Gav Reads

A Web Log of Reading

Tag: book-review

  • Sunday Summary: 21 Dec 25

    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 Incandescent by Emily Tesh [2025]

    If you’ve read Authority by Jeff VanderMeer, you’ll know that the mundane isn’t quite as mundane as the story portrays. I’m not sure where my thoughts and feelings sit after finishing it. At the moment, it feels like an experiment that didn’t quite have the results I expected. But I don’t know what I expected – so is it me or the work?

    Currently Reading: 

    • ???

    As of this post, I’m still deciding. Do I call it quits on my 2025 reading and start afresh in 2026? I have a reading streak on The StoryGraph to keep up, so I will be reading something.

    DNF’d:

    • Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir [2021] (in Audiobook format)

    I went in with an open mind. I knew I might not like it after trying The Martian, but so many people love the audiobook that I thought we might have got on. We don’t. Partly, it’s a humour mismatch. I don’t find it funny (that’s on me). But also, I couldn’t suspend my disbelief enough.

    Book-ish Thoughts

    The only thing that springs to mind right now is that there are still 10 days left, and making a best of the year book lists feels disrespectful to what you might pick up before midnight on New Year’s Eve.

    Books That Others Have Tempted Me With:

    And a special shout-out to Womble for their Santa Womble series, highlighting gifts that someone could get you, you could get someone else, or for yourself across the genres.

    Cover(s) of the Week

    Hello, Limerence Paperback by Momo Yamaguchi

    Outro

    I hope Santa brings you gift vouchers or books from your wish list, and more importantly, time to read your backlogs.

  • Sunday Summary: 14 Dec 25

    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:

    • Physical: When the Museum Is Closed by Emi Yagi [Trans. Yuki Tejima] [2023/2025] 

    This is about a woman who falls in love with a statue and has a full-blown conversations with it. If you’re into slightly surreal and weird fiction, this is 100% for you. I loved it.

    • Audiobook/e-book: The Devils by Joe Abercrombie [2025]

    For those who have been following along, finishing The Devils has taken me a while. It’s not the book, it’s the fact that it was an audiobook (I just haven’t found the right situations to listen to anything). Well, it was slightly the book; it’s episodic, so once you finish one block, there isn’t a hook into the next section. However, switching to the ebook, I picked up the pace and found the ending perfect for the story. I am really glad I made it to the end. I wonder what book 2 will bring?

    Currently Reading: 

    • The Incandescent by Emily Tesh

    I have picked this back up after Womble’s instance that it’s not what I think it is – I’m back into it and curious again – I wonder what’s going to happen?

    Book-ish Thoughts

    I do love the lists that prizes present, especially when they include books I might not otherwise encounter. The TFR Awards is one on them:

    The 2025 Longlist for Best Transfeminine Fiction (TFR Awards)

    I own, but have yet to read, Lessons in Magic and Disaster and Black Flame, and until checking the availability of Woodworking, I didn’t own that either, but I do know thanks to a silly ebook sale.

    Anyway, I’m intrigued by Stag Dance and A/S/L but I’m not sure that they are books I’ll end up reading.

    Here’s the 2025 Longlist for Best Transfeminine Fiction for you to check out:

    • Lessons in Magic and Disaster – Charlie Jane Anders
    • A Mask for the Sun – Kay F. Atkinson
    • Magica Riot: Full Bloom – Kara Buchanan
    • Disappoint Me – Nicola Dinan
    • Black Flame – Gretchen Felker-Martin
    • Keeping the Peace – Tris Husband
    • A Hungry Light – Zin Nabelle
    • Glitch Girl! – Rainie Oet
    • Stag Dance – Torrey Peters
    • Woodworking – Emily St. James
    • A/S/L – Jeanne Thornton
    • A Rotten Girl – Jemma Topaz
    • Machines of Consent – Sophia Turner
    • One of the Boys – Victoria Zeller

    Any that you’d recommend?

    If you want more information about any of the books, the post on The Transfeminine Review includes descriptions and other details for each.

    Books That Others Have Tempted Me With:

    Cover(s) of the Week

    Outro

    We’ve almost at the end of the year, which is making me reflective.

    I’ve kept track of my 2025 reading thanks to thestorygraph.com and updated my Read in ’25 page list. Of the 32 books, only 6 were published in 2025. 14 books were from 2024, so if this pattern continues, I’ll be catching up with 2025 next year!

    I’m still figuring out what I want to post in 2026, but for now, I think I want to keep doing these weekly posts, though they do take more time than you’d think. Not sure what I’m doing with reviews, though.

    Anyway, I hope you find time to do some reading despite the pre-Christmas week chaos.

  • Sunday Summary: 7 Dec 25

    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.

    Quick Note

    I missed last week’s update because I picked up a bug that I’m still recovering from, so this is a two-week update, and it wasn’t because it was cold in Paris, but that may not have helped.

    Visiting Shakespeare and Company, Paris

    Towards the end of November, I spent the weekend in Paris and I got the chance to visit the English-language bookshop, Shakespeare and Company

    They keep the numbers inside manageable so there is enough space to peruse. This means there was a queue, and I waited around 20 minutes for people to filter in and out. Once inside, I was delighted by the selection, as it had something from all genres.

    I picked up Vampires at Sea by Linsay Merbaum, At the Louvre, and Bricks and Mortar by Clemens Meyer [trans. Katy Derbyshire], and got them stamped (I didn’t know this was a thing they did until they offered it at the counter).

    If you’re in Paris, I recommend making a pilgrimage.

    Books Read & Reading This Week.

    Finished:

    • the long way to a small angry planet by Becky Chambers [2015]

    Currently Reading: 

    • Physical: When the Museum Is Closed by Emi Yagi [Trans. Yuki Tejima] [2023/2025]
    • Audiobook/e-book: The Devils by Joe Abercrombie [2025]

    I’ve been listening to The Devils intermittently since May this year. I’m now 72% through it. I am determined to finish it before the year ends. It’s not a DNF, but something isn’t quite compelling me to keep reading to find out what happens next. I am interested in the characters, and I want to discover what happens to them by the end of the book, so I’m keeping on going.

    Book-ish Thoughts

    …standout fiction and nonfiction of the year, selected by the staff of The New York Times Book Review

    I haven’t read but own copies of:

    1. ANGEL DOWN, by Daniel Kraus
    2. BAT EATER AND OTHER NAMES FOR CORA ZENG, by Kylie Lee
    3. THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER, by Stephen Graham Jones.
    4. BURY OUR BONES IN THE MIDNIGHT SOIL, by V.E. Schwab.
    5. KING SORROW, by Joe Hill.
    6. ON THE CALCULATION OF VOLUME: Book III, (I need to also read books I & II)
    7. PERFECTION, by Vincenzo Latronico.

    I also quite fancy reading:

    • THE COLONY, by Annika Norlin
    • DEATH TAKES ME, by Cristina Rivera Garza
    • THE DIRECTOR, by Daniel Kehlmann.
    • THE HOUNDING, by Xenobe Purvis
    • VICTORIAN PSYCHO, by Virginia Feit
    • A WITCH’S GUIDE TO MAGICAL INNKEEPING, by Sangu Mandanna.

    Have you read any of these? What would you prioritise?

    Books That Others have Tempted Me With:

    A.C. Wise has listed their Favourite Novellas of 2025 and I want to check out all of them but especially:

    Cover(s) of the Week

    Womble’s Temptation Post:

    This week’s Wombling Along! Includes:

    • A list of podcasts I wish I could find time to listen to (audio-anything-not-music and me have not had a good year)
    • Review of books that must get read in 2026 (2026 I am aiming to ‘Shop the Shelves’):
      • Snake-Eater
      • The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre
    • A reminder that I didn’t pick up Audition for the Fox by Martin Cahill, but I should?
    • At least 10 articles I need to find clear headspace to read.

    Outro

    As we approach the end of the year, I feel a bit of pressure not to carry things over into 2026.

    This means writing reviews (or not of books I found worth reading:

    • Volatile Memory [The Volatile Memory Duology #1] by Seth Haddon [2025]
    • The Trees by Percival Everett [2021]
    • The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater [2025]
    • The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association by Caitlin Rozakis [2025]
    • The Last Hour Between Worlds (The Echo Archives #1) by Melissa Caruso [2024]

    I need to finish The Devils and decide whether to read the other 60% of The Incandescent by Emily Tesh.

    I am unlikely to finish The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction (2023) & Heartwood: A Mythago Wood Anthology so I am likely to carry those over to the new year.

    What about you? Have you made any 2026 reading plans yet?

  • Sunday Summary: 23 Nov 25

    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 Trees by Percival Everett [2021]

    Currently Reading: 

    • the long way to a small angry planet by Becky Chambers [2015]

    Book-ish Thoughts

    I deleted my NetGalley account this week. That’s the end of an era.

    I also treated myself to a remote page turner for my Boox Palma and Kindle. I hope it will make for easier reading.

    Books Out This Week (and Last)

    1. We Are Legion (We Are Bob) [Bobiverse: Book 1] by Dennis E. Taylor
    2. The Sacred Space Between by Kalie Reid
    3. On the Calculation of Volume III by Solvej Balle [Trans. Sophia Hersi Smith & Jennifer Russell]
    4. Slow Gods by Claire North
    5. Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz
    6. Outlaw Planet by M. R. Carey
    7. The Haunting of Paynes Hollow: A Novel by Kelley Armstrong
    8. The Haunted Library: Tales of Cursed Books and Forbidden Shelves [Compiler Tanya Kirk]
    9. Woman in the Pillory – Penguin Modern Classics by Brigitte Reimann [Trans. Lucy Jones]

    Books That Others have Tempted Me With:

    • Collective: The Collaborative Art of Anthologies, edited by Dan Coxon and Pete W Sutton [Out Oct 2026] via Ann VanderMeer
    • The Delusions by Jenni Fagan [Out March 2026] via Jenni Fagan
    • House of Frank by Kay Synclaire via ezeekat
    • Black as Diamond by U. M. Agoawike [March 2026] via ezeekat

    Cover(s) of the Week

    Teddy Bears Never Die by Cho Yeeun (Trans by Sung Ryu).

    Womble’s Temptation Post:

    Last week’s Wombling Along Post has its own mega list of temptation from others, including:

    • The White Octopus Hotel by Alexandra Bell
    • Psychopomp and Circumstance by Eden Royce
    • The Best Weird Fiction of the Year Vol 1 edited by Michael Kelly

    And links to:

    • how to celebrate Bram Stoker’s birthday
    • how horror has capitalists in its sights
    • Charlie Jane Anders looks back at the suck fairy and the way our view of culture changes over time

    Amongst many more things.

    Outro

    This has been a busy couple of weeks – hopefully I’ll have more booktime soon.

    Have a good reading week.

    House of frank

    https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRFZCEbiT8a/?igsh=anJlMnhyNm0yYjRy

  • Sunday Summary: 26 Oct 25

    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

    — @gavreads (@gavreads.co.uk) 2025-10-24T20:01:58.990Z

    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

    An assortment of books displayed on a shelf, featuring various titles and authors, highlighting the longlist for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation 2025.

    https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/womenintranslation/longlist2025/

    The 14 longlisted titles are:

    • 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.

    Finally, Womble’s Temptation Post:

    https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2025/10/19/wombling-along

    • @niallharrison.bsky.social considers Everything Will Swallow You science fiction? – a work of fantastika
    • We’re both tempted by Pyschopomp & Circumstance by Eden Royce –
    • to avoid Reactor’s review of The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes –
    • Fantast Hive has lots of Halloween Rec
    • And many more things!