Summer is in full swing, and that means it is far too hot to be out and about. Granted, the first severe heatwave in this part of the world is in the rear view mirror, but the upcoming weeks are looking rather dry and barren. So while I’m sheltering indoors, there’s never a better time to start picking over my TBR. There’s a neat and tidy fifty books left there, which should be sufficient to see me through the second half of the year.

One of the quirks of being someone who reads a lot of books is that I end up reading a lot of series at the same time. Some of them I’m up to date on and am waiting for the next release, others I’ve fallen behind on. And there are many that I only learned about years after they were published. Some of you might remember that I spent April trying to catch up with various series I was in the middle of. The situation is so dire that I am going to spend July doing the exact same thing.

I’m starting the month off with some Jack McDevitt. His Academy novels aren’t as good as the Alex Benedict series, but I’m looking forward to reading them nonetheless. Another favourite author I’m reading a slightly lesser series from is Stephen Baxter. Ark looks to be more my speed than Flood, so I have my hopes high.

Baxter is also the co-author (with the late, legendary Terry Pratchett) of The Long Earth. I managed to squeeze the first book in that series into June, which now puts the remaining four in my scopes for July. The science parts are fun, and the idea is suitably mindboggling, but so far I have found the whole endeavour somewhat dragged down by Pratchett’s whimsical sense of humour, which I am very much not a fan of.

Then we come to some newer releases. The latest James S. A. Corey and Chris Hadfield books will bring me up to speed with their respective series, both of which are ongoing. I also have Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Strife, which may or may not be the end of its series (one can never tell with Tchaikovsky and his sequels). That will be the first of my buddy reads for the month. Finally, I have the absolutely mammoth Shadows Upon Time by Christopher Ruocchio. I love the Sun Eater series (it was one of the two books that made me start this blog) but I’ve been putting off this finale on account of the religious bent the last books in the series have taken. Time for me to finally bite the bullet and see how it all ends.

Finishing up my TBR are two mandatory reads. Robert Reed’s Marrow is the Boundary’s Edge Book Club pick of the month. It’s been on my TBR for a year now, so will be nice to finally get to reading it. I also have an ARC of Calvin James’ debut Affairs of State from Titan Books that I need to read and review before it gets published at the end of the month. Depending on some hectic scheduling, I might also be finally continuing Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos after seven years, courtesy of my gently insistent buddy reader.

I don’t expect to have time for all these books, especially given how large some of them are, but it’s always good to have a plan, even if you don’t stick to it. Alongside the usual reviews, I have my Best of British roundup, which will probably wait until I’ve included my thoughts on more Baxter and Tchaikovsky into the mix. I’ve also noticed that I am once again running perilously low on shelf space, so there might be some written thoughts regarding that danger of book collecting too.

Dates for your Diary

July is looking a little heavy on the book release front, which means I may never catch up with my TBR. Happily, there’s also plenty of good TV to watch throughout the month.

3/7- Silo, Season 3 (AppleTV) – If you like depressing, grimy bunkers and stories that might eventually go somewhere, this is the show for you. Thankfully it has some great set design and phenomenal acting to keep the rest of us engaged.

7/7-Killswitch Protocol, by M. J. Kuhn – I know very little about this book, but Kuhn’s fantasy offerings were fun adventures and I expect the same will be true of her foray into science fiction.

23/7-Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Season 4 (Paramount+) – It’s some of the best Star Trek released this side of the millennium. Enjoy it while you can.

23/7-Stuart Fails To Save The Universe: Season 1 (HBO) – Yes, the Big Bang Theory franchise is well and truly milked at this point, but I have to admit, each new spin-off has done something different. This time, it’s a big-budget, timeline-hopping adventure. Surely it’s worth giving a look.

26/7-The Walking Dead: Dead City: Season 3 (AMC) – I didn’t realise this was still going, and largely serves as a reminder that I now have six whole seasons of Dead City and Daryl Dixon to catch up on when I get the itch for more zombie-chopping.

28/7-Demon Star, by Jesse Aragon – I’m in two mind about this. On the one hand, a new space opera is always something to be celebrated. On the other hand, it sounds like this might veer too heavily into science fantasy for my tastes. I’ll see what people I trust have to say before committing to it myself.

Somewhen around the middle of the month I’m also expecting to see the winners of the 2026 Prometheus Awards, but there’s still no set date for that so far as I can find.

Well, I think that’s everything from me. As always, if there’s something I’ve overlooked or forgotten, or that you think should be on my radar, let me know about it in the comments.