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:
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
Currently Reading:
The Incandescent by Emily Tesh [2025] – edit Now Paused
Volative Memory by Seth Hadon [2025]
Booker-ish Thoughts
Dan Hartland has a blog post on The Booker Prize 2025 and raises the point and explores that,
‘this year’s shortlist, it seems to me, is not making a statement. It is instead asking a question.’
I am not in any rush to read this year’s selection, though I will get Flesh in paperback, and I keep tempting myself with The Land in Winter.
But if you want to get an idea of what this year’s offers are and what question Dan believes it’s asking, I’d highly recommend reading his post.
Out This Week-ish in the UK
Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree
The Haunted Library: Tales of Cursed Books and Forbidden Shelves
Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett
There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm
The Strength of the Few by James Islington
Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher
The Echo of Crows by Philip Rickman
The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer
The Whisper of Stars by Cristin Williams
The Wax Child by Olga Ravn [Trans. Martin Aitken]
The Moon Glow Bookshop by Dongwon Seo [Trans. Shanna Tan]
The Shapeshifter’s Daughter by Sally Magnusson
The Tower of the Tyrant by J. T. Greathouse
Ice by Jacek Dukaj [Trans. Ursula Phillips]
Herculin: A Novel by Grace Byron
Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood
The Burning Queen by Aparna Verma
The Dance and the Fire by Daniel Saldaña París [Trans. Christina MacSweeney]
Wow! Signal column collects examples of diverse critical voices from around the web. This isn’t intended to be a comprehensive list, but rather a scattershot snapshot of interesting discussions, hopefully introducing ARB’s readers to new critics, books, topics, and venues.
Outro
If you’ve been following my StoryGraph profile, you might have noticed that I’ve paused reading both The Incandescent by Emily Tesh at 40% and The Devils by Joe Abercrombie at 61%. There’s nothing wrong with either of them, apart from the devils.
I am craving some space, or science fiction, or something murderous. I may have overdone the horror-like fantasy, which surprises me since I have all these haunted houses to see.
But rather than becoming jaded, I’m taking a break in the hope I’ll return to them refreshed and less jaded.
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:
Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good [Loki: A Bad God’s Guide #1] by Louie Stowell
Currently Reading:
The Incandescent by Emily Tesh
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
Newsy Things
The British Fantasy Awards 2025 where announed yesterday.
Best Anthology WINNER: BURY YOUR GAYS, EDITED BY SOFIA AJRAM
Best Non-Fiction WINNER: QUEER AS FOLKLORE BY SACHA COWARD
One is the only anthology I haven’t dipped into yet, but it is very queer, and the other is an outsider to the genre, yet another queer work. A lovely surprise. Thank you, BFA voters.
Locus has the full list of winners but I wanted to call out a couple:
Best Novella WINNER: Yoke of Stars, R.B. Lemberg (Tachyon)
Best AnthologyWINNER: Heartwood, Dan Coxon, ed. (Drugstore Indian)
I am still working on my post about this year’s Novella shortlist, but Yoke of Stars is a worthy winner. I also haven’t yet finished Heartwood, but it’s a powerful collection of works by talented writers, so I can see why it won.
Out This Week-ish in the UK
Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (paperback release)
The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer
Firstborn of the Sun by Marvellous Michael Anson
It’s Not a Cult by Joey Batey
Alien: Perfect Organism by Shaun Hamill
Titanchild – The Talon Duology by Jen Williams (paperback release)
The Black Crow Book of Best New Horror. Volume 1
The Samurai Detectives. Volume 1 – The Samurai Detectives by Shotaro Ikenami [Trans Yui Kajita]
Eurotrash by Christian Kracht (author) [Trans. Daniel James Bowles]
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
Hazelthorn by C. G. Drews
Alien: Cult by Gavin G. Smith
Fallen City by Adrienne Young
The Tower of the Tyrant by J. T. Greathouse
The School of Night by Karl Ove Knausgård [Trans. Martin Aitken]
Vaim by Jon Fosse [Trans. Damion Searls]
Books That Others have Tempted Me With:
The Fate of Mary Rose by Caroline Blackwood via bewareofpity
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:
The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo – I have this 3.75 – there was a lot to like, but ultimately it didn’t fulfil its potential.
Currently Reading:
Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good [Loki: A Bad God’s Guide #1] by Louie Stowell – I’ve borrowed this (and the next two) from the library, and I’m really enjoying the mix of silliness and seriousness.
The Incandescent by Emily Tesh – off to a cracking start in terms of pages read – not sure where this magic/modern world school mix is going, but I keen to find out.
Paused:
I am going to read The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed so I can complete half of my challenge but I’m not going to complete the anthologies in time
I may have to admit to myself that I’m not going to finish reading all the stories contained in the BFA 25 Best Anthology Category before next week’s announcement. I can’t seem to blast through them: Heartwood: A Mythago Wood Anthology, ed by Dan Coxon – is deeply impactful and needs room
I am struggling to switch between immersive worlds when I start a new story. I think this is a strength of the collections, but it also means that I don’t want to rush just to meet a deadline. I’m taking a break. I’ll carry on after the award announcement. But I do recommend you read all the finalists.
Newsy Things
FUNDED!!!
They Are Still Here (Maen Nhw Yma O Hyd) has Funded!! There is still time to back the Kickstarter and help it reach some unannounced stretch goals.
Warwick Prize for Women in Translation longlist 2025
Johanna Ekström and Sigrid Rausing, And the Walls Became the World All Around, translated from Swedish (Sweden) by Sigrid Rausing (Granta)
Evelyne Trouillot, Désirée Congo, translated from French (Haiti) by M.A. Salvodon (University of Virginia Press)
Fatma Aydemir, Djinns, translated from German (Germany) by Jon Cho-Polizzi (Peirene Press)
Olga Tokarczuk, The Empusium, translated from Polish (Poland) by Antonia Lloyd-Jones (Fitzcarraldo Editions)
Maylis Besserie, Francis Bacon’s Nanny, translated from French (France) by Clíona Ní Ríordáin (The Lilliput Press)
María Bastarós, Hungry for What, translated from Spanish (Spain), by Kevin Gerry Dunn (Daunt Books Publishing)
Elsa Morante, Lies and Sorcery, translated from Italian (Italy) by Jenny McPhee (Penguin Press)
Krisztina Tóth, My Secret Life, translated from Hungarian (Hungary) by George Szirtes (Bloodaxe Books)
Kim Hyesoon, Phantom Pain Wings, translated from Korean (South Korea) by Don Mee Choi (And Other Stories)
Liliana Corobca, Too Great A Sky, translated from Romanian (Romania) by Monica Cure (Seven Stories Press UK)
Laura Wittner, Translation of the Route, translated from Spanish (Argentina) by Juana Adcock (Bloodaxe Books and Poetry Translation Centre)
Sara Mesa, Un Amor, translated from Spanish (Spain) by Katie Whittemore (Peirene Press)
Lucija Stupica, Vanishing Points, translated from Slovenian (Slovenia) by Andrej Peric (Arc Publications)
Han Kang, We Do Not Part, translated from Korean (South Korea) by e. yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris (Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Random House UK)
I only planned to read The Empusium. Are there any others you’d recommend?
Out This Week in the UK – ish
Too many books are being released, and I can’t keep up or list them all, but these are the ones that stood out.
Unquiet Guests ed. Dan Coxon
Queen Demon – The Rising World by Martha Wells
What Stalks the Deep (The Sworn Soldier Series) by T. Kingfisher
Absolute Zero
Absolution: by Jeff VanderMeer (Paperback)
The Albino’s Secret by Michael Moorcock & Mark Hodder
The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri comes
What have you seen coming out that I’ve missed?
Books That Others have Tempted Me With:
I do love the thrill of finding interesting books or seeing others discover them. These are some books that have rang a bell along with the person who rang it.
The Albino’s Secret by Michael Moorcock & Mark Hodder via Reactor’s
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.
Keeping Everything Tracked
I sought Bluesky’s advice on tracking books, as I am feeling a mix of lost, confused, or overwhelmed due to all the options.
Do you keep a list of books you want to read/buy? How long is that list? Could you make it ten or less and keep it that long on a constant basis?
The following discussion prompted me to compile a spreadsheet of all my pre-orders, clearly showing that I have enough pre-orders to keep me occupied until June.
Tufty McTavish reminded me of the power of tags in the Story Graph and why it’s good to invest time in adding them.
I’m also going to try more immediate (the next week or two) reading lists to see if that cuts through the ever-growing physical TBR.
Newsy Things
Introducing a new bona new quarterly literary magazine:
FANTABULOSA!
Pushing the boundaries of bold, authentic, QUEER storytelling. Bringing you stories of the uncanny, the dangerous and the fantastical.
& thanks to our brilliant #WrathMonth backers, we’re fully funded for 2026 🤘
The UK’s largest book chain, Waterstones, had a pre-order sale on releases for 2026 this week. Did I fall into the trap and order some books? Yes. Did I also get a bit too invested in what is coming out in 2026? Also, yes.
I placed orders for various new releases and paperback reprints.
Thanks to the spreadsheet mentioned above I now know when to look out for post.
And the offer wasn’t all the books coming out in 2026, but I now expect to stay busy with new releases from January to June.
But the reason for mentioning it was that I had to sift through many books to decide on those I chose.
Which is probably why I felt the urge to look at all the books coming out this week… there are a few.
Womble from Runalong The Shelves has been doing a weekly “Wombling Along” and highlighting reviews and other articles that caught their attention over the past week.
Sunday Summary is mostly going to be my personal log of books and bookish things that have caught my attention — and may also serve as a public memory prompt/bookmarking system.
Halloween is Not Far Away
And this means that both the British Fantasy Awards and the World Fantasy Awards are soon to be announced.
The British Fantasy Awardswill be presented on Saturday 1st November, in the evening, at the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton.
And
The World Fantasy Awards will be presented on Sunday 2nd November, in the afternoon following the banquet, also at the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton.
I’ve just realised I have three weeks to finish reading my selected shortlists from each!
I’m confident I’ll manage the novellas — I’ve read three and have two to go. I’m about halfway through the anthology reading. I’m planning to read the novels as a group and continue reviewing the anthologies individually.
I am reading them in the order in which they are presented in the shortlists, and as a reminder, here they are:
British Fantasy Awards 2025: Best Anthology
Nova Scotia 2, edited by Neil Williamson and Andrew J Wilson – Luna Press Publishing
Fight Like A Girl 2, edited by Roz Clarke and Joanne Hall – Wizard’s Tower Press
Heartwood: A Mythago Wood Anthology, edited by Dan Coxon- PS Publishing
The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction (2023), edited by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki and Chinaza Eziaghighala – Caezik SF & Fantasy
Bury Your Gays – An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror, edited Sofia Ajram – Ghoulish Books
World Fantasy Awards 2025: Best Novella
Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud (Tor Nightfire/Titan Books)
In the Shadow of Their Dying by Michael F. Fletcher and Anna Smith Spark (Grimdark Magazine)
Yoke of Stars by R. B. Lemberg (Tachyon Publications)
The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo (Tordotcom)
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed (Tordotcom/Titan Books UK)
I’m taking longer to read Heartwood than I expected. The themes explore similar emotional and mythic territory, though from completely different angles. Despite their varied perspectives, they overlap in meaningful ways, which is slowing my reading pace. That might also be due to the weight of the stories — they demand attention.
I think it’s going to be my winner. Not because the other anthologies aren’t excellent, but because this is a unique collection, rooted in a powerful myth.
I thought Crypt of the Moon Spider was going to be my novella winner before reading Yoke of Stars, and now I’m not so sure. Let’s see what the two tree-related stories do for me, as Ryhope Wood has entrances everywhere.
Back to anthologies — they’ve put me in the mood to read more. I’ve already started The Crawling Moon: Queer Tales of Inescapable Dread, and I’ll have read Heartwood: A Mythago Wood Anthology. So, after the winner has been announced, do I read the other nominees in the World Fantasy Awards Best Anthology category? They are:
Heartwood: A Mythago Wood Anthology, ed. Dan Coxon (Drugstore Indian Press)
Discontinue If Death Ensues: Tales from the Tipping Point eds. Carol Gyzander & Anna Taborska (Flame Tree Press)
Northern Nights ed. Michael Kelly (Undertow Publications)
The Dagon Collection, ed. Nate Pedersen (PS Publishing)
The Crawling Moon: Queer Tales of Inescapable Dread ed. Dave Ring (Neon Hemlock Press)
Newsy Things
Ebooks – Now Available from Bookshop.org
There is more in the press release, but these are the highlights:
For the first time ever, UK indies will be able to sell ebooks to their customers
The launch marks Bookshop.org’s fifth anniversary
Bookshops will make 100% profit on every ebook they sell
A much-awaited alternative to Amazon to buy ebooks, at no extra cost
Bookshop.org to launch audiobook sales next year
I use an iPhone and a Boox Palma (which uses Google Play), and I’ve bought a couple of books to test it out. The whole process was slick and easy—especially with Apple Pay.
The app offers lots of control over the reading experience, but there are two things you should know. By default, it:
looks terrible
overrides the publisher’s settings
But don’t worry—there’s an easy fix if you have the patience. Try turning on the publisher settings or fiddling with the options until you get it looking the way you want. The initial appearance actually encourages you to change it, and once you do, the text looks stunning.
So don’t let that put you off. It’s great to have more big-company options for buying ebooks, and I’m sure they’ll improve the app to make it a better out-of-the-box experience.
Kickstarter #1: I want to see Welsh Heroes Return
They are Still Here (Maen Nhw Yma O Hyd) will be an anthology of contemporary fantasy tales of resistance and resilience. The threats will be very modern, but the resolution will contain a hint or more of the fantastic.
This one is live but the all or nothing deadline is:
Thursday, November 6, 2025 at 9:47 AM GMT (UK local time)
This one is coming in 2026. I loved A Market of Dreams and Destiny, and while I’m waiting on a sequel —which Trip has just confirmed is written and likely out in 2027—I’m excited to get a new novel‑length work in 2026 to fill the gap!
The Fall of the House of Valenziaga is a high-stakes, science-fantasy family epic. If you love lushly imagined settings, strange magics and impossible sciences, and queer characters that are both smart and sexy, you’ll live for this latest tale from Trip Galey!
The Ignytes seek to celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of the current and future landscapes of science fiction, fantasy, and horror by recognizing incredible feats in storytelling and outstanding efforts toward inclusivity of the genre.
Hot off the presss is the winners to this year’s awards:
OUTSTANDING NOVEL: ADULT – For novel-length work (40,000+ words) intended for an adult audience Winner:The Sentence – Gautam Bhatia
OUTSTANDING NOVEL: YOUNG ADULT – For novel-length (40,000+ words) works intended for the young adult audience Winner:Heir – Sabaa Tahir
OUTSTANDING MIDDLE GRADE – For works intended for the middle grade audience Winner:The Last Rhee Witch – Jenna Lee-Yun
OUTSTANDING NOVELLA – For speculative works ranging from 17,500–39,999 words Winner:Lost Ark Dreaming – Suyi Okungbowa Davies
OUTSTANDING NOVELETTE – For speculative works ranging from 7,500–17,499 words Winner:We Who Will Not Die – Shingai Njeri Kagunda
OUTSTANDING SHORT STORY – For speculative works ranging from 2,000–7,499 words Winner:We Will Teach You How to Read | We Will Teach You How to Read – Caroline M. Yoachim
OUTSTANDING SPECULATIVE POETRY – For excellence in speculative poetry Winner:Reliving: Post Trauma of the Lekki Tollgate Massacre – Fasasi Ridwan
CRITICS AWARD – For reviews and analysis of the field of speculative literature Winner: Maya Gittelman
OUTSTANDING FICTION PODCAST – For excellence in audio performance and production for speculative fiction Winner: Podcastle
OUTSTANDING ARTIST – For contributions in visual speculative storytelling Winner: Tran Nguyen
OUTSTANDING COMICS TEAM – For comics, graphic novels, and sequential storytelling Winner:Lunar Boy – Jes and Cin Wibowo
OUTSTANDING ANTHOLOGY/COLLECTED WORKS – For excellence in curated speculative fiction collections Winner:Thyme Travellers: An Anthology of Palestinian Speculative Fiction – Sonia Sulaiman
OUTSTANDING CREATIVE NONFICTION – For works related to the field of speculative fiction Winner:Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction – Eugen Bacon, ed.
THE EMBER AWARD – For unsung contributions to genre Winner: Sonia Sulaiman
THE COMMUNITY AWARD – For outstanding efforts in service of inclusion and equitable practice in genre Winner: Authors Against Book Bans
Out This Week in the UK – ish
(I need to do better at this as this is a last minute list category)
Big Kiss, Bye-Bye by Claire-Louis Benett via Jeff VanderMeer (but not really as I bought it before I saw this BlueSky post)
I List My Favourites Reads Since 2022
Do you ever get the feeling that you don’t read enough? I had that earlier in the week, so I wrote up a list of my favourites going back to 2022. It turned out to be a longer list than I expected:
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk trans. Antonia Lloyd-Jones
Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis trans. by Anne Milano Appel
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
‘salem’s Lot by Stephen King
The Old Woman With the Knife by Gu Byeong-mo trans. Chi-Young Kim –
The Salvagers Trilogy by Alex White
Magic For Liars by Sarah Gailey
Alien: The Cold Forge by Alex White
Siblings by Brigitte Reimann trans. Lucy Jones
Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater
Broken Light by Joanne Harris
What Abigail Did That Summer (Rivers of London #5.3) by Ben Aaronovitch
The Indranan War by K.B. Wagers
What Moves the Dead (Sworn Soldier #1) by T. Kingfisher
What Feasts at Night (Sworn Soldier #2) by T. Kingfisher
The Living and the Rest by José Eduardo Agualusa
The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff
A Market of Dreams and Destiny by Trip Galey
The Colony by Audrey Magee
When Among Crows by Veronica Roth
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
Calypso by Oliver K.
Lake of Darkness by Adam Roberts
The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Rubicon by J.S. Dewes
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto tr. Megan Backus
The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle
August Kitko and the Mechas from Space (The Starmetal Symphony #1) by Alex White
The Undetectables (The Undetectables Series #1) by Courtney Smyth –
The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton
Goodnight Tokyo by Atsuhiro Yoshida tr. Haydn Trowell –
Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne –
The Last Hour Between Worlds (The Echo Archives #1) by Melissa Caruso
The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association by Caitlin Rozakis
Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells
Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries #2) by Martha Wells
I feel better about myself after seeing this, I’m not gonna lie.
Outro
Well, that turned out to be a much longer post than I expected.
Gav Reads 