Sunday Summary: 11 th Jan 26

Sunday Summary mainly functions as my personal record of book-related topics that have captured my interest over the past week. It also acts as a public memory prompt and bookmarking system.

Books Read & Reading This Week.

Finished:

• A Conventional Boy (A Laundry Files Novella) by Charles Stross [2025]
• Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy [2024]

Two in one week? All thanks to a couple of long-ish plane rides. Both had me hooked. But both had different impacts.

A Conventional Boy is a side quest for two of the minor characters in the Laundry Files by Charles Stross. Derek and his dice leave Camp Sunshine and end up in a game of D&D that turns into a game of life and death.

1st 26 read: @cstross.bsky.social’s novella A Conventional Boy. The lore is loring, and I think I need to reread some other works from The Laundry in order to do a review justice. Even if you’re not acquainted with the series, it’s a brilliant tale of what happens when TTRPGs get a little too real.

— @gavreads (@gavreads.co.uk) 2026-01-06T19:49:20.218Z

What worked well for me was how quickly you care about the fate of Derek and his players. It’s also tempted me to go hunting down the links to the main series.

Sorcery and Small Magics centres around a frenemy trope, with the hint of lovers and I was 50/50 at one point if the main character was too annoying, I pushed through, and it turned into something that had me so invested, as I stated on Bluesky.

Thank you to everyone who recommended Sorcery and Small Magics. It was my read on a plane ride. The flight flew by, but I also cried. I mean, tears streaming down my face, crying. That f—ing ending!! I was agog. Highly recommend @orbitbooksuk.bsky.social @maigadoocy.bsky.social

— @gavreads (@gavreads.co.uk) 2026-01-09T20:27:56.977Z

SPOILER: It’s set up for a sequel that hasn’t got a release date yet.

Currently Reading: 

• A Dictator Calls by Ismail Kadare (trans John Hodgson) [2023]
• The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling [2025]

FYI: The Starving Saints is on Kindle Unlimited

DNF’d

• Love At First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi [2025]

It wasn’t that the antagonisms were forced exactly, but they are relentless, and as I’m not a fan of interpersonal conflicts in general, it didn’t make for comfortable reading. It might be a trope of enemies-to-lovers romances that is probably going to put me off reading too many like A Fate Inked in Blood. It’s there in Sorcery and Small Magics, and I accepted it was going to be a thing. The situation makes it more believable, but only due to the stoicism of one character, and not knowing what they actually believe, only what’s reported.

Book-ish Thoughts

The pre-orders are starting to land. And I’m not sure of past-me’s decision-making in taking a chance on a bunch of books just because Waterstones had either a discount or a points offer. Don’t get me wrong, I am interested in reading them, and the reissued paperback releases are more considered, but new books arriving aren’t really in the spirit of tackling my backlog.

I am loath to cancel them as I might feel differently in a couple of weeks, and they are interesting in their own ways.

Anyway, what’s arrived:

• A Curse Carved in Bone by Danielle L. Jensen
• The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle
• Pagans by James Alistair Henry

As you’ll see further up, I am not having the best time reading Romantasy of the enemies-to-lovers variety, and I’ve not read A Fate Inked in Blood yet.

Books That Others Have Tempted Me With:

I am trying to avoid temptation, and so far I’m doing well… though I’m curious about The Murder at World’s End by Ross Montgomery

Cover(s) of the Week

Outro

I am reading more, and I’m more willing to DNF (even at 50% in). I think that’s helped by having both a page count and a books-read goal. I might still DNF The Starving Saints, not because it’s bad, but because I was expecting something different, and it might be too ‘real’ and too bleak for me.

What have you been reading?