Halfway through!
Hellooo!!
And we are halfway through 2026! It’s been a tricky year as you may gather from my weekly updates but overall quite good for me long-term but I am behind on blogging but I like bills being paid.
I’d love to be reading and reviewing a little more but it’s not going to happen just yet but I sense it may get more balanced soon.
I have had an unexpected mini project of clearing down some series I never plan to review but just to get them out of the TBR shelves some of which were over 10 years old and all quite quick reads plus I don’t need a lot of time aside to review. But that bit of me that likes to get my teeth into a book is growing a little restless so soooooooon…next week perhaps normal schedules resume
In the meantime you may be thinking ‘well it’s coming up to holiday season and I need a book’ well good news I have way more than six to suggest!
Horror
A trip to the 1980s not full of warm nostalgia awaits in The Night Ship by Alex Woodroe where Rumania in the Cold War is the setting for the potential end of the world and delivers a smart story about living under tyranny
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/2/2/the-night-ship-by-alex-woodroe
For something gothic and nasty how about a spooky house in the form of Matilda’s Retreat by Catherine Cavendish as various stories converge into one place
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/2/10/matildas-retreat-by-catherine-cavendish
Exploring the impact of parents is the disturbing Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward which has a dark riff on Peter Pan too
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/2/26/nowhere-burning-by-catriona-ward
I should have not read Crawl Space by Steve Toase until after going the dentist but it’s still a excellent weird trip into the imagination
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/3/11/crawl-space-by-steve-toase
It’s on the Clarke but I suspect deep down I feel this is more cosmic horror is There is No Antimemetics Division by qntm for some ingenious storytelling
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/6/19/there-is-no-antimemetics-division-by-qntm
Fantasy
For an interesting character focused bit of inventive fantasy let’s starts with Asunder by Kerstin Hall lots of ideas and situations thrown up into a book that needs its sequel soon!
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/1/14/asunder-by-kerstin-hall
I really enjoyed The Witch Roads by Kate Elliott for epic fantasy as as an episodic journey that each short stage expands the world, the history and the characters in surprising ways
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/1/20/the-witch-roads-by-kate-elliott
Lyndsay Croal in their novella In This City Where It Rains takes us to a fantastical Scottish city for a tale of secrets, strange houses and eternal rain that is captivating
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/2/3/in-this-city-where-it-rains-by-lyndsay-croal
One of my reads of the year is The Apple and The Pearl by Rym Kechacha a day in the life of a human(ish) ballet troupe who perform for the fae every night. It’s mysterious, weird and varied as we explore all aspects of this group and their dynamics. I strongly recommend this!
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/2/10/the-apple-and-the-pearl-by-rym-kechacha
Reading a new AG Slatter story is a regular delight for me and A Forest, Darkly has one of Slatter’s best characters to meet in all her complicated glory. A delight!
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/2/16/a-forest-darkly-by-a-g-slatter
I was very taken by this unusual dark take on myths with a feminist perspective Brides In The Dark by Jacob Steven Mohr reminds men to step up and challenge the oppressors too
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/2/23/brides-in-the-dark-by-jacob-steven-mohr
Taking no prisoners with one of its main chapters being quite unlikeable at first is The Gods Must Burn by T R Moore which I found intriguing
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/3/3/the-gods-must-burn-by-t-r-moore
For secret agents, demon hunters, ghosts and more then it’s time to go to the 1980s of London and the excellent Mystery of the Midnight Cartographers by Barry Nugent
Back in print is the gothic joy of The House of Shattered Wibgs by Aliette de Bodard where the Belle Epoque, fallen angels and dark magic all collide beautifully
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/3/10/the-house-of-shattered-wings-by-aliette-de-bodard
Pure fun was had in Entwined by H M Long we meet an excellent adventuress plunged into a story of magic versus non-magic and a lot more. I loved this stylish take
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/3/16/entwined-by-h-m-long
Another great tale mixing intrigue, gods and even time travel awaits you in Love Lethal, Death Divine by Jelena Dunato
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/4/6/love-lethal-death-divine-by-jelena-dunato
I very much enjoyed the new take on the Little Mermaid that is purely for adults in the form of Year of The Met by L D Lewis which delivers a very smart and complicated set of characters in a very imaginative world
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/4/7/year-of-the-mer-by-l-d-lewis
Another story that impressed me this year is The Killing Spell by Shay Kauwe where a destroy west coast of the US is also now very magical and yet is also a story exploring the clashes of language and culture in our own world - a series to watch hopefully
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/5/5/they-killing-spell-by-shay-kauwe
I really was impressed that The Girl With A Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean does amazing things in story telling and looking back at families and their secrets - the first act change into a very different type of story is delicious to read and experience.
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/5/13/the-girl-with-a-thousand-faces-by-sunyi-dean
Stay for a gothic anti-hero, the humour, the setting and a good murder mystery but also admire in Mortdant’s peril by RJ Barker some well aimed satire that Pratchett would be proud of
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/5/25/mortedants-peril-by-r-j-barker
Anthologies and collections
Teenage Girls Can be Demons Too by Hailey Piper - fantastic themed short story collection very much to remind adults of growing up. Not YA at all but great intelligent horror as Piper always delivers
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/1/5/teenage-girls-can-be-demons-by-hailey-piper
Increasingly Indian SF&F is getting more known in the UK and US and I definitely recommend Between Worlds - The If Anthology of New Indian SFF edited by Gautam Bhatia for a dive into what is bubbling in the current scene
Back to horror and tocool you down is this inventive and powerful collection Acquired Taste by Clay McLeod Chapman
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/1/15/acquired-taste-by-clay-mcleod-chapman
Gareth L Powell has a long reputation for Science Fiction novels but the expansive collection Who Will You Save? Reminds us of Powell’s versatility and inventiveness as a short fiction author
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/1/16/who-will-you-save-by-gareth-l-powell
In horror first a dual anthology with two novellas exploring parenting in very different ways - Dark Duets by Penny Jones and Teika Marija Smits
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/4/19/dark-duets-by-penny-jones-and-teika-marija-smits
Weird fiction and folk horror combine very powerfully in the excellent Cone Sing for the Harrowing by Dan Coxon
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2024/10/8/come-sing-for-the-harrowing-stories-by-dan-coxon
Everyone is rightly praising Seasons of Glass and Iron by Amal El-Mohtar because it is an excellent read and you do need it in your life
Science Fiction
I think SF has been delivering what I need this year and I do feel there are signs it’s a genre that has something to say again about our world.
Let’s start with Allen Stroud returning to the Fractals series with a new sequence of novellas playing with a series of SF concepts starting with Insurgents
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/1/18/insurgents-by-allen-stroud-1
I’ll dive unusually into non fiction and also say fans of Octavia E Butler should get hold of Positive Obsession - The Alice and Times of Octavia E Butler by Susana M Morris
Andrew Knighton is an author I find very versatile and always worth reading and in the SF novella All That Is In The Earth we have a powerful story about learning to live life well even knowing it will eventually all end
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/2/3/all-that-is-in-the-earth-by-andrew-knighton
Genre crossing but set in the dystopia future is this excellent novella The Unworthy by Augustina Bazterrica with a very eerie convent to visit
Another read of the year so far for me is The Misheard World by Aliya Whiteley that explores a secondary world torn by civil war and then moves into the dark side of storytelling
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/3/9/the-misheard-world-by-aliya-whiteley
The way food and culture intertwine is again smartly and creatively explored in Intergalactic Feast by Lavanya Lakshminarayan which is such an impressive series
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/3/23/intergalactic
A long awaited ending to a great action packed space opera was worth waiting for with Wolfskin by Jeremy Szal in all its bloodied power-armoured glory
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/3/26/wolfskin-by-jeremy-szal
A smart near future dystopia exploring the links between social media influencers and corrupt money making schemes is used creatively in The People’s Republic of Love by Heather Child
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/3/30/the-peoples-republic-of-love-by-heather-child
Slow Gods by Claire North one of the best books I’ve read in a while and just a beautiful and powerful read. Why this is not on the Clarke list I do not know but you need this in your brain it will do amazing things to it!
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/5/6/slow-gods-by-claire-north
Another excellent read that changes our world to add what could be magic or science action but really is all about storytelling is the excellent Moon Over Brendle by Jeff Noon another reading highlight
https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2026/5/19/moon-over-brendle-by-jeff-noon
That should keep you busy!
