Books and comics read in September and October 2025

[usuallyhats]

System Collapse - Martha Wells
A Taste of Honey - Kai Ashante Wilson
The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
Stone and Sky - Ben Aaronovitch
Archangels of Funk - Andrea Hairston
Princess Princess Ever After
Revolutionary Acts: Love and Brotherhood in Black Gay Britain - Jason Okundaye

Kalyna the Soothsayer - Elijah Kinch Spector
Vellum - Hal Duncan
The Last Soul Among Wolves - Melissa Caruso
The Hermit of Eyton Forest - Ellis Peters
Road to Ruin - Hana Lee
Queen Demon - Martha Wells
A Drop of Corruption - Robert Jackson Bennett
One Morning Sun - Avi Silver
The Lure of Stone - Silvia Moreno-Garcia
To Clutch a Razor - Veronica Roth
Publishing Beyond the Market: Open Access, Care, and the Commons - Samuel A Moore

OK, last time's resolution didn't quite come off, but I've written up three November books already, so maybe next time.

Revolutionary Acts: Love and Brotherhood in Black Gay Britain - Jason Okundaye (five stars)

Revolutionary Acts: Love and Brotherhood in Black Gay Britain
Non fiction about the experience of Black gay men in Britain, mostly in the 80s and 90s but occasionally spilling out beyond that, told through interviews with seven men with experiences with different facets of Black gay culture. I absolutely loved this, not just for the fascinating content but also the gorgeously readable prose and the clear affection that Okundaye developed for his interviewees (which complements beautifully the theme of community that kept coming up). It covers some serious topics but also emphasises that pleasure, fun and care were important parts of the community too: I especially liked that Okundaye was careful to mention that although one of his interviewees in the social/political half of the book had strong political disagreements with the other two, all three had a great deal of personal respect for each other and for each other's achievements.

Bonus novella that I read an ARC of a while back, now available to buy:

All is Bright - Llinos Cathryn Thomas
Absolutely lovely f/f novella set in Wales at Christmas. The characters are beautifully and warmly drawn, and their character arcs and developing romance work so well. The setting is rich and atmospheric, and the characters really feel like part of that setting - it's important to who they are as well as being a joy to read about in their own right. It's also structured so you can read it advent calendar style, a chapter a day, and I really recommend it, it adds even more depth to them and their story (as well as being an excellent way to round off your day). I was lucky enough to be able to read an ARC that way last year and cannot wait to do the same this year.

Didn't finish:

Sunrise on the Reaping - Suzanne Collins

Sunrise on the Reaping - Suzanne Collins
I actually DNFed this in August but forgot to add it to that post, oops. Anyway, I loved the original Hunger Games trilogy, but I feel like the bloom is off the rose for me at this point. The prose felt really clunky, Haymitch just read like a generic teenager, and while I'm sure Collins was going somewhere with having his girlfriend basically be Lucy Baird 2.0 I could not hack another book of Manic Pixie Dream Girl (Romani Stereotypes Edition).

Revisiting this a few weeks later, I do want to add that this isn't a bad book, per se - the Reaping scene in particular was very effective - it just wasn't giving me anything I wanted in a prequel and apparently I was in a mood about it.

Comments

[cesy]

Ooh, I hadn't realised Llinos Cathryn Thomas had published stuff, that's very exciting, and they all look right up my street.

[usuallyhats]

Oh I'm really glad I could bring them to your attention, in that case! They're all excellent.

[raven]

What did you think of Archangels of Funk? I saw it go past on the Le Guin shortlist.

[usuallyhats]

I thought it was good but not quite for me - it had some great ideas and imagery, but fundamentally it is very much about the joys of communal living with just whoever you end up with, which is not really my thing (and to its credit it does explicitly acknowledge that it's not a way of life that's for everyone, which I really appreciated). I'm glad I read it even if I never quite clicked with it.

[alwaystheocean]

You CAN tell me when you don’t like stuff I do, you know. 😂 (seems wild I missed you reading sunrise on the reaping. 😂)

[usuallyhats]

I wasn't reading it for very long and it never came up 😂

[alwaystheocean]

You nerd