Well, this has certainly been quite a month. I’m not even going to touch real-world events with a bargepole right now, but I have been burying myself in fictional worlds I think I’ve set a personal record for number of books read this month in both print and listened to on audio as well. Of course, I’ve been helped by a lot of very short books, but as you can tell from my recent reviews, brevity is not always a good thing. I end the month having given my print reading a painfully average rating of three out of five, with audio faring little better.

The good, or rather the satisfying, news is that I’ve filled in a lot of gaps in my History of SF project. I’m quickly making a name for myself in the online community as the weird spreadsheet guy, and I am more than happy with that. rereading a bunch of Asimov in the middle of the month allowed me to finally get a proper evaluation of 1950s’ science fiction, and I have to say it’s a pretty rosy picture. The same goes for the 60s, and I’m closing in on a better view of the 70s and 80s too. I don’t expect any of that to interest you, but if you were a fan of my two Before Sci-Fi Was Cool articles this month, you’ll be happy to know I’ve got some more ideas along those lines coming up in the months ahead. If the world wants to be on fire, I’ll need something to stick my head into, after all, and the history of science fiction is as good a place as any.

Looking back at my month’s reading, it’s clear to see a potted relationship with older SF. Older works tend to be cheaper than newer ones (especially thanks to local used bookshops and the Audible Plus catalogue), which means I can afford to take more risks with my reading. This doesn’t always pay off. I tried a whopping sixteen new authors this month, but there’s only a handful I’m interested in reading more from. Jack Williamson showed a lot of potential in a pretty rough first book, while George Zebrowski set out some impressive Hard SF credentials, and Alan E. Nourse told a great story, albeit one aimed at a slightly younger audience than myself.

On the negative side, James Tiptree Jr and M. P. Shiel both landed in that rare one star category. In about eight hundred SF novels I’ve read, only twenty-one have a rating that low, so to come across two in a single month is phenomenally bad timing. I don’t like to dwell on the bad books of the world, but it’s worth making a note of them all the same.

At the start of the month I also set up my own reading challenge, relating to the contents of my pocket on that day. I’m assigning Isaac Asimov’s Pirates of the Asteroids as my Stone book for that one, having decided to limit myself to one challenge book per month.

Having received a great many books for Christmas, I’ve been very restrained in my purchasing this month. A mere five books have entered my treasury. Three via Waterstones vouchers, and two from Oxfam. I intend to further limit the growth rate of my TBR by rereading books that I haven’t given a full rating to before. This may be OCD, or it might be a fun, financially-viable reading challenge. You decide for yourselves.

Whatever I’ve thought of these books, I have drastically reduced the scale of my TBR this month. I’ll probably be picking up some new Black Library releases next month (fingers crossed for my Minka Lesk collection), but seeing my TBR actually fit into its allotted space is a wonderful feeling. Even if Vintage SF Month has been a bit of a wash when it comes to enjoyment, having a theme to build a month’s reading around has absolutely helped place these books into a broader context. I think I’ve got some solid plans for the next three months, but if you can think of some theme I should explore, I’d love to hear from you.

Until next time, keep on reading. I know I will.