Since Kurt D has been in self-imposed exile lately, I guess I'll start out annual thread.

I'm still working my way through Les Miserables. A bit over halfway, and going slow. I'm committed to finishing it, but it just hasn't grabbed me yet.

The next book on my list is Andy Weir’s Artemis. I got it for Christmas. I really enjoyed Project Hail Mary last year (my favorite read of 2025) and will give this one a shot.



I’m also burning through a stack of Star Wars: The High Republic comics that I haven’t read yet. I finished all of the novels, but now I’m going back and collecting the volumes from the three phases and other stories. I have about a dozen or so compilations and am missing maybe three or four of them.

Let us know what you think when you're through. I have The Martian (same author) arriving tomorrow.

Part of me wants to re-read Project Hail Mary before the movie comes out, but I'm a little limited on reading time.

I ended 2025 with my favorite novel in a long time, What You Are Looking for Is in the Library. A short Japanese novel, it is an amazing collection of five short stories connected by a fascinating librarian. Touching, heartfelt, just lovely.



Currently reading Short Stories by Jesus by Amy-Jill Levine. She is a Jewish scholar of Jesus and is about nine of his parables.

This is one of her most-dense books, both in terms of length and depth. It's not her most entry-level book, if that makes sense. But I like that she's saying hey, if you want to take these parables seriously, you'd better see yourself as the person who has something to learn from the parable and take your need for growth seriously.

It often hits the $2.99 price point on Kindle, if you're interested.


At some point, I would like to read The Oddessey before the movie comes out. I haven't read it since high school.

Finished

Finished

After reading 81 books in 2025, I took a little break and am back at it now.
Looking to average at least one book a week for 2026.

Finished

The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley.

I read this 1929 murder mystery while I was in high school. I hated it. I never remembered its name until recently. I looked it up, and the book makes lists of the greatest mystery novels. So I thought I'd give it another try.

The story has a dry sense of humor that I completely missed last time. More importantly, the book is a critique of lazy writing of murder mysteries. A group of upper-class true-crime fans have a club. They decide to solve a murder that has baffled the police. Each night, a different member is to present the solution to the crime and to identify the killer. Each time the killer is a different person.

I think my favorite joke is when the gentleman detective goes to Scotland Yard an issues orders to the Inspector. The police do what he tells them to do. That is a tired trope, and it's funny to see it laid out so baldly.

Finished:

King Sorrow by Joe Hill. Hard to believe Hill's last novel (The Fireman) was all the way back in 2016. Damn, his father published 10 novels (and 2 short story collections) over that time But I don't mind a wait if it takes that long to write a great book (and it's not a book in an unfinished series). And this is a big great book. It's long but stays fresh thanks to an episodic structure (the 5 main sections feel like linked novellas). An early problem I had was too many unlikable rich trust-fund nepo baby characters, who seemed to be set up as characters I was supposed to like. But despite that kind of being Joe Hill himself (minus the unlikable part, presumably), things evolved in a way I was happy with.

^ That one is on my To-read list. Heart-Shaped Box is the only Hill book I’ve read so far. It wasn’t perfect but I enjoyed it quite a bit. He has a very smooth writing style.

That was his first novel, I think it shows a bit (although I liked it too). There's a definite progression from that to Horns to NOS4A2 (which compares well to prime Stephen King).

Finished

Finished

Finished

Julian Barnes new book, according to him, will be his last.

I finished Artemis this morning… it is quite different from what I expected after seeing The Martian and reading Project Hail Mary.

There are quite a few characters to keep track of, lots of locations within the City of Artemis, and a lot of techno-babble that went over my head (that didn’t happen in the other book).

The relationships are weird, the pacing is weird, the story (while twisty) makes sense.

I’ll give this book 3 out of 5 stars, and say I liked it, but I didn’t love it (like I did with PHM).

After King Sorrow, a couple of lighter shorter books:


Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman. #2 in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. Since this book all takes place on a single level of the dungeon, I can see how this series can just go on for a long time. And the set-up does allow for a lot of different fantasy/sci-fi scenarios to play out. Maybe it'll get old (there's at least 5 more books) but so far it's breezy fun. I still don't get the LitRPG genre, but it makes sense here (where humans are put in a gamified dungeon for the entertainment of aliens).


Cackle by Rachel Harrison. I keep seeing her books pop up in horror and fantasy lists so decided to give a try with what seems to be her most popular. Compared to other witch stories, with one end being Wicked and the other Suspiria ... this is solidly at the Wicked side. I am absolutely not the target audience for this. But while it seems written for female romance fans, I liked that it was solidly anti-romance. Kind of like the opposite of a Hallmark romance. Young woman goes to a sleepy town not to find love but to discover she's better off without men (with the help of a witch and a smiley spider).

I'm a glutton for punishment and have chosen to reread Chris Claremont's (yes, that Chris Claremont) Willow sequel Shadow Moon. I read it over 25 years ago and remember liking it. I have all three books in paperback (Shadow Dawn and Shadow Star being the other two).