What are you reading right now? For 2026 > Likes and Comments
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I’m more than halfway through reading Mindline by M.C.A. Hogarth. This is my fourth time reading it, and it’s one of three group discussions for January. It’s the sequel to Mindtouch which we discussed last month. I’m enjoying it very much so I’m likely going to reread the rest of the series this month.
Mindline was so good I’m binging the rest of the series. So right now I’m giggling at a funny part of Dreamhearth.
I'm reading The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez. I've just begun Part II so I'm about 1/3 of my way through it. I enjoyed the first two chapters, but they didn't grab me in a big way. I'm glad that I continued reading because I'm very intrigued at this point. I especially admire the world building and the author's description of the designs of the spaceships and the space station Pelican and how space travel is accomplished.
I’ve finished rereading Dreamstorm by M.C.A. Hogarth, Family, and The Snow Maiden, or the Case with the Holiday Blues which completes the Dreamhealers series and its minor works.Next up is Heartskein also by M.C.A. Hogarth which is about the same two main characters as Dreamhealers, but after they moved to the Eldritch home planet. I’m skipping the first two books of the Fallowtide series.
Finished Heartskein, and now about 40% through Fathers' Honor which is the next book in the series. That’s likely to be the last of my binge although Goodreads list several more books after it in the series.
Finished my binge of Hogarth books.Next I’ll reread Fair Trade: An Alien Invasion Story by Mackey Chandler.
I'm finding it hard to read anything at the moment - 2026 has just started and already the lunatics and gangsters in charge of some countries continue to cause even more death and destruction. So I've been listening to more music instead - and since 80 years ago today the ledgendary Syd Barrett was born, much of that music has been from Pink Floyd - particularly "Brain Damage" from "Dark Side of the Moon".
John wrote: "I'm finding it hard to read anything at the moment - 2026 has just started and already the lunatics and gangsters in charge of some countries continue to cause even more death and destruction. So I..."I hear you on that. Some days I can't face the news and some days I can't turn away.. In addition to that, my home town team is in the NFL playoffs, so I've been watching more football than normal. But I am reading a very engrossing nonfiction book right now.
Betsy, the first NFL game I ever saw was the 1978 Super Bowl, and I watched it live on TV in Saudia Arabia with a group of American friends. Since that day I have supported the Pitsburgh Steelers - so Sunday night was a nail-biter (and all the sweeter by being against the Ravens). Who are your home town team?
I've just finished Foundation, so I'm taking a short break from the "Asimov Universe" to read Cronus by P. Djèlí Clark- part of the Time Traveler's Passport series of short stories. I've read a few of the series so far, and have enjoyed them all.
Finished Fair Trade: An Alien Invasion Story by Mackey Chandler. I’ve read it several times before but I still giggle at the funny parts. I love first contact stories where the aliens are struggling with human bureaucracy, particularly if they also have to figure out how to communicate with the humans first.I’m not sure what I’ll read next. I just bought Damia's Children by Anne McCaffrey because it was marked down to $2.99 and I liked rereading the first two of the series but I’m likely going to need to switch to fantasy for a while.
Finished Cronus an excellent short story by P. Djèlí Clark. Now back to the Asimov Universe with Foundation and Empire.
Betsy wrote: "I am reading a very engrossing nonfiction book right now."Betsy, if the book is Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It by Cory Doctorow, I'd love to hear what you thought of it. I bought it on its release, but its still in my TBR pile.
John wrote: "Betsy, the first NFL game I ever saw was the 1978 Super Bowl, and I watched it live on TV in Saudia Arabia with a group of American friends. Since that day I have supported the Pitsburgh Steelers -..."Seattle Seahawks. Yes, I wached the Ravens/Steelers game. It was a close one.
John wrote: "Betsy wrote: "I am reading a very engrossing nonfiction book right now."Betsy, if the book is Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It by [auth..."
Yes, that's it. I haven't finished it yet, but it is very very good. He explains things very clearly. I would recommend it to anyone who uses big tech, i.e. everyone.
I've just started another of the short stories in the time travelers passport series - A Visit to the Husband Archive by Kaliane Bradley.
I’ve started reading Damia's Children by Anne McCaffrey, but the first chapter is about half info dump, mentioning key info from the first two books of the series, so it’s a slog. While I read the full series decades ago, I’m not counting this as a reread because I don’t remember any details of it. I did remember some details of the first two books before I first read them as ebooks, but nothing of the other three. I’m assuming the action will pick up soon.
In the midst of watching the NFL payoffs, I just had to search AI for Space Opera/American Football combinations. The response was -Yes, there is a prominent space opera series that heavily references American football: the Galactic Football League (GFL) series by Scott Sigler. The GFL is described as a "space opera/sci-fi/crime/sports mashup".
The Galactic Football League Series
The series is set 700 years in the future and centers around a professional American football league spanning the galaxy.
Key aspects of the series include:
Futuristic Football: The core of the story is lethal, full-contact American football played by a mix of humans and aliens, whose different physiologies (e.g., receivers who can jump 25 feet, linemen who bench-press 1,200 pounds, linebackers who "literally want to eat you") influence their positions and the game itself.
Space Opera & Crime: The series combines intense sports action with elements of space opera storytelling and a criminal underworld. Organized crime runs many of the franchises, games are often fixed, and rival players may be assassinated.
Main Character Arc: The story primarily follows Quentin Barnes, a 19-year-old quarterback prodigy who must confront his own prejudices against aliens while trying to lead his team in a violent and corrupt league.
Has anyone read any of these and are they worth reading, or are they the SO equivalent of the Patriots?????
I put Damia's Children aside at least for now, and switched to War To The Knife by Peter Grant which has a lot of action. It seems to be in the same universe as his Maxwell series which starts with Take the Star Road but I don’t recall whether any of the characters overlap. Since the author is South African it gets me another continent for the continent challenge.
John wrote: "In the midst of watching the NFL payoffs, I just had to search AI for Space Opera/American Football combinations. The response was -Yes, there is a prominent space opera series that heavily refer..."
Haha. I'd forgotten about that. I haven't read any of the books. Partly because my passion for football is pretty recent, but also because it sounds more than just violent. It sounds gory and I avoid gratuitous gore. But maybe I should give it a try.
I’m almost finished with War To The Knife. Lots of action, mostly on Laredo, but some in space and on a second planet. Early in the book I noticed the use of “Niven” to name something, and just now a minor character’s last name is Bujold. So now I’m wondering how many other homages I’ve missed.The sequel to this book involves Steve Maxwell, who is the main character of the Maxwell Saga series, and it takes place after the last Maxwell Saga book. No need to have read those other books first though.
I remember quite a few details of the sequel to War to the Knife, so I’m not going to reread it, especially since the third book of the trilogy isn’t available yet.So right now I’m rereading Lethal Seasons by Alice Sabo in an ebook boxset. It’s not space opera but it is SF.
I’ve heard of the Galactic Football League but never read them (my interest in sports is fairly recent as well). A podcast called Let’s Stop There actually sampled it a while back I believe; that’s where I heard of it.
Thanks Betsy and Caitlin for your responses. To help me stop crying into my beer now that the Steelers are out, I've decided to try the first book in the Galactic Football Series - The Rookie. Its FOC on Amazon UK and US at the moment if anyone else is interested.
I've just finished reading A Visit to the Husband Archive, a short story by Kaliane Bradley. Very enjoyable - and an author worth watching out for.
Working through the box set. Finished Lethal Seasons and Scattered Seeds. Next is Gleanings. The entire series is set on Earth after a series of pandemics has drastically reduced the population.
Finished the box set, which is five books.Next I’m rereading Willow's Run by Alice Sabo, which is first of a related series, set 20 years after the end of the box set. Depending on how well it holds my attention, I may binge that series too.
Teresa wrote: "Finished the box set, which is five books.Next I’m rereading Willow's Run by Alice Sabo, which is first of a related series, set 20 years after the end of the box..."
Teresa, how many books have you read in the first couple of weeks of this year? (I'm guessing that you read at least one per day).
14. Short books I can finish in one day, some books need two or three. That’s when I’m mostly rereading trusted books. When I’m trying free previews and books I got for free I end up DNFing a lot of them so I might go several days without finishing anything. It helps that I’m not currently doing any beta reads or ARCs for review. Beta reads go slowly because I’m taking notes as I go.
Currently reading Foundation and Empire, the second book in the Foundation omnibus by Isaac Asimov. It’s not engaging me as much as Foundation did; Asimov’s approach to narrative is starting to wear thin for me, though I’ll save discussion for the Asimov thread.
Going by my vague memory of reading the series decades ago, I didn’t like the part about Mule. Don’t know if that was the second book or the third.
The Mule appears in both Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation, but primarily the former. I enjoyed the "Mule" sections I have to say.
John wrote: "In the midst of watching the NFL payoffs, I just had to search AI for Space Opera/American Football combinations. The response was -Yes, there is a prominent space opera series that heavily refer..."
This sounds oddly up my alley
Finished rereading the four books of Children of the Changed World Series by Alice Sabo. Not sure what I’m in the mood for next. I have a fantasy preordered but that will show up Jan 30th and since it’s not part of a series there’s nothing to prep for that.
While I'm waiting to hear if The Eleventh Gate by Nancy Kress is selected as our READER choice for February, I'm going to try one of her other books - An Alien Light.
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Please post below just as you would in that other thread to let us know what space opera book(s) you are currently reading, or just finished. And what did you think of it.