Author: Tim Scheidler

Jana: Sorry you haven’t heard much from me lately! The last few weeks have been rather busy, but I did manage to read Sofiya Pasternack’s Anya and the Dragon and its sequel, Anya and the Nightingale, both of which are entertaining MG books. I also started reading Sarah Gailey’s upcoming novel The Echo Wife, and am very much looking forward to discussing it with Tadiana and Kelly.

Bill: This week I read Elatsoe,

Kat: Since you heard from me a couple of weeks ago, I’ve re-read Arkady & Boris Strugatsky‘s Monday Starts on Saturday. This time I’ll get it reviewed. Also read Chloe Neill‘s The Bright and Breaking Sea (first book in a new series), K. Eason‘s How the Multiverse Got its Revenge (sequel to How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse), and Andrzej Sapkowski‘s The Tower of Fools (first in a new trilogy that has nothing to do with THE WITCHER).

Marion: It was not a good week for reading because I had writing to accomplish, but on Wednesday I started Hilary Mandel’s The Mirror and the Light, the third book about Thomas Cromwell.

Bill:This was an eclectic week of reading, which included:

• Brian Naslund’s quite good (and often laugh-out-loud funny) Sorcery of A Queen  (review soon to come)
• Virginia Postrel’s interesting The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World
• Rick Barot’s excellent poetry collection The Galleons
• Kristina Moriconi’s lovely In the Cloakroom of Proper Musing: A Lyric Narrative
• about 75 final papers — drafts so I get to do it all over again in a week or so.

Kat: I’ve been distracted by the news, as usual, plus my work, but I did manage to read a couple of books in the last two weeks. K.J. Parker’s How to Rule and Empire and Get Away With It was a sequel of sorts to his (better) Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City. After the U.S. election I read Jonathan Haidt’s The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, which was enlightening. Basically,

Marion: I finished the wonderful Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse, and how I’m browsing the Nov/Dec issue of F&SF Magazine. Effective with the spring, 2021 issue that magazine will have a new editor, Sheree Renee Thomas, as C.C. Finlay retires. I’m curious about what changes that will bring.

Bill: This week in between student papers and election-watching I read two DC comics reference books by Robert Greenberger:  Batman:  100 Greatest Moments and Flash:  100 Greatest Moments,

Jana: This week I read The Penguin Book of Witches, and thought it was a really excellent resource, though I wish that Katherine Howe had been able to provide more historical context and present-minded commentary on the various “eyewitness accounts” and historical documents. I also started reading Meet Me In the Future, Kameron Hurley’s 2019 collection of short stories, and I’m re-reading Sofiya Pasternack’s Anya and the Dragon in preparation for its soon-to-be-published sequel, Anya and the Nightingale.

Jana: This week involved a lot of cold-weather prep at my house, so I didn’t get a lot of time to sit in front of my keyboard, unfortunately. But I did get a little farther into The Very Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan, and am still enjoying myself, and I made the very questionable choice of reading through T. Kingfisher’s The Twisted Ones in installments before bed. It’s a great book! Just, you know, not so great to lie awake thinking about in the dark.

Jana: This week was a fairly productive one for me, so I’m pleased. I finished V.E. Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, got a few reviews taken care of, and began reading Alix E. Harrow’s The Once and Future Witches alongside The Very Best of Caitlín R. Kiernan, a tremendously moody and dark collection of Kiernan’s short fiction. I think it’s safe to say that I’ll be recommending all three books rather enthusiastically to anyone who will listen.