What are you reading in 2026?

[jian]

Just read Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes du Mez. I think it was recommended by someone here, not sure who; if so, thanks very much for the suggestion. It’s a pretty comprehensive and readable account of the shift in American evangelical Christianity towards white supremacy, toxic masculinity, and nationalism over the last 75 years or so, mentioning such key figures as Billy Graham, Phyllis Schafly, the Promise Keepers, and of course John Wayne.

I was very briefly evangelical in the U.K. when I was younger and still have friends who are, and it’s interesting to note how different English evangelical Christianity is from the US version, though it’s definitely strongly influenced by changes across the Atlantic.

 

[Hriston]

Last night I finally finished reading The Well at the World's End by William Morris, finishing my journey through his fantasy novels. I loved the medievalistic world-building, like the references to saints, the church, people swearing by "all the angels", etc. Notable again was its obvious influence on the structure of the LotR: a long journey east on an epic quest followed by a return to find trouble at home and a final battle to set things right. Another influence was the surprise insertion of a frame story towards the end in which the protagonist, Ralph, recounts his adventures to a priest who, it is said, writes it all down, forming the basis of the preceding text.

Next, I'm considering reading Morris's travelogue of Greenland Iceland which, I've heard, had a large influence on The Hobbit.

Edited to correct Greenland to Iceland. Oops!

 

[jian]

Just read Quite Ugly One Evening, by Chris Brookmyre. It's basically a murder mystery on a cruise ship being investigated by Jack Parlabane, Brookmyre's most recurrent protagonist.

The Maskyn family, whose wealth and fame are derived from a very popular puppet TV adventure series* in the 60s and 70s, are divided about rebooting the series to be more socially conscious; this is reflected in polarised political discussions in the UK and elsewhere, and then a showoff tech billionaire declares he's buying the company so the new series won't be "woke". As usual, the characters are well drawn and the action easy to follow, and I enjoyed it.

*Yes, it's basically Thunderbirds and the entire Anderson canon in general, including Captain Scarlet and Terrahawks.

I used to be an avid reader of Brookmyre's books about 15-20 years ago - they were fun clever thrillers with some excellent characterisation and political commentary (which I agreed with, of course), a bit like Carl Hiaasen but set in Scotland. Jack Parlabane was sadly my least favourite character in those days (because he's something of a self-insert) but he's mellowed with age and there are some genuinely touching bits.

 

[Autumnal]

That sounds interesting. As someone who got up when young to watch Thunderbirds at 6:30 am Saturdays on a local channel, I have a long-time interest in things Anderson and Anderson-like.

It’s been a week of mixed reading and rereading for me: Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang, Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire. A few pages paragraphs words about each.

The Ted Chiang book is a collection of short stories. The movie Arrival is a good adaptation of the title story. Others include the building of the a tower of Babylon (not Babel) and finding out what’s beyond the vault of Heaven, a couple very different takes on superhuman intelligence, what it’s like when angelic manifestations are routine and dangerous, and like that. You know, the usual. Chiang is one of those writers like Greg Egan and Howard Waldrop, whose ideas all seem not just dazzling concepts brilliantly executed but like nothing other minds would ever, ever have come up. Like Tanith Lee, he writes stories that always make me want to go home up for a few years and write myself.

You’ve either seen Hitchcock’s film version of The Birds or at least you know about it. Du Maurier’s original is more compact and darker. There are several stories in this collection that I don’t think I’ve read before, like “Monte Veritá”, and I liked or loved them all. They all lie somewhere in the lands of weird fiction, where (swiping a definition from Michael Cisco’s scholarly Weird Fiction: A Genre Study) an unexplained/inexplainable intrusion into the lives of the protagonists, and the intrusion becomes destiny for them. It makes me happy.

The Seanan McGuire books are stand-alone novellas, the first of a series of a dozen or so. They share a setting: a boarding school for teenagers who’ve been off to fairylands and other places through hidden portals, gotten stuck back on Earth, and need to live with being here and now again. As is pretty predictable for McGuire, there’s a rich broad fantasy foundation, including axes of world types like high Logic versus high Nonsense (or Whimsy) and high Virtuous versus high Wicked. And there’s intense, deep individual characterizations and stories, all shaped by the fact that we want and need love, and readily give our love to those who may not be good recipients of it at all.

I read the first four or so they came out, loved them all, got distracted by things like losing the ability to stand up without fainting, and am now catching up. So far, so great.

 

[prabe]

That sounds interesting. As someone who got up when young to watch Thunderbirds at 6:30 am Saturdays on a local channel, I have a long-time interest in things Anderson and Anderson-like.

It’s been a week of mixed reading and rereading for me: Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang, Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire. A few pages paragraphs words about each.

You’ve either seen Hitchcock’s film version of The Birds or at least you know about it. Du Maurier’s original is more compact and darker. There are several stories in this collection that I don’t think I’ve read before, like “Monte Veritá”, and I liked or loved them all. They all lie somewhere in the lands of weird fiction, where (swiping a definition from Michael Cisco’s scholarly Weird Fiction: A Genre Study) an unexplained/inexplainable intrusion into the lives of the protagonists, and the intrusion becomes destiny for them. It makes me happy.

You didn't mention which Du Maurier book you were reading, is it the relatively recent collection of her shorter work, or is it some older thing? (She's on my list to try ...)

 

[Autumnal]

Whoops! It’s titled The Birds, and it’s a good introduction to her work. The audiobook is good, too, despite somewhat low sound quality.

 

[jian]

The Seanan McGuire books are stand-alone novellas, the first of a series of a dozen or so. They share a setting: a boarding school for teenagers who’ve been off to fairylands and other places through hidden portals, gotten stuck back on Earth, and need to live with being here and now again. As is pretty predictable for McGuire, there’s a rich broad fantasy foundation, including axes of world types like high Logic versus high Nonsense (or Whimsy) and high Virtuous versus high Wicked. And there’s intense, deep individual characterizations and stories, all shaped by the fact that we want and need love, and readily give our love to those who may not be good recipients of it at all.

I read the first four or so they came out, loved them all, got distracted by things like losing the ability to stand up without fainting, and am now catching up. So far, so great.

I do rather like the Wayward Children books, especially as standalones (as in, the back story of one of the characters as its own thing, not as part of the more continuous plot). I loved In an Absent Dream, which is Lundy’s story - her origin is in the Goblin Market, where everything is for sale and there are clear and firm rules about reciprocity which lead to her undoing.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

I finally finished Vineland by Thomas Pynchon, which I've been reading on and off (mostly off) since seeing One Battle After Another last fall. It took me a while to settle into the organizational style, which felt disjointed initially but ultimately very much resembles someone flipping channels. Once I figured that out, it sang. It's less cynical, I think, than a lot of the other Pynchon I've read or perhaps I'm less cynical than I was when I read the other Pynchon. I think it's still somewhat elegiacal, but it manages to find the humanity in most of its characters, even, I think, Brock Vond. I also appreciated the weirdness of it. The Thanatoids and Vato & Blood in particular were a lot of fun.

 

[Autumnal]

I do rather like the Wayward Children books, especially as standalones (as in, the back story of one of the characters as its own thing, not as part of the more continuous plot). I loved In an Absent Dream, which is Lundy’s story - her origin is in the Goblin Market, where everything is for sale and there are clear and firm rules about reciprocity which lead to her undoing.

That’s how I’m reading them, too bits similar to the way I read comics, so that my personal Naan can segue pretty directly from Steve Engelhart & Marshall Rogers to select modern stuff to Kurt Busiek & Brent Anderson, and people who disagree with me that the Confessor is Batman too are in for a probably too academic lecture about pastiche and homage.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

people who disagree with me that the Confessor is Batman too are in for a probably too academic lecture about pastiche and homage.

People disagree about this? Bananas.