Ron Reads in 2025

My best buddy Jasper when he was about 3


My reading thread for 2024 can be seen here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/356789#n8724471 which includes a list of my favorite books read in 2024.

So far I have not finished a book in the new year although I have plenty to choose from. Will update with my ideas for reading this year once I have finished my first novel. Don't think i will be doing 75 books this year. Maybe 60. Maybe 50.

Last year I found a copy of David Pringle's 1985 book which is titled Science Fiction The 100 Best Novels, covering the period 1949-1984, and it sort of inspired me to read the essays over a couple months of why he chose the books and what I have already read and perhaps should re-read, and more importantly read the ones I have not read before, especially if I have them somewhere around the house or can get from the library. Here is the full list of 100. I will update the list as time goes by. I'm not planning on putting too much effort into this project.

I found some of the author's choices quite odd but I respect the effort he put into his essays and the book. This covers a 35 year period. There also seems to be a bias towards British authors. In my mind a few too many of the books may have been "important" but they weren't all that great, and a number of excellent authors from the period are missing

1 1984 (1949) by George Orwell, re-read in 2024, 5 stars

2 Earth Abides (1949) by George R. Stewart re-read in 2024, 4+ stars, review on LT

3 The Martian Chronicles (1950) by Ray Bradbury. re-read in 2015 3 1/2 stars, review on LT

4 The Puppet Masters (1951) by Robert A. Heinlein, DNF in 2024, 2 stars

5 The Day of the Triffids (1951) by John Wyndham. re-read in 2014, 3 1/2 stars, review on LT

6 Limbo (1952) by Bernard Wolfe

7 The Demolished Man (1952) by Alfred Bester

8 Fahrenheit 451 (1953) by Ray Bradbury. re-read in 2023, 4 stars, review on LT

9 Childhood's End (1954) by Arthur C. Clarke Read in 2015, 3 1/2 stars, review on LT

10 The Paradox Men (1953) by Charles L. Harness

11 Bring the Jubilee (1953) by Ward Moore. Read in 2012, 3 1/2 stars, review on LT

12 The Space Merchants (1953) by Frederik Pohl, read in 1971

13 Ring Around the Sun (1953) by Clifford D. Simak, read in 2011, 3 1/2 stars, reviewed on LT

14 More Than Human (1953) by Theodore Sturgeon, read in 1970s or early 80s

15 Mission of Gravity (1953) by Hal Clement read in 2015, 4 stars, review on LT

16 Mirror for Observers (1954) by Edgar Pangborn

17 The End of Eternity (1955) by Isaac Asimov

18 The Long Tomorrow (1955) by Leigh Brackett, read in 2024, 4 stars, review on LT

19 The Inheritors (1955) by William Golding, read in 2011, 2 stars, review on LT

20 The Stars My Destination (1956) by Alfred Bester, read in 70s, remember liking it then, but don't plan to re-read.

21 The Death of Grass (1956) by John Christopher (thought I read this one about 10 years ago but can't verify so will re-read)

22 The City and the Stars (1956) by Arthur C. Clarke, read original "Against the Fall of Night" in 70s, no plan to reread.

23 The Door into Summer (1956) by Robert A. Heinlein, read in 2014, 2 stars, review on LT

24 The Midwich Cuckoos (1957) by John Wyndham

25 Non-Stop (1958) by Brian Aldiss

26 A Case of Conscience (1958) by James Blish, this is considered a Hugo award winning classic but it did not appeal to me. I tried.

27 Have Spacesuit - Will Travel (1958) by Robert A Heinlein, read in 2014, 3 stars, reviewed on LT

28 Time Out of Joint (1959) by Philip K Dick

29 Alas, Babylon (1959) by Pat Frank read in 2010, review on LT, 4 stars

30 A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959) by Walter M Miller re-read in 2010, 2 stars

31 The Sirens of Titan (1959) by Kurt Vonnegut, read in 80s, re-read in 2014, 3 stars, review on LT

32 Rogue Moon by (1960) Algis Budrys

33 Venus Plus X (1960) by Theodore Sturgeon, read in 80s

34 Hothouse (1962) by Brian W Aldiss

35 The Drowned World (1962) by J G Ballard audiobook in 2017, 3 stars

36 A Clockwork Orange (1962) by Anthony Burgess, read in 70s or 80s, do not plan to re-read.

37 The Man In the High Castle (1962) by Philip K Dick, re-read in 2018, 3 1/2 stars, reviewed on LT

38 Journey Beyond Tomorrow (1963) by Robert Sheckley

39 Way Station by (1963) Clifford D Simak, re-read in 2011, 3 1/2 stars, reviewed on LT

40 Cat's Cradle (1963) by Kurt Vonnegut, read in 80s, plan to reread

41 Greybeard (1964) by Brian Aldiss, read and plan to reread

42 Nova Express (1964) by William S Burroughs

43 Martian Time Slip (1964) by Philip K Dick

44 The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1964) by Philip K Dick, DNF 2024

45 The Wanderer (1964) by Fritz Leiber

46 Norstrilia (1964-68) by Cordwainer Smith, partially read, plan to read

47 Dr Bloodmoney (1965) by Philip K Dick

48 Dune (1965) by Frank Herbert, read in 1974, don't plan to re-read, about 4+ stars

49 The Crystal World (1966) by J G Ballard

50 Make Room! Make Room (1966) by Harry Harrison , read in early 70s, might re-read

51 Flowers for Algernon (1966) by Daniel Keyes, first read about 1968, re-read years later and might re-read.

52 The Dream Master (1966) by Roger Zelazny, Pringle's essay praises this novel for the uniqueness of Zelazny's style at the time, at the forefront of the "New Wave". All these years later I found it very dated, and since I am not a Zelazny fan in the first place do not plan to dive into this one.

53 Stand on Zanzibar (1968) by John Brunner, read at least part in the 70s, might re-read

54 Nova (1968) by Samuel R. Delany, read at least part in the 70s, might re-read

55 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) by Philip K. Dick, read in 2025, 4 stars

56 Camp Concentration (1968) by Thomas M. Disch

57 The Final Programme (1968) by Michael Moorcock, read this in the late 70s, don't recall liking this one so probably no re-read.

58 Pavane (1968) by Keith Roberts, read in 2019, 4 1/2 stars, excellent novel and my review is on LT

59 Heroes and Villains (1969) by Angela Carter

60 The Left Hand of Darkness (1969) by Ursula K. Le Guin, read in the 80's, might re-read

61 The Palace of Eternity (1969) by Bob Shaw

62 Bug Jack Barron (1969) by Norman Spinrad, probably read in the 70s, undecided on a re-read

63 Tau Zero (1970) by Poul Anderson, read in 2025

64 Downward to the Earth (1970) by Robert Silverberg, read this in the early 70's, plan to re-read

65 The Year of the Quiet Sun (1970) by Wilson Tucker

66 334 (1972) by Thomas M. Disch

67 The Fifth Head of Cerberus (1972) by Gene Wolfe, read in 2018 3 1/2 stars, reviewed on LT

68 The Dancers at the End of Time (1972-1976) by Michael Moorcock

69 Crash (1973) by J. G. Ballard

70 Looking Backward, From the Year 2000 (1973) by Mack Reynolds

71 The Embedding (1973) by Ian Watson

72 Walk To The End of the World (1974) by Suzy McKee Charnas

73 The Centauri Device (1974) by M. John Harrison

74 The Dispossessed (1974) by Ursula K. Le Guin

75 Inverted World (1974) by Christopher Priest, read in the mid 70s

76 High-Rise (1975) by J. G. Ballard

77 Galaxies (1975) by Barry N. Malzberg

78 The Female Man by Joanna Russ

79 Orbitsville by Bob Shaw

80 The Alteration by Kingsley Amis

81 Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy

82 Man Plus (1976) by Frederick Pohl, read in June 2025, review posted. About 3 1/2 stars

83 Michaelmas by Algis Budrys

84 The Ophiuchi Hotline by John Varley, might have read this long ago

85 Miracle Visitors by Ian Watson

86 Engine Summer (1979) by John Crowley -- Pringle gives a lot of praise to this novel, and thinks it is best thought of as a prose poem. The title is a play on words, Indian Summer, Injun Summer, Engine Summer ... Pringle warns that the first chapters are hard to get through with any sense and I sampled them and sort of agree. The story is set in the future after the collapse of civilization and is an oral biography (only one person, I think, can read). Anyway, I did not put too much time on the book before deciding I'd rather spend my time elsewhere. It is the kind of book that I think would resonate with some readers tho. - June 2025

87 On Wings of Song by Thomas M. Disch

88 The Walking Shadow by Brian Stableford

89 Juniper Time by Kate Wilhelm

90 Timescape (1980) by Gregory Benford, - the story sounded very interesting but when I sampled it in 2025 I just could not get into it.

91 The Dreaming Dragons by Damien Broderick

92 Wild Seed by Octavia Butler

93 Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban

94 Roderick and Roderick at Random by John Sladek

95 The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe, this is actually 4 books and I read part of the first and dnf. may re-read

96 The Unreasoning Mask by Philip Jose Farmer

97 Oath of Fealty by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, read long ago and recall liking it.

98 No Enemy but Time by Michael Bishop

99 The Birth of the People's Republic of Antarctica (1983) by John Calvin Batchelor -- a very strange and dark book that I sampled and have no plans to read.

100 Neuromancer (1984) by William Gibson, read long ago and my vague recollection is not a positive one.

As always I want to read more books off the shelf this year. New (and newer) books were something of a fail for me last year. I'm not the audience for them. In truth a lot of older books haven't aged well either. What generally works is historical fiction. I plan to read at least a couple books off of the science fiction 100 list above. What I have on the shelf other than recent acquisitions has survived purges. A lot of things were donated to my friends of the library group last year, mostly unread. I am a volunteer there which is very rewarding to me to see books move to new homes in the community.

I plan to continue reading fiction and non-fiction about WWI and WW2. I know little about the first world war and I have accumulated a collection of books on the wars that I want to work on. I also want to dive a bit into 19th century writers which I haven't done for several years - things like Thomas Hardy, maybe Émile Zola, maybe a re-read of Les Misérables by Hugo. I enjoyed the handful of westerns I read last year so I will include at least few more this year. Other writers like Graham Greene, Frank Delaney, Alan Furst and Martin Walker I keep meaning to get back to, so hopefully this year.

I've set myself only one personal goal and that is to get some of the very fat books on my shelves read and out the door. Fat for me is generally 500 or more pages. At present I am nibbling away at a 675 page anthology. If I can get ten of these out the door by year's end I will be happy.

Right now I am reading A coffin for Dimitrios by Eric Ambler and I am very impressed with it. The author has been highly recommended in the past and I am glad to finally get to him. If I can find them (my library has a few) I plan to continue reading him.

Time to get reading ...

Welcome back, Ron!

>4 drneutron: Thanks Jim.

I love Eric Ambler, Ron and that is one of his best.

Welcome back my friend.

>6 PaulCranswick: Thank you Paul. I am very impressed with Ambler's work. Written in the late 30's and it brings the time and places to life. Great historical fiction as seen from the present.

>Ron, Your best buddy is a beautiful cat!

>8 Whisper1: Thank you Linda.

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January reading, comments to be added later

1. The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson. 3 1/2 stars

This was a children's book that I wanted to revisit. I watched Disney's 1938 short film adaptation then read the very short book.

2. A coffin for Dimitrios aka The Mask of Dimitrios, by Eric Ambler, 4+ star

3. Who Goes There? by Don A. Stuart, pseudonym for John W Campbell, 3+ stars

>9 RBeffa: FERDINAND and FERDINANDO are my favorite kid's books!

>10 m.belljackson: Thanks for the note Marianne. I loved Ferdinand when I was very young. It was one of the first books I bought for my children. Sweet and simple with some charm. Reading it now and knowing the context I can see it as an anti-war book in 1930s Spain. I'm not going to fight. You can't make me. I'm just going to sit under my tree.

Happy New Year, Ron! I hope all is well with you. Ferdinand was a child staple and wonderfully told. The story and artwork so well together.

>12 brodiew2: Welcome back Brodie! I've missed your booktalk. It has been a few years.

NN Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. DNF

The first chapter put me off and the second chapter pulled me in. But as I continued to read I found the characters unlikable, the storytelling strange and uneven and so I bailed. This might appeal to you if you were heavily into game playing and programming as a teenager in 1995. Not my cup of tea.

January-February 2025 reading,

This is one of my planned really big book reads and has 678 pages. As the cover says, more than 250,000 words of Fantastic Fiction

4. The year's best science fiction. Fifth annual collection stories from 1987, multiple authors, edited by Gardner Dozois, 3 - 3 1/2 stars

I seem to regard this collection a little higher than the two reviews posted here on LT. 28 stories, and I had read a number of them years ago and did not mind revisiting those, and I think I appreciated them more on re-reading. It begins with a story I have praised in the past, Rachel in Love by Pat Murphy. This collection represents the editor's favorites, and it draws heavily from Asimov's magazine. Some of these really have small science fiction elements (if any), and I could chop out a couple stories and not miss them but there are some excellent stories here also. So I can understand the weak reaction of some readers.

This collection reminded me how much I liked some mid 80's science fiction. However, on reflection there were a few too many clunkers to consider this a really good collection. This is rather typical of Dozois' selections and he includes stories that many would not consider science fiction.

I plan to read a few more of these annual collections this year and hope I don't burn out. I figure if I read 2 or 3 of the stories each day it should be doable.

5. Next Stop The Stars by Robert Silverberg, finished Feb 18, 2025, 2-2 1/2 stars



This is one half of an Ace double, published in 1962 and collecting five of Silverberg's stories from the 1950's. I thought it might be fun as I usually (but not always) enjoy Silverberg's writing. Well, guess what. I read a different edition of these same stories in 2016 and didn't realize it until I was nearly finished. I like the first story and the rest were fairly blah. Here is my original review:

This was the first collection of Robert Silverberg's short stories to be published. The stories were written early in his career, from 1954-1957 and the author explains in the introduction to my 1977 edition that he originally wanted a collection of 10 stories from the period but was only able to choose five of them for the first publication in 1962. He's especially proud of the four shorter stories and I can see why because to me they are a step higher in quality than the usual stories of the period and certainly stand the test of time to still be enjoyable despite obviously being from another time. These originally appeared in various magazines of the era.

Slaves of the Star Giants • novella
The Songs of Summer • shortstory
Hopper • novelette
Blaze of Glory • shortstory
Warm Man • shortstory

I don't think any of these stories would knock your socks off, but I enjoyed each one. The Star Giants novella has a good opening sequence to start this small collection of stories. It is the only 'adventure' story here - the others are more thoughtful pieces. Two of the stories involve a man being transported far into a post-apocalyptic future - with no scientific (or any) explanation of how this transport happened. The stories were long on storytelling, very short on science. And that was fine.

This is a re-read. Maybe I should do that more often. But there are so many unread ...

6. The Lucky Strike by Kim Stanley Robinson, finished Feb 20, 2025, 4+ stars



This is a very powerful story that I have read before, but on my second or maybe third reading it really hit hard. Would the end of WW2 have been different if Roosevelt had not died? More to the point, maybe a demonstration of the atomic bomb offshore from Tokyo, for example, would have saved the lives and destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This story is among the best alternative history speculations where we follow the story of a man named January who was the bombardier on the B-29 superfortress "Lucky Strike", the backup plane for Enola Gay. This particular book containing the story and discussion is the best.

Ron, The Lucky Strike is a must read. I'll find it and read it soon. I'm not sure if you have NetFlix, if you do, I highly recommend a seies regarding the Making of the Atomic Bomb and the manifold ways it changed our way of interacting with other countries, and the way we live. It is fascinating, and also addresses some of the issues in this book.

Thanks for your review!!!

>18 Whisper1: Linda, this story is not at all about the making of the atomic bomb. It is about the airmen (real ones and fictional ones) who were to fly from Tinian to deliver a new bomb to one of three targets. The airmen were only shown a film of the Trinity test explosion shortly before they would go. This is fictional and an alternate history because the enola gay crashes. The bombardier on the Lucky strike is who we spend the story with and he decides at the last minute that he can't bomb Hiroshima. There are consequences.

If you find this book (the story itself is only about 35 or so pages) I hope you enjoy it. It made me think about what was done.

I do have Netflix so may check out your recommendation.

Ron, I'm sorry for the confusion. I wasn't as clear as I could have been.

I'll be sure to look for The Lucky Strike. I usually have good luck with finding books from Thrftbooks.com.

>20 Whisper1: OK. I just wanted you to know this isn't a big book. I was reading a book on Oppenheimer but ended up not finishing it, even though it was somewhat interesting. I think a visual would work better for me.

Ron, I have two books regarding Oppenheimer, both are large, and I'm not in the mood right now for large books. I know where I have them if I ever decide to dele that deeply into his psyche.
All good wishes!

>17 RBeffa: THE LUCKY STRIKE sounds like the perfect book for those still insisting that Hiroshima and Nagasaki had to be bombed.

>23 m.belljackson: Something had to be done to shake the Japanese. I think the Lucky Strike was a good possibility. Curtis Le May and the firebombing of Japanese cities were war crimes pure and simple. I can't think of Hiroshima and Nagasaki any different. The USA lost any hope of moral superiority with those actions. But I also understand the arguments about how many more would have died from starvation if we blockaded or all sorts of death if allied forces invaded. Okinawa was a sample of what likely would have occurred. Which was the greater evil sort of gets set aside.

>22 Whisper1: Linda, Oppenheimer was a person of his time and place I suppose.

#55 on my list of science fiction novels at >2 RBeffa: is Do androids dream of electric sheep? I didn't finish it last year mostly because I disliked it. It is the book that inspired Bladerunner. I have started it again and told myself to finish it. I have a strong feeling that I did read this long ago even though I thought I had probably not. The book is quite imaginative and only partly seems like my memories of the original film from long ago. But it is a very unpleasant book. I am better able to appreciate it this time around.

7. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick, finished Feb 24, 2025, 4 stars



About a year ago I tried reading this novel and stopped after relatively few pages. This is what I wrote:

"I have given this novel two tries and it isn't working for me. I'd maybe rate it 2 stars. Time to purge. The book was the basis for the film Blade Runner (which was a rather scary avant garde film in 1982). As the story begins we find ourselves in the dark future of January 3, 2021. This was published in 1968.

When I was a teenager devouring books and record albums at our local library branch I remember when this book appeared on the shelf of the science fiction section which I checked on every visit. I do not know why but I was very creeped out by the cover and the first pages of the book. It was not something I wanted to read. It was many years later before I picked up the book at a library sale. Dick is a rather renowned author and I have liked some of his other stories a lot, such as the Man in the High Castle. But this one still creeps me, so off it goes."

But here and now ... I gave it one more try. This is a good example of why I give books more than one try. The beginning of this classic novel still repels me and creeps me out. But after reading a bit the story got hooks in me. This is a dark novel about bounty hunters and androids but it is also about a post atomic future in San Francisco. It is also about artificial life, both human like and animal like. Fake animals because almost all the real ones are dead. Dark and sad but also deeply introspective in parts. This seems more relevant now with the rise of AI (and I am someone who thinks that skynet from the Terminator movies is a real possibility someday.) This is a sad look, from 1968 about the future of human society.

Dick did something in here I liked. In the mess of San Francisco, museums still exist and there is a very poignant and important scene in the book set inside an unnamed museum (although I know it must be the de Young) hosting an Edvard Munch exhibition. Dick incorporated something he undoubtedly saw himself into this future. The Munch exhibition with the pertinent painting visited San Francisco in 1951.

A friend recommended this book to me. I'm not a big reader of crime fiction but I read one now and then.

8. The Dark Remains: A Novel by William McIlvanney and Ian Rankin, finished March 1, 2025, 3 stars



Ian Rankin finished an unfinished novel by McIlvanney after his death. This was a pretty quick read in three days or so. I don't think I can fairly judge it because it is part of a series I never read, nor have I read McIlvanney at all. I sort of enjoyed the story at the start but the characters and setting didn't appeal to me.

-----------------------------

I read the stories in this book along with a few others from other anthologies over about two weeks.

9. About Time 12 Short stories by Jack Finney, finished March 5, 2025, 2 1/2 - 3 stars



I think my mental agitation about the present state of the union is interfering with my ability to read a novel. Or read anything requiring focus maybe. The stories in this collection were first published in two books from 1957 and 1962. I liked the settings but the stories about time travel in one form or another did not really impress me. They were clver and enjoyable. Stories set in and around San Francisco are always a plus for me. There were a few duds here. I have enjoyed Finney's novels a lot more, especially Time and Again as well as Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

For the moment I have given up on trying to read some really big books. I've got several books going that I have read a little of. So of course I start a new book, looking for something to really click.

10. Tau Zero by Poul Anderson, finished March 11, 2025, 2 to 3 stars



Here is a highly regarded relatively short science fiction novel from 1970 that impressed me, and repelled me, very literate for the genre, some very sciency science fiction, esp considering it is now 55 years old. Most of it was over my head. It reminded me a bit of a book by Kim Stanley Robinson called Aurora that I read in 2016. I liked Aurora better.

There is a problem in the book, one which you will see mentioned repeatedly in reviews. The alpha male in the book is a little bothersome, maybe a lot, to modern sensibilities especially. At the end I think he was called King. However there are numerous bullies in the world aren't there? Sound Trumpian??? Anyway, when I read books this old I make allowances for different societal norms. Sometimes it can be funny. The male-female interactions in this book are not really funny, and this isn't really so much a time shift thing. Just watch American television. It is all there just the same. So when I got a few pages into the book and the female lead character falls in love with the bully and says "I want you in me again" I almost barfed.

I like Poul Anderson's stories and should have read this sooner. Scandinavian influenced storytelling is how I think of Anderson's works and this one is no exception. This is one more book to check off my list above of the 100 greatest science fiction novels from 1949-1984. I just wish it had been better. There is a rather spectacular idea in the novel that impressed me.

>28 RBeffa: I keep thinking back on Tau Zero. I can see why it is a classic because the formula shown on the cover is used to explain what is happening to the starship. 25 men and 25 women are being sent to colonize a planet on a starship that is constantly accelerating and as it approaches the speed of light it literally flies across and beyond our universe and flies through time, relatively speaking. The end result is awesome and amazing. But much of the story is kind of mush and several characters were unlikeable or repellent to me, balanced with one or two that I liked. It is a strange story. Potentially the rebirth of the human race.

I bailed on Peter Heller's recent novel Burn despite enjoying some of his previous novels. Very choppy writing style and I was ready to quit quite early. Boring as well.

11. The other side of the sky by Arthur C Clarke, finished March 25, 2025, 3 stars



This is an almost excellent collection of twentysomething short stories from early days, and includes a nice introduction by the author. I had honestly forgotten how much I have enjoyed some of Clarke's shorter fiction although I run across reminders here and there in anthologies. Clarke loved a surprising ending. Some of these stories are very short but they were a pleasure to read a few at a time. I only recognized a couple of them. First published in 1959. There are some 'slight' ministories in here which in hindsight keep me from really praising the collection. Clarke enthusiasts should enjoy it.

12. Debt of Bones by Terry Goodkind, finished March 26, 2025, 3 stars



A lovely book with interior pen and ink illustrations and a pleasing cover. I thought this novella might be a good introduction to Terry Goodkind who I don't recall having read before. It is part of his long Sword of Truth series. I liked it quite a bit although a story twist midway threw me off a bit as it did not make sense to me based on what had gone before. As a novella and as a supplement to an established series there were details that could have been expanded for me as a new reader, but it also whets my appetite to explore the series. I really like a couple of the characters here.

The book I read said it was an updated 2001 UK version of the original 1998 publication.

eta: reading a bit about the author I see that he was somewhat controversial with his beliefs. Could be why I avoided him years ago but I will keep an open mind on his writing.

The state of my country at this point in time is interfering with my ability to enjoy books I think. And other things. I am most at peace in my garden with my plants or volunteering at my library.

13. Warlight by Michael Ondaatje, finished April 7, 2025, 4 stars



It was a very long time ago when I read a book by this author, The English Patient, and I don't recall liking it. I only picked this one up because of the great review by Linda (laytonwoman3rd). It intrigued me. I won't try to post my own review. I started listening to this as an audiobook, and the narrator is quite good, but I felt like I was missing something so got my hands on a trade paperback. I went back and forth and read and listened to most of each and together it made a whole which I finished in paper form. This is told like a memoir and the jumping around frustrated me at times but also intrigued me. I wasn't sure where it was going but when I finally made it to the end I was satisfied (I think!).

>32 RBeffa: I must get to that one soon, Ron.

>33 PaulCranswick: The book is "different" Paul, but it will be one of my favorite reads this year. I can't quite figure out how to explain it but the author tells the story in a different way and the slight red herrings at the beginning were not worth worrying about. I will recommend this to patient readers.

Favorite books of 2025 so far ...

novel: Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

Top Ten Fiction novels or novellas for 2025 roughly in order (excluding re-reads):

1. Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
2. A Coffin for Dimitrios aka The Mask of Dimitrios, by Eric Ambler
3. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
4. Debt of Bones by Terry Goodkind

Honorable mentions:

Favorite anthologies/ short story collections for 2025:

1. The year's best science fiction. Fifth annual collection stories from 1987, multiple authors, edited by Gardner Dozois

Best fiction re-reads in 2025:

1. The Lucky Strike by Kim Stanley Robinson
2.

Favorite Young Adult or Children's reads in 2025:

1. The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson
2.

>35 RBeffa: Have to say Ron, Eric Ambler was a genius of his genre.

>35 RBeffa: Ferdinand is a joy for all ages!

>36 PaulCranswick: Paul, Eric Ambler was recommended for fans of Alan Furst's books and I must say I agree. I started on Spies of the Balkans last night and it certainly has the feel of Eric Ambler's novel. I will be reading more of both authors.

>37 m.belljackson: Marianne, Ferdinand is such a sweet book.

>38 RBeffa: I hadn't thought of that but you are right, Ron, there is a similarity.

I am going to re-read at least part of Eric Ambler's A Coffin for Dimitrios after having read this one.

14. Spies of the Balkans by Alan Furst, finished April 21, 2025, 4 - 4 1/2 stars



The enjoyment of reading two WWII era novels this year, spy novels, made me want to tackle another similar to Eric Ambler's work. Alan Furst’s Spies of the Balkans unfolds in the tense world of 1940-1941 Europe. I've already read 9 of Furst's espionage novels, this is the tenth. Set primarily in Salonika, Greece, a city historically rich with Jewish heritage, the novel follows Costa Zannis, a senior police official entangled in a dangerous web of political intrigue and humanitarian urgency. Zannis is 'recruited' to aid in the escape of wealthy jews who have not yet been taken by the Gestapo in Germany. He does this willingly despite the risk. Somewhat unwillingly, near the end, the British pressure him to rescue a downed aviator who must not be captured and interrogated.

Part of what sets Spies of the Balkans apart is its heart: the story of Jews fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe, and the fragile, underground network of people working desperately to get them to safety before they are taken by the SS. Zannis becomes an unlikely yet deeply compelling hero, orchestrating escapes through the mountains of the Balkans, away from the ever-encroaching reach of the SS. Furst captures the looming menace, although their presence is often felt more than seen. The fear is visceral, and there are quite a few pulse pounding moments while reading.

The setting of Greece is more than backdrop; it’s a character in itself. Salonika, on the cusp of Axis occupation, is portrayed with a kind of melancholy, whispers of Byzantine history, and the sea in the distance.

Furst’s style here bears a resemblance to Eric Ambler, not just the setting but in its emphasis on ordinary men thrust into extraordinary situations. Zannis is no James Bond (although there does seem to be a nod or two to Bond) - but he’s thoughtful, morally driven, and operates in a world where right and wrong are often murky.

In sum, Spies of the Balkans is a moody, elegant spy novel that intertwines historical accuracy with noir-style suspense. It's a tribute not just to resistance and courage, but to those quiet acts of defiance that saved lives in Europe’s darkest hours. I'll be a little spoilery and say that the novel ends with the aerial bombardment of Salonika by the advancing Germans which wrecks the ship that could have taken Zannis away. Zannis and his lady franticly flee in another way. However, the novel ends before the arrival of the German army and the occupation. We therefor do not witness here the destruction that the Germans bring to Salonika. For those interested the BBC has a very informative article about the city. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250404-in-search-of-greeces-once-great-jewi...

Recommended

15. Underfoot in show business by Helene Hanff, finished April 28, 2025, 2 to 3 stars



This memoir was recommended to me and I enjoyed the start but it became for me, someone who has little interest in theater and "show business", not so great, unlike the majority of readers and reviewers who rate this highly. There are a number of entertaining bits in here so I will give it at most three stars. A bit of a time travel to the late 30's, the 40s and beyond and I think it would appeal most to my parent's generation. Someone who prioritizes money for cigarettes in their weekly budget. Boring for me but obviously it has a wider appeal.

>32 RBeffa: "when I finally made it to the end I was satisfied (I think!)." Sometimes we really do have to sit with our reactions to a book for a while after finishing it before we're sure...but in any case, since I put you on to Warlight, I am glad your response was ultimately positive!

>42 laytonwoman3rd: I ultimately was quite satisfied with the novel but remain a slight bit unhappy about the way the author told the story. Getting invested with quirky characters like Agnes who disappear from the narrative until the end bugs me.

I started reading this Irish novel when my daughter travelled to Ireland for a vacation. I read one of Delaney's novels, Shannon, half a dozen years ago and was impressed. I had planned to read more but obviously got sidetracked until now.

16. The Last Storyteller: A Novel of Ireland by Frank Delaney, finished May, 2025, maybe 3 stars, at most



This was not an easy read and frankly confusing much of the time. It was told in a non-linear fashion. This is a story of stories. It is also apparently the third in a trilogy and I felt like I had missed something going in. My big problem besides the manner of storytelling is that i did not like the characters. I'm going to have to ponder this book for a while and not try and review it. Not recommended. I will try at least one more book by the author.

I have been giving up on several books this year which I have not bothered to recount here. Most recently, The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles (which would have been a re-read from ~30 years ago). I have not read a Pearl Buck novel for a little while so I took on China Sky. This is apparently part of a 3 book sequence and I read the first one, China Flight, in 2013.

17. China Sky by Pearl S Buck, finished May 24, 2025, 3 1/2 stars



This is a novel first published in the early 1940's, and it is a war story and a romance and I liked it quite a bit. Better than China Flight I think. I'll give it close to four stars for the time it was written. Buck knew China very well at the time, at least the Chinese people anyway, and the insight she had then helps. The romance stuff in here is a bit much but the meat of the story saved this for me. I may have seen the movie a very long time ago, in fact I think I must have, because the storyline was familiar to me.

A strange thing happened while I was reading the novel. I read about the first third of the book one evening before bed. My dreams that night were very strong and I think were like an extension of the story in my mind with me in it. When I woke I couldn't tell you what was part of my dream and what was in the book, but like most dreams the dream images quickly faded and now I can't remember them other than they were very intense.

18. The Shooting at Chateau Rock: A Mystery of the French Countryside by Martin Walker, finished May 28, 2025, 3 stars



The thirteenth novel in the Bruno Chief of Police series, and the ninth, possible 10th book I have read (not counting several shorter works). I was a little bored with this story but I still like all the details of French village life. Probably my least favorite or close to it in the series. There were some nice bits. I'll be reading more of this series. I'm beginning to think Bruno will settle down with Florence one day.

eta: I forgot to say when i posted this last night is that one of the things I have always liked about the Bruno series is the geo-political history, past and present, that Walker builds his stories around. They can be the best or the boring parts. This one covers the Russian-Ukraine situation and the diaspora of sorts of the Russian oligarchs and wealthy Russians in general that has occurred. Lots of tidbits on things in Europe that I knew nothing about, and a few that I did but learned more about.

As May 2025 winds down I wanted to note two books I read this month that I want to keep track of.

19. Fa Mulan: The Story of a Woman Warrior by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Jean & Mou-Sien Tseng, finished May 2025, 4 stars

My daughter was (and remains) a rather huge Mulan fan thanks to the 1998 Disney film. (Not a fan of the remake) This is a lovely book from Scholastic Books, 2000, that was one of a number of mostly excellent books purchased at book fairs. The short story told here is done simply but well, and the illustrations are excellent. The book is intended to be read like a Chinese scroll and author and illustrator notes at the end explain a lot.

20. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson, finished May 2025, 4 stars

This Newberry winning children's book is another from my daughter's childhood, later though - the movie that is, but not the book. She loved the movie but the end is so profoundly sad I don't think she ever read the book and I only read it now although I have a feeling I may have browsed it way back when. There are a gazillion reviews of the book so I will just make a few personal comments. The story is an excellent one and it makes me want to see the film again from 2007. Even though I remember thinking it was too sad to watch again and came up with different endings in my mind. But I do have a complaint and that I think the writing in the book is uneven and sometimes doesn't flow well in conversations and elsewhere, especially at the start of the book. The life lessons in the story are important ones. It is hard not to be attached to the two young protagonists, Jess and Leslie. The book is a heartbreaker though. Young Jess has his perfect day on a trip to Washington with his teacher and visits the art galleries. When he returns home his best (and only) friend in the world, Leslie, has died.

I read a library copy of this book.

21. Imperial Woman by Pearl S.Buck, finished June 5, 2025, 2 1/2 stars



One of Pearl Buck's later novels (my book is dated 1956) about the last ruling Empress of China. I didn't warm to this book, mostly because I found the situations and people involved unlikeable. Depressing. I skimmed a bit. This really isn't a biography of the last empress. It is more an imagined story built around some history. Anchee Min (perhaps most notably) has written a couple books about the last empress.

My second Jack Finney book this year.

22. The Night People by Jack Finney, finished June 6, 2025, 2 1/2 - 3 stars



Intriguing at the start, with an adventure climbing the Golden Gate Bridge, and I noted it was set in Mill Valley, 1976, 20 years after where the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers was set. Would there be a tie-in? No. This is basically a story about being bored and looking for some excitement in life. Two nice couples, easy to like. The writing itself is very good, very descriptive. Timeless insights into the human condition. It just doesn't amount to much although I enjoyed reading along.

I don't recall a Finney novel with naughty bits, but this one has some.

I do like that Finney novels are set in places around the SF Bay Area that I recognize. Even though the novel is almost 50 years old, places are still the same. Going to the Safeway supermarket in Strawberry Village along 101, the descriptions could still match exactly what you can see in google maps. Except for the Starbucks there. It gives me a little kick. https://tinyurl.com/3ayt9tdz

The end was more than a little zany.

23. Fatal pursuit : a Bruno, chief of police novel by Martin Walker, finished June 15, 2025, 2 1/2 - 3 stars



I've wanted to catch up some more on the Bruno Chief of Police series. This was the ninth novel of the series and like my recent read last month, one of the less interesting ones. These stories I read for the sense of French life in the Périgord but also for the deeper history of France and foodie things. I did learn that Bruno's land rover is a 1954 (!) model.

I was part way through another of Arthur C Clarke's anthologies and looked something up and discovered that Clarke was an unapologetic pedophile. I will never be able to read him again. So I moved on to an old issue of Galaxy Magazine.

24. Galaxy Science Fiction Magazine, December 1967 (Vol. 26, No. 2) various authors, edited by Frederick Pohl, finished June 17, 2025, 2 1/2 stars



I hesitate to give this a star rating because this is very much an old fashioned science fiction magazine. I'll list the fiction stories below with a few comments but there are also other things within the magazine.

What made me very happy to have a look at this magazine was a story by Robert Silverberg that I had not read before. 1967 was a time when Silverberg was hitting his stride and "King of the Golden World" was a good short story even though the cover of the magazine calls it a complete short novel. It had an excellent twist at the end that I should have seen coming but did not. So much of Silverberg's fiction has been collected and anthologized the last decade or more, but this one has not been so I am happy I read it here. Fans of Larry Niven might enjoy his story here as well. I became a fan of Niven's stories around this time myself. But I outgrew him. I also thought "Black Corridor" by Fritz Leiber was interesting. I'd call it horror science fiction, like a nightmare of sorts. All the rest I could do without including the Poul Anderson one.

Outpost of Empire • novella by Poul Anderson
artwork by Gray Morrow
The South Waterford Rumple Club • short story by Richard Wilson
artwork by Jack Gaughan
King of the Golden World • short story by Robert Silverberg (variant of The King of the Golden River)
Black Corridor • short story by Fritz Leiber
The Red Euphoric Bands • short story by R. S. Richardson (as by Philip Latham)
Galactic Consumer Report No. 3: A Survey of the Membership • short story by John Brunner
artwork by Jack Gaughan
Handicap • Known Space • novelette by Larry Niven (variant of The Handicapped)
Handicap • interior artwork by Jack Gaughan
The Fairly Civil Service • short story by Harry Harrison
artwork by Jack Gaughan

I have decided to tackle a few more classic science fiction novels. Some from my 100 list above as well as others. I have started on one of Robert Heinlein's "juvenile" novels, Citizen of the Galaxy.

25. Citizen of the Galaxy by Robert Heinlein, finished June 22, 2025, 2 1/2+ stars



This story, told in four parts (it was originally serialized in a magazine in the fifties), starts off very well but somewhere in the second part when we spend pages trying to have the odd matriarchy and family relationships on a free trader starship explained, my interest began to wane, and despite some interesting parts the story didn't live up to the reputation as one of Heinlein better novels. To be fair it addresses social issues in a rather progressive way for the fifties.

>53 RBeffa: Interesting to see what does and doesn't hold up. I've had that experience with a collection of late 19th, early 20th century horror short stories.

>54 drneutron: Science fiction/fantasy authors have impressed me over the years with how forward thinking they can be with social structures. They can also be stuck in the past.

Orbital by Samantha Harvey, DNF

I made a second attempt at this short novel, which is highly praised by some. It utterly and completely bores me. Trying very very hard to be artsy. Returned to the library.

26. The First Wave by Alex Kershaw, finished June 27, 2025, about 3 stars



I read this non-fiction book in chunks over quite a few weeks. There is good info in here that I have not read elsewhere about D-Day and the days thereafter, but also I am familiar with some of it. Good info on various personalities involved. But ... it didn't rise to a really good read for me. Kershaw is clearly an excellent historian and the book is heavily footnoted with sources.

I like reading about World War Two, but damn, it always makes me sad at the tremendous loss of innocent lives. I sometimes tell myself that the war gene in humankind is the only population throttle that seems to exist.

There is a 3 star review by gregdehler posted that sums up my feelings about the book pretty much exactly.

Catching up on documenting recent reads. I read this one because it was in David Pringle's 100 best science fiction novels outlined above at post >2 RBeffa:.

27. Man Plus by Frederik Pohl, finished June 2025, about 3 1/2 stars



This is the sort of story that was the bedrock of science fiction for many years. It won the 1977 Nebula award. The story first appeared in the April thru June 1976 issues of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. It is mostly about how an astronaut is made into a cyborg to land and live on Mars. A lot of the human side of things to go with the scientific. Written 50 years ago in the 70's, it feels like it, the time of Skylab and the Cold War, throwing sex into the scifi, we get extrapolated into the future. The astronaut's wife stuff thrown in to the story to flesh out the characters was a bit much and I think the story might have been better with a lot of it cut out and the story slimmed down to novella length.

There's a surprise that comes near the end, hinted at on the back cover of my copy of the book and given away in Pringle's essay on the book. Pohl did a good job with this, though, although I could not see how man plus would be the salvation and future of the species. But, there was the twist. It did not come out of the blue .... slowly as the novel progresses the reader realizes that someone was watching the watchers. I liked the ending.

I sometimes felt like I was watching, in my head, a bug eyed monster movie from the 50s. This was written though at the time of the six million dollar man and bionic woman shows from the mid 70s, and that was probably more the inspiration for the book than anything.

Time for the mid year wrap-up. 27 books counted. More than a few DNF. These are my favorites so far for the year.

Favorite books of 2025 so far ...

Top Ten Fiction novels or novellas for 2025 roughly in order (excluding re-reads):

1/2. Spies of The Balkans by Alan Furst
1/2. A Coffin for Dimitrios aka The Mask of Dimitrios, by Eric Ambler
3. Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
5. China Sky by Pearl Buck
6. Man Plus by Fredrik Pohl
7. Debt of Bones by Terry Goodkind
8.

Honorable mentions:

Favorite Reads that are part of a series, and not listed elsewhere:

1. Fatal Pursuit by Martin Walker
2.

Top Non-Fiction for 2025

1.

Favorite anthologies/ short story collections for 2025:

1. The year's best science fiction. Fifth annual collection stories from 1987, multiple authors, edited by Gardner Dozois
2.
3.

Best fiction re-reads in 2025:

1. The Lucky Strike by Kim Stanley Robinson
2.

Favorite Young Adult or Children's reads in 2025:

1. The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson
2. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
3. Fa Mulan: The Story of a Woman Warrior by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Jean & Mou-Sien Tseng
4.
5.

>59 RBeffa: Interesting that you couldn't separate Furst and Ambler, Ron. Both masters of the genre albeit from different times. The Mask of Dimitrios to use its original UK title is one of Ambler's very best.

>60 PaulCranswick: I am a pretty big fan of Furst's novels and have sampled others in that realm (Len Deighton, Philip Kerr for example) and didn't think he had an equal until I finally read Ambler this year. I do like Robert Harris a lot and it has been a while since I read any LeCarre - they have plenty I have not read. But I will get back to Ambler.

So many books, so little time is a truism with me.

>61 RBeffa: Indeed that is true, Ron. Colin Forbes was another writer I enjoyed back in the day as well as some of Desmond Bagley and Helen MacInnes.

>62 PaulCranswick: Names to remember. Thanks Paul. I think I have read Helen MacInnes many years ago.

>63 RBeffa: Welcome mate. I need to read some more of Alan Furst. I really like the "atmosphere" of his work. I also quite like Charles Cumming whose spy books are convincing and Rory Clements whose WW2 books are good reads.

>64 PaulCranswick: Atmosphere is really the word for Furst's books. I'm not sure how he creates what others don't, but it was what hooked me on his stories.

28. Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson, finished July 4, 2025, 3 - 3 1/2 stars



An intriguing premise with a series of murders mimicking classic crime and mystery novels. My initial reaction when I started the book was a positive one, although I soon felt a bit off balance when the FBI agent shows up repeatedly asking about murders. I was unsure if I needed to be familiar with all of the classic crime fiction tales involved, but was fine. We get lots of plot explanations. Despite liking the beginning, the early execution disappointed somewhat. The repetative nature of the storytelling began to bore me at times. The increasingly detached and unreliable narrator made me think I had the story figured out before it had hardly started rolling. I suppose the reader was supposed to see that. But then the story picked up as the narrator tells his tales, and things accelerate. And there still are twisty surprises, and sadness.

To be fair I think I may be painting this a bit more negative than I actually feel about the book. I feel sorry for the narrator who tells us this story and leaves it for us as a memoir. I enjoyed this.

This is kind of cray cray, but the eight perfect murders book has put me in the mood to read many of the classic mystery books, especially some Agatha Christie, that is discussed in the book. I've checked one out from the library already.

29. The United States at war, 1941-1945 by Gary R. Hess, finished July 7, 2025, 3 1/2 stars



I read this as a between book - reading parts over a span of many months in between other reading. The copy I read was the first edition published in 1986. There has been one or two later editions. I found it to be a very good concise overview of the US participation in World War II. I have read many books about World War Two and this seemed to be a very concise summary. I appreciated the quick coverage of the parts of the war, some of the political issues and aftermath. I think most readers would want more details of just about everything in here. This would probably be most useful in a high school American History class.

There is a good chapter and discussion on the end of war politics, esp regarding China. Also good discussion on the controversial use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki when Japan was no longer able to fight but would not surrender.

There is a very good, but now dated (in my 1986 edition) bibliographic essay on sources and places to find additional information.

30. Old Man's War by John Scalzi, finished July 11, 2025, 2 1/2 stars



I liked this book at the start. If you enjoy military science fiction you might like the rest of it. For the most part I did not (but there are few bits scattered among the senseless battles that are pretty good).

31. Mammoth by John Varley, finished July 15, 2025, 2 - 2 1/2 stars



Time travel book my wife picked up about 20 years ago. In the late 70's and into the mid 80's Varley was a favorite author of mine because of his short stories. I didn't enjoy his novels. This book had a lot of potential but I disliked the storytelling. The early part of the book is quite tedious and an odd manner of presenting the story was distracting for quite a while. The characters are mostly unlikeable and though there is some redemption at the end, it felt hollow.

32. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie, finished July 18, 2025, 4 stars



First published 99 years ago in June 1926, this is a very readable and slightly unusual mystery. One of the earliest Hercule Poirot novels, and I had forgotten how much I liked the character. This is clearly a classic of the genre. It has been a very long time since I read an Agatha Christie novel. I am going to have to read a few more!

I got this from the library after finishing Eight Perfect Murders earlier this month and when one gets to end of Roger Ackroyd it is clear the homage that was paid to this groundbreaking mystery. Everyone in Christie's book has something to hide, and we get surprise after surprise, but the book saves the biggest surprise until the end. Recommended

33. Nightshade by Michael Connelly, finished July 28, 2025, 2 1/2 - 3 stars



Michael Connelly is a very popular author who I have never read before. Saw this new release from the library and decided to give it a go. It might be the first in a new series. This is mostly set on Catalina Island off the southern coast of California. I have never visited the island although my family has. Anyway, the story didn't rock my world, and I can only call it an OK read.

34. The Dark Side various authors, edited by Damon Knight, finished July 30, 2025, 3 1/2 - 4 stars



The falling apart paperback I read dates to 1965 but the stories here date from 1896 to 1955. Not really science fiction, more supernatural fantasy I would say. Subtitled "Fantastic stories of the unknown, by masters such as Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, Fritz Leiber, Avram Davidson and Theodore Sturgeon". Twelve stories here, including one of the weakest ones by Richard McKenna from 1958. McKenna would gain fame several years later with "The Sand Pebbles". For the time this strikes me as a much better than average collection of stories. Ray Bradbury's story is excellent, as are several others. Oddly I have read one of the stories twice in other anthologies relatively recently. Besides Ray Bradbury's "The Black Ferris" I think Fritz Leiber's "The Man Who Never Grew Young", stories that bookend the collection, were two of my favorites (and the best of the collection). Also I enjoyed "It" by Theodore Sturgeon, from 1940, a lot. Creepy stuff in here.

7 • Introduction (The Dark Side) • (1965) • essay by Damon Knight
9 • The Black Ferris • (1948) • short story by Ray Bradbury
18 • They • (1941) • short story by Robert A. Heinlein
35 • Mistake Inside • (1948) • novelette by James Blish
56 • Trouble with Water • (1939) • short story by H. L. Gold
79 • c/o Mr. Makepeace • (1954) • short story by Peter Phillips
92 • The Golem • (1955) • short story by Avram Davidson
99 • The Story of the Late Mr. Elvesham • (1896) • short story by H. G. Wells
117 • It • (1940) • novelette by Theodore Sturgeon
143 • Nellthu • (1955) • short story by Anthony Boucher
146 • Casey Agonistes • (1958) • short story by Richard McKenna
159 • Eye for Iniquity • (1953) • novelette by T. L. Sherred
184 • The Man Who Never Grew Young • (1947) • short story by Fritz Leiber

35. The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst, finished August 3, 2025, about 4 stars



The Dogs of Babel, as much as I like parts, there are more than a few bothers in this which keeps me from giving this a wholehearted 5 stars. But I can't just give it an OK 3 stars either.

The book appears to be about solving the mystery of of a woman's death, which is how the book starts. Paul's wife Lexy has fallen from an apple tree in their backyard and died. The only witness is their dog Lorelei. I am not a reader who falls in love with characters but I was utterly smitten and charmed with the Lexy we meet in Paul's memory. Which was clearly the author's intention to share the exuberance with Paul. I was not terribly taken with Paul, nor his obsession, but was sympathetic. However, behind the charming sunny exterior of the Lexy we first meet in Paul's memory lies a different troubled person. Here I began to be bothered because we begin being told something in great detail that is probably not in Paul's memory as it is relayed to the reader. Not with the detail anyway. Lexy had been a troubled teenager and Paul early on has realized that Lexy's death could be a suicide. Methinks that Paul knew from the start especially since Lexy left clues and things we are told later. The story bounces around a bit too much for me. I would like things just a little bit more linear.

Paul, a university linguistics professor, decides he can teach the dog Lorelei to talk and tell him what happened to Lexy. At some point I decided that Paul was severely damaged mentally by Lexy's death (and apparent suicide) and the dog business was the result. The dog, Lorelei, is a sweetheart who was originally Lexy's dog before he met Lexy. If, like me, you are sensitive to the ugliness of humans with respect to animals you might want to skip ahead several chapters or just avoid this novel. I wish some parts of the story wasn't in here. It rather spoiled the book for me.

I read this because a couple of friends read this recently in real life and it somehow called to me. It was not what I expected. This is not a book that I will forget.

A Private Cathedral: A Dave Robicheaux Novel
by James Lee Burke
DNF August 2025
I felt I needed to stop reading this. This would have been my first novel by Burke and despite liking (sort of) the main characters I was not liking the whole atmosphere of the novel and the ugly people they encounter. Nuff said

Back in the mid to later 70s I took a great pleasure in listening to CBS Radio Mystery Theater hosted by E G Marshall. Not all of them mind you, but enough of them. It put me in mind of what it must have been like decades before, before television, when shows like the Lone Ranger and Dimension X were weekly regulars.

Anyway, somewhat randomly I started listening to a friend's audiobook of Brian Lumley stories. I've read a small bit of Lumley's horror in the past and I thought it might be fun. It was. Six hours or so of stories I would be hard pressed to remember or explain. I am certain I fell asleep more than a few times. Not a bad thing. The English narrator, Joshua Saxon, does a superb job on some of this, pronouncing the unpronounceable. Honestly this is a crazy homage to old pulp stuff and makes me want to dig out some Robert Howard Conan stuff or at least some Tarzan stories. This however is Cthulhu ala H P Lovecraft, of which I know little. I do have a collection of Lumley's stories close at hand and maybe I will give it a go before too long.

36 The House of Cthulhu: Tales of the Primal Land, Vol. 1 by Brian Lumley, narrated by Joshua Saxon. 3 stars for fun, finished August 5, 2025

>75 RBeffa: My radio experiences from my younger days, Ron, involved listening to BBC World Service and especially sports report on a Saturday. During my university days at Warwick I used to invariably nod off to sleep listening to local Radio Mercia. My breakfasts as a boy used to be Radio 2 and Terry Wogan.

>76 PaulCranswick: Paul, your Radio 2 shows with Wogan must have been a pleasure. I have heard his name before. About a dozen years ago I went through a phase of searching out "old time" radio shows which were and I assume still are available online. Our local library even had quite a few available on CD to listen to. Even before that I was searching out radio shows and a favorite for a time was a Radio 2 guy, Malcolm Laycock who did Big Band type shows. I can't believe it was 2009 when he passed away rather suddenly, not long after he had been cancelled on the radio.

37. Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris, finished August 11 2025, 4 stars



I like WWII fiction, and it seems especially that set in France. This novel, partly set in rural France during the second world war, is the first I have read by Joanne Harris and it does not need another review!

I was impressed and will undoubtedly revisit the author in the future. Part of my reaction is because the end sort of surprised me in a good way. I did not like all of this novel and disliked most of the characters, but that did not stop me from appreciating the story.

>78 RBeffa: Ignoring the spurious romance, The ELEVENTH MAN by Ivan Doig
delivers an entwining premise for World War II all over the map!

Thanks for the rec Marianne. I have liked Doig in the past. Plus a bit of romance is actually a plus for me when it is done well.

Orbital by Samantha Harvey DNF

I looked at this from the library a couple days ago. It has gotten some buzz. Bored me senseless and I did not get very far. It was my second try. (This short novel was awarded the 2024 Booker prize)

38. The diving bell and the butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby, finished August 21 2025, 3 stars



A sad, short memoir composed after a devastating stroke. I am sorry that the man's life was cut short. I never saw the film.

Today, August 22, is Ray Bradbury's birthday (1920). A friend shared this story with me a few years ago and it still makes me smile ...

In a long ago edition of the Paris Review, writer Ray Bradbury responded to a question about a mysterious character, Mr. Electrico, who appeared in "Something Wicked This Way Comes."
What an answer!
BRADBURY
Yes, but he was a real man. That was his real name. Circuses and carnivals were always passing through Illinois during my childhood and I was in love with their mystery. One autumn weekend in 1932, when I was twelve years old, the Dill Brothers Combined Shows came to town. One of the performers was Mr. Electrico. He sat in an electric chair. A stagehand pulled a switch and he was charged with fifty thousand volts of pure electricity. Lightning flashed in his eyes and his hair stood on end.
The next day, I had to go the funeral of one of my favorite uncles. Driving back from the graveyard with my family, I looked down the hill toward the shoreline of Lake Michigan and I saw the tents and the flags of the carnival and I said to my father, Stop the car. He said, What do you mean? And I said, I have to get out. My father was furious with me. He expected me to stay with the family to mourn, but I got out of the car anyway and I ran down the hill toward the carnival.
It didn’t occur to me at the time, but I was running away from death, wasn’t I? I was running toward life. And there was Mr. Electrico sitting on the platform out in front of the carnival and I didn’t know what to say. I was scared of making a fool of myself.
I had a magic trick in my pocket, one of those little ball-and-vase tricks—a little container that had a ball in it that you make disappear and reappear—and I got that out and asked, Can you show me how to do this? It was the right thing to do. It made a contact. He knew he was talking to a young magician. He took it, showed me how to do it, gave it back to me, then he looked at my face and said, Would you like to meet those people in that tent over there? Those strange people? And I said, Yes sir, I would. So he led me over there and he hit the tent with his cane and said, Clean up your language! Clean up your language! He took me in, and the first person I met was the illustrated man. Isn’t that wonderful? The Illustrated Man! He called himself the tattooed man, but I changed his name later for my book. I also met the strong man, the fat lady, the trapeze people, the dwarf, and the skeleton. They all became characters.
Mr. Electrico was a beautiful man, see, because he knew that he had a little weird kid there who was twelve years old and wanted lots of things. We walked along the shore of Lake Michigan and he treated me like a grown-up. I talked my big philosophies and he talked his little ones.
Then we went out and sat on the dunes near the lake and all of a sudden he leaned over and said, I’m glad you’re back in my life. I said, What do you mean? I don’t know you. He said, You were my best friend outside of Paris in 1918. You were wounded in the Ardennes and you died in my arms there. I’m glad you’re back in the world. You have a different face, a different name, but the soul shining out of your face is the same as my friend. Welcome back.
Now why did he say that? Explain that to me, why? Maybe he had a dead son, maybe he had no sons, maybe he was lonely, maybe he was an ironical jokester. Who knows? It could be that he saw the intensity with which I live. Every once in a while at a book signing I see young boys and girls who are so full of fire that it shines out of their face and you pay more attention to that. Maybe that’s what attracted him.
When I left the carnival that day I stood by the carousel and I watched the horses running around and around to the music of “Beautiful Ohio,” and I cried. Tears streamed down my cheeks. I knew something important had happened to me that day because of Mr. Electrico. I felt changed. He gave me importance, immortality, a mystical gift. My life was turned around completely. It makes me cold all over to think about it, but I went home and within days I started to write. I’ve never stopped.
Seventy-seven years ago, and I’ve remembered it perfectly. I went back and saw him that night. He sat in the chair with his sword, they pulled the switch, and his hair stood up. He reached out with his sword and touched everyone in the front row, boys and girls, men and women, with the electricity that sizzled from the sword. When he came to me, he touched me on the brow, and on the nose, and on the chin, and he said to me, in a whisper, “Live forever.” And I decided to.

I am reading the latest novel by Elly Griffiths, "The Frozen People". Elly is one of my favorite authors of recent years (I think I've read 17 novels of hers, as well as some shorts.) I've been using the 50 page test rather liberally the last couple years, esp with regards to some popular novels and old science fiction, but others as well. If The Frozen People was by some other author I am pretty sure I would have pearl ruled it. I am about 100some pages in and I will finish this novel but I am already disappointed. The elements I enjoyed in the Ruth Galloway series, as well as the writing style just aren't here.

39. The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths, finished August 28 2025, 2 1/2 stars



I waited quite a while for my hold on the book from the library. To be honest, I was underwhelmed with this from the start. I was repeatedly re-reading passages near the beginning. Disappointed. After about 100 pages the story became a bit interesting and I persevered. This tale involving time travel back to 1850 London had a few good bits but it is not one I would recommend. Loved the Ruth Galloway series.

There's a story missing in the book, something teased and mentioned again near the end. I can only assume it is planned for a sequel book. I would rather have read the missing story in this book.

>85 RBeffa: Thanks for taking one for the team on that one, Ron. I have enjoyed the Ruth Galloway books, and have a few more to read. I also really like her Harbinder Kaur series, and just discovered there's a newish one of those I haven't read yet. But time travel and I don't get along well, so I'll pass on The Frozen People.

>86 laytonwoman3rd: Time travel is only an excuse to move the main character from the present back to 1850 London. The attempts to explain how this (UK government project) works, repeatedly, was lost on me. In an afterword the author explains she was trying to do something different and did a lot of research on Victorian times. There are some weird elements to the story involving magical chairs of some sort, also. The 1850 London part of the book was what got me interested in the story.

eta: I should add that 2 1/2 stars is generous. This is a very poor novel from an established writer.

>78 RBeffa: I am rereading Five Quarters of the Orange which I read just a month ago but has somewhat haunted me since I kept picking it back up to reread parts. It deserves a few more words from me, mostly to preserve my memory of it. Reading Five Quarters of the Orange felt like stepping into another time. I really loved the way Joanne Harris captured the atmosphere of wartime rural France through the eyes of the children. Framboise, especially, stood out to me — she’s spunky, strong, and independent, even as a child caught in difficult times, and she is the narrator of this story. But she had a dark side with the way she fought against her mother. That bothered me a bit with the intensity but it made her a strong person. I admired how she carried that strength into adulthood, even when haunted by memories of the past, even though she had to assume a new identity to return to the village of her childhood late in life.

I was less thrilled with the modern part of the story where sibling frictions were rather annoying. All over a "secret" cookbook and recipes that Framboise's mother had made into a diary, which required careful translation to discover the reality of the childhood times and the person behind the mother's mask.

The German soldier storyline was fascinating too, but it got sort of dropped for a time after being an important part of the story, before coming back. Harris gave him a kind of complexity that made the story feel more real, and sympathetic, not just a simple “good vs. bad” setup.

And the final ending was sweet and satisfying. Seeing Framboise reconnect with Paul, her childhood friend, felt like a gentle full circle, a quiet kind of healing after so much pain. The mix of wartime shadows and a sort of personal redemption is what made the book linger with me after finishing it.

I can see myself rereading this again one day, if only there weren't so many other great books calling.

40. Stories: All-New Tales by many, many authors, edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio, finished September 14, 2025, 2 1/2+ stars



This 2010 anthology has 27 stories, including one from each editor, and has been sitting on my bookshelf for 14 years since I purchased it new with some enthusiasm. It was a book I "saved" for when I wanted something special, and then forgot about.

I've been reading this in bits over the past month. I pulled it out after being so impressed by Joanne Harris and Carolyn Parkhurst that I was reading in early August. Pankhurst's story was one of the strange ones in the collection, and Joanne Harris had one of the very best. This collection cuts across genres, horror, crime, fantasy, literary and a few that were sort of science fiction. Really a strong collection of authors but I came away disappointed with what they gave us. Gaiman's name sets a very high expectation, but it was more than that. A few stories were repulsive, the overall flow was very uneven, disjointed I guess, and most of these are completely forgettable.

1 • Introduction: Just Four Words • essay by Neil Gaiman
5 • Blood • short story by Roddy Doyle
15 • Fossil-Figures • short story by Joyce Carol Oates
29 • Wildfire in Manhattan • short story by Joanne Harris
46 • The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains • novelette by Neil Gaiman
70 • Unbelief • short story by Michael Marshall Smith
77 • The Stars Are Falling • novelette by Joe R. Lansdale
103 • Juvenal Nyx • novelette by Walter Mosley
132 • The Knife • short story by Richard Adams
135 • Weights and Measures • short story by Jodi Picoult
150 • Goblin Lake • short story by Michael Swanwick
162 • Mallon the Guru • short story by Peter Straub
168 • Catch and Release • short story by Lawrence Block
181 • Polka Dots and Moonbeams • short story by Jeffrey Ford
194 • Loser • short story by Chuck Palahniuk
202 • Samantha's Diary • (2009) • short story by Diana Wynne Jones
216 • Land of the Lost • short story by Stewart O'Nan
221 • Leif in the Wind • short story by Gene Wolfe
233 • Unwell • short story by Carolyn Parkhurst
243 • A Life in Fictions • short story by Kat Howard
248 • Let the Past Begin • short story by Jonathan Carroll
260 • The Therapist • novelette by Jeffery Deaver
293 • Parallel Lines • short story by Tim Powers
304 • The Cult of the Nose • short story by Al Sarrantonio
313 • Human Intelligence • short story by Kurt Andersen
330 • Stories • novelette by Michael Moorcock
351 • The Maiden Flight of McCauley's Bellerophon • novella by Elizabeth Hand
399 • The Devil on the Staircase • (2010) • short story by Joe Hill

41. The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden, finished Sept 22, 2025, 3 1/2 stars



So if you want to know what greengages are, I'll tell you they are a type of plum. I think this is only the second novel by Godden that I have read. Since I saw a number of old films based on Godden's novels that may not be entirely true. I do know that I have collected a few of her books to read.

I had a wee bit of difficulty with the start of this one, figuring out who the characters were and trying to get through what I think/hope were some typo problems. But some of it was the authors choice in how to tell the story. Based on reviews and reputation I feel I should have really really liked this coming of age intrigue and mystery story set in France before WWII. However I can only say that I liked it. I see there are a few 2 star reviews with this novel and I can understand that more than the 5 star reviews.

I did really enjoy the slight surprise at the end. I would like to see the old British film which is available online one day.

I will be reading more of Godden.

I had started this book before the Godden book, but briefly set it aside after several chapters.

42. Round the Bend by Nevil Shute, finished Sept 24, 2025, 2 1/2 stars



As a general rule I really like Nevil Shute's novels. ( I have most of them including a few duplicates). The author is a good, natural storyteller. Like the title, however, this one went around the bend in a most unlikely fashion. There's a lot of aviation stuff in here, some early history of the Persian Gulf (late 40s) and an unusual religious development, the creation of a new religion and a modern prophet or Buddha. This part was so wonky and it is a large part of the book. The novel reads like a narrative memoir, and at the very end we find out why.

Otherwise, this, in a way, is a good look at how things were back in the 1930s to late 1940s. My least favorite Shute book.

I have been reading this in pieces for over a month. This will likely be my last finished book for September. I'm looking forward to my annual "Bradbury October". I have at least one new to me Ray Bradbury book that I found this year.

43. Camel Xiangzi 老舍 骆驼祥子 aka Rickshaw Boy by Lao She, finished Sept 28, 2025, 3 1/2 stars



This is really one of the saddest books I have read in a long time. A life of poverty and one strong young man trying his hardest to have a better life in 1930s China. Well, not a chance.

My copy of the book was published in the People's Republic of China in 1981, Foreign Language Press, Beijing. It is a lovely book complete with a ribbon bookmark and several woodblock style colored illustrations scattered through the novel. The novel was first published in (I think) 1935 but was subsequently revised a number of times, before and after the revolution. What I found especially informative was the 1979 preface by the author's widow and the afterwords by the author from Sept 1954 and 1945.

Winding down the third quarter, favorite books of 2025 so far ... I have 32 more to go to make 75. With apologies to Race to the Outhouse, this will be Race to 75 by Willie Makeit and Betty Wont. One of every three days? I'm thinking Betty Wont.

Top Ten Fiction novels or novellas for 2025 very roughly in order (excluding re-reads):

1. Spies of The Balkans by Alan Furst
2. A Coffin for Dimitrios aka The Mask of Dimitrios, by Eric Ambler
3. Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris
4. Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
5. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
6. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
7. The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parhurst
8. China Sky by Pearl Buck
9. Man Plus by Fredrick Pohl
10. Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

Honorable mentions:

Favorite Reads that are part of a series, and not listed elsewhere:

1. Fatal Pursuit by Martin Walker
2.

Top Non-Fiction for 2025

1.

Favorite anthologies/ short story collections for 2025:

1. The year's best science fiction. Fifth annual collection stories from 1987, multiple authors, edited by Gardner Dozois
2. The Dark Side various authors, edited by Damon Knight

Best fiction re-reads in 2025:

1. The Lucky Strike by Kim Stanley Robinson
2.

Favorite Young Adult or Children's reads in 2025:

1. The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson
2. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
3. Fa Mulan: The Story of a Woman Warrior by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Jean & Mou-Sien Tseng

44. Castle Garac by Nicholas Monsarrat, finished October 1, 2025, 4 stars



I picked up this lovely 1955 novel more than a dozen years ago. I think the pretty cover seduced me. I found this to be a very enjoyable gothic mystery/romance/suspense and not the sort of thing I usually read. Thomas Welles is a down on his luck American author writing in Nice, France who is out of money. A couple with a scheme persuades him to be an assistant, a man Friday, and away we go. Tom is in the dark for quite a while. He does not seem to really sense that Paul and Anna and their friend Hugo are up to some sort of shady business. They insist they are not but cannot tell him what it is, only that no one will be hurt. Anna's repeated attempts to apparently seduce Tom begin to get his worry going and he resists temptation. Tom meets a girl in a park he visits and then the adventure really picks up.

I enjoyed it quite a bit. Reminded me just a little bit of one of Mary Stewart's gothic suspense novels, which I do like. The romantic in me was very happy with the ending here.

45. Ahmed and the oblivion machines : a fable by Ray Bradbury, finished October 1, 2025, 1/2 star



I wish this had never been published.

ETA: I think I'll try and do a spooky October. Dig through my books for some mild horror or early scifi horror sort of twilight zone things.

For spooky October. I think a lot of these old fantasy and science fiction stories have not aged well.

46. The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson, finished October 3, 2025, about 1 1/2 stars



Published at about the same time as the movie in the 1950's, this was apparently the break that Matheson needed to get in the Hollywood door since he wrote the screenplay. I barely, just barely, remember the film from TV when I was young. The story is about a man, and why just him and why him at all, who starts shrinking 1/7 of an inch a day after being misted by something coming across a boat he was on. Most of the story was ridiculous, boring and tiresome although the ending surprised me in a good way, even if it didn't make any logical sense. The story was quite repetitive and the hundred pages or more of sexual frustration was laughably bad. This was a fairly quick read. Maybe it would have been a better read in the 50's but I doubt it. Not recommended.

For spooky October

47. The Woodrow Wilson Dime by Jack Finney, finished October 5, 2025, about 2 stars



This novel is from 1968, although it expands upon a short story in The Saturday Evening Post from 1960. It was also later revised. Finney's stories seem to connect with me, but this one didn't. This was probably because the beginning of the story put me off. It was intended to I am sure so the reader can think "what a jerk" the main character is. But then there comes the story where our protagonist, by discovering Woodrow Wilson's head on one of his dimes, rather than Mercury or FDR, can move to an alternate parallel history timeline. There he has almost everything he dreamed of, but for one thing that he didn't appreciate in his "real" life. And he wants that back. I didn't find this story as amusing as it tries to be. Instead it went overboard on zany. A very few cute moments overwhelmed by the rest. I think I'd like to read the original short story one day. Of the Finney books I have read, this would be my least favorite. Disappointed and Not recommended.

For spooky October

48. The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson, finished October 9, 2025, about 3 1/2 stars



A book review by Baird Searles in the October 1984 issue of Asimov's science fiction magazine prompted me back then to look for this ancient fantasy and horror tale. My mother-in-law came through and gifted it to me, probably for Christmas that year. (It helped that she worked in a college bookstore). I have a 1983 edition of a 1908 novel set in the wild lands, and beyond of Ireland. The story starts off well enough but then if there was going to be a plot it flew off across the wasteland as we spend the majority of the book reading a manuscript found in the ruins of what was once a great house on the borderlands, and the ruins rest on a small spit of land hanging over a huge hole in the land. The author's imagination clearly went wild here and when I consider the age of this story I can only appreciate it all the more. This book would not be for everyone but it was a very good surreal spooky October read. Parts of this book are very very good. Parts, mind you. I'm giving this an extra half star because of when it was written.

-----------------------------

And now a science fiction archeology mystery thriller

49. Polaris by Jack McDevitt, finished October 13, 2025, 3 1/2 stars



This is the second book in a series that began with "A Talent For War". I read that in 2018 and was a little disappointed. I did not intend to wait so long to read the next book in the series, and this long novel was better than I expected. This is reminiscent of the first story, in the manner of the way things are 9000 years in the future that feel in many ways like the present or even 20 years past. But they do have good AI's and avatars. The use of interactive avatars in the novel I found rather fascinating. There were some good thoughts and discussions on life in here too. This is a mystery novel set in the future. Like before I felt there were a few too many characters to keep tracks of but the main ones are easy to follow. I'll be reading the next book in the series, Seeker, shortly. I had already started it before I realized I should probably read Polaris first.

eta: I had to wait until 3/4 of the way through the book before I realized what that cover was all about and then I went "Aha!".

50. Hollywoodski by Lou Matthews, finished October 17, 2025, 3 1/2+ stars



A rather loosely connected set of previously published short stories that I found enjoyable. A bit too zany in places but quite sharp in others. The writing is top notch. The cover says "a novel" but this is a collection of stories over many years that tell pieces of a person's life, very non-linear. I liked it much more than expected. A recent book recommended by a friend.

51. Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney (1978 version), finished October 28, 2025, 3 1/2 - 4 stars



I did a re-read of this novel for a group read. It was a little odd to me that I could not remember how it ended. All I could remember is being somewhat disappointed with the wrap-up. This time I may be a little less disappointed but I still am unhappy with the ending. The story itself overall is very very good and I was glad to revisit the novel. I think a part of my memory blank is that the later movies after 1956 play different with the story such that characters and events get jumbled. I like the book the best. The Sutherland movie tho is rather iconic in popular culture.

While I was reading this my local PBS station played the original 1956 film. I watched part of it.

52. Gettysburg: The Final Fury by Bruce Catton, finished October 29, 2025, 3 stars



This overview of why the battle of Gettysburg started where it did in Pennsylvania and how it played out gives a good basic overview of the participants. Quite a few names to keep track of - it helps if you already have some familiarity with the battle and the site.

I would recommend the novel "The Killer Angels" by Michael Sharra for a better look at the battle. I should note that Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is not mentioned once in this book. There are a couple of photos and many many sketches which did not really add much at all.

53. If Wishes Were Horses by Anne McCaffrey, finished October 30, 2025, 2 1/2 stars



There were years when my wife and I just gobbled up all books McCaffrey. I think my interest faded before my wife's did but I think we just outgrew the books after having read so many. I never read this short juvenile novella so I thought I would take a chance.

Well, this is different than other books I've read by the author, a fantasy too twee for me at the start, and I never got caught up in it. I'd give it barely an OK as a quick read.

54. The Cosmic Puppets by Philip K. Dick, finished November 3, 2025, 3 1/2 stars



This story was a kick, one of Philip Dick's earliest novels. A science fiction/fantasy that I enjoyed despite the age of it. This edition was published in 1957 in an Ace Double. A man returns to a hometown in the Virginia mountains that he left when he was about age 9 and recognizes nothing once he gets there, although the name of the town is right. Strange forces are at work. Creepy children. Mysterious wanderers. Giants bigger than you can see.

Currently reading, will keep me busy and probably will read these stories in between other books ...

55. Escape from earth : new adventures in space various authors, edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois



An anthology from 2006 of 7 original novellas published by the Science Fiction Book Club. The editors recognized at the time that very little science fiction that teens would enjoy (as well as appealing to adults) was being published. How are new readers going to step into science fiction? The young adult/juvenile niche had been swamped for years (and continues to be to this day) by fantasy novels aiming for a teen audience.

• Introduction: Escaping from Earth • (2006) • essay by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann
• Escape from Earth • (2006) • novella by Allen Steele
• Where the Golden Apples Grow • (2006) • novella by Kage Baker
• Derelict • (2006) • novella by Geoffrey A. Landis
• Space Boy • (2006) • novella by Orson Scott Card
• Incarnation Day • (2006) • novella by Walter Jon Williams
• Combat Shopping • (2006) • novella by Elizabeth Moon
• The Mars Girl • (2006) • novella by Joe Haldeman

>104 RBeffa: finished November 5, 2025, 2 1/2 stars overall
Well, the editors did a reasonably good job. These are mostly good stories aimed at a teenage audience. What sort of surprised me was that they were not stories to get hooks into me, to get me invested. I don't know how young teens would react. I was disappointed.

Set in the then present of 2006, Allen Steele's "Escape From Earth" was a fun exciting romp, something a twelve+ year old boy would maybe relate to. However, I think most boys who read Heinlein novels might make a different choice at the end than our main character Eric did. I mean, a cute girl, the stars, starships, your dreams come true and you say No? I don't think so. Well, Eric has a secret plan to make it happen someday, and he's not telling. I wouldn't mind reading a sequel to this story.

"Where the Golden Apples Grow" by Kage Baker hit me as a weaker story. As an adventure story on Mars written in the present day I thnk you need to pay more attention to what is believable. This wasn't very believable. 2+ stars. As an adventure story, not too bad. Others clearly disagree since Dozois included it in his year's best science fiction collection (24th edition).

I will give an OK 3+ stars to the well imagined Derelict by Geoffrey Landis. This was another adventure story, set now in orbital colonies, and involves a group of 3 friends exploring a space station that had a disaster about 80 years in the past from the time of the story. A surprise lies at the end when they find out what really happened. One of the better stories here.

“Spaceboy” by Orson Scott Card was an annoying dud. Card tried too hard with this fantasy thing and his anal obsession. I abandoned this story. Other than Ender's Game I have a hard time liking Card's fiction. 1 star

Incarnation Day by Walter Jon Williams is very good as far as an imaginative idea but it was another story that didn't really click with me.

"Combat Shopping" I skipped after a few pages.

"The Mars Girl" I recognized quickly as having read before. I recall liking it.

56. Seeker by Jack McDevitt, finished November 13, 2025, 4 1/2 stars



Simply put this is one of the best science fiction novels I have read in years. This is very well put together, without too much technobabble and fairly easy to understand science fictional elements, and yet they are fascinating and well done. I love the AI avatars throughout the story. The bits we see of an alien civilization are very well done. This is essentially an archeological mystery story, multiple mysteries. A mystery of what happened to two starships full of people who wanted to escape the craziness of earth society and were never heard from or about again. It just happens to be about 9000 years in the future that we are figuring things out. At some point the book becomes very exciting and I was caught up in it. Like any good mystery there are red herrings for misdirection and I will confess I was slow to realize a big one.

I had a big smile on my face even before I finished. I do wish the end of the book was longer and we could have shaved off some other bits. Most of this story is told in the form of a memoir - it worked well that way.

I will read the next book in the series shortly, although scanning readers opinions this is perhaps the best in the series.

57. The Saliva Tree by Brian Aldiss, finished November 16, 2025, 3 stars



I pulled this out of a mostly unread box of old science fiction I had put away years ago. This 1965 novella was a joint winner of the Nebula Award in 1966.

60 years old now and not bad. Kind of a sendup, or homage, to H.G. Wells. Set I think in the 1890's England and I think the punch here is that the fictitious event written about in this story would inspire H.G. Wells War of the Worlds. HG is part of the story but not the main part. The story is more an old fashioned horror story as if it was written by H P Lovecraft. Pretty creepy stuff.

58. The Devil's Eye by Jack McDevitt, finished November 21, 2025, 3 stars



The fourth entry in the Alex Benedict series follows directly after the novel Seeker that I just read and liked tremendously. "The Devil's Eye" is another mystery in space but it just didn't have the sparkle of Seeker and I think is the weakest book in the series to this point. I don't feel the need to dwell on my perceived weaknesses of the story but this just gets a OK from me and was enjoyable for the most part. I had a vague sense I had read this novel before, but I think it is just the repetitive manner of McDevitt's storytelling.

Checked this one out from the library. Back it goes.

59. Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden, finished November 24, 2025, 4 stars



I hesitated to give this book a rating. I really enjoyed the descriptive writing of the setting. The story takes place in a fictional place in the Himalayas near Darjeeling, India. It was published in 1939. I saw the original movie with Deborah Kerr many years ago and it haunted me for a time, but any details of the story were lost to memory for me. A small group of Anglican nuns who we find out have problems go a little wonky. Then there are real problems. I liked this novel for the writing and the setting of it.

I raised my rating from 3 1/2 to 4 stars as I reflected on the story and went back and re-read a bit. Godden drops the reader off in India along with the nuns. We see and lean about the place along with the sisters. It is a rare book.

60. A grave in the woods by Martin Walker, finished November 30, 2025, 2 stars



I've read quite a few of the 'Bruno, Chief of Police' novels since 2017. This one, almost the latest, disappointed me. It hit me at the start. It didn't feel right. There are however most of the familiar elements of a Bruno story but something just felt off. I see now from other reviewers I wasn't alone. For me a significant part of the book was boring. I found myself skimming, something I have not done before with a Bruno book.

On the plus side I was prompted to explore the net for info on the Italian submarine Captain Salvadore Todaro. A remarkable fellow.

61. Tales from Watership Down by Richard Adams, finished December 10, 2025, 3+ stars



I was slow to warm to this collection of stories. It has been nearly 50 years since I read the celebrated novel "Watership Down' and I loved that book. This collection is presented in 3 parts. The early stories are unrelated to each other but the second and third parts of the book have a continuation to them, especially the last part which is nearly half the book. I liked this part which reconnects us to many of the characters of Watership Down. Mostly this made me miss the magic of Watership Down which I did not find here other than a few moments.

62. Analog Science Fiction and Fact: Vol. XCV, Nos. 9 & 10, September/October 2025 by many authors, finished December 12, 2025, unrated



The most interesting thing about this issue that a friend passed along to me was to discover that some company had bought various genre magazines like Ellery Queen's Mystery magazine, Fantasy and Science Fiction, Analog, Asimov's, Alfred Hitchcock and maybe others early this year. Some of the magazines might be in limbo.

I read this in bits over a month - the double issues have a lot of stories in them. Most of the stories did not interest me since the science subjects of some are beyond my understanding or interests. After s short time I could no longer recall the stories, which is not unusual with unremarkable stories. There were a couple though that I liked such as the Larry Niven story.

I don't know what the future of these magazines will be.

63. Eclipse Three by many authors, edited by Jonathan Strahan, finished December 14, 2025, 1/2 star



It has taken me 15 years to try and get through this collection of 15 stories. A number of these are neither fantasy or science fiction. The leadoff story is just a nasty piece of general fiction. This was published in 2009 and I received it as a Santathing that December. I was hoping to discover where science fiction was since I had not really been reading it for a few years. If there is any indicator of when scifi/fantasy left me behind, this is it. I have already discovered that Strahan's taste in stories is not mine.

64. The year's best science fiction : eighteenth annual collection by many authors, edited by Gardner Dozois, finished December 16, 2025, 2 1/2 stars



23 stories from the year 2000 plus a very long and detailed summation of the year as it relates to science fiction. In general I have liked and appreciated the Year's Best collections I have read. Like any collection of sci fi stories there are ones I would consider have no business being in a year's 'best'. Clunkers. One of these I found offensive, but maybe that is a trait of some writing in general. I'm not naming names. I could throw out a few stories from this very large anthology. But not as many as I might have thought at first. Although most are forgettable, a few will stick with me. Here's a list of the stories (from isfdb). A couple of these stories are more fantasy and/or not really science fiction. I had read several before, long ago, and so I got to see how the aged.

2 • The Juniper Tree • novelette by John Kessel
33 • Antibodies • short story by Charles Stross
51 • The Birthday of the World • novelette by Ursula K. Le Guin
78 • Savior • novella by Nancy Kress
122 • Reef • The Quiet War novelette by Paul J. McAuley
149 • Going After Bobo • novelette by Susan Palwick
176 • Crux • novella by Albert E. Cowdrey
229 • The Cure for Everything • short story by Severna Park
244 • The Suspect Genome • Greg Mandel • novella by Peter F. Hamilton
309 • The Raggle Taggle Gypsy-O • Annie and Crow • 1 • short story by Michael Swanwick
323 • Radiant Green Star • novella by Lucius Shepard
373 • Great Wall of Mars • Revelation Space novella by Alastair Reynolds
413 • Milo and Sylvie • novelette by Eliot Fintushel
448 • Snowball in Hell • novelette by Brian Stableford
475 • On the Orion Line • Xeelee • novelette by Stephen Baxter
506 • Oracle • novella by Greg Egan
548 • Author's Note (Oracle) • essay by Greg Egan
550 • Obsidian Harvest • novella by Rick Cook and Ernest Hogan
594 • Patient Zero • Carriers • short story by Tananarive Due
609 • A Colder War • novelette by Charles Stross
639 • The Real World • Silurian Tales • (2000) • novelette by Steven Utley
663 • The Thing About Benny • short story by M. Shayne Bell
671 • The Great Goodbye • very short story by Robert Charles Wilson
674 • Tendeléo's Story • Chaga • novella by Ian McDonald

I'm currently reading The Flower Drum Song and enjoying it. I think it may be my last read of the year. Among the usual busy end of year activities including Friends of the Library work, I realized I had quite a backlog of Findagrave memorials to list properly. Photos I took ten years ago ... well I will drop back in before year's end. Happy reading to all.

Have a lovely festive season, Ron

>116 PaulCranswick: Thank you Paul.

I have been working on my favorite reads list for the year and think I am finally satisfied with it. Probably will not read another book this year. 64 will do.

Favorite books of 2025 ...

I had a tough time with a final list because I would place many of these almost equally. I had a very tough time placing the first three. I went back this month and re-read parts of several such as 'A Coffin For Dimitrios' which super impressed me at the beginning of the year and did again on a re-look. So it gets the #1 spot. Although I had several duds, I was very pleased with much of my reading this year. I need a certain amount of stickiness too, when choosing favorite books. Some of these fade rather quickly from me memory.

Top Ten Fiction novels or novellas for 2025 very roughly in order (excluding re-reads):

1. A Coffin for Dimitrios aka The Mask of Dimitrios, by Eric Ambler
2/3. Seeker by Jack McDevitt
2/3. Spies of The Balkans by Alan Furst
4. Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris
5. Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
6. Black Narcissus by Rumer Godden
7. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick
8. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
9. The Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parhurst
10. China Sky by Pearl Buck

Honorable mentions:
Castle Garac by Nicholas Monsarrat
Hollywoodski by Lou Matthews
Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson
Man Plus by Fredrick Pohl

Favorite Reads that are part of a series, and not listed elsewhere:

1. Polaris by Jack McDevitt

Favorite anthologies/ short story collections for 2025:

1. The year's best science fiction. Fifth annual collection stories from 1987, multiple authors, edited by Gardner Dozois
2. The Dark Side various authors, edited by Damon Knight

Best fiction re-reads in 2025:

1. The Lucky Strike by Kim Stanley Robinson
2. Invasion of the Body Snatchers by Jack Finney (1978 version)

Favorite Young Adult or Children's reads in 2025:

1. The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson
2. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

My 2026 thread is here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/377040 I'm still taking a reading pause but LT is wonderful for keeping track of my reading all these years.

65. The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal, finished December 30, 2025, 3 1/2 stars



The short story/ novelette may be found online at https://maryrobinettekowal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/ladyastronaut.pdf .

The story won the 2014 Hugo for best novelette. It is an alternate history story and quite touching for what it is.

The story later spawned a 4 book prequel series which I hope to start in 2026. I will probably get them from the library although I found one book on my shelf that I had failed to catalog.