2025 Reading Thread
The very first thing I read in 2025 was suddenly we, a poetry collection by Evie Shockley. This was one of the best collections, the most true, the most raw, that I've read in ages. I have another collection of hers and a few others she has poems in. Thus marks my return to reading poetry.
Content warning July 2025 Reading List (1/2)
Novels
Aftermarket Afterlife (InCryptid) by Seanan McGuire
Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff
Elysium Heist by Y. M. Resnik [ARC]
An Unexpected Feast (Curses and Curtains Book 3) by Devan Barlow
Darkwater Lane: (Stillhouse Lake Book 7) by Rachel Caine & Carrie Ryan
Novellas, Novelettes, Shorts
Asymmetrical: A Tor Original by Garth Nix
The Nölmyna: A Tor Original by David Erik Nelson
The Shape of Stones: A Tor Original by Hildur Knútsdóttir
Landline: A Tor Original by Kelly Robson
Red Leaves: A Tor Original by S. E. Porter
Not Alone: A Tor Original by Pat Murphy
Agate Way: A Tor Original by Laird Barron
Comics & Graphic Novels
Goat Magic by Kate Wheeler
The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos Volume 1 by James Tynion IV
Archie Meets Jay and Silent Bob One-Shot (Archie Comics Presents & Kevin Smith Presents) by Kevin Smith
This was everything I expected and more. Archie gets a new job, gets too sick to perform, and Jay takes over. Rock!
Archie is Mr. Justice
[Content Note: character death.]
Each book of this special is centered on a different person--Archie, Veronica, Betty, Reggie--and who they become or are made to become in a world of supervillains and superheroes. Mr. Justice is about hope, good intentions, discovering who you are on your own, and a hint of redemption.
Archie is Mr. Justice #1 (Archie Comics Presents) by Tim Seeley
Archie is Mr. Justice #2 (Archie Comics Presents) by Amanda Diebert
Archie is Mr. Justice #3 (Archie Comics Presents) by Kenny Porter
Archie is Mr. Justice #4 (Archie Comics Presents) by Blake Howard
#Boostodon #2025Reading #ArchieIsMrJustice #Comics #ArchieComics
Content warning July 2025 Reading List (2/2)
DC
All in Saga (DC All in Saga) by Mark Waid
Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville by Joanne Starer
Catwoman: Lonely City (2021-) by Cliff Chiang
Takes place in the '66 Batman universe, set ten years after the massacre that changed everything. A much older Selina Kyle is out of jail for a murder she absolutely did not commit and she's putting her life back together. It goes nowhere she expects or wants and everywhere she needs.
Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend by Alys Arden
Very much captures the Coney Island mystique we've come to expect, and it combines beautifully with mermaids, magicians, and mobsters. These have all mostly been one-shots, but I would adore more in this universe.
DC Continued Reading
DC vs Vampires: World War V (2024-) #10 by Matthew Rosenberg
Secret Six (2025-) #4-5 (Secret Six (2025)) by Nicole Maines
Zatanna (2025-) #5 by Jamal Campbell
Marvel
FCBD 2025: Ironheart / Marvel's Voices by Justina Ireland
Ironheart: Bad Chemistry (2025) #1 by John Jennings
Web of Venomverse: Fresh Brains (2025) #1 by Matt Groom
Avengers Academy Giant-Size (2011) #1 by Paul Tobin
X-Men Annual (2022) #1 (X-Men (2021-2024)) by Steve Foxe
Deadpool Team-Up: Blood of the Dragon by Rob Liefeld. I did it for Gwen.
Doctor Strange (2015-2018)
The art on these is fantastic. I love the comics depictions of Stephen's world as so psychadelically weird. It was nice to meet Zelma and to see the how Bats came along.
Doctor Strange Vol. 1: The Way of the Weird by Jason Aaron
Doctor Strange Vol. 2: The Last Days of Magic by Jason Aaron
Doctor Strange Vol. 3: Blood In The Aether by Jason Aaron
Doctor Strange Vol. 4: Mr. Misery by Jason Aaron
Doctor Strange Vol. 5: Secret Empire by Dennis Hopeless
Marvel Continued Reading
Moon Knight: Fist Of Khonsu (2024-) #7 by Jed MacKay
Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider (2024-) #14-15 by Stephanie Phillips
Web of Spider-Verse: New Blood (2025-) #1 by Matthew Groom
New Champions (2025-) #4 by Steve Foxe
Infinity Watch (2024-2025) #4 (of 5) by Derek Landy
Magik (2025-) #4 by Ashley Allen
The Vision & The Scarlet Witch (2025) #3 (of 5) by Steve Orlando
I was going to say I need this series to stop stabbing me in the heart with everything that's needed to be dealt with for so long, but I do not want it to stop doing that because it's wonderful. If you've read it, you know exactly what I'm talking about. One perfect family day.
#Boostodon #Comics #2025Reading
#CatwomanLonelyCity #CliffChiang
#ZatannaTheJewelOfGravesend #AlysArden
#TheVisionAndTheScarletWitch2025 #Comics #GraphicNovels #DoctorStrange2015to2018
Content warning The Elysium Heist by Y. M. Resnik--4/5 stars
This is a heist committed by a disparate group of queer women brought together by their mutual fucking over by some asshole guy who thinks he is better than everyone else and by the corporations that let assholes like him get away with it.
It begins with Kiyo, rich and disgraced, needing to get something back so she can take control of her family company. No, it begins with Kiyo, young and naive, taken advantage of. Then there's Finley, who Kiyo's taking care of, and who has a pesky card counting record that is going to be a problem in a casino. Along with them is Ilaria, a member of an ultra-religious Jewish sect who's trapped in marriage with the asshole, and who can blow up anything with anything. On the casino they meet Psalome, a celebrity card dealer and entertainer, her sister Psylina the programmer, and her sister's joyfriend, the casino itself.
It's less a heist, more a convoluted scam, with enough downtime for people to fall in love or at least lust. There's a fascinating to me storyline about ethics and romance. Obviously I enjoyed the characters, and the world, or at least the world of the casino we were shown.
The author has pics of the cover at their Bluesky. It's such a fun cover, with the big spinning roulette wheel/space station in the sky.
Content warning Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff
As everyone has noted, it's a cosmic horror romcom. I'd already jumped up for "Tanya Huff has a new book out," and cozy horror sent it over the top. There's a sweet little town where most things are nice all the time because sometime in the past their ancestors made a deal with "The Dark." Nowadays sacrifices don't have to be literal, but nowadays the magic's weaker and they might be revealed or discovered. Melanie the unemployed not-private investigator shows up to find a missing person and Cassidy, member of the council, Voice of The Dark, knows how that person went missing, just not why.
If anyone's asking and paying Tanya Huff, I'd read more in this world.
It is clever and cute and, yeah, cozy. (Which I keep trying to spell cosy, because that seems cozier.)
