Reading Roundup Wrapup: June 2026

Pick of the month: The Incandescent by Emily Tesh. As I write this, I have read four of the six Hugo Award for Best Novel finalists, and The Incandescent is currently my top pick. Find out why at the link!

All books read:

1. The Raven Scholar: Book One of the Eternal Path Trilogy by Antonia Hodgson
2. North Woods by Daniel Mason
3. A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck
4. Doctor Who and the Day of the Daleks by Terrance Dicks 
5. The Incandescent by Emily Tesh
6. Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz
7. A Girl and Her Fed: Act 3 by K. B. Spangler and Ale Presser
8. Cinder House by Freya Marske
9. Holy Terrors by Margaret Owen
10. The Summer War by Naomi Novik
11. Inventing the Renaissance: Myths of a Golden Age by Ada Palmer
12. Ozma of Oz: A Record of Her Adventures with Dorothy Gale of Kansas, the Yellow Hen, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Tiktok, the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger; Besides Other Good People too Numerous to Mention Faithfully Recorded Herein by L. Frank Baum, illustrated by John R. Neill

I thought this was going to be a lower month because I read a number of very long books (The Raven Scholar, North Woods, Holy Terrors, Inventing the Renaissance) but it actually ended up being an average month because they were evened out by a number of very short books (A Short Stay in Hell, The Day of the Daleks, Automatic Noodle, Cinder House, The Summer War). 

All books acquired:

1. The Last Hot Time by John M. Ford
2. Sex, Lies and Private Eyes edited by Joe Gentile and Richard Dean Starr
3. Legion of Super-Heroes: An Eye for an Eye by Paul Levitz, Keith Giffen, Steve Lightle, Joe Orlando, et al.
4. Young Allies by Sean McKeever, David Baldeón, Emma Rios, et al.
5. Sif: Journey into Mystery by Kathryn Immonen, Valerio Schiti, et al.
6. Generation Mechs: Transformers Fan Culture in the '90s by James Roberts
7. Doctor Who and the Dinosaur Invasion by Malcolm Hulke
8. The Summer War by Naomi Novik 
9. The New Doctor Who Adventures: Transit by Ben Aaronovitch
10. The New Doctor Who Adventures: The Also People by Ben Aaronovitch
11. The New Adventures: Return of the Living Dad by Kate Orman
12. The New Adventures: Eternity Weeps by Jim Mortimore
13. The New Adventures: The Room with No Doors by Kate Orman 

 I really do try to not buy so many books these days...

...but I bought some comics from a website I don't normally order from because they had one specific comic I needed, and they had good prices on #3-5, so I added them to my order to get free shipping. And then I visited a local used bookstore and walked away with #9-13... they had a lot more Doctor Who books, so really, I was being quite restrained!

Currently reading:

• Star Trek: The Original Series: Harm’s Way by David Mack
• The Struggle for Mastery: Britain 1066–1284 by David Carpenter
• Oz-story Magazine, Number Three edited by David Maxine
• Doctor Who and the Dinosaur Invasion by Malcolm Hulke
• Sex, Lies and Private Eyes edited by Joe Gentile and Richard Dean Starr

Up next in my rotations:

1. Star Trek: Vanguard: Declassified by Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore, Marco Palmieri, and David Mack
2. The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Sixteenth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois
3. The Poe Clan Vol. 1 by Moto Hagio 
4. On Progress in Physics and Subjectivity Theory: An Amateur’s Meanderings as Inspiration for Actual Physicists by N. Otre Le Vant 

Books remaining on "To be read" list: 678 (up 10! oh no!)