Reading Roundup: The 12th week of 2025
Late but alive, I share my latest reads and a sneak peek at what's on my horizon!
Gosh! A day late! Imagine!
Punctuality is, of course, not one of my vices. In fairness, I was very busy on Tuesday (my 2025 reading week runs Wednesday to Tuesday), so I didn't get this drafted Tuesday evening. I started with a headache at work yesterday with every intention of powering through and sending it off afterward, but the pain got away from me a bit quickly and I ended up crashing afterward not just for the hour or so, but for the following 12.
still, I am pain free today, and the export of the last 7 days is waiting for me to add these few notes before winging its way to you loyal, interested subscribers. So sorry I'm a day late.
A reread fanfic this week, 4 new ones, and I ended the week with a 2000 page whopper. My combined rating this week was 14 with a public average of just under 16.5. Easily pleased, the crowds, aren't they?
4 stars to Chasing the Sun, by Loten
Book Description:
" AU, from Order of the Phoenix onwards. Hermione only wanted to learn Healing; she discovers that Professor Snape is a human being after all, and his actions dramatically shape the course of the war as events unfold. Cover (fanart) by Fidae on deviantart."
My Thoughts:
" OK, so I can't pretend I've not read some Snamione before, but this was done very well indeed. It's a romance, clearly, not an action story, but the action bits did work and were done well too. Obviously it's not a yarn for fans of Harry and company, but I enjoyed the slow burn, the healer pathway, and - even if I do have to suspend my disbelief insofar as every sex act is always amazing - that's no different to what you'd do for magic or sci-fi or whatever anyway, is it?
2000 pages of very well written story with a pretty far-out yet remarkably cogently-managed idea."
This Book: has 2000 pages, a community rating of 4.45 and was first published in 2012.
4 stars to In Any Lifetime, by Marc Guggenheim
Book Description:
" A devoted husband defies fate and risks everything to find the one universe where his beloved wife is still alive in this bold and thought-provoking novel. Dr. Jonas Cullen has spent his career as a groundbreaking physicist defying the odds. But on the best night of his life—the night his wife, Amanda, tells him they’re finally having a baby—everything is taken away when a tragic car accident claims the lives of Amanda and their unborn child. Gutted by pain, Jonas sets out to find a way to bring back Amanda—or rather, find a parallel universe in which she’s still alive. But that’s easier said than done. As Jonas comes to understand all too well, the universe favors certain outcomes…and Amanda’s death is one of them. Guggenheim’s novel takes readers on a suspenseful journey, intercutting scenes of Jonas’s frantic, present-day search across multiple realities with glimpses from the past of his unfolding romance and eventual marriage. Will Jonas and Amanda reunite in some other world, or will fate succeed in taking her from him forever?"
My Thoughts:
" I enjoy a solid parallel universe story, and a good romance with it is the icing on the cake. Of course there's not a lot of "now" time with his wife, but we get the great flashbacks, and the whole idea is really good (even if there was a smattering too much Japanese for my tastes)."
This Book: has 319 pages, a community rating of 3.79 and was first published in 2024.
4 stars to The Minotaur, by Peter Cawdron
Book Description:
" Life has been found beneath the icy shell of the moon of a gas giant orbiting a red dwarf at a distance of 11 light-years from Earth. When the crew of the original exploration mission crashes on the alien moon, a rescue ship is launched. Arriving decades later, the crew of the Kelvin finds a colony of survivors living in the labyrinth of caves beneath the surface of the moon. When people start dying, they realize they need to unravel the secrets of this alien world and the mystery of the minotaur.
The Minotaur is a tribute to the 1961 classic Solaris , written by Stanislaw Lem, and considers the psychological impact of examining an exotic alien life form unlike anything ever encountered on Earth.
FIRST CONTACT is a series of stand-alone novels that explore humanity's first interaction with extraterrestrial life. This series is similar to BLACK MIRROR or THE TWILIGHT ZONE in that the series is based on a common theme rather than common characters. This allows these books to be read in any order. Technically, they're all first as they all deal with how we might initially respond to contact with aliens, exploring the social, political, religious, and scientific aspects of First Contact. "
My Thoughts:
" Another cleverly put-together entry in Peter's collection, although with something of a simplified structure and things left a little more open than usual. I dug the Lem connection, but wonder if the number of uses of the phrase "one helluva" slid by me."
This Book: has 309 pages, a community rating of 4.52 and was first published in 2025.
2 stars to Harry Potter And The Summer Of Change, by lorddwar
Book Description:
" Harry returns to Privet Drive and Tonks helps him become the man and hero he must be to survive. HONKS. Action, Violence, Language and Sexual Situations. This is a post-OOTP story during the summer before Harry’s Sixth Year. Very few items of HBP will be used.
Chapters: 19 Words: 332'503
URL: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2567419"
My Thoughts:
" A little bit vapid, really; very much a fan's take, and a fan who liked Tonks. I know the title is 'summer' of change, and boy, does it stop dead thereafter. I will read more if there is any just to see what happens, but from what I can see the author's only other work is unrelated which just leaves an empty feeling after this one without anything particularly redeeming to hold it up."
This Book: has a community rating of 3.69 and was first published in 2006.
Things not on Goodreads or reread
Long Live the Queen, by offsides
a fanfic I reread, don't know why. Less enjoyable the second time around, although I did find it interesting that Percy Weasley was called the "middle brother" and the author didn't use his middle name.
Things to look forward to
I hadnt done any sort of preordering this year apart from the Cawdron book I read this week, but there's a new John Scalzi to read this week which is always worth a punt. I'm also hearing good things about the upcoming Emily tesh novel, due in May. So eyes pealed for that one. Until next week, folks, and it's only 6 days away! Whoops?