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:
???
Nothing this week.
Currently Reading:
A Dictator Calls by Ismail Kadare (trans John Hodgson) [2023]
The Masquerades of Spring by Ben Aaronovitch (narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith) [2024]
I’m going to be honest and say that I’m struggling with A Dectator Calls. I am going to keep going, but I feel I’m not well-versed enough in Starlin’s Russia to get the gravitas that is part of this novel.
I am having a great time with The Masquerades of Spring, where a younger Nightingale heads to New York to solve a mystery surrounding a saxophone with the help of an old friend. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is going an excellnt job as usual.
DNF’d
The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling [2025]
I knew I was taking a chance on this, but the early buzz was positive, and the idea of nuns trapped in a castle going mad sounds horrific, but also an idea with a lot of potential.
I am not a fan of grimdark works in general, and this proves again that I don’t think they are for me. I asked for thoughts on Bluesky, and no one came back saying that I needed to push through. So, as predicted last week, DNF it is.
Book-ish Thoughts
Continuing with the topic of DNFs, it’s one of the reasons that I wanted a page count this year; the main reason is that I’m aiming to read 50 pages a day. I don’t count DNFs as read, so before, when I was only tracking books I’d completed, DNF’ing felt like a waste. Now, they are helping with my page count.
Books That Others Have Tempted Me With:
Cover(s) of the Week
Outro
I have no idea what I fancy picking up next – I’ll get both A Dictator Calls and The Masquerades of Spring read and then decide, I think.
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.
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
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.
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:
???
Nothing this week.
Currently Reading:
Love At First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi
I didn’t expect that this cosy romantasy to have quite as high a spice rating as it did.
To save me from this predicament in future, Caitlin of Realms of My Mind has shared romance.io, which includes a Steam Rating Guide for every listing in its database. El-Fassi’s latest is rated 4/5
Don’t get me wrong. I’m going to keep reading as it’s not a reason to DNF or not pick it up in the first place. I am just glad it’s not my commute read or my audiobook choice 😬🤣🤣🤣
And I am keeping on reading it – it’s just heavy on the spice, and reading location now matters…
DNF’d:
???
Nothing this week.
Book-ish Thoughts
I have committed on The StoryGraph to read 15,000 pages and at least 33 books, which I’ve badly mathed as reading 50 pages a day.
I’m hoping that both are achievable, and I’m going to my best to avoid burnout and a reading slump.
Though I don’t think the amount pre-orders I’ve made is actually healthy, there is a partial list here if you’re curious:
SFF I have pre-ordered:City of Others (The DEUS Files)by Jared PoonApparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die by Greer StothersThe Apple and the Pearl by Rym KechachaThe Astral Library by Kate QuinnThe Rainseekers by Matthew KresselThe Soul-Catchers by Naoko Higashi (translated by Lucy North)
I am, however, not planning to add more pre-orders or pick up books that aren’t on the shelves for a while as I desperately need to read what I have.
I am also not reading to deadline, nor accepting ARCs (I currently have two with no deadlines – Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction: Volume Three, which was successfully funded via Kickstarter and all entries in The Gulpepper Mythos by Alan Baxter, which sounds like something I’d enjoy as I do love a shared world)
Books That Others Have Tempted Me With:
Given what I’ve said above, I should retire this section for a bit… but I do like to see what everyone has been reading, and when I get some brain space, I want to go over everyone’s 2025 reading lists and take notes. It doesn’t mean I have to give in to the impulse to get a copy too. And if I’m lucky, I might already have a copy on standby.
Cover(s) of the Week
Return of the Womble:
They have furry of end of year/new year posts but this one has actions:
Read the very last book to enter your TBR pile. TBRs come from the habit we have of not reading books because we put them off. You have my permission to indulge yourself.
Stretch goal – Read a book that you’ve had in your TBR pile for more than 5 years
Then I’d need to go for:
The Broke into Shining Crystals by Richard Scott with the stretch goal of The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino
They have also done a lot of the hard work, collecting everyone’s ‘best of’ lists in their weekly Wombling Along post, and I’m humbled to see mine included.
In yesterday’s post, I confirmed that “I’ll be back” in 2026 and promised a look at what I plan to read this year. Before that, though, I want to share some standout books from 2025. These aren’t definitive “best of” lists—just the ones that really stuck with me.
What stood out in 2025?
I’m going to caveat this selection by giving some stats:
I read 34 books in total (you can see the full list here).
5 of those were Rivers of London related.
7 were published in 2025
4 were books in translation
I really like using The StoryGraph app (I’m @gavreads)to capture my reading. They also provide nice graphics:
This is my way of saying that 34 is a respectable number, but it’s not the biggest pool of work to make proclamations like this is the best book published in 2025, etc.
I also DNF’d 9 books. I want to retry three of them (Under the Eye of the Big Bird, Extremophile, & The Ministry of Time) to see if I can figure out what others liked in them that I missed.
If you’re looking for the best released in 2025, this not the blog post you are looking for.
Anyway, here are some idiosyncratic ‘best ofs’:
Best of Found Families:
August Kitko and the Mechas from Space by Alex White
The Undetectables by Courtney Smyth
Best Slow-Burn Reveal:
The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater
Best Ensemble of ‘Monsters’:
The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
Best Parent Fighting for Their Child:
The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso
The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association by Caitlin Rozakis
Best use of humour to present a horrific things:
The Trees by Percival Everett
Best use of a family holiday:
Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne
Best Tales of Taxi Riders
Goodnight Tokyo by Atsuhiro Yoshida
Best Questioning of ‘If AI is alive’?
The Murderbot Diaries Vol. 1 by Martha Wells
Annie Bot by Sierra Greer
The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton
Volatile Memory by Seth Haddon
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
Best Long Running Series that I’ve read in 2025:
Rivers of London (#6 to #9.5)
Best Time Spent in a Freezer
When the Museum Is Closed by Emi Yagi [tr.. Yuki Tejima]
Best Example of How We’ve Not Really Moved On as a Society:
The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle [1957]
Best Example of How We Have Gone Backwards:
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto [tr. Megan Backus] [1988/1993]
Do you want to give out any more awards?
I’m sure I could think of more, but let’s stop here.
What are you planning on reading in 2026?
All the books I bought in 2025? Maybe not, as that’s physically impossible at this point. Perhaps the topic of why I keep buying books should be explored in a future post. For now, though, I want to get some ‘quick reading wins’ under my belt and read some of the shorter, standalone fiction.
The thene of 2026 is:
The year of the backlog (recent and extended).
This might not be the most up-to-date content for future blog posts, but I’m planning to make it the best reading experience I can. With that in mind, here are two lists of 10 books I want to read in 2026 (and if I remember, I’ll report back)
Selected from 2025 Releases:
The Book of Jonah by Luke Kennard
The Imagined Life by Andrew Porter
Dot Slash Magic by Liz Shipton
Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil by Oliver Darkshire
Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove
Play Nice by Rachel Harrison
The Haunting of William Thorn by Ben Alderson
Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey
The Entanglement of Rival Wizards by Sara Raasch
A Song of Legends Lost by M.H. Ayinde
There are so many more… The Isle in the Silver Sea, The Everlasting,The Last Soul Among Wolves, It’s Not a Cult, Spread Me, Dead & Breakfast, Angel Down… I’d better stop.
Selected from The Backlog:
Running Close to the Wind by Alexandra Rowland
Remember You Will Die by Eden Robins
House Of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Nude Against a Rock by Robert Hamberger
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector
Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov
Great Granny Webster by Caroline Blackwood
There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job. by Kikuko Tsumura [Tr. Polly Barton]
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
This is just the tip of an iceberg, but hopefully shows a selection of my backlog and the delights that I have to look forward to.
That’s my plan. What are yours? Any highlights from 2025, and what’s on your list for 2026?
If you’re reading this, we both made it to the end of 2025—well done to us! The blog did too, which feels like a small miracle.
Will I be back in 2026?
Absolutely.
Will I be posting more in 2026?
That I’m not so sure about—but I do plan on reading more.
What’s with the downbeat opening to this post?
2025 has been a funny old year for me as GavReads. It started with reader’s block and burnout, which I finally shook off in April thanks to a re-read of The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch. And my first post in 2025 didn’t appear until June, a post about The Lightspeed Trilogy, which I’d stopped myself from posting despite having started it in June 2025.
I have written a few things I’m proud of, but it’s been a trickle, not a flood:
In the post I updated as I finished sections, I tried to form thoughts and conclusions based solely on what I’d just read and on what I’d read up to that point. I enjoyed doing it, and thanks, Dan, for the challenge.
Speaking of challenges, I set myself two and was completely successful with one and partly successful with the other.
I had planned to read them all except one, In the Shadow of Their Dying, by Michael F. Fletcher and Anna Smith Spark, at some point. And I enjoyed comparing them all, and I was really surprised how much I loved Yoke of Stars by R. B. Lemberg, despite, or because of, how much it made me work.
I wasn’t so sucessful in my attempt to read all the works in the World Fantasy Awards 2025 shortlist for Best Novella. I finished and reviewed:
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
Or even start:
Bury Your Gays – An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror, edited Sofia Ajram – Ghoulish Books
I burned out while reading Heartwood, mostly from the pressure of having to review it by the deadline. By its nature, it’s very samey. The stories I’ve read are excellent, but I didn’t want to read them so quickly, and I think I just froze.
I may have also realised that I am out of practice and have less physical and mental capacity for both reading and reviewing.
What’s the ‘but’? I feel there is a ‘but’ coming on.
I think I have some triggers around stress… It’s not about a lack of motivation; it’s a mental short-circuit when I force myself to do something I don’t want to do or when I worry about what the review might be like.
I can confirm that meeting ‘on-demand’ deadlines is no longer for me, if it ever was.
Which then raised the question of relevance, why I haven’t spent time reviewing things, and what I do in the future?
As I won’t be reviewing with an aim to post around the publication date, that is, unless I manage to read some of my 2025 hardbacks and schedule a post for the paperback release, what is the best time to review a book?
Reviewer friend question – when is the best time to review a book? I don't mean for the book/author/publisher, but for you as a reviewer, or other reasons if they exist?
What makes me a good reviewer is ‘building’ the book in my head; what makes me a bad reviewer, and sometimes not so speedy reader, is also ‘building’ the book in my head, which is probably where the burnout comes from. And that probably explains why I have to switch genres and can’t keep reading the same things.
Anyway, in the past, the best way to get a book out of my head was to write down my thoughts about it, which is why I posted my thoughts on The Lightspeed Trilogy a year after I first had them.
It’s also why I think about post looking at The Last Hour Between Worlds (The Echo Archives #1) by Melissa Caruso, alongside The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association by Caitlin Rozakis, and, potentially, The Incandescent by Emily Tesh.
I’d also like to reread both Lake of Darknessby Adam Roberts and Calypso by Oliver K. Langmead as they both deal with the future of humanity in fascinating ways.
And when are you going to post your reviews?
Probably, when I’ve just finished it, and with myself as the audience in mind. This means that unless I buy and review
Are you feeling better now that’s all out of your system?
Actually, yes.
So what is the plan for 2026?
This year I’ve read thirty-four books, up from 2023’s twenty-two, but down from last year’s forty. However, if I’d read at the same pace over the other 3 months, I think I could have hit 45 this year.
The plan for 2026 is to avoid burnout, probably by continuing to embrace the philosophy of DNF’ing more when needed. Though for some stories, like The Devils and The Incandescent, that would have been the wrong thing to do, I think, even if I really did want to at certain points.
Are you setting yourself an actual measurable goal?
I am going to set 3:
Read every day—even if it’s a page. I have a 103-day streak on The StoryGraph that I really don’t want to break.
Read at least 33 books.
Read at least 15,000 pages.
Well, that’s the reading ones, what about the blog?
I have enjoyed doing the Sunday Summary posts that I started doing in September, and I did enjoy the reading with a goal in mind, so how about:
Aim to post a Sunday Summary every week.
Do at least 2 reading challenges
Oh, and what will you be reading?
Now that’s a question for the next post, but as a preview, the ratio has to be low, 2026 purchased and high, whatever I have on the shelves, which may have hit over 500 after I went a bit overboard with acquisitions this year, including 3 from Paris.
These are some of my thoughts and feelings as a ‘social media’ reader, as we leave 2025 and enter 2026.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you! What were your standout reads of 2025? And what’s on your list for 2026?
Gav Reads 