Most of my reading is for Neon Hemlock or Baffling. But here I’ll share/update some of my favorite books and stories published in 2025 to help out future-dave with awards ballots.
Novels
Meet Me at the Crossroads by Megan Giddings (Amistad)
This devastated me. Wry, insightful, moving.
Spread Me by Sarah Gailey (Tor Nightfire)
Squirmy, fast-paced, remarkably thoughtful portrait of a community amidst moments of unhinged horror.
The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling (Harper Voyager)
Weird and meaty and good.
Son of the Morning by Akwaeke Emezi (Avon)
Brazen and fun and delightfully unhistrionic.
Novellas
The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar (Tordotcom)
Lyrical, lovely, warm.
Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame by Neon Yang (Tordotcom)
Gay knights stuff, messy identity stuff, messier empire stuff.
The Extra by Annie Neugebauer (Shortwave)
Really well-drawn contemporary outdoor horror.
Vampires at Sea by Lindsay Merbaum (Creature Publishing)
Bitter and clever and sad.
Root Rot by Saskia Nislow (Creature Publishing)
Eerie, nostalgic, off-putting.
Short Stories
“Landline” by Kelly Robson (Reactor)*
“Tell Me I’m Wonderful” by Kelly Robson (Sunday Morning Transport)*
“Love Story in Colored Glass” by Phoenix Alexander (Uncharted)*
“Ichthyosis” by M. L. Krishnan (Fantasy)*
“Thirteen Swords That Made a Prince: Highlights from the Arms & Armory Collection” by Sharang Biswas (Strange Horizons)*
“Unfinished Architectures of the Human-Fae War” by Caroline M. Yoachim (Uncanny)
“Domestic Disputes” by Naomi Kanakia (Lightspeed)
*Technically I read these in January 2026 but I’m adding them here for awards-reviewing purposes.
And some stuff I read this year from pre-2025 that I enjoyed:
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Last Exit by Max Gladstone
House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson
The Siege of Burning Grass by Premee Mohamed
Knotty, nuanced, and very embeded in a stoic, moving voice.
An Academy for Liars by Alexis Henderson
This is my favorite read of 2025 so far. Devoured it in one night.
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
The Decoy Girlfriend by Lillie Vale
So Lucky by Nicola Griffith
American Scholar by Patrick E. Horrigan
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco
An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson
The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo by Zen Cho
The City in Glass by Nghi Vo
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
There were lines on practically every other that made me marvel
Rose/House by Arkady Martine
Both tight and expansive in some compelling ways.
Siren Queen by Nghi Vo
Transporting and melancholy and lovely
Metal From Heaven by August Clarke
Gnarly and fun and wonderfully gay
The Dove in the Belly by Jim Grimsley
Messy and raw and good
Assassin’s Apprentice and Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb
Nostalgic reread.
Spear by Nicola Griffith
Short and sweet and sharp
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue
Normal People by Sally Roony
The Feast Makers by H.A. Clarke
The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
Diavola by Jennifer Thorne
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Menewood by Nicola Griffith