Book #136 of 2026: The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher When they were eleven, Briar Jones anxiously waited in vain for an admittance letter from Britain’s famous magic boarding school. Their rich best friend did get in as a legacy student, and our protagonist never saw him again — until seven years …
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Book #135 of 2026: A Face in the Crowd by Stephen King and Stewart O’Nan I was looking over a list of Stephen King titles recently when I saw this one that I didn’t recognize. Since I believe it’s the only published fiction of his that I haven’t read yet — aside from a few …
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Book #134 of 2026: Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend (Nevermoor #1) There’s a heavy Roald Dahl flavor to this middle-grade fantasy debut — in terms of both the unhappy homes of Matilda or James and the Giant Peach and the eccentric wealthy benefactor of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory — but …
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Book #132 of 2026: Star Wars: Legacy by Madeleine Roux Three-and-a-half stars, rounded up, for this Star Wars tie-in novel that takes place between the movies The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. It’s a messier narrative than I would ideally prefer, with too many extraneous characters and a plot heavily revolving around Force …
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Book #131 of 2026: The River That Ran Away to Paradise by Victoria Goddard I tend to prefer author Victoria Goddard’s novel-length fiction over these shorter releases, but this latest novella is well-pitched for the amount of story that it has to tell. It also represents my favorite sort of expanded universe item, wherein the …
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Book #130 of 2026: Enchanters’ End Game by David Eddings (The Belgariad #5) A perfunctory conclusion to what’s been an unfortunately pretty generic fantasy saga all along. I wouldn’t specifically recommend the lot, but the worst complaint I can probably lodge against this final novel is that it’s aged as poorly as its predecessors in …
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Book #129 of 2026: A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck This is an odd little novella that definitely has a plot to it, but mostly registers as an abstract thought experiment like the old idea of monkeys pounding away on typewriters to eventually produce the works of Shakespeare. I’m reminded as well …
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Book #128 of 2026: The Wizard Who Kept Himself Suspicious by Scott Lynch A charming — pun intended — little fantasy novella, in which a group of sorcerers gather for a regular beachside conclave of their order that takes a surprising turn into a Columbo-like murder mystery investigation when one of them is struck dead. …
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Book #127 of 2026: The Aftermath by Ben Bova (The Asteroid Wars #4) This is marketed as the final entry in the Asteroid Wars sub-series of author Ben Bova’s Grand Tour, but it’s so disconnected from the main plot there that it’s really more of a spinoff sequel. (Plus the titular conflict technically ended in …
Book #126 of 2026: Doctor Who: Shadowmind by Christopher Bulis (Virgin New Adventures #16) I’m surprised this 1993 novel has such a poor reputation — including a 2.85 average rating on Goodreads — since I’ve found it to be a generally enjoyable time myself. A lot of the reviews complain that it reads more like …
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