fun adventure with lots of nods to other Marvel stories. Today's reading is The Private Joys of Nnenna Maloney by Okechuwu Nzelu - I'm halfway through and appreciating that adults are no less confused than teenagers.
I’ve just finished The Obsidian Tower by Melissa Caruso, which was fast-paced and entertaining. Now I have to pick something from the 50+ TBR stack as my next read (NY resolution to read at least one book a month from the pile!).
Good morning Womble. I've just started John Wiswell's "Someone You Can Build a Nest In" - I know, I know, I'm late to the party as usual. It's living up to its reputation, though.
Hi Womble. Hope you are doing okay, too. I just finished reading an arc of FUTURE'S EDGE by @garethlpowell.bsky.social , a standalone Space Opera novel that takes place AFTER the end of the world.
“In Winter I Get Up at Night” by Jane Urquhart. It is a dreamy and incantatory tale of a coming of age during the Canadian expansion across North America. Like everything she writes it is a thoughtful and thought-provoking.
Just now finished The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djeli Clark. An undead minion of the Goddess of Assassins (and cooks) is hired to kill a living version of herself. Large amounts of violence ensue. Reads like it should be an anime. Clark is reliably excellent.
Good evening Womble, I was actually just looking at Hammajang Luck, looks fun. Since I'm finally done with all the Hugo winners I'm diving into some old stuff I've missed out on. Currently confusing myself with some Gene Wolfe.
What-ho, Womble! Bit lurgified at the moment so having a quiet day cracking on with the TBR Challenge 2025. Reading my oldest book entry: Jamaica Inn, du Maurier's deliciously dark, gothic tale of deepest Cornwall. Bit melodramatic for my tastes but can't believe I've never read it before.
Morning! Your book sounds awesome - am going to check it out! I’m currently reading More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa and I just finished Elusive by Genevieve Cogman.
Happy New Year Womble!:I'm between novels today, just finished and reviewed Graham Watson's biography The Invention of Charlotte Brontë and reading Nalo Hopkinson's collection Falling In Love With Hominids alongside sections from various books on Bob Dylan for a project.
I'm continuing my rereading of lots of Cherryh with Hellburner, having just finished Heavy Time. Not among my favourites, but as with DWJ, even my least favourites are masterpieces. These are intense and emotionally-fraught sf; in book i they're astroid miners caught in politics, losing their ships.
By ii, the survivors of book i are military conscripts to an experimental "aircraft-carrier" type program, trying to continue to survive, while the whole fills in another facet of the Company Wars period in her Alliance-Union history. Intense, claustrophobic, frightening, grim.
I love the strange extra layer of grimness from the larger universe—that these characters are going to disappear into something monstrous we see in other books—and that it's not flagged at all the way it would be in franchise media today. Really hits home that future-historical approach.
And the grimness is so pervasive even in the hopeful books: in _Alliance Unbound_ you have Jen, all young and happy, and you know she should be one of the mature crewmembers in _Finity's End_, but there's no trace of her, so you know she's among the many, many of the Neiharts lost during the war.
You don't get to just step out of the story, shrug and say, well, she wasn't mentioned as running Security in that because the chronologically later book was written decades earlier and Jen hadn't been thought of. You know all the horrible things that happened in between.
Good morning, Womble! I am finally, FINALLY getting around to reading Martha Wells' Murderbot series. Just started All Systems Red today, and of course it's fantastic.
Second time today I am awestruck by a cover. This is maybe what i miss from hardcopy reading and the ability to just browse and discover. Thanks for the share.
Morning Womble. I'm currently reading:
📖 A debut fantasy novel for an SFX review
📖 Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
📖 And I'm re-reading some Asimov short stories for a thing I'm researching about robots
Good morning, everything’s still been a bit all over the place here with Christmas and sorting out new house so I’m still reading the fox wife. Should finish this morning, then onto The Gathering By C. J. Tudor
Good morning, Womble. I'm keeping it light to start the year with Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Sausages by Tom Holt, book 7 in the J.W. Wells & Co. series.
I'm currently reading Run with the Hunted SIX by @authorizedmusings.bsky.social
Haunted Ecologies ARC by @coreyfarrenkopf.bsky.social
My Brilliant Friend
Morning and Happy New Year (bit late I know)! In a bit of a weird mood re reading at the mo, so decided to go a bit “lighter” and start Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. I know it is for kids but I’m not in the mood for adult books right now 🤭
Happy Sunday Womble! I’m aiming to finish Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver today to close out my winter spooky season, before I pivot to a suitable #VintageSciFiMonth read
Listening to Kristin Scott Thomas reading Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway - it's the audiobook performance of dreams, and I'm enjoying it so much as I do January Chores!
I thought Juliet Stevenson's reading of Mrs Dalloway was everything but you're telling me now I'm going to have to hunt out the Kristin Scott Thomas version too? (Thanks for the tip)
100% recommend (although I might also need to hear Stevenson's version as well!) - although this is in Audible's Virginia Woolf Collection, which is a ludicrously good cast, but is exclusive to the platform, now I look...
Starting off 2025 with a reread of A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. Not read any of the Earthsea books since I was at uni so it's been very nice to head back.
Good morning Womble from a snowy North Yorkshire! ❄️
I've just finished the brilliant Wintersmith by the much missed Sir Terry P. It is excellently read by Indira Verma and team. Reading Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger and hoping to start The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itaranta.
Happy New Year, Womble! My first book of 2025 is Karla's Choice by @harkaway.bsky.social. I'm especially enjoying it after rereading a few of the early Smiley novels - it follows beautifully!
Good morning Womble! Im half way through my first read of the Year: Shrubley the Monster Adventurer. Its ADORABLE. Fun, light, frothy with just enough emotive beats 💚 I bought this one off the strength of the cover alone.
Happy NY Womble of All Temptations. I'm starting 2025 with Blood Roses, opening novel of the Warsaw Quartet by Douglas Jackson, continuing @maryrobinettekowal.com's the Lady Astronaut saga with The Fated Sky, and diving into Donna Leon's Venetian whodunnit Quietly in their Sleep. 🪐📚💙 ⏳📚💙
Happy Sunday Womble! I started and got through 200 pages of Voice of War by Zack Argyle yesterday! This book really clips by, it's so easy to read (in a good way) and I'm really engaged with where the story is going!
Morning Womble! I am rereading The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal - murder mystery in space with a delightful dog! - and trying to decide which of its many cocktail recipes I want to try tonight.
Good morning! I'm currently reading Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov, an intriguing book that I think I first heard about here. Also listening to a non-fiction book, The Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger.
Good morning Skylarks. Had the pleasure to read several novellas in the past week. One stood out, "Comfort me with apples" by @catvalente.bsky.social. The first 2 chapters read like a very badly written romance pulp magazine, but stay with it. It makes sense and gets better. Much better.
Okay, just had a message that the description of "badly wrote..pulp" is disrespectful. It is not. It is intended. I don't want to give the plot away, just imagine an android is given all human words and learns combinations from all songs only. 1/2
So you find cringe combinations, e.g. "slender,sensual swinging hips". A whole chapter of WTF am I reading here? But then the android learns...
As I said, you need to plough through the first 2 chapters. Hope that clarifies it. 🤘
Good morning. Just started The Butcher of the Forest (Premee Mohamed). Not reading much atm because I'm down with bronchitis and mostly asleep but the book's got off to a good start.
HNY all! I'm currently reading 'The Impossible Man', a biography of Roger Penrose by Patchen Barss, and re-reading 'The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat' by Oliver Sacks.
Afternoon Womble, I know I am later than usual, a little unwell. I am still wading in Drown Deep or maybe wallowing is more apt, as it is great to be back with wish though I know there is likely tense action , dense politics and heartbreak right around the next bog/swamp. Like life but better.
Good morning! I'm reading Lady Eve's Last Con by Rebecca Fraimow and listening to the audiobook of 10 Things that Never Happened by Alexis Hall (with utterly outstanding narration by Will Watt - I'd heard he was good but I'm seriously impressed by the subtleties of characterisation).
Morning, Womble! Halfway through Virginia Woolf’s The Years and jealous that the person listening to Mrs. Dalloway below is getting it read to them by Kristin Scott Thomas. (;
Afternoon Womble! I finished Titanchild by @sennydreadful.bsky.social at ten past one this morning-couldn’t put it down! It made me laugh, it made me cry & it made punch the air (sorry if I disturbed you @revorg.bsky.social )
Morning lovely Womble. Last day off before heading back into work - love my job, but love holidays even more, so I'm a bit sad! Reading Asunder for the second time, which says a lot to me. Hit List by Laurell K Hamilton, in my ongoing Anita Blake read. And Sword in the Storm by David Gemmell.
Yes, the story is told with such humanity, and no overshadowing sense of doom. I've just got to the last section, where they're setting up winter camp, and I can't help it, I'm still rooting for everyone to make it through! 🥲
Good morning Womble! I am about halfway through Malka Older’s “The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles”. It is the second in a series and I am enjoying it. It is very interesting writing style and setting. I am always a sucker for SFF mysteries too(and classic style mysteries in general).
Morning Womble! 12 years late to the party, but I'm currently devouring The Raven Cycle so will be diving into Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater today.
Good morning womble! I am adding Hammajang luck to my research TBR for my own heist novel.
I am currently finishing off About time by Jodi Taylor book 4 of the Time police series. I already have pulled book 5, Killing time, from my shelves to dive into as soon as I finish.
About to start The Caves of Steel, my first Asimov book in decades. I bounced right off him when I was a kid, let's see if he works better for me now...
Morning Womble! Can't remember if this was my answer last week but I'm finishing up Between Two Fires by Christopher Beuhlman and absolutely loving it. Medieval horror with plague, demons and incredibly endearing protagonists.
I've been fighting off some pretty horrible germs since Boxing Day & I've only felt like reading again this weekend. I opted for Susanna Clarke's gorgeous The Wood in Midwinter.
It's definitely short, but she can fit so much magic into a handful of pages. And the afterword just makes you want more.
Jane Pek’s excellent THE RIVALS—the author doubles down on my favorite parts of THE VERIFIERS, her madcap thriller abt online matchmakers using AIs to control users. A sleuth who gets her tactics from a (fictional) mystery series, corporate espionage, sapphic will-they-won’t-they w/hot coworker. A+
Morning your Wombleness. Finished Charles Alcock & The Little Tin Idol last night (history of first ever FA Cup) and starting The Ministry Of Time this morning. Have to go for a run through the slush first though 😢
I’m so late today. I was playing some Assassins Creed! But!! I’m reading THE SCARLET ALCHEMIST by Kylie Lee Baker and I’m so obsessed with the magic system. The world building is excellent. The mc is so used to fighting to stay alive any kindness has her buffering. 🥰
I'm generally into fiction (impatiently waiting for Claire Keegan to write something else), but currently reading, and loving, 'Unruly' by David Mitchell. A history of England's Kings and Queens. 😊
Happy Sunday, Womble! I read Mickey7 by Edward Ashton yesterday for the podcast (it’ll be interesting to see how the movie compares) and today I’ll probably start Green Suns and Faërie: Essays on J. R. R. Tolkien by Verlyn Flieger
Afternoon Womble! I'm struggling to get into anything atm, so dotting between Enlightenment by Sarah Perry, Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brando Sando, Scores by John Clute and various bits of short fiction. Hopefully something will stick soon.
Good morning Womble! I have started a new non-fiction book, learning about how our lifestyles are underpinned by the extraction industries of the Material World
Continuing reads:
Physical- The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Audio - Days of Shattered Faith by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Kindle: Koh-I-Noor by William Dalrymple and Anita Anand
Good morning! I finished Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped yesterday. First time I've read the unabridged version. Nearly finished John Prebble's Culloden & about a third of the way through The Expanse book 7. Looking forward to reading Fiona Moore's Rabbit in the Moon, which is next on the pile.💙📚
Morning Womble! Hope you are well and not snowed in. Currently figuring out what my next read should be. Finishing a Percy Jackson book because my students have a test this week and then choosing between these two 👇
In fact, I had forgotten to add it to my 20 books that have influenced or stuck with me. In my experience, many of us white folks, even liberal ones, don't think about how we treat individuals of Asian descent. It like never crosses our minds but Babel is in your face with it
Bounced off of some books, so now I'm waiting for Tuesday to bring me Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear, the next in Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series. Meanwhile, it's horror drama podcast season again, this time with Hi Nay.
Comments
this queer dark gothic fantasy is consistently amazing me with the lush foresty vibe and lyrical writing. I really love how the world-building is so casually yet effectively written. it appears to be about to get monster-loving spicy 🌶️👀
Just finishing The Root and The Seed by @weyodi.bsky.social !
its a really great Indigenous Futurism novel that is a breath of fresh air! lots going on w/ corporate clone security forces, found family, internet espionage, new found love. I absolutely love it
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/219291495-benothinged
I’m still reading Feeding Britain by Tim Lang, Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries by Kate Mosse and Bold in Her Breeches by Jo Stanley.
I will be laying out the TBR piles today to pick my AtoZ for the year.
(Now to decide what’s next: all my holds have come in at once.)
I also read a great short story by A.C. Wise called “Manic Pixie Girl”.
The West Passage is AMAZING.
In the eyes: Toxxic by Jane Hennigan
In the ears: Survivor's Guilt by Michael Wood (which I had planned ages ago but had to pause while i had library books come in)
📖 A debut fantasy novel for an SFX review
📖 Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
📖 And I'm re-reading some Asimov short stories for a thing I'm researching about robots
Listening: AMERICAN RAPTURE, by C. J. Leede
I'm currently reading Run with the Hunted SIX by @authorizedmusings.bsky.social
Haunted Ecologies ARC by @coreyfarrenkopf.bsky.social
My Brilliant Friend
Plus, 5 and 6 are the ones that happen one right after the other instead of being so episodic!
Starting off 2025 with a reread of A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. Not read any of the Earthsea books since I was at uni so it's been very nice to head back.
I've just finished the brilliant Wintersmith by the much missed Sir Terry P. It is excellently read by Indira Verma and team. Reading Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger and hoping to start The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itaranta.
Hope to finish this week.
As I said, you need to plough through the first 2 chapters. Hope that clarifies it. 🤘
There’s feminism, a murder, ghosts, and Trinidadian slang. 💙📚
Currently reading GRAVE EMPIRE by Richard Swan.
And as usual with everything Swan writes this has been excellent and the worldbuilding top notch.
Now partway through Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan. Bit early to say it'll be a favourite of the year but it's brilliant!
Fiction: Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
Non-fiction: The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown
And by some weird coincidence the events in both books take place in the same year—1846! 😲
But right this second I'm rereading a Batman fanfic haha
I am currently finishing off About time by Jodi Taylor book 4 of the Time police series. I already have pulled book 5, Killing time, from my shelves to dive into as soon as I finish.
It's definitely short, but she can fit so much magic into a handful of pages. And the afterword just makes you want more.
Physical- The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Audio - Days of Shattered Faith by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Kindle: Koh-I-Noor by William Dalrymple and Anita Anand
I've just started Asunder by Kerstin Hall which I have heard great things about
Happily two of my relatives gave me Kobo vouchers for Christmas so I bought several things from my wish list!