JUNE SCIFI SUMMER 2026

2025 HIGH SUMMER READATHON

HIGH SUMMER 2025

LET THE READING GAMES BEGIN!!📚📚📚

TITLES READ:

1.BAD DATE by Ellery Lloyd (September 1) 5*
2. THE TOY CAR by Rose Tremain (August 1) 4*
3. FEAST OF THE FALLEN (RAVENOUS SPIRITS BOOK 2) by Ron Ripley. Scare Street ARC (August 4) 5*
4. WEREWOLVES DON'T KEEP DIARIES. Edelweiss ARC Children.
5. DOWN IN THE BLUE OCEAN. Edelweiss ARC Children.
6. IZZY'S DRAMA DISASTER. Edelweiss ARC Children.
7. CONE: A DEEP SEA THRILLER by Michael Cole. Marine Horror. KU.
8. WHEN THE CLOUDS CAME. Edelweiss ARC Children.
9. IF YOU MAKE A MOSOM TEA. Edelweiss ARC Children.
10. CHI MIIGECH, BIG THANK YOU. Edelweiss ARC Children.
11. GOTCHA DAY. Edelweiss ARC Children.
12. GRIS GRIMLY'S FRANKENSTEIN. (Illustrated). KU.
13. EREBUS DAWNING (SEVEN STARS SAGA BOOK ONE). SF. Space Opera.
- - - DNF: Not My Type, E. Jean Carroll. Libby Virtual- -
14. SPRINGTIME IN KITKATLA. Edelweiss ARC Children.
15. RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER. STC. Classic.
16. "THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO," EAP. Mount TBR. Classic.
17. THE COLD VISITOR by Jonathan Butcher. New. Cosmic Horror/SF [Lovecraftian].
18. DARK CRIB by Matthew Tait. new. Australian Horror.

19. THE CANNIBAL KING (RAVENOUS SPIRITS BOOK 3) by Ron Ripley. Scarestreet.com ARC (August 18)
20. THE BIRDS by Daphne Du Maurier.
21. BUMPY PUMPKIN by Natalie Horseman. NetGalley ARC Children. Halloween/Diversity.
22. I BOUGHT A HAUNTED CHURCH by Sam Whittaker. Horror. KU 5*+
23. BURY YOUR DEMONS by Timothy King. Horror Short Story. KU.
24. THE 7 SHE SAW (Blake Wilder FBI Mystery Thriller Book 1) by Elle Gray. KU.
25. EREBUS by Michael Palin. Historical Nonfiction.
26. "The Idol House of Astarte" by Agatha Christie.
27. "The Herb of Death" by Agatha Christie.
28. BEAST OF DEATH CAVERN by Michael Cole. SF/Cryptid Horror/MilSciFi.
29. MINE BURNED LIVES by D. B. Borton
30. HOW TO SURVIVE A HORROR STORY by Mallory Anderson. Locked-room Horror. 5*+++
31. FIVE FOUND DEAD by Sulari Gentill 5*++
32..HOME: HABITAT, NICHE, RANGE, TERRITORY (Murderbot) by Martha Wells
33. IT'S WATCHING by Lindsay Currie. MG Horror 5*++
34. REBECCA by Daphne du Maurier. Classic. Gothic Suspense. Female Protagonist.
35. TO BE A CHALLENGE by Joanne C. Hillhouse. Children. Hoopla Bonus Borrow.
36. BLOOD TIDE by Brent McGregor. Marine Cryptid Horror. 5*+. Release September 15. 37. SPINE CHILLERS Volumes 1-5 by Scare Street. Horror Anthology.
38. NORTHANGER ABBEY FREE SAMPLER by Val Mcdermid.
39. RUN ZOHRAN RUN by Theodore Hamm. NF. Current Events.
40. A GALLERY OF CATS by Ruth Brown. Children: Cats, Museum, Art.
41. "A Scandal in Bohemia" by Arthur Conan Doyle. (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes).
42. MRS. CHRISTIE AT THE MYSTERY GUILD LIBRARY by Amanda Chapman. Cozy Contemporary Golden Age Mystery.

[24-HOUR MINI: AUGUST 23-24
Titles Read: REBECCA Chapters 13-15, by Daphne du Maurier HOME: HABITAT, NICHE, RANGE, TERRITORY by Martha Wells

IT'S WATCHING by Lindsay Currie . MG Haunted HHorror. REBECCA Chapters 16-18.

SCIFI SUMMER READATHON

I literally wait Eleven months of every year for this! Seriously! Even though I am reading Science Fiction constantly, pondering Science Fiction, discussing Science Fiction, seeking out new and new to me Science Fiction....

This month, a special shoutout to author Charles Yu, for the book title that most gives me hope to survive the Regime Actuel and the global pandemonium:

because if we're not currently living in a Science Fictional Universe....then this must be

Proposed:

Titles Read (SF):
(Please Note: this list is my SF Reading only!)

Read: 40✅ SF Read: 20!💎

WINTER'S RESPITE 2025!

My proposed focus: Classic Feminist Science Fiction (Octavia Butler; Ursula K. LeGuin; Pamela Sargent; Andre Norton; Julian May; et. al.)

Titles Read: 1. Brain Meets the Mes. Children SF.

2. Kindness Glows. Children Oceanic Fantasy.

3. Eleven Numbers by Lee Child. Globalpolitical Thriller.

4. The Fall Risk by Abby Jimenez. Foodie Rom Com.

5. Food Fright [Rewind or Die Series] by Nico Bell. YA Horror.

6. Curse of the Shadows ARC (Shadow Hunter Book Two), Ian Fortey and Ron Ripley. Horror/Paranormal.

7. Haunted Secrets: Tales of the Anderson House volume 2. Scarestreet.com.

8. Devil in a Blue Dress, Walter Mosley 30th Anniversary edition.

9. It Came from Del Rio, Stephen Graham Jones.

10. Pressure, Brian Keene.

11. New Orleans Mourning, Julie Smith.

12. The Mardi Gras Chase, Maggie M. Larche.

13. How to Kill Your Family, Bella Mackie.

14. The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle, Steve Hugh Westenra.

15. Little Polar Bear and the Brave Hare, Hans de Beer..

16. Little Polar Bear Take Me Home, Hans de Beer.

17. Dogs of War (Dogs of War #1) by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

18. Bear Head (Dogs of War #2) by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

19. Farewell, Amesthystine by Walter Mosley.

20. Smilin' Sam's Corn Maze by Stephanie Scissom.

21. Floor Four by A. Lopez Jr.

22. Praesidia by Timothy Bryan.

23. Symbiote by Michael Nayak.

24. The Monkey" by Stephen King (in Skeleton Crew).

25. Shadow's Wrath by Ian Fortey and Ron Ripley. ARC

26. Within the Circle by Arne Dahl.

27. Black Lake Manor by Guy Morpuss.

28. Arkangel by James Rollins.

29. Death Wave by Ben Bova.

30. Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie.

31. The Cutest Puppies In the World by Kate Silvers.

32. Badlands by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (A Nora Kelly Mystery Book Five).

33. The Children of Eve by John Connolly (A Charlie Parker Mystery Book 22).

34. Haunted Secrets: Tales of Frank Benedict volume 3. Scarestreet.com ARC

#SCIFIMONTH 2024!

What's great about November?
Cold, Fallen Leaves, Snow, Thanksgiving?

SCI FI MONTH!🚀🛸🚀🛸 First Up: Day #1 AstroNavigation and

Review: EXODUS: THE ARCHIMEDES ENGINE (BECOME THE TRAVELER) by Peter F. Hamilton

Release September 17 2024

I am awestruck at the vast capacity of the imagination of SF author Peter F. Hamilton. The breadth and depth of his World Building, multilayered and multicultural, the depth of Far-Future Scientific achievements, Genetic Engineering, Transhumans, effective immortality through transmission of Consciousness...an amazing 928 pages, engrossing, intriguing, highly suspenseful, yet peopled with characters both comprehensible and beyond our current comprehension.

Forty thousand years into the Future: can you imagine? Peter F. Hamilton can, and brings this Future vividly to his readers.

First in a duology: so anticipating the next novel!!!

Distinctly a Best of 2024 and of this decade!

HIGH SUMMER READATHON 2024

Coming in August!

High Summer Readathon

Titles Read:
1. ON VICIOUS WORLDS by Bethany Jacobs. SF. Book Two, THE KINDOM TRILOGY.

2. MOTHER OF DARKNESS (BOOK TWO, CARNIVAL OF TERROR) by Ian Fortey and Ron Ripley. Horror. Scarestreet.com.

3. WE DO NOT WELCOME OUR TEN-YEAR-OLD OVERLORD by Garth Nix. SFF.

4. THE CHAMBER by Will Dean. Thriller/Locked Room Suspense.

5. LAKEBED. NG ARC Mount TBR. SFF/Horror. 08/04-08/05.

6. LINGERING. KU Virtual.

7. LATENCY. NG ARC Current and own Kindle.

8. THE DISSONANCE. Libby Virtual and NG ARC

9. TWO SIDES TO EVERY MURDER. Libby Virtual

10. A COSMOLOGY OF MONSTERS. NG ARC Mount TBR.

11. ANGEL OF VENGEANCE. NG ARC Current.

12. LUNACY. KU.

13. HAUNTED SECRETS: TALES OF ELOISE VOLUME 4. Scarestreet.com ARC.

14. THE LEFT-HANDED BOOKSELLERS OF LONDON. NG Mount TBR.

15. THE NIGHT ENDS IN FIRE. Libby Virtual new F.

16. MISSING IN MISKATONIC. CLP ARC, new Release, KU

17. THE SINISTER BOOKSELLERS OF BATH. NG ARC MOUNT TBR.

18. THE FOOTAGE. KU Virtual Camp Horror.

19. THE GIRLS FROM HUSH CABIN. NG ARC Mount TBR. Thriller/Mystery

20. THE CRYPT OF THE MOON SPIDER. NG ARC. Release August 27.New Weird. SF/Fantasy/Horror/Alternative History/Bizarro.

21. CAT-A-LYST. SF/F/Metaphyysical.

22. TOWN OF SHADOWS. ARC Scarestreet.com

23.CITY OF THE BEAST, Isabel Allende. Fantasy/MagicalRealism.

SCI FI SUMMER!!

SCI FI SUMMER SIGN-UP

A Summer for me focusing on Female and Feminist SciFi and Speculative Fiction.

🛸 = SF 🌈 = Pride 🦸‍♀️ = Feminist 🏴‍☠️ = Horror

Titles 📚:
1. CARNIVAL OF TERROR VOL. 1, by Ian Fortey and Ron Ripley. Scarestreet.com ARC. Release June 4.🏴‍☠️
2. THE NIGHT SINGERS by London Clarke. Release May 28. 🏴‍☠️🛸🦸‍♀️
3. FALLING DOWN [THE BOY IN THE BOX #1] by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo Del Toro.🛸
4. PEDAL FASTER by Christoffer Petersen.🛸
5. THE FEMALE MAN by Joanna Russ. 🛸🦸‍♀️🦸‍♀️🦸‍♀️
6. THE TRAITORS by C. A. Lynch. 🏴‍☠️🦸‍♀️.
7. DRAW YOU IN, Vol. 1 by Jasper Bark. Horror/SF. 🏴‍☠️ 🛸 🦸‍♀️ 8. COLONY ONE MARS by Gerald M. Kilby. 🛸🏴‍☠️🦸‍♀️
9. STARRIGGER by John DeChancie.🛸🏴‍☠️
10. WARMTH OF THE SUN. Author ARC. Release June 13. SF.🛸🛸🛸🛸
11. HAUNTED SECRETS: TALES OF LEO MORELAND VOLUME 2. Horror. ARC. Release June 12.🏴‍☠️
12. "SULTANA'S DREAM," 1905. India. Everand Virtual. Feminist SF.🛸🦸‍♀️
13. THE SHORE OF WOMEN, Pamela Sargent. 🛸🛸🛸🦸‍♀️🦸‍♀️🦸‍♀️🌈🌈🌈
14. SCIENCE FICTION IN COLONIAL INDIA, Mary Ellis Gibson.🛸🛸🛸🦸‍♀️🦸‍♀️
15. WHEN SHE WAS ME by Marlee Bush. psychological Thriller.🏴‍☠️🦸‍♀️🦸‍♀️
16. ERUPTION by Michael Crichton and James Patterson.
🛸🏴‍☠️ 17. HAUNTED SECRETS: TALES OF ELOISE VOLUME 3. scarestreet.com ARC.🏴‍☠️
18. MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT by Riley Sager. New.🏴‍☠️
19. DRAW YOU IN: SECRET ORIGINS. KU Virtual (CLP)🏴‍☠️🛸
20. THE MIDNIGHT FEAST. 🏴‍☠️ Libby Virtual.
21. MOTHMAN'S HAPPY CRYPTID HALLOWEEN. Series. Children. 🛸
22. SIGHTSEEING WITH ALIENS. Series. Children. Non-Fiction.🛸🛸🛸
23. RED THUNDER by John Varley. 🛸🛸🛸🛸 SF.
24. PSYCHOACTIVE [DARK TIDES 16]. SF/Horror.🏴‍☠️🛸
25. I'M A GAY WIZARD IN THE CITY OF THE NIGHTMARE KING. 🌈🛸
26. HAUNTED SECRETS: TALES OF FRANK BENEDICT. 🏴‍☠️
27. BUTTERBALL GOES TO THE BEACH.🐕 Own Mount TBR. Children.
28. CAMP LANIER by Sylvester Barzey. NG ARC Release July 16.🛸🏴‍☠️🛸🏴‍☠️ Total Titles 28. SF=19.

WINTER'S RESPITE READATHON 2024

WINTER'S RESPITE

SIGN UP

Titles Read:

1. AMONG THE LIVING. Tim Lebbon. Climate Change SF/Horror. Release Feb. 13.
2. HOUSE OF LAST RESORT, Christopher Golden. Sicily, Folk/Religious Horror. Release Jan. 30.
3. GHOST STATION, S. A. Barnes. SF/Horror Space
4. EVERYONE ON THIS TRAIN IS A SUSPECT, Benjamin Stevenson. "Golden Age"-style Thriller/Mystery, about Writers.
5. LOST IN THE MOMENT AND FOUND, Seanan McGuire. (Wayward Children Series). Fantasy.
6. THE TUSKS OF EXTINCTION, Ray Nayler. Near-Future EcoSF.
7. EVERYONE WHO CAN FORGIVE ME IS DEAD, Jenny Hollander. Psychological Thriller/Unreliable Narrator
8. HUNTED HIGHWAYS: ROAD TRIP TERROR. HORROR/APPALACHIA/NOVELLAS
9. WIDOW FALLS, Kiersten Modglin. Suspense/Psychological Thriller. NA.
10. WHALEFALL, Daniel Krause. YA Speculative.
11. THE HITHERTO SECRET EXPERIMENTS OF MARIE CURIE, Speculative, Aanthology
12. A DRAGON'S CHAINS by Robert Vane [A REMEMBERED WAR, Book 1]. Dragon Epic Fantasy
13. LONG TIME GONE SNEAK PEEK, Charlie Donlea. psychological Thriller
14. AWAKE IN THE NIGHT. KU Virtual. Sapphic. Horror.
15. LONG TIME GONE. NG ARC Current. psychological Thriller
16.THE RESORT, Sara Ochs. Release Feb. 6. TWISTY Psychological Thriller.
17. SNOWFALL ON LIGHTHOUSE LANE. NG ARC Mount TBR. Libby Virtual.
18. HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS. (DREAMHOUSE KINGS #1). HOOPLA VIRTUAL
19. THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP, Christian Francis, collection. NG ARC Current.
20. MY DEAR HENRY. NG ARC Mount TBR. Pride. Historical fiction.
21. HAUNTED SECRETS: TALES OF ELOISE. SCARE STREET ARC
22. DRAGONS DON'T EAT MEAT. BOOK 1: THE VALKYRIE BESTIARY. Mount TBR. Urban Fantasy. 23. STORM DRAGONS VOL. 1. Graphic novel. Mount TBR. Epic Fantasy
24. THE WHITE GUY DIES FIRST. NG ARC Current.
25. IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS. Libby Virtual and NG ARC Mount TBR.
26. DARK TIDES: THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE, APPALACHIAN HORROR.
27. THE FAMILIAR SNEAK PEEK
28. TAVERN OF TERROR VOL. 12 SCARE STREET ARC
29. READER BEWARE: A FEAR STREET APPRECIATION ANTHOLOGY
30. EMPIRE OF THE VAMPIRE. LIBBY VIRTUAL. FANTASY
31. THE GHOST WHO WAS AFRAID OF EVERYTHING. EDELWEISS ARC.
32. GERNSBACK. online Virtual. SF
33. BURNING CHROME. MOUNT TBR. SF CYBERPUNK.
34. UH OH MY DRAGON'S HUNGRY. EDELWEISS ARC. Children.
35. NEUROMANCER. SF, Cyberpunk.
36. OSGOOD AS SHE GETS. Release February 29.
37. THE HAUNTING OF THE BLACKTHORNE HOUSE. KU Virtual
38. BONDING FIRE. NG ARC Current. Fantasy-Dragons
39. THE RESTLESS ONES. KU Virtual. Horror.
plus HER LOST SOUL by Helen Pfifer, to p. 39.

READ YOUR SHELVES Challenge

READ YOUR SHELVES

Going for:
52 - 150 📚
52 = 1 NetGalley ARC Mount TBR (received prior to 1/01/2024) PER WEEK of 2024
150 = Top goal on Goodreads Group Mount TBR 2024:
includes NetGalley, Edelweiss, Owned 📚, acquired prior to 1/012024.

1. THE GRIFFIN'S EGG by Cole Poindexter, Audio, narrated by Cole Poindexter. NG ARC Mount TBR. Fantasy. MG.
2. THE GRIFFIN'S EGG. Digital. NG ARC Mount. Fantasy. MG.

Review : PARALLEL LIES by John Calia

PARALLEL LIES is both exciting and enlightening: exciting because the plot is non-stop adventurous and suspenseful, constantly pitting various of the characters in situations ranging from weird to outright dangerous, and enlightening as it interweaves Quantum Physics, Multiverses, Near-Future Science Fiction in a Dystopian setting. So while you're intent on the story, your brain is also subtly expanding, and your imagination is pondering "What If?"

PARALLEL LIES [Release November 7, 2023] is a sequel to THE AWAKENING OF ARTEMIS [Release September 2021].

SCI FI MONTH! November 2023

SCI FI MONTH

Artwork copyright:
Yosua Bungaran Cahya Putra

Is it November yet?!!
In some Probability,
it surely must be.

So, collapse that Wave Function,
and

Bring November On!!!

Review: THE NIGHT HOUSE by Jo Nesbo

Release October 3. THE NIGHT HOUSE is an amazingly complex fantasy/Horror/Psychological Thriller. I read it in one sitting and still am not sure which aspect to think is "fact" (in the context of the story). Jo Nesbo is quite a prolific author and I've enjoyed several of his novels, yet I've never read one like this.

Part One is contemporary Fantasy/Fairy Tale/Horror, and terrifying it is! Part Two spins Part One on its head, riffs on the nature of Perception and Consciousness, then ramps up the Horror meter and delivers par excellence. Then Part Three strolls in to convince readers (and Unreliable Narrator) "all this was just a Dream!" [Was it?]

No matter what, THE NIGHT HOUSE is a novel I'm going to spend a lot of my nighttime wakeful hours pondering. Thanks for that, Mr. Nesbo!

Review: OUT THERE SCREAMING ed. By Jordan Peele

I can't praise highly enough this remarkable, exceptional, Anthology of Black Horror! Spine-chilling, terrifying, enlightening: the authors of these special stories may well all be geniuses of the Outre!! My special favorites (I possess the frozen spine and rapid-beating heart to prove so) are the two tales from Nnedi Okarafor (terrifying!), one from Tananarive Due (scared me senseless), one by Rebecca Roanhorse (which elicited my "OH, Yeah!" reaction), and a compelling and thought-provoking tale from Cadwell Turnbull. But all are exceptional, without question, a perfect complement to Spooky October reading.

Included is a frightening "wake-up" introduction from curator of this Anthology, Jordan Peele.

BLOOD OF THE MANTIS

Few authors can manage Anthropomorphizing and make it believable, efficient, and amenable as does Adrian Tchaikovsky. (If you differ, please go read his CHILDREN OF TIME Trilogy!) He demonstrates this as well in the SHADOWS OF THE APT Fantasy Series, of which BLOOD OF THE MANTIS is the magical third in the Series. I read it without having read the Series ' first two novels, and though there is a catch-up explanation in the beginning, for continuity's sake, I intend to read the Series in order. Expect exciting, adventurous, and twisted.

Review: REDEMPTION'S BLADE (AFTER THE WAR BOOK 1)

I confess to not being a lifelong aficionado of Fantasy, as I am of Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Horror, and Mystery. However, reading Adrian Tchaikovsky's Fantasy is changing that, and thankfully he is as prolific in Fantasy as in Science Fiction.

REDEMPTION'S BLADE is Book 1 in the AFTER THE WAR Series. "After the War" refers to the era of change and clean-up after the slaying by Heroes of one of the most evil villains ever, "Kinslayer," who even murdered demigods. One of the Heroes who triumphed over him is Celestaine, literally a fierce and noble warrior, a woman of righteousness, who embraces as friends former sworn enemies and who pledges all that is in her power to right Kinslayer's wrongs.

TBR PILE CHALLENGE #9

Review: TRIDENT'S FORGE

TRIDENT'S FORGE is Book 2 of the engrossing Far Future Science Fiction Trilogy CHILDREN OF A DEAD EARTH. In Book 1, THE ARK, the Generation Ship flying to Tau Ceti star system over the duration of 2.5 centuries, prepares for imminent orbit over their chosen planet, and landing to found a new Colony. (I guess Colonization is intrinsic in human evolution, and apparently Manifest Destiny too.) In TRIDENT'S FORGE, the Tau Ceti Colony has been in existence now for 3 years; the Unbound, the group of independents on the Ark who concealed themselves on the lower levels, eschewing the prenatal brain implants the Ark's test-tube generations all received, have formed their own Village, then 6 months earlier migrated to a Village of a native tribe (yes, Virginia, a sentient species on a planet in Tau Ceti's system, called by the human colonists "Atlantians").

Our Feckless Hero, Bryan Benson, formerly Chief Constable on The Ark, is now Director of Recreation; his wife Theresa is now Chief Constable. A diplomatic mission from the humans' Colony to an Atlantian village (where the Unbound have emigrated) and a meeting with emissaries from other villages suddenly erupts in violence from without, fatalities, and the beginning of unraveling a conspiracy which reaches back in Ark's history and intends to permanently affect this entire planet.

This Trilogy is exciting, adventurous, and highly suspenseful, filled with creatively designed world-building, intriguing aliens, fauna, and flora; and plenty of satisfyingly constructed conspiracies to keep enthralled readers alert and guessing.

Review: THE ARK (CHILDREN OF A DEAD EARTH BOOK 1)

Exploration of Space and Colonization are two of my most cherished aspects of Science Fiction. So a novel that mostly is set on a Generation Ship two and a half centuries old, headed for a star system twelve light years distant, where there awaits a tremendous surprise....how could I not adore it? Plus: there's a significant cult whose leader is way charismatic but justifiably more insane than either Jim Jones or David Koresh or the Heaven's Gate cult? The suspense is tremendous, a fair-sized cast of characters is handled quite skillfully, and in first place stands a genuine Feckless Hero [who could model for The Fool card in Tarot], but he's really admirable because he just-won't-stop. (He is, also, the habitat Chief Constable.) A really Champion novel!