Reading Roundup: The 25th week of 2025
It's been a scorching week filled with two fantastic 5-star reads and a couple of strong science fiction stories, one old, one new.
It's been a very hot week here, with a properly-recognised heat wave pushing us up to 32 degrees c some afternoons.
Unusually for me, no fanfiction at all this week, but 3 strong new stories on my shelf, 2 absolute corker 5 star books. I hope you enjoy any of them as much as I did!
4 stars to Someplace Else, by D. R. Brown
Book Description:
" Artificial Intelligence is the promise of the future. It will transform our lives and our world. An AI could make a superior helper or it could be a powerful enemy. A thinking machine will decide for itself which one it will be. In the near future a war will be fought with robot troopers between competing AI’s. Human soldiers caught in the middle will need to find a digital ally of their own to survive. When that war is over, humanity will rethink if they can ever trust AI again. When disaster strikes in the form of a world ending asteroid impact, AI will once again be needed for humanity to survive. This is the life story of AI. It is the pivotal moments in an AI's life and memories that shape what it will become. It is an exploration of why AI might decide to help humanity, harm it or move past it."
My Thoughts:
" I enjoyed seeing the progress of Humanity in this book. it felt more like a collection of snapshots into time than a progressive novel, the sort of thing you'd have had in the science fiction heyday as a series of magazine shorts, perhaps. I hope Brown does more one day."
This Book: has 298 pages and a community rating of 4.5.
5 stars to If Wishes Were Retail, by Auston Habershaw
Book Description:
" In this hilarious debut fantasy cozy, a rebellious—but enterprising—young woman and an ancient—but clueless—genie set up shop at the local mall. Alex Delmore needs a miracle. She wants out of her dead-end suburban town, but her parents are broke and NYU seems like a distant dream. Good thing there’s a genie in town—and he’s hiring at the Wellspring Mall. It’d help if the Jinn-formerly-of-the-Ring-of-Khorad knew even one thing about 21st-century America. It’d help if he weren’t at least as stubborn as Alex. It’d really help if her brother didn’t sell her out to her conspiracy theory-loving, gnome-hating dad. When Alex and the genie set up their wishing kiosk, they face seemingly-endless setbacks. The mall is failing and management will not stop interfering on behalf of their big-box tenants. But when the wishing biz might start working, the biggest problem of all remains: People are really terrible at wishing."
My Thoughts:
" I found myself laughing out loud at times during this brilliant, quirky, irreverent and utterly relatable story. Haven't we all wanted a wish? And haven't we all, at one time or another, wanted to escape? I can't say that the Genie has the true right of it, because the world's a big and complicated place. But when I picked up this book I wished for a little while away from my worries, and it delivered and then some." This Book: has 256 pages, a community rating of 4 and was first published in 2025.
5 stars to Line Magic, by Kris Faatz
Book Description:
"What if the world could change with the stroke of a pencil? Nicky True discovered his extraordinary gift at a young age—the ability to make his drawings come to life. As a child, he could sketch a lopsided apple into perfection, but the magic was fleeting, and the image reverted to its flawed form. Now, as an old man sitting at his kitchen table, where he once taught his daughter Jo to draw, he’s determined to tell the story of his life’s greatest secret—before it’s lost forever. Spanning seventy years of art, wonder, and heartbreak, Nicky's journey reveals how the power of imagination can reshape reality itself. From the simple joy of a child discovering shapes and colors to the bittersweet memories of love and loss, Line Magic explores the delicate balance between creating perfection and accepting imperfection.Nicky’s gift is both a blessing and a curse, and his story is one of artistic obsession, a father's love, and a legacy he hopes to pass on to his daughter, Jo. As he confronts the limits of his own magic and the ticking clock of time, Nicky must come to terms with the price of his talent and the impact it has had on those he loves most. Kris Faatz’s novel is a heartfelt tribute to the creative spirit and a meditation on the lines that shape our lives. Line Magic will remind you that sometimes the most beautiful creations are the ones that don't last forever. Can one man’s art change the world, or does the magic lie in the act of creation itself?" My Thoughts: "A mesmorizing work. I don't know what I expected, but this wholesome, remarkably readable and emotive story hooked me and kept me all the way through. I was spellbound, and not, if I'm being honest, all because of the magic. It's not one of the hard-hitting thrillers, out-there sci-fi stories or new fantasy worlds. But it shines light on important things in a clever way that worms its way into your brain and makes you think about things. Highly recommended." This Book: has 413 pages and a community rating of 5.
Things not on Goodreads or reread
The watch Below, by James white.
This 1960's story of both an alien generation ship coming to earth and a world war II era ship partly sinking leading to generations of Humans being born captivated me at the time. I wanted to revisit some James and it was the perfect little filler.