Reading Roundup Wrapup: April 2025

Pick of the month: The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler. A bit of a squeaker on this one; I finished this book late afternoon on the last day of the month, but I instantly knew it was the best thing I'd read all month. More when I get around to writing up my Hugo finalists, I guess, but a beautiful piece of science fiction writing that packs a lot into its one hundred pages. Up until I read it, Warp Your Own Way was my runner-up, a funny but well-assembled piece of comics. I also really enjoyed "The Mountains of Mourning" in Borders of Infinity; if the whole collection had been as good, it probably would have been my top choice instead.

All books read:

1. Raising Kids with Big, Baffling Behaviors: Brain-Body-Sensory Strategies That Really Work by Robyn Gobbel
2. The Pelican History of England: 6. Stuart England by J. P. Kenyon
3. Someone you can Build a Nest in by John Wiswell
4. Star Trek: Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way by Ryan North and Chris Fenoglio
5. The Hunger and the Dusk, Volume 1 by G. Willow Wilson and Chris Wildgoose
6. So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole
7. Borders of Infinity by Lois McMaster Bujold
8. The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler

All books acquired:

1. The Martian Contingency by Mary Robinette Kowal
2. Star Trek: The Next Generation: Collateral Damage by David Mack
3. Someone you can Build a Nest in by John Wiswell
   
4. The Ministry of Time by Kailane Bradley
5. What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher
6. Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky
7. The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
8. The Penguin History of England: 7: England in the Eighteenth Century by J. H. Plumb
9. Blackhawk: Blood & Iron by Howard Chaykin, Martin Pasko, Rick Burchett, Mike Grell, et al.
10. Star Trek: Starfleet Academy by Mike Johnson, Ryan Parrott, and Derek Charm
11. Doctor Who: The Evil of the Daleks by Frazer Hines with Mike Tucker & Steve Cole
12. A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
13. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Toward the Night by James Swallow

The Hugo finalists were announced this month, which meant I picked up a bunch of books! Specifically, #3-7 and 12. Would have been an above-average month even without that, I guess. 

Currently reading:

• Memory’s Legion: The Complete Expanse Story Collection by James S.A. Corey
• The End of the World: Classic Tales of Apocalyptic Science Fiction compiled by Michael Kelahan
• Declarative Language Handbook: Using a Thoughtful Language Style to Help Kids with Social Learning Challenges Feel Competent, Connected, and Understood by Linda K. Murphy
• The Martian Contingency by Mary Robinette Kowal
• The Penguin History of England: 7. England in the Eighteenth Century by J. H. Plumb
• Blackhawk: Blood & Iron by Howard Chaykin, Martin Pasko, Rick Burchett, Mike Grell, et al.
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Toward the Night by James Swallow

Up next in my rotations:

1. Victorians and the Prehistoric: Tracks to a Lost World by Michael Freeman
2. Star Trek: The Next Generation: Available Light by Dayton Ward
3. American Gods by Neil Gaiman 
4. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Books remaining on "To be read" list: 669 (no change)