What? Another week over already? STATS Well, it's not looking too great right now, but I am almost done with two huge chunky books that will push the page count into an acceptable range. Here's my current status, not counting unfinished books: Books read: 5 Pages read: 1671 With the two scrolls I bought, I can count A Trade of Blood…

Swordheart is one of my favorite T. Kingfisher books, because it does the whole fantasy romance thing so well but keeps Kingfisher's trademark humor going throughout the book. Imagine my delight at finding out that not only is she writing the rest of the trilogy, but that the second book would feature Learned Edmund as a protagonist who gets saddle with the magical sword.

I came to the Bluebeard fairy tale relatively late in life. Having grown up with all the classic Grimms' tales, there's only so many retellings that can still manage to feel new or like the put a fresh spin on them. But I like Bluebeard, this grim and dark tale of a murderous husband has great potential for retellings, twists, and new spins.

The first week is almost over, but since I chose Sundays for my weekly check-ins, we're doing this one only six days ito the readathon. There's not a lot to report yet, as I have started a lot of books but not finished any. I have, however, come to certain decisions about which Scrolls to buy in the Guild Emporium and how to interpret the rules.

Welcome to another year of Hugo Award winners. I said I might set my alarm clock and watch the ceremony live on YouTube, but seeing as I got married on Saturday (hooray!) and had slept about 5 hours in two nights, that was... optimistic. My actual reaction to remembering what I had promised was more like HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA. I did manage to tune into the awards ceremony during the Best Editor Long Form announcement, so I managed to watch a fair bit live.

I may not feel any pressure to "read the classics of SF", but I do always find it fascinating to take a look back at what was popular at a particular time. While by no means a perfect measure of said popularity, my go-to for this is the Hugo Awards (also I just love them, okay). I have read almost half of all the Hugo Award winners and, so far, my takeaway is that they span a vast range, both in terms of quality and how well they've aged.

I am preparing this post in August, but guys, guys, by the time it goes up, I will be married! AAAAAAH! 😀This is also the reason I probably missed some news and or adaptation announcement, because let me tell you... one of the things I look forward to the most is never having to plan another wedding ever again. …

Like I'll ever miss a semster at Orilium School with my fellow book nerds, ha! This autum semester comes with new prompts and my biggest challenge yet. Here's G's announcement video (part 1). HERE'S THE LINK TO THE G DRIVE WITH ALL THE INFO AND GRAPHICS AND FAQs This semester's special extra is particularly dear to my heart, because I've been doing crosswords and puzzles of all kinds since I was a kid, and I have very fond memory of stealing my grandpa's crossword books and battling my father in Scrabble and other puzzle games.

As a lifelong reader, one acquires a long list of authors to trust, and if we're all lucky enough for said authors to publish books regularly, that means a neverending stream of quality fiction. But even with a lot of auto-buy authors, favorites, and trusted writers, it pays off to look out for debuts. Who knows, a new favorite might just be lurking around the next novel.

It's official, this is my favorite of the Amazon Original Stories anthologies yet. And it has the best covers thus far as well. MAGIC & MYTERYby Travis Baldree, Sarah Beth Durst, Robert Jackson Bennett, Heather Fawcett, Scott Lynch, Tananarive Due, J. M. Miro Published: Amazon Original Stories, 2026Ebook: 236 pagesAudiobook: 7 hours, 40 minutesNarrated by:

Here's another Top Ten Tuesday theme that hits me where it hurts. Although I have become much better at continuing and even finishing the series I start, SFF as a genre tends to make it hard to stay on top of everything. The traditional trilogies have made room for duologies, but there are also those long-running series that can range from anywhere between four and...

I may be a Witches girl all the way through, but reading a Discworld novel is always a treat, with Sam Vimes and the City Watch becoming more and more my thing. When I say this wasn't the greatest example of Discworld Pratchett has given us, that isn't saying very much. Compared to other books, this was great. Compared to other Discworld books, it fared well enough, but will probably not end up in my top ten.

People who read as much as we do in this particular bubble of the internet will know just how rare it is to find a book that manages to truly grab you, bring you joy with every single page, and then leave you wrung out, emotionally wrecked but also highly satisfied. This book here turned me into a mess, in the best of ways.

I keep calling Best Novel "the big one" but, really, that title should go to this category. Even if it were comprised only of trilogies and duologies, it's usually the heftiest one in terms of page count. With certain repeat finalists, some of these series have been going on for decades and are scratching the 20-volume-mark. So yeah, I think I'm going to start calling Best Series "the big one".

Guys, how is it August already? I know this post is a bit late, but we had to flee the ridiculous temperatures in Vienna and run off to the countryside. Dipping into lakes and spending the afternoons at water playgrounds was the only way to survive without going crazy. With the worst of it behind us, I bring you this month's State of SFF.

I updated my Challenges page a few days ago and felt to need to check in on myself, to see whether I was still on track to reach my reading goals, whether some challenges I set myself were maybe a bit too ambitious or just don't fit into my daily life. You get the idea. As someone who gets a kick out of checking things off a list, reading challenges are near and dear to my heart, but I also want to get something useful out of them.

I don't like it when books make me think they're perfect for me only to change course and turn stupid later. I was so sure this debut novel would deliver what it promised, but it kept getting worse and worse, sinking from a solid 6.5 to 4.5 rating. THISTLEMARSHby Moorea Corrigan Published by: Del Rey, 2026Hardback: 424 pages…

Why do I feel so called out by this week's Top Ten Tuesday theme? Oh well, maybe because buying books IMMEDIATELY when they come out (or pre-ordering them) only for them to sit and languish on my shelves for years is less of a special occurence and more of a hobby at this point. So I'm making this list in part to kick myself in the butt and maybe, just maybe, pick up those books I just had to have.

When I fell in love with August Clarke's writing last year (reading their Scapegracers trilogy), I knew I needed to read everything else by this author. Many thanks to NetGalley and Erewhon Books for the eARC of their latest novel,which happens to come out tomorrow. THE FELICITY COMPLEXby August Clarke Published: Erewhon, 28th July 2026Ebook: 320 pages…

I was drawn to this book for of several reasons. It's a debut, its premise sounded wild and fun and the best sort of complicated, and early reviews were very divided. I saw lots of people DNFing the book after reading barely a quarter, and most seemed to have issues with the writing style. After reading a sample chapter, I decided this might just be the kind of book for me.

Look at me, actually reading what I said I would. Cadwell Turnbull is a new-to-me author, and damn, why did I wait so long to discover him? This book had elements we've seen done before, but never quite in this way, which turned it into a novel unlike anything I had read before. I am so hyped to have found a new author that has the potential to become a favorite.

The most anticipated books for your summer, fall, and holiday TBR stacks