The Book Count 2026

[Greg]

January

Walking with Ghosts by Gabriel Byrne Jan 2, 2026 Rating B
Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite Jan 3, 2026 (Book 1 of a series) Rating B
Spying on the South by Peter Horwitz Jan 4 , 2026 Rating B
King Sorrow by Joe Hill Jan 10, 2026 Rating A
The Shattering Peace by Joe Scalzi Jan 14, 2026 (Book 7 in a series) Rating B
Saltcrop by Yumi Kitasei Rating B
Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman (Book 1 of a series) Rating A

February
Wicked Problems by Max Gladstone Feb 1, 2026 (Book 2 in a series) Rating A
Dead Hand Rule by Max Gladsone Feb 5, 2026 (Book 3 of a series) Rating B+
Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman Feb 7, 2026 (Book 2 of a series) Rating B+
Black Tide by Peter Temple Feb 13, 2026 (Book 2 of a series) Rating B
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow Feb 15, 2026 Rating A
Future Boy by Michael J. Fox Feb 16, 2026 Rating B
The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook by Matt Dinniman (Book 3 of a series) Rating B
The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman (Book 4 of a series) Rating B

[Greg]

Walking with Ghosts by Gabriel Byrne

Actor Gabriel Byrne writes this atmospheric and sort of surreal memoir about his early life growing up in Ireland. If you are looking for great snippets about his work in film, keep looking. Although there are a few good snippets about his interactions with other actors, notably Laurence Olivier. He also cops to being confused about he was able to make love while still in a full suit of armor in Excalibur. Mostly the book is a stream of consciousness look at growing up. It is left up to the reader to piece the story together into a complete whole. There are some horrifying bits especially his time as an altar boy. But there aren't a lot of facts about what where and when.

It's an interesting read but I don't it really pierces the veil of Byrne's life.

[Greg]

Murder by Memory by Olivia Waite

I don't know that this book stretches to Novella length. I read it in a sitting. It's a weird Victorian Space Opera. The sensibility of Austin with a bunch of high tech. Something maybe Carriger would write. It's a sapphic mystery about the spaceship's detective, on a centuries long trip,  suddenly being roused from storage into a body not her own. She must figure out what has happened and why. But the trip to the solution happens very quickly. We are just settling into the world and the environment when the mystery is solved. There is another book in this series but I think it is equally as short.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Dungeon Crawler Carl, by Matt Dinniman

Stupid title, HUGE FUN. G-Man, who hates all things fun, should probably pass on this series.

---

There Is No Anti-Memetics Division, by Qntm

Hard to fight brain-plagues, etc, when your existence is constantly being edited.

Very enjoyable, tightly written, tense with some humor. Recommended.

[Greg]

Spying on the South by Peter Horwitz

The clickbait title suckered me in. In the precis for the book, ostensibly it was supposed to be about Frederick Law Olmsted's journey through the South to report on conditions there in the lead up to the Civil War. Granted, FLO, didn't know there was to be a Civil War but he wanted to find ways to bridge the divide between the Slave states and the Non-Slave states. So, he journey south all the way to Texas to get a better understanding of what people felt down there. If you don't recognize the name Frederick Law Olmsted, he was part of the team that designed Central Park. Closer to home, he was one of the original commissioners that ran the Yosemite Grant. He was instrumental in writing a report on how the park should be run. Side note, part of the report was suppressed or mislaid because moneyed interests didn't like some of his plans. On the negative, he also made sure there would be no forest fires in the valley, an idea which ruined the ecology of the park for many years. But I digress.

This was the guy who was going to write about the South. And part of that journey would later influence his feelings about the need for egalitarian public spaces. That's not quite what we got. Instead, it was a travelogue by Horwitz who used Olmsted's route as kind of a template for his own journey. He visited the places Olmsted visited and talk to the current residents in those places about their modern experience. Now, Horwitz took his trip in 2016 in the run up to the eventual election of Tr***. There were parallels to Olmsted's fractured country and our own current fractured country. But most of the book was Horwitz's experiences and that's not really what I wanted. I was curious about Olmsted for his ties to Yosemite. I got Horwitz.

It took me a long time to get through this book. I kept putting it down in favor of lighter fare. Every time i went back to it, I was just mad that I was reading about Horwitz and his journey rather than Olmsted.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

Dungeon Crawler Carl series, by Matt Dinniman

Almost through book 2 and I can see why this is a monster hit.

Characters are slowly deepening, action is unabated. All good fun, no G-Man allowed!

[Greg]

Eff you! I'm 36th in line for the one copy of Dungeon Crawler Carl they have in the San Joaquin library system.

[Greg]

The most magical time of the year has arrived: Zip Book Requests, where the library buys books you request and ships them to your house. I just ordered the latest Max Gladstone since it wasn't in their system.

[Greg]

King Sorrow by Joe Hill

A big old door stopper of a book. It took me awhile to start because I was afraid if it was bad, I would be stuck finishing this 900 page book. But it turned out to be good. I felt like Hill was channeling his father for this one right down to the oblique reference to the Dead Zone early on.

Six friends summon a dragon to help them solve their problems, only to find out the dragon will return every year to solve their problems or kill one of them. The book charts the 40 years or so of Dragon problem solving. The book goes to a lot of places. There is romance. There is adventure. Lots of small town King situations. A lot of the book can be seen as the rise of the cell phone and social media.

It was a good read that was involving with some good twists along the way.

[Greg]

The Shattering Peace by Joe Scalzi

Scalzi returns to the "Old Man's War" universe with the latest book. A decade since the last book, a tenuous peace holds between the three rival factions until a joint project colony abruptly vanishes. It's up to Gretchen Trujillo to go to the spot where the colony on an asteroid disappeared and find out what happened.

It's usual fare of Heinlein light from Scalzi. All the characters speak in the Scalzi snarky way. The book did start off fine and I was enjoying back in this universe but there was nothing really new here. The characters stumble along and then with a little Deus ex Machina the problems are resolved, sort of. Still threads dangling if Scalzi wants to continue.

[Greg]

Saltcrop by Yumi Kitasei

On, Dystopia, I am tired of reading about you while I am currently living in one. It's the future. Oceans levels have risen flooding cities. A blight has destroyed most of the food supply and the only solution is a pesticide called Amaranthine which is pretty toxic. The story is broken into three parts each with a different narrator. All the narrators are sisters: Skipper, Carmen and Nora. The book starts with the youngest, Skipper and how she struggles to survive the broken world of not enough food and dealing with her grandmother sinking into dementia. News comes that the oldest sister, Nora, has vanished, so Skipper sets off in her boat to find her. Carmen the middle sister comes along because she doesn't trust Skipper to do it right. Carmen is also infected by a fungus caused probably by exposure to Amaranthine.

They have sad adventures with cannibal pirates and an overbearing man who wants to help but just uses them. They find clues of Nora along the way. It leads a less than merry chase. Carmen narrates the middle portion of the book. Nora does the final bit.

It's all very sad. The big thrust of the book details how the different sisters see each other and how wrong they are. It ends kind of on a hopeful note but only by the smallest of margins.

[Greg]

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

I was warned in no uncertain terms not to read this book because it contained something called "Fun" I should have listened. There was way too much fun which as we all know I am against. This book had it in spades. But I struggled through just so I could get beyond the fun, but it was always there. Goddamit, Donut, indeed!

I enjoyed this book about an earthling trapped in Alien controlled dungeon and dragons campaign underneath our own denuded earth. The D&D stuff was a bit tedious at times all the boxes and points and weapons and healing and gameplay. But I get it. You have to make the rules for the world and these were pretty good. I think if it was just Carl going through the dungeon, the story wouldn't have been as good. But the backstory about why Dungeon is the way it is and the competing races running the competition all made the story much denser.

I guess I have to see where this goes and whether Mr. Dinniman can keep up the inventiveness. I have the next two books on order at the library.

[thatguy]

What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry - John Markoff

This was first published in 2005, so, it’s pre-iPhone and already 20 years old. It tries to trace the history of the personal computer and the silicon valley and the counter-culture from the late 50’s up to about 1977. It follows particularly important individuals in all 3 areas, as well as key initiative and milestones, which are not the same thing, so the narrative bounces around a bit. He recounts the lore of Woz & Jobs seeing the Alto demonstrated at Xerox Parc, before he gets to the part where both Apple and IBM have brought personal computer to market. Often, the author repeats himself, sometimes even later on in the same chapter. I feel I was able to track, being an Apple-nerd, growing up in the area in the period that is touched on in the later half of the book, but for some, I think it might be a confusing read…a few mentions of The  Dead, Ken Kesey, Stuart Brand.

The company my dad worked at on Bubb, Tymshare, was mentioned more than a few times. 

Probably interesting to a very small cross-section of people, and in need of an update.


—tg

[Greg]

Wicked Problems by Max Gladstone

Gladstone brought every character back he has ever written about for an Avengers like super book. I spent a lot of the book vaguely remembering some of the characters and their motivations. Fortunately, Tara Abernathy stood strong in the center along with Saint Abelard. It's a chase book as the group tries to stop Dawn, who is trying to save the world from outer space spiders. But what Dawn is doing might be playing into the hands of the invaders.

There is so much going on and the story has tons of layers of texture. I felt like I should go back and read the Craft sequence again just to keep up. If you haven't read any previous Gladstone books, you will need to do this. Fortunately, I have book 3 waiting on the shelf.

[Greg]

Dead Hand Rule by Max Gladsone

I hope this book would finish the trilogy. I hoped in vain. But it was still a good read. This book mostly focused on Tana Abernathy and her attempts to find and stop Dawn before Dawn brings about the end of the world. I liked the introduction of the Knight and his infatuation with Debbie. I still think I might have to start over and read all the Craft books from the beginning because I'm lost a lot with who is who. I need Jax's backstory especially.

That being said, this another really good book in the series especially for the last half of the book when it is all mayhem. Everybody double deals. No one can be trusted. Some of the descriptions and depictions are very baroque.

And now I'm waiting for book 4.