Same! I wish I could keep up with the growth rate of my TBR pile.

Started City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. It’s pretty good so far, although I’m not sure if the world building is quite my taste.

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Finished There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm. I started it with only a very cursory knowledge of SCP, and I think you could absolutely read this with none at all, as a standalone.

Bingo squares: Independent Author; Easy, Breazy, Read-zie; Now a Major Motion Picture (youtube miniseries); It’s About Time; Mashup; Institutional; (alt) Pseudonymous Work (hard); (alt) A Change in Perspective

It’s still very bare bones alpha, so if you’re looking for something to play regularly, then maybe hold off until there’s more content. That said, you could definitely get a few hours out of it (or more, if you really want to grind) just seeing what is there. I’m personally not sold on the combat as it currently stands, but that’s probably a mix of it needing tweaking and me being bad at it. It is very pretty, though!

Still reading There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm. It’s taken quite the cosmic/eldritch horror turn in the second half, which is great.

One question: For 1E: It takes two, can other author be illustrator? Or they have to be the “author”?

Good question! I don’t think we were looking at the square from that perspective. Probably something for @JaymesRS@literature.cafe to weigh in on, honestly. Personally, I don’t think stretching the square to include illustrators is a problem, especially if the illustrations add to the experience significantly and/or in collaboration with the text. Graphic novels and picture books would be the obvious yeses from that perspective, but whatever you think qualifies would also be good with me.

I’m currently at 20/25 squares (16/20 hard mode, 8/20 from pre-existing TBR pile). I’ve been enjoying bingo, but since I’ve focused on it pretty much exclusively, I’m also looking forward to reading other things.

In a couple of cases, I’ve had trouble finding something I want to read (particularly hard modes), so I already have a few notes about improving that for next year.

It looks like Antimemetics was originally posted online as a series of entries and short stories, as part of the SCP universe, which is an online collaborative fiction project (wikipedia for more info ). From a quick search, it seems some (all of?) it is still available if you look up ‘qntm’ on the SCP wiki, but I’m not sure if the self-published release included rewrites or additional material.

Currently reading There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm, which involves a department of the SCP Foundation dealing with entities that delete memories, communication, etc. I don’t intend to go down the SCP rabbit hole, but I’m finding the book inventive and enjoyable so far.

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Read Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge. Short, fun, mindless Halloween action horror.

Bingo squares: Family Drama; Eazy, Breazy, Read-zie; Now a Major Motion Picture; It’s About Time; Award Winner; It’s a Holiday (hard); (alt) A Change in Perspective

Obviously not meta, but I’ll point out that Furis also has the Wings of Purity augment, which adds lifesteal and some extra health.

Sounds like maybe The Viewing episode from Cabinet of Curiosities?

Just finished Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, and haven’t picked out what I’m reading next.

I think this is one of those I should have dropped rather than power through. I liked the story, but the writing style just wasn’t for me: poetic, but verbose verging on purple, imo. Is all his work like this? I vaguely remember reading “There Will Come Soft Rains” a long time ago, but I don’t remember how it was written. Also, I thought this was going to be Halloween-related, but it really isn’t.

Bingo squares: Older Than You Are (1962), Family Drama, (maybe) Plays With Words, Bookception (hard), Now a Major Motion Picture, It’s About Time, (alt) A Change in Perspective.

I had similar issues with The Hollow Places, and it put me off reading any more of her horror titles. I do like T. Kingfisher’s fairy tale-inspired stuff, however; that kind of voice meshes a lot better with that genre, imo.

I would add The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993) to your Funny and Spooky list. I’ll also second the The Fog (1981) suggestion.

Reading Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. I’m not really sold on it yet, but we’ll see.

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Finished Neuromancer by William Gibson. I’m glad to have read it to see what so much media took inspiration from, but overall, it wasn’t my favorite.

Bingo squares: Older Than You Are (1984), Award Winner (HM), Debut Work (HM), (alt) A Change in Perspective

I’m probably definitely going Sybaris, and then either Dera or Okina. I could never make the Dera work the way I wanted, so hopefully the incarnon boosts it up.

Absolutely agreed. The narrative makes choices in a few places, and some of the second half seems kind of muddled.

That’s about where I started to lose interest, too. So much of the interesting world-building is in that first part, before it decides to turn into a heist novel.

I’m desperately trying to finish Neuromancer by William Gibson so I can move on to spooky season books. It’s not bad at all, I’m just not really clicking with it, so it’s been slow going.

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Finished Death in the Spires by K.J. Charles, a two-timeline mystery focusing on the unsolved murder of a member of a group of friends at Oxford. The author normally writes steamy romances, but this tastefully cut to black before anything got explicit. Something about the writing or story made it a very enjoyable, fast read; I haven’t devoured anything so quickly in ages.

Bingo squares: New Release; Disability Representation (hard); LGBTQIA+ Lead (hard); It’s About Time (hard); Mashup; Institutional; (alt) A Change in Perspective

Only adult one I can think of is Tailchaser’s Song by Tad Williams (cats). There’s a ton of these for kids, though; here’s a few I’ve read:

• Redwall series by Brian Jacques (forest critters; I found it repetitive after the first few, but ymmv)
• Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien (rats)
• Stewart Little by E.B. White (mouse)
• Charlotte’s Web by by E.B. White (pig)

Edit: Sorry, I derped on the scifi/fantasy/action aspect of the request; the E.B. White books don’t fall into that category.

Yeah, it definitely looks a bit low budget, but I can forgive that if it gets everything else right enough.