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While I've read some romance-neighboring genres recently (mostly involving dragons), I don't usually knowingly pick up a romance book. Philippa's story is written well enough, and while the plot is quite predictable, the family dynamics are fun and the joking about the pirate cover model got an occasional chuckle out of me. If romance is your favorite genre, you will likely enjoy this one too. As for me, I'll stick to the annual holiday movie binge as the main source of these types of stories. See my full review on: https://puf.io/books/philippa-flynn's-year-of-panic-and-piracy---jacqueline-firkins/

In general, I’ve been lucky with books that I pretty absent-mindedly added to my reading list. After I really enjoyed watching the Veronica Mars TV show and movie, and listening to the Veronica Mars audiobooks earlier this year, *Neptune Noir* at a glance seemed like a no-brainer. What I missed, however, was right there at the start of the book description here on the site: “Neptune Noir is a collection of essays on the hit drama Veronica Mars”. The book came out after the first two seasons of the show had aired, and I assumed Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas had written the essays, since his name is on the cover. But Thomas only wrote an introduction to the book and to each essay. The eighteen essays themselves are from various other writers who give us their thoughts on the series, how it compares to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, about how Veronica and Logan are the perfect couple, how the show is akin to Buffy, how Logan is the unexpected love interest for Veronica, how Logan reminds them of Angel, etc. I have no doubt that the essay authors are all wonderful people and good writers; I just found their observations on Veronica, her family, and the rest of the cast really uninteresting. Luckily it’s a rather thin book. Now, Mr. Thomas, if you’d be so kind as to write another handful of Veronica Mars novels, that’d be wonderful. 🙏 See all my reviews: https://puf.io/books/

It seems *Dodger* came out of Pratchett wanting explore early Victorian era London and figures from (roughly) around that time period. While the protagonist is unusually capable (Pratchett's best-known characters are usually a bit more rounded) and the central plot is not very strong, the book shows off many of the best traits Pratchett's writing is known for: lots of social critique while still finding good people in all places. Stephen Briggs' narration was great as ever, although some of the London police force sergeants sounded suspiciously like Nobby Nobbs 😊. Full review: https://puf.io/books/dodger---terry-p...

I picked this up as part of my quest to listen to all Discworld audiobooks narrated by Stephen Briggs. It’s far from my favorite Pratchett, but it wasn’t bad either. The science parts were mostly readable, though some were a bit denser than I prefer. The fictional sections, on the other hand, were great - treating serious topics with the irreverence they deserve in a world powered by narrativium. Full review: https://puf.io/books/the-science-of-d...

Compared to most Discworld novels, the plot here is more straightforward and the humor more direct - it's YA, after all. I read preferred the Tiffany Aching YA series too, but they also skew older and came later. Maybe Pratchett was finding his stride. Either way, I found this book a fun read and Briggs' narration was great - as always.

At 150 or so pages, Derek’s story is a bit shorter than it deserves (in my opinion). The story is interesting though, and the diverse cast of (mostly new) characters is fun. I’d already read the two included short stories. The Satanic Panic background was interesting, but overall, the book felt padded. A fun but skippable entry—I’m more excited for The Regicide Report. Full review: puf.io/books/a-conventional-boy---cha...

I knowingly read this children's book, because it caught my eye at a local book store with its focus on San Francisco. It was as quick a read as expected, but the focus on San Francisco (in the second half of the story) made it fun and worthwhile.

Despite having lived through much of this history, it was fascinating to read the personal takes from so many insiders. I also learned plenty of new things - like how influential Alan Kay was on Apple, and how much early startup history happened around South Park in San Francisco. The interview style wasn't my favorite, but it’s still a fascinating collection of perspectives. Full review: https://puf.io/books/valley-of-genius...

The usual plot twists, jokes, and mockery of established practices and tropes are all here. But I found the plot of this book a bit less interesting than the standard set by Pratchett’s later books. I listened to Indira Varma’s narration, and by now I’ve stopped missing Stephen Briggs’ voice. There isn’t a bad Discworld novel out there, but this wasn’t my favorite. Full review: https://puf.io/books/wyrd-sisters---t...

showed up on a “best detective stories of all time” list, so I decided to read it. I must admit that this was not my personal favorite detective story of all time. The story is not bad, but its age shows, and the writing style came across as rather snobbish to me. It makes me wonder how this mystery would read if it was rewritten by a modern writer.

I love how the series continues to evolve, with the Bobs now at the center of a complex, post-human ecosystem of (often competing) intelligences. The shift toward fewer arcs with more progress on each works well for me, and the mix of exploration, new technologies, and emerging threats keeps things moving. The Skippies thread also adds an interesting angle for future books in the series. Meanwhile, the relationships with the humans and other societies keep everything more tangible than a pure "we're all computers" type of story. A good page-turner, and I look forward to seeing what happens with the Skippy-AI, the species that ascended, and the danger they fled from in future books. Full review: https://puf.io/books/not-till-we-are-...

I read this book after some folks said that his second memoir was better. I liked this book better than his first memoir, largely because each part felt more like a single narrative. Three and a half stars, rounded up.

It is impressive how Stross pulled so many characters from the other books into this story. Each of them has fairly little to do, but it was still nice to have them back for the grand finale. Not a bad end to the series at all.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books, who provided an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.* This is the second epistolary novel I’ve read this year. Is there a 2026 trend that I don’t know about? 🤔 It’s interesting to read Imogene’s explanations of her behavior and choices, and her surprise at ordinary life outside the overbearing environment she grew up in. The deeply warped rules and expectations she has learned make for an unusual perspective. The prose is easy to read and the epistolary format works well. The plot was a bit too predictable for my taste, but it rolls along nicely, and the final letter was a nice touch to wrap the story up.

I enjoyed The Subtle Knife, but like The Golden Compass, it didn’t fully live up to my expectations. The world-building didn’t interest me as much this time, but the plot moves along nicely and has some unexpected twists. It also ends on another big, but darker, cliffhanger. I’m looking forward to seeing how the story wraps up in The Amber Spyglass. My full review: https://puf.io/books/the-subtle-knife...

I’m reading Discworld starting from the highest rated subseries and working backwards, and Witches Abroad was an interesting point in Pratchett’s evolution. The deeper moral ideas are very much there in this book, especially around good intentions, expected roles, free will, and self-restraint. His treatment of them still feels a bit more obvious and less nuanced than in many of the later Discworld books I’ve read, but it’s already a long way from the earliest works in the series. Pratchett wrote 41 Discworld novels in 32 years, and I find it fascinating, if not always satisfying, to backtrack through his evolving style and craftsmanship. Full review: https://puf.io/books/witches-abroad--...

An interesting concept, and in places the story is a real page-turner. But in other places I found the writing boring and repetitive. This could still have been a 3-star read for me, except for the last two pages, where the book suddenly takes a turn that left a bad taste in my mouth. Full review: https://puf.io/books/the-moustache---... All my reviews: https://puf.io/books/

A relatively easy read, especially given its potentially complex subject matter. The authors do a good job making crisis engineering practical and understandable, with a strong emphasis on sensemaking and getting everyone to see the same picture of what’s happening. I found the more theoretical middle part the driest, probably because I haven’t been dealing with any such crisis recently. It was also fun to recognize many of the practices from working with SREs and on difficult projects during my time at Google.