Books

I read…a lot. Here’s where I ramble about books and printed media.

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

by

Book 52 of 2025: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was fun, and I can totally see it as a mid-pandemic “just need to have fun writing something” lark of a book. Having recently watched the first season of the Monarch: Legacy of Monsters series (set in one of the recent Godzilla timelines), it was amusingly easy to see this as an extension of that…or vice versa, for that matter. It did skimp a bit on actually describing any of the creatures (the kaiju are big, some have wings, claws, and/or teeth, they have parasites that are also dangerous, use your imagination for anything else), but while a little odd, I can cope.

Me holding The Kaiju Preservation Society

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock The Making of the Classic Film by John and Maria Jose Tenuto

by

Book 51 of 2025: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The third in Titan Books’s series of Star Trek films “behind the scenes” coffee-table art books, and the second from the team of John and Maria Jose Tenuto. It’s always fun to see all the production art, photos of models and setups, and all the skill that goes into the films. As with the prior books, much of the information I knew, but there are always some gems and stories that I hadn’t come across yet.

Me holding Star Trek III: The Search for Spock: The Making of the Classic Film.

120 Murders edited by Nick Mamatas

by

Book 49 of 2025: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Anthology of dark, noir-ish fiction inspired by the music (and memories) of the ’90s alternative scene. My favorites were Veronica Schanoes’s “Wendy, Growing Up”, Alex Jennings’s “We’ve Been Had”, Brian Francis Slattery’s “Never Let Me Down”, Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s “Superstition”, and Cyan Katz’s “The Show Must Go On”.

Two additional notes: This is the debut publication for Cyan, whom I’ve known since we were both running around in the 90’s alternative scene in Anchorage, Alaska, and I’m thrilled for them; and I’m sorely tempted to make a playlist/”mixtape” of the inspirational tracks for all the stories in this anthology.

Me holding 120 Murders.

Star Trek: Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way by Ryan North and Chris Fenoglio

by

Book 47 of 2025: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ordered this just after it won the Best Graphic Novel Hugo award this year. The combination of choose-your-own-adventure plotting and Lower Decks humor works really well. Lots of humor and various Trek callbacks, but with some surprisingly dark moments as well, all leading to a fittingly Trek-ish end. Much fun!

Me holding Warp Your Own Way.

Blaze of Glory by Simon Hawke

by

Book 44 of 2025: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Rather amusingly, this is the second of two consecutive TNG novels with a piracy theme. This one is much better, because it doesn’t have a Ferengi speaking like they learned English from Disney’s Long John Silver. Otherwise, a perfectly serviceable TNG adventure; nothing really stands out for good or ill.

Me holding Blaze of Glory

The Unsinkable Ship of Fools by Jonas Goonface

by

Book 43 of 2025: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fun story with a definite anarchistic political sensibility about a group of people (some human, some…less so), trapped on a cursed train…oh, and it’s smut, so there’s lots of explicit sex. One of Iron Circus’s standalone erotic graphic novels, outside of their Smut Peddler line, but with the same gender/sexuality/ability/body type inclusivity that they focus on.

Me holding The Unsinkable Ship of Fools