635: Throw a Rock at a Reader

It’s time to reconvene our Book Club, not to talk about an awards shortlist but to recommend books from arbitrarily selected categories. So many books! And not many rocks, we promise.

Antony's book list

Antony Johnston with Erika Ensign, James Thomson and Jason Snell

Our picks for each category:

An SFF book you’d recommend to a non-SFF Fan:

• Erika: Lock In by John Scalzi
• James: Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree
• Jason: A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers, Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
• Antony: Among Others by Jo Walton, Borderline by Mishell Baker

A classic (pre-1990) that still holds up:

• James: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Omnibus by Douglas Adams, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone
• Jason: Marooned in Realtime by Vernor Vinge, Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
• Erika: Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. LeGuin
• Antony: The Spy Who Came In From the Cold by John Le Carre, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

A book you didn’t expect to like, but really enjoyed:

• Jason: Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan Maguire, The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik
• Erika: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
• James: The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
• Antony: Country by Michael Hughes

The best book you read in the past year:

• Erika: The Nova Incident by Dan Moren (Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers, A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine)
• James: The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers (A Memory Called Empire and A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine)
• Jason: Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky, City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett, The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik
• Antony: Paint My Name In Black and Gold: The Rise of the Sisters of Mercy by Mark Andrews (The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers)

What are you reading?

• James: Gideon the Ninth & Harrow the Ninth by Tasmin Muir, A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White
• Erika: Terminal Peace by Jim C. Hines, Three Little Wishes by Paul Cornell, Steve Yeowell, Pippa Bowland & Simon Bowland, “Bramblewilde” by Jordan Taylor, “The Night Dance” by Leah Cypess, “The Path of Water” by Emma Törzs, “Two Hands, Wrapped in Gold” by S.B. Divya, “The Portal Keeper” by Lavie Tidhar
• Jason: The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik, Mickey7 by Edward Ashton, Shards of Earth & Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Antony: The Cruel Stars by John Birmingham, Moonraker by Ian Fleming, The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

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