I blinked, and February crept up on me. January reading has been entirely SFnal, with the Imperial Radch, sexy fungus, soulful mecha and revolutionary nuns in the spotlight… Bonus: glorious winter walking.

Week three of our Ancillary Sword read-along takes us from Athoek Station to the planet below, and delivers a lot of plot escalation for a notionally quiet mourning retreat…

As it was #BurnsNight at the weekend, now seems like a good time to remind you of our own, rapidly growing, Scottish literary contingent (with more authors who make Scotland their home joining us in the coming months👀)! @mkhardywrites.com @rhiannonagrist.bsky.social @rainewilson.bsky.social

Week two of our Ancillary Sword read-along finds us on Athoek Station, coming to understand the nuances of life within the Imperial Radch. Expect politics, worldbuilding and many mirrors to our own flaws. In other words, great SF.

A lovely walk in the woods this afternoon, where there was a lot of hair frost just hanging out being glorious

Screen Sunday: round-up Before I turn my back on 2025, I’m catching up on all the films I saw in the second half of the year (a stack, thanks to the Inverness Film Festival in November). There's 3 new favourites, many films I admired, and a few I appreciated rather than enjoyed and am unlikely to…

🚨 ARCS ARE READY🚨 👀The book everyone's talking about 📕The 5th most requested title on Netgalley ⛏️The psychological horror of the summer @rhiannonagrist.bsky.social 's HOME SICK! Like, repost, follow & drop a 🐑 in the comments to be in with a chance! US/CAN/UK/IE only https://geni.us/homesick

Me: I shouldn’t request ARCs this year, I’m not reading or reviewing enough. Solaris:

Having been enthralled by our visit to the Imperial Radch during ScifiMonth, we’re continuing our read-along this year with Ancillary Sword because there’s no way we’re waiting for next November to find out what Breq does next. Expect spoilers from the get-go as this is the first of four discussion

I didn’t read a lot in 2025, but I enjoyed what I read. Time for a recap of my favourites featuring: Bat Eater (Kylie Lee Baker), The Unkillable Princess (Taran Hunt), and The Lies We Tell Ourselves (LK Kitney) and more

Hey, I know a lot of you use Discord. You need to get on this survey and make it damn clear to them that this would be the absolute wrong direction. The last thing we need is the slop-spewing environment-chewing plagiarism bots invading there, too. discord.sjc1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...?

2025 was a tough year. I read far too little, got pulled in too many different directions, had my ass handed to me by perimenopause, and learned to exhaust myself in a good way by walking a really, really long way. Here’s to more books and more walks in 2026.

Happy new year! Tis the season for retrospectives: I’m kicking off by laughing at my reading challenge progress in 2025. Given I read fewer books in 2025 than I have done in years, this was an even bigger challenge than usual…

December has flown by in a whirlwind of real life Stuff that has mostly got in the way of reading and blogging. I’ve squeezed in a few reads and a whole lot more have leapt onto my shelves - I better make some reading-shaped New Year’s resolutions…

What, you thought #ScifiMonth2025 was over with November? Heck no, not until the final mission logs. Sometimes life finds a way, sometimes it gets in the way, so it’s taken a few weeks longer than usual to wrangle these. Grab a cuppa and revisit the fun…

What, you thought #ScifiMonth2025 was over with November? Heck no, not until the final mission logs. Sometimes life finds a way, sometimes it gets in the way, so it’s taken a few weeks longer than usual to wrangle these. Grab a cuppa and revisit the fun…

Happy midwinter from Newgrange! vimeo.com/1148063287?f...

Just to remind you that the livestream of the solstice sunrise from Newgrange starts 12 hours from now. heritageireland.ie/visit/newgra...

The three stages of womanhood: Maiden, Mother, and Multidimensional Pirate Queen

If you see this, we IMPLORE YOU to post a picture from whatever device you're using without explanation.

I’m not saying I started watching Hail Caesar purely for the Channing Tatum sailor number, but I’ve not seen it before so I didn’t realise how many other gems it had to offer

@missadadoom.bsky.social recommends chilling tales of folk horror in translation by Zuzana Ríhová, John Ajvide Lindqvist, and more!

I missed the fun yesterday but you bet I’m bouncing to hear about new US editions of the Dominion of the Fallen trilogy coming out next year. Fallen angels, a magical apocalypse, haunted Paris, politics and shapeshifting dragons collide in this atmospheric trilogy by @aliettedebodard.com

November was busy with work and fun - time to look back at my (re)reading and adventures before I hunker down for winter...

Seconded. It's lazy tv / film making that just says fuck you to a portion of your audience.

One final review for the month, and it's a belter!

Ancillary Justice: week four It is the finale of our ScifiMonth read-along of this modern classic. Fair to say we have relished the read and the discussions, as it was an almost unanimous YAY when the question was asked about continuing the trilogy in the new year. Consequently this isn't the last…

It's the most wonderful time of the year: Scotland's gritter tracker is back! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️🧊 www.traffic.gov.scot/gritter-trac...

Oh hey who would like a Gothic in space with a creepy spaceship that disappears children? It's this way 👇

This selection of books is perfect for the person who starts planning their next Halloween costume on November 1, is waiting for S3 of Interview with a Vampire, and loves an unreliable narrator. Enter the code HAPPYHOLIDAYS2025 for 30% off this year’s releases! ecwpress.com/blogs/whats-...

We have had a fabulous start for the kickstarter for printed versions of the Rhynie big book, but we need MORE! Please support our project by buying yourself a printed copy of the Rhynie monograph! You have till 6th December to do so! www.kickstarter.com/projects/soc...

Today is the 10th anniversary of me launching There's Always Room For One More. TEN YEARS. I might rewatch Grosse Point Blank tonight, but first: come find out how our reading tastes compare as I share 40 favourites that are standing the test of time

Of course, Present Me has absolutely no idea what other brilliant Sci Fi Future Me will discover in bookstores, libraries, Bluesky, and generally out in the world! I'm sure there will be plenty more. :) Hit me with your recs. if you're going crazy with anticipation for something! #SciFiMonth2025

There is no way you can guess how the thread that ends in this instant classic begins.

We got a big plot reveal and a devastating development at the start of this week, which means it's spoilers all the way down as I discuss week 3 of Ancillary Justice #ScifiMonth2025

45% of British voters are strongly opposed to Reform, and 33% favourable to Reform. 71% of 2025 Labour voters are strongly opposed to Reform. And immigration has fallen 50% in a year. What possible reason is there for this mess?

Part one of this month’s Mission Logs #ScifiMonth2025 - get it while it’s fresh!

Somehow, we're halfway through November and while Palpatine has (thankfully) not returned our #ScifiMonth Mission Logs have! Come find out what the crew have been up to and check out their reviews and recommendations.

It's the 2nd week of our #ScifiMonth2025 read-along of Ancillary Justice and my memory is a sieve. It's like reading it for the first time, which is both AWESOME and hilarious as I've now read further and seen how wrong I am :D

Day 10: the friends we made on the way - damn right your co-captains would like to take this excuse to say a huge LOVE YOU to our crew past and present who’ve celebrated #ScifiMonth with us over the years 💖🚀

This year's #ScifiMonth read-along is Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. I'm excited to revisit the Imperial Radch - this week, we're discussing the first 6 chapters

hunger makes the wolf on the edge of gone midnight robber crashing heaven every sky a grave a pale light in the black unconquerable sun burning bright the future of another timeline the stars are legion #ScifiMonth2025 #SpinePoetry from my shelf

Just published, the new Green Man book: wizardstowerpress.co...

I got to see Pillion last night (pre-release film festival screening). Such an engaging film made with love and acceptance, and two dynamite performances from Melling and Skarsgard

Today's #ScifiMonth2025 prompt is an excuse to reflect on the SF I've loved over the past year. My unabashed favourites have been the latest instalments in beloved series: Murderbot, the Lady Astronaut and Taran Hunt's Kystrom Chronicles

It's all about travelling in this week's #ScifiMonth Friday Five - and not getting where we're going, in my picks. I've picked five favourite books where the destination is just an excuse for a damn good personal journey.