Author: Tim Scheidler

Marion: If you’re looking for a spooky “dark carnival” book to head into fall with, I finished Bacchanal by Veronica G. Henry, and I recommend it. I liked the complex loyalties of the carnies, the touch of an all-Black carnival working the American south and southwest (with all the mundane danger that implies) and the creepy little stories about the carnival that Henry weaves into the tale. I read two comic book collections: Batwoman: Elegy. I loved the art,and  the backstory about Kate getting kicked out of West Point was good.

Kat: My teenage daughter is in an audiobook phase, so I’m taking advantage of that. This week we read Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale and The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine. I’m so busy at work that I didn’t have time to read anything else.

Bill: This week I read Among Thieves by MJ Kuhn, a mildly entertaining if somewhat rote heist fantasy; Go West Young Man by B.J.

Brad: I just read Dead Day by Ryan Parrott, a great comic that transcends the zombie genre. And I read Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, a fantastic novel. I’ve also recently read a bunch of old pulp fiction crime novels, of which my favorite was Dead End by Ed Lacy. I’ve also been reading poetry, and over the past few days I finished reading Selected Poems by Langston Hughes, The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni,

Kat: I’m still listening to John Bellairs’ LEWIS BARNAVELT books with my daughter. Bellairs died in 1991 and the series has continued under author Brad Strickland. You’d never know there was a change in authorship. This week we read The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder, The Beast Under the Wizard’s Bridge, and The Tower at the End of the World.

Bill: This week I read The Desert Prince,

Jana: This week I read Rebecca Roanhorse’s Black Sun, which was really enjoyable, and I’m excited to see what direction Roanhorse takes for the first planned sequel, Fevered Star. I’m now reading Shelley Parker-Chan’s debut novel, She Who Became the Sun, described as “Mulan meets The Song of Achilles,” which sounds weirdly perfect for me. It’s got a killer first chapter, and my hope is that it only gets better from there.

Jana: This week I finished Helene Wecker’s The Hidden Palace (hooray!) and became utterly immersed in Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor (even better than I was expecting, and my expectations were high). I’m so excited to get to read Addison’s 2021 stand-alone/follow-up, The Witness for the Dead, and to revisit this lovely and treacherous world.

Bill: This week I read:

• The Rookery:  Deborah Hewitt’s sequel to The Nightjar
• Star Guard and Star Rangers:  two Andre Norton favorites brought to my attention again
• How to Make an Apple Pie from Scratch: A fantastic popular science book by Harry Cliff covering the building blocks of our universe and how they were put together to get us all here
• Da Vinci’s Cat by Catherine Gilbert Murdock,

Kat: I’ve been on vacation, and the fall semester is about to start in a couple of weeks, so I’ve been pretty busy. But I did manage to read a couple more Andre Norton titles, Synchronized Sorcery by Juliet Blackwell, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. I’ve also read a couple of books about nutrition.

Bill: This week I read The Kingdoms, by Natasha Pulley,

Marion: I’m reading Ocean Vuong’s autobiographical novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, and loving every heartbreaking word.

Bill: This week I read two story collections — Dreaming in Quantum and Other Stories by Lynda Clark and The Tangleroot Palace by Marorie Liu, neither of which fully satisfied, and an enjoyable draft of a new novel by an author who shall remain nameless (have to wait for the favorable review it will eventually get).  I’m currently two-thirds of the way through The Kingdoms,

Kat: Since you heard from me last, I’m caught up on the novelizations of the Foglios’ GIRL GENIUS comic (so fun!). I finished two more Andre Norton stories: Star Guard and Star Rangers. I also read Juliet Blackwell’s Synchronized Sorcery (the latest WITCHCRAFT MYSTERY) and football player Michael Bennett’s Things That Make White People Uncomfortable.

Bill: This week I read and enjoyed Brian Staveley’s The Empire’s Ruin,

Marion:  I have 8 5000-word pieces to read for next month’s Mendocino Coast Writers Conference (I don’t have to read my own) so that’s taken up quite a bit of time. I’m still browsing John Langan’s mammoth story collection Children of the Fang. The eponymous novella is one of my favorites so far. Last night I delved into the poetic and beautiful prose poem/essay collection Ghostways: Two Journeys in Unquiet Places, by Robert McFarlane and Dan Richards, hauntingly illustrated by Stanley Donwood.

Bill: This week I finished my reread of Steven Erikson’s MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN with Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God,