This beautiful book is now in UK bookstores, so you could go out today to buy it, then spend the whole weekend reading it - what a joy!

BODIES OF MAGIC, out Sept 2026: Grey's Anatomy meets A Deadly Education, a mystery set during the final exam week of a magical medical school. (Or: five queer nerds solve a murder and have some feelings.) Cover design by Jamie Stafford-Hill. Preorder US: bit.ly/BoM-US Preorder UK: bit.ly/BoM-UK

Farah Mendlesohn's Considering The Female Man by Joanna Russ, or, As the Bear Swore - artist Judith Clute. Out March 31, launch at Eastercon @easterconuk.bsky.social. You can pre-order now, paperback and ebook, in the Luna store and all other retailers. #booksfromscotland @effjayem.bsky.social

Loved that book, along with the others!

Some news from me!

A man is hired to transcribe the words of a woman who speaks in "spews" during self-induced trances, but he soon discovers a story coalescing within her seemingly incoherent rambles. Next Wednesday. "The Spew" by @jeffreyford8.bsky.social! Art by Carter Gill Edited by @datlow.bsky.social

Ancient ruins?! Sold @titanbooks.bsky.social

UNEARTHED has been a long-term project of mine: co-edited with Philip Fracassi, it collects together nineteen brand-new tales of ancient ruins and archeological horror. Unearthed will be published by Titan Books on 15 September. Hold onto your fedoras, and keep an eye out for more info!

Today I get to unveil the UK cover for THE DRAGON HAS SOME COMPLAINTS! The art is by the legendary Stephen Player, who has done art for Barker and Pratchett. I adore how he shows off the different personalities of Garrodigh's heads! It comes out in the UK from @arcadiabooks.bsky.social this July!

Writers of Bluesky, a question for you all. How do you usually approach people to ask for a little review quote for your book? Should I just deal with the mortifying ordeal of DMing people I highly rate and see if they have the time to read a manuscript? #booksky

It seems I can’t walk into a bookshop on 2026 and not come out with a book. Slatter has been on my list for a while thanks to various recommendations (it’ll be my first by her too) and the Abe was a vibes purchase fingers x I made a good choice.

Sunday Summary: 11 th Jan 26 Sunday Summary mainly functions as my personal record of book-related topics that have captured my interest over the past week. It also acts as a public memory prompt and bookmarking system. Books Read & Reading This Week. Finished: A Conventional Boy (A Laundry Files…

I want to wait to the paperback release. This isn’t helping.

Anyway, we're sorting our website (the-portal-bookshop.square.site) so the stock matches the in person shelves, and putting up a bunch of preorders And our Bookshop dot org storefront (uk.bookshop.org/shop/portalb...) is hooked directly into the UK wholesaler, so there are more copies of lots there

Thank you to everyone who recommended Sorcery and Small Magics. It was my read on a plane ride. The flight flew by, but I also cried. I mean, tears streaming down my face, crying. That f—ing ending!! I was agog. Highly recommend @orbitbooksuk.bsky.social @maigadoocy.bsky.social

There are a ton of great-looking books coming in 2026, and I've rounded up the ones that I'm looking forward to the most, including space operas, interstellar art heists, unicorns, dinosaurs, and plenty more. Here's the full list: www.andrewliptak.com/sci-fi-fanta...

If verification gets completed today, we *should* announce the 2026 Splatterpunk Awards Ballot (for works published in 2025) by tomorrow evening. Stay tuned.

Anyone read The West Passage by Jared Pechacek? I found it so weird and interesting and want to talk about it! Also any essays or reviews or interviews about it would be good too, there seems to be so little that really engages with it.

I used to enjoy doing author blog interviews.

I awarded ‘prizes’ to my favourite books I read last year, inc: Best of Found Families Best Ensemble of ‘Monsters’ Best Parent Fighting for Their Child Best use of humour to present a horrific thing Best use of a family holiday Best Slow-Burn Reveal Best Questioning of ‘If AI is alive’?

1st 26 read: @cstross.bsky.social’s novella A Conventional Boy. The lore is loring, and I think I need to reread some other works from The Laundry in order to do a review justice. Even if you’re not acquainted with the series, it’s a brilliant tale of what happens when TTRPGs get a little too real.

I last second FOMO’d and luckily @greenmangaming.com had extended the sale on Civ VII. I am a lover of V and VI but I’m not a strategic player so I am curious how I will find the changes in mechanics, and I think they’ve had enough updates to smooth out a lot of the issues.

My brain and Enemies-to-Lovers romance tropes are not natural bedfellows. This constant conflict and straight-to-bad-take-meetings do not give me cosy vibes: they put me on constantly on edge.

I wrote my Sunday Summary late last night as I knew I wouldn’t be able to work on it today. Spoiler for this week: I have DNF’d my current book. Spoiler for next week: I have done @runalongwomble.bsky.social ‘s challenge but it’s literally my latest book… and I have read almost 180 pages today.

SFF I have pre-ordered: City of Others (The DEUS Files)by Jared Poon Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die by Greer Stothers The Apple and the Pearl by Rym Kechacha The Astral Library by Kate Quinn The Rainseekers by Matthew Kressel The Soul-Catchers by Naoko Higashi (translated by Lucy North)

For the love of god, don't make this mistake. If you track your spending, do not check how much you spend on books in 2025 and then look over at your overflowing TBR...

Ok, so the Romantasy I’m reading has a 🌶️🌶️🌶️ spice level, but I wasn't expecting it to call a spade a spade quite as much as it does. Is there a website that notes the spice level of these??

Ebooks are reading. Audiobooks are reading. Graphic novels are reading. Pulp reading is reading. Adults reading YA is reading. It's all good, my friends. Don't let anyone tell you different.

In this Year of Reading, a gentle reminder: The best way to get your kids reading is to let them see *you* reading. The way to *stop* your kids reading is to criticize their choices, or to make reading a competition, or a punishment, or a race, or a learning tool. Let it be fun. Let them read.

I need to work out what's SFF and what's a paperback release but apparently past me has preordered over 50 books, so I must be interested in those 🙈

Now we’re in 2026, I’m looking ahead to what’s coming out this year and I think there are some gaps in my awareness. So, what are you looking forward to in SFF coming in 2026? I’d be extra interested in any good romantasy and in genre-blurry/hard to define fantasy stuff. (My current list for ref)

Call for Reviews and Essays: April 2026

I had such fun discussing the shortlists with Casella, and do not even slightly regret running into the mural with gleeful abandon.

Oh gawd it's January, which means my book is coming out in paperback on the 29th! Waterstones are doing an exclusive edition with red edges, a prequel chapter AND the first chapter of the sequel, The Hoard and can be pre-ordered THUSLY: www.waterstones.com/book/pagans/...

Does anyone have any nominations for Best Parent Fighting for Their Child?

I had a fun time giving awards to most of the books I read last year. What awards would you give out?

🚨99p ebook deal🚨 If you’re in the U.K. Katanasis should be 99p at your favourite retailer. Today only. For that price, I’m sticking in the TBR uk.bookshop.org/p/books/kata...

Over 275 authors, editors, critics and diehard readers came together over the last month to vote on their favorite transfeminine books of the year. It's my honor to present the 2025 TFR Reader's Choice Awards! Congratulations to the winners, and thank you to everyone who voted 🩷

I’ve been sitting on this news for so long I can hardly believe it’s finally ‘out the bag’… If you’ve read the trade press you may already have spotted that @twolinespress.com will be launching in the UK next April! In case you missed it, read here: www.thebookseller.com/news/two-lin...

Do you know the best gadget I have bought this year for reading? Not the Boox Palma, which is a great phone-sized e-ink tablet perfect for ebooks as it has the Google App Store, but a Bluetooth remote that I can use to turn the pages without touching the screen. Game changer for ebooks.

Based on my 2025 reading, I have handed out a bunch of 'best of' awards on my blog. The one with the most 'winners' was Best Questioning of ‘If AI is alive’? I didn't realise that had been a theme in my reading until I made up the category. What are your categories and winners?

Paul Kincaid's reading year: wp.me/p1LlAH-Wb

People of Bluesky, you have been amazing in 2025. I have really enjoyed you company, insight and enthusiasm. Let us do it some more in 2026.

I am reading an enemies-to-lovers romance, and despite my confusion at the deep dive into enemies vibes, I am also smiling at some of the encounters. More silliness in 2026, please.

It's the national year of reading in the uk in 2026. Instead of asking "why don't kids read any more", ask "how can I help them find the stories (and non fic) they will fall in love with". Less "get off my lawn whippersnappers" and more "come, sit on the lawn, here's a comic".

My final blog post of 2025 answers the question: will I blog more in 2026? gavreads.co.uk/2025/12/31/e...

People of Bluesky, you have been amazing in 2025. I have really enjoyed you company, insight and enthusiasm. Let us do it some more in 2026.

EoY 2025: Will I be back in 2026? If you're reading this, we both made it to the end of 2025—well done to us! The blog did too, which feels like a small miracle. Will I be back in 2026? Absolutely. Will I be posting more in 2026? That I’m not so sure about—but I do plan on reading more. What's…

My round-up post needs a graphic from @thestorygraph.com, which i am hoping to generate tomorrow.

Ann is both very smart and very good at what she does. Heed her.