Just wrapped up Notes from a Regicide by @isaac-fellman.bsky.social and it was wonderful. While I suppose it is SF, that particular aspect of the book felt somewhat incidental. Had it been lifted out and placed in another genre, place, or time, the reading experience would have been as great.

February's first read is Becky Chambers' Psalm for the Wild-Built. My first of hers and I can see the appeal though a book with no stakes doesn't interest me much. Onto Notes From a Regicide next.

A Desolation of Peace by Arkady Martine is my final read (well audiobook listen) of the month. While I enjoyed the first in the series more, I thought this was still a well written space opera that touched on some interesting themes. I enjoyed picking back up with the characters and the empire.

Dipped into my post-apocalyptic collection to read this short play called 'After the Rain' by John Bowen. A bizarre tale which takes place a couple hundred years after a global flood occurs and the new society is reenacting, based on historical documents, the activities of a small group on a boat.

Finished up Way Station by Clifford Simak this morning. His writing has a pastoral, and in this case, optimistic, feeling that stands out. I preferred City but this was still quite a good book. A worthy award winner.

Moon Dust in my Hairnet was one of two books I picked up by a local Edmonton Publisher @mythicroads.bsky.social . I wouldn't say I was the target audience for this one, which is that hopepunk/cozy style that I don't have a lot of experience reading.

Just finished with There is No Antimemetics Division and really loved it. I would say it stumbled a bit in the end for me, though that could just be my own lack of understanding. Felt like a book doing something new(ish) in a creative way. The type of book that sums up why I enjoy SF.

Started Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. Gave it 90 minutes on audiobook. Realized I dont have it in me to give it another 24.5 hours. I've done Blackout and All Clear. I know what I am in for. Anxiety filled historians who cant do anything right and stress out over EVERYTHING.

Wrapped up Binti last night. A decent little novella that was not too bad. Bit of a cheesy ending. The audiobook narrator was great. Put on my big boy pants and tackling another Connie Willis award winner now.

Book 2 for 2026 is The Dispossessed by Ursula K Leguin on audiobook. I was a little unsure of the narration at the start but ended up really enjoying this book. Her usual long descriptive passages but they worked better for me in this one. So glad to have "read" this one finally.

First completed book of the year is Sphere by Michael Crichton. It was not great. Sure, some fun action, but I hated basically every whiny dumb character in the book. I wanted them to just get imploded under the ocean. The dialogue was painful. This was for book club. It was at least an easy read.

So nice to have @mediaindigena.bsky.social podcast back. Every time I listen to it I am reminded of my ignorance on these issues (but in a good way).

Ok Bluesky, help me understand Rakesfall by Vajra Chandrasekera. Typically I can wrap my head around books that I don't like and see why others do like them, or why they are considered interesting or well written books. I can also admit I like badly written books (ie Ready Player One).

Wrapped up Stranger Things last night. About as expected. Cheesy, big battle, feel good for most storylines, some emotions. Was not expecting a masterpiece.

I had plans to wrap up The Snow Queen as my final book of 2025 but I couldn't stay awake long enough, so it becomes the first completed read of 2026. This was entertaining but certainly dated and overlong. I can see why it has its place in people's memories. I will leave the series at one book.

Well, I reviewed what I read from 2025. A few of the highlights were the Broken Earth Trilogy by NK Jemisin, Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, The Sea and Summer by George Turner, and The Everlasting by Alix Harrow. Maybe a bit of decency bias there. Always tough to avoid that.

Charles L. Harness (1915 - 2005) was born on this day. Last year, I wrote about his "widescreen baroque" pulp adventure The Paradox Men (1953).

Will likely finish a couple more books before the year is up but it was a great year for reading. 110 books so far this year and a number of excellent books. Lots of good suggestions by people as well that led to some surprising finds.

Still a few sickies in our house right now so kept the thinking to a minimum in our games. Some Love Letter, Codenames, and Sushi Go. Good times.

The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe has been on my podcast rotation for many years. In the past 4 years we have played the 'Science or Fiction' Segment at home as a family and kept score. This year it is coming down to the final episode with two of us tied. Such drama! www.theskepticsguide.org

Listened to Le Guin's 'The Lathe of Heaven' over the past couple days. Some interesting themes but I didn't quite like this one as much, and I can't quite place why. Maybe dreaming and all of the woo woo that goes along with it is a bad fit for my personality.

Almost turned The Snow Queen into a live action sequence this morning as the family realized when waking up that our furnace was not turning on. IT skills kicked in as I turned it on and off again a few times and now we have heat. That was about the extent of my furnace skills so hope it sticks!

Freezing cold and snowy on Christmas Day. Before the rest of the house wakes up I'll spend a little time with the Snow Queen.

Squeaked in 'They'd Rather be Right' by Clifton and Riley before Santa comes over. This 1955 Hugo winner had some intriguing ideas bubbling throughout but really suffered from too much tell and not enough show. It's too bad as I think it could have been something pretty cool if handled differently.

Going from a 2025 Fantasy Romance book to the 1955 They'd Rather be Right has been rather jarring to say the least.

Wandered way out of my reading zone and took up 'The Everlasting' by Alix E. Harrow. Fantasy Romance would normally have little interest for me but a lot of people who I follow seem to have spoken highly of it. I can now see why. It's a book I instantly wanted to discuss once I finished it.

5th book of December is Ammonite by Nicola Griffith. A wonderful world to inhabit for a while and I enjoyed her take on a planet of only women. A little hand wavy in parts when it came to how things operated (particularly how children were conceived) which knocks it down a bit for me personally.

Mind Blown. After all these years I just found out that despite what Outkast says, you're not supposed to shake a Polaroid.

If you're looking to add another podcast to your listening habits I would recommend Unknown Worlds of the Merril Collection. They recently spun back up again with a good interview with @waub.bsky.social His books are great and worth checking out.

Local book club chose The Talented Mr Ripley this month. Just finished it and it was a decent little book. Not my favourite genre but very easy to read and had some interesting moments. I never watched the movie so didn't quite know where it was headed. Back to SF now.

Really enjoying the @coodestreet.bsky.social Advent Interviews this year. Perfect "drive to work" length and get to hear from all sorts of great people.

Really love The Sea and Summer by George Turner. Enjoyed the characters, it was extremely readable, and I found myself nodding along at several points. Also read a bit about Turner's life which could be a story itself.

Early surprise Christmas gift from one of the members of the online book club I am in. We also have traded books from time to time. Brown Girl in the Ring by @nalohop.bsky.social is one I am particularly looking forward to reading. Expanding the post-apocalyptic and disaster collection!

Oh boy. The Sea and the Summer is great so far. The Clarke award winners seem to often be in my sweet spot for books.

There are a lot of powerful weapons on this planet but I am reminded today that the weaponized incompetence of banks might be the most powerful of them all!

Fauna by Christiane Vadnais. A random library pickup. One of those books with great prose that has a tough to nail down story (for me at least). I guess it's a story of the end of humanity though I couldn't quite tell if it was maybe just a localized event.

Well, I can't say that I loved Stand on Zanzibar but I can respect what Brunner did with it. Glad I finished it. Took me most of November to slowly plod my way through.

Dug out the old Illustrated Tolkien Calendars. Such fantastic art in these.

Does anyone know if there is a way to save a specific Bluesky thread for future review? Came across a fantastic thread that I would like to be able to reference easily in the future.

Just found out about local Edmonton Publisher @mythicroads.bsky.social and grabbed two of their books that I ran across today. Always fun to support smaller publishers and new authors, particularly when they are local!

A couple hundred pages into Stand on Zanzibar and it's clear that I appreciate substance over style in my stories. While the format of this book is interesting, the characters are just too flat to really root for/against. This format can work with great characters - see The Grapes of Wrath.

Needed a reading palate cleanser so broke out this cheesy classic I had last read decades ago. Pure nostalgia. Dragons of Autumn Twilight. Now, back to some SF.

My home for the next 24 hours.

I struggled to get through Man Plus by Frederik Pohl. Some interesting ideas but an ending that felt like it mostly came out of nowhere (there was a bit of foreshadowing, I guess) and characters I mostly wasn't too interested in. I'm glad to check it off the list.

Just finished reading Piranesi Went in with pretty low expectations but absolutely loved it. For a book where people complain about the pacing, I could barely put it down. What other books are written in this style? Would love to hear.

Made it 76 pages through The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi and it's a DNF. No plot and no idea why I should care about the characters. An interesting setting can only carry so much water. Hoping his other books are a bit better.

Thanksgiving pumpkin decorating contest. Always a fun time!

Well, this book was a ride. As cheesy as they come, with writing that me laughing out loud. The most corny "manly" men as protagonists, and stereotypical hordes of aliens wanting to wipe out humanity. Four formulaic stories. They were fun but I think that's enough Laumer for me.

Oh boy. Working my way through some Keith Laumer stories and he lays the cheesy lines on thick. Before this I had only read Dinosaur Beach, which was entertaining but a similar type of writing. He uses some hilariously bad phrases at times. Almost reminds me of an SF version of The Big Sleep.

Stretching the bounds of my suitcase for the way home but hit up a used bookstore here in Ottawa and snagged a few more for my post-apocalyptic collection. This Deluge/Dawn set of two by S Fowler Wright was not on my list so a new find for me! The Tepper book I had been hunting for in the wild.