Tome & Tome Again

2025 Wrap Up and 2026 Looking Forward!

In episode 19 we talk about our top reads and honourable mentions for 2025, then get into our anticipated reads for 2026! A full list of the titles discussed is below:
The House of Rural Realness by Curtis Campbell
Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove
Different, Not Less by Chloe Hayden
Invisible Women by Caroline Criado-Perez
Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
Stag Dance by Torrey Peters
Murder by Memory and Nobody's Baby by Olivia Waite
Hecate the Witch by Nikita Gill
Inner Demons by Stephen Platt
There Is No Anti-Mimetics Division by Quantum
The Secret Lives of Zombie Wives by Barbara Truelove
Vampires at Sea by Lindsay Merbaum
Local Heavens: A Cyberpunk Reimagining of The Great Gatsby Set in 2075 New York by K. M. Fajardo
Beth is Dead by Katie Burnett
This Wretched Beauty: A Dorian Grey Remix by Elle Grenier
Hell's Heart by Alexis Hall
The Infamous Gilberts by Angela Tomaski
Life Out of Order by Audrey Niffenegger
Dead Beat by Leigh Bardugo (Alex Stern #3)
Adult Braces by Lindy West
Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe
Threads That Bind and Hearts That Cut by Kika Hatsopolou
The Long Earth series by Stephen Baxter & Terry Pratchett
Midnight Sun and Life and Death by Stephenie Meyer
Intro and outro music:
Midsummer’s Night in the Woods by Justin Allan Arnold | https://www.ifnessfreemusic.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
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Hogfther by Terry Pratchett

In episode 18 we talk about Terry Pratchett's classic 1996 novel Hogfather, which uses Christmas to discuss the importance of belief and ritual.
Other books mentioned in this episode:
The Nowhere Child by Christian White
The Housemaid by Frieda McFadden
On Sunday She Picked Flowers by Yah Yah Scholfield
The Wolf Who Cried Boy by Mark Mupotsa-Russell
Voidverse by Damien Ober
Intro and outro music:
Midsummer’s Night in the Woods by Justin Allan Arnold | https://www.ifnessfreemusic.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Monk & Robot books by Becky Chambers

In episode 17 we talk about the Monk & Robot duology by Becky Chambers, containing A Psalm for the Wild-Built and A Prayer for the Crown-Shy.
We discuss the first novella until 39 minutes into the episode, then we talk about the second novella. 
Other books mentioned in this episode:
A Cinnamon Falls Mystery by R. L. Killmore
We Are Legion by Dennis E. Taylor
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
Katabasis by RF Kuang
A Forest, Darkly by A. G. Slatter
Intro and outro music:
Midsummer’s Night in the Woods by Justin Allan Arnold | https://www.ifnessfreemusic.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Murderbot series by Martha Wells

In episode 16 we talk about the first six books in Martha Wells' brilliant Murderbot sci-fi series: All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, Exit Strategy, Fugitive Telemetry, and Network Effect, plus we also talk about the recent Apple TV series, which contains the events of All Systems Red. 
Please forgive our erratic pronoun usage when referring to Murderbot - the irony of not getting this right when discussing a series about a character's personhood is not lost on us.
Other books mentioned in this episode:
Strange Pictures by Uketsu
Dinner at the Night Library by Hika Harada
The Bookstore Girls by Kei Aono
The Cold House by Angela Slatter
The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
Isn't it nice we both hate the same things by Jessica Seaborn
Intro and outro music:
Midsummer’s Night in the Woods by Justin Allan Arnold | https://www.ifnessfreemusic.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend

In episode 15 we chat about Jessica Townsend's delightful magic and wonder-filled middle-grade book Nevermoor, the first of the Nevermoor series!
Other books dicussed in this episode:
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
Human Rights by Juno Dawson (Her Majesty's Royal Covenant series)
Once a Villain by Vanessa Len
Cold Truth by Ashley Kalagian Blunt
We are Legion (We are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor
If Wishes Were Retail by Auston Habershaw
Intro and outro music:
Midsummer’s Night in the Woods by Justin Allan Arnold | https://www.ifnessfreemusic.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Wee Free Men

In episode 14 we chat about Terry Pratchett's The Wee Free Men, the first of the Tiffany Aching series within the Discworld. 
Other books dicussed in this episode:
Willow Close by Helena O'Connor
Different, Not Less by Chloe Hayden
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
Girl on Girl by Sophie Gilbert
Death and Other Occupational Hazards by Veronica de Ponte
The Women Are Not Fine: A Dark History of a Poisonous Sisterhood by Hope Reece
A Forbidden Alchemy by Stacey McEwan
Assistant to the Villain series by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
 
 
Intro and outro music:
Midsummer’s Night in the Woods by Justin Allan Arnold | https://www.ifnessfreemusic.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Legends & Lattes & Cosy Fiction

In episode 13 we chat about one of our favourite genres by revisiting one of our favourite books from recent years: Travis Baldree's cosy fiction masterpiece Legends & Lattes!
Other books dicussed in this episode:
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Welcome to the Hyunam Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum
A Magical Girl Retires by Park Seolyeon
Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood
Beyond Climate Grief by Jonica newby
Bookshops & Bonedust (Legends & Lattes #2) by Travis Baldree
The Wizard's Bakery by Gu Byeong-mo
The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst
The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop by Takuya Asakura
Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud
Intro and outro music:
Midsummer’s Night in the Woods by Justin Allan Arnold | https://www.ifnessfreemusic.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

V for Vendetta

In episode 12 we discuss the classic graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, V for Vendetta, and it's movie adaptation directed by the Wachowski sisters.
Other books we discuss in this episode include:
Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove
Hearts that Cut by Kika Hatzopolou
A House with Good Bones by T Kingfisher
Made of Steam and Stardust by Bianca Breen
The Distance Between Dreams by Emily Paull
Silverborn by Jessica Townsend
The Language of Trees by Katie Holton
 
Intro and outro music:
Midsummer’s Night in the Woods by Justin Allan Arnold | https://www.ifnessfreemusic.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
 

Uglies

In episode 11 we discuss the first of Scott Westerfeld's Uglies trilogy, titled Uglies, published in 2005.
Other books we discuss in this episode include:
the Murderbot series by Martha Wells
Murder by Memory by Olivia Wright
The Forcing by Paul E. Hardesty
Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum
The Thinning by Inga Simpson
Human Nature by Jane Rawson
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Lightfall book 1: The Girl & The Galdurian
Intro and outro music:
Midsummer’s Night in the Woods by Justin Allan Arnold | https://www.ifnessfreemusic.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Howl's Moving Castle

In episode 10 we discuss Howl's Moving Castle, both the classic 1986 book by Diana Wynne Jones and the gorgeous 2004 movie by Hayao Miyazaki. 
Other books we discuss in this episode include:
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Wild Dogs by Michael Trant
How High we go in the Dark by Sakoya Nagamatsu
The Spear That Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Queer as Folklore by Sasha Coward
Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe
Intro and outro music:
Midsummer’s Night in the Woods by Justin Allan Arnold | https://www.ifnessfreemusic.comMusic promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/