READING ROUND-UP: JULY AND AUGUST

The seventh monthly summary of what I’ve been reading, listening to, and watching in 2026, covering both July and August!

BOOKS

I read 6 books in July: 3 in print, 1 in e-book format, and 2 in audio format. They were:

1.       Heartstopper Volume 6 by Alice Oseman. (PRINT - SOFTCOVER) (Graphic Novel Challenge)

2.       This Much Is True by Miriam Margoyles (AUDIO)

3.       Long Bright River by Liz Moore (PRINT - SOFTCOVER) (Stanza Books Mystery Book Club July pick)

4.       Hammer Horror: The Complete History of Britain's Legendary House of Horror Films by “The Practical Atlas" (E-BOOK)

5.       A City Dreaming (Astra Black #3) by Maurice Broaddus. (PRINT - HARDCOVER)

6.       Carl's Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl #2) by Matt Dinniman (AUDIO)

I read 8 books in August: 5 in print, 2 in e-book format, and 0 in audio format. They were:

1.       After The Rain by John Bowen (PRINT – SOFTCOVER)

2.       The View From Lake Como by Adriana Trigliani (PRINT – SOFTCOVER) (Sparta Books Book Club August Pick)

3.       The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (PRINT – SOFTCOVER)

4.       Children Shouldn't Play With The Dead by Russell Dickson (E-BOOK)

5.       War of the Worlds: Thunder Child by Matthew Hardy, Rob Jones, and Kevin Castaniero (PRINT – HARDCOVER)

6.       Monsters Unborn: The Lost Universal Monster Remakes by Bruce Kilkowski Jr. (PRINT – SOFTCOVER)

7.       Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton (PRINT – SOFTCOVER)

8.       If I Had Two Wings: Stories by Randall Kenan (E-BOOK)

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 365 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) once again this year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

July:

1.       “You, Me, Us” by Oyedotun Damilola Muess, in Lightspeed Magazine #194, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “The Assumption of Maria” by Max Gladstone

3.       “Fetspace” by Rhiannon Rasmussen

4.       “If A Discarded God Can Change, So Can I” by V.M. Ayala

5.       “Waru Waru” by Ruth Joffre

6.       “Hungry Like The” by E. Catherine Tobler

7.       “The Punishing Animal” by B. Pladek

8.       “Concerto For Wartime” by Sean Williams

9.       “No More Amazement” by Seanan McGuire, from the Author’s Patreon

10.   “The Plague Comes from Chinatown” by Claire Jai-Wen, from Nightmare #166, edited by Wendy N. Wagner

11.   “A Nebraskan Choir” by Steve Toase

12.   “Annette Funicello Is My Dream Mouse” by S.L. Coney

13.   “Our Darkness To Take” by Hailey Piper, from Three-Lobed Burning Eye #47, edited by Andrew S. Fuller

14.   “Lady Night's Menagerie” by Rachael K. Jones, from Three-Lobed Burning Eye #48, edited by Andrew S. Fuller

15.   “Olden” by Nisi Shawl

16.   “The Bathhouse for Long Life” by Claire Jia-Wen, from Apex Magazine #153, edited by Lesley Conner

17.   “Glass” by Beth Dawkins

18.   “Immigrant Girl From the End of the World” by Hannah Yang, from Uncanny #70, edited by Michael Damian Thomas

19.   “A Song in Minor Scale” by Gunnar de Winter, From Kaleidotrope Summer 2026, edited by Fred Coppersmith

20.   “Before She Knew About Magic” by Joshua Geller Schwartz, from Otherside #2 edited by V.M. Ayala, M.R. Robinson, Ash Vale

21.   “Two People” by Ben Francisco

22.   “The Life and Times of the Extraterrestrial Potoo” by K.J. Khan, from Clarkesworld #238, edited by Neil Clarke

23.   “Moby Dick, Ecoterrorist” by James Morrow, from The Sunday Morning Transport July 2026, edited by Fran Wilde and Julian Yap

24.   “Dreams in Burnished Silver” by Christine Hanolsy, from Beneath Ceaseless Skies 462, edited by Scott H. Andrews

25.   “We Are All Strange Ones Here” by Sally Sultzman

26.   “Gas Leak at St. Gentian” by Sara Orner, from The Dark #134, edited by Sean Wallace

27.   “The House Mother” by Krisiti DeMeester

28.   “The Spider at the Heart of It” by Josh Pearce, from Interzone #305, edited by Gareth Jelley

August:

1.       “Legs” by A.M. Maris, in Lightspeed Magazine #195, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “The Age of Cancer” by Vajra Chandrasekera

3.       “What Do You Mean the Nanobots Formed a Union??” by Joel W.D. Buxton

4.       “Ladd's Robot Repair” by David Anaxagoras

5.       “Infinite Wishes” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

6.       “Fragments of the Whole” by Brooke Bolander

7.       “Of All Who Devour” by Adelehin Ijasin

8.       “The Goddess of Not Enough” by Susan Palwick

9.       “Your Piteous Heart” by Seanan McGuire, from the Author’s Patreon

10.   “Focus” by Carlos Hernandez, from Clarkesworld #238, edited by Neil Clarke

11.   “The Cinema of Babel” by Sam J. Miller, from Uncanny #71, edited by Michael Damian Thomas

12.   “When We All Get to Heaven” by Randall Kenan, from If I Had Two Wings: Stories (single author collection), editor: unknown

13.   “I Thought I Heard the Shuffle of Angels' Feet” by Randall Kenan

14.   “The Eternal Glory That Is Ham Hocks” by Randall Kenan

15.   “Ain't No Sunshine” by Randall Kenan

16.   “Ezekiel Saw the Wheel” by Randall Kenan

17.   “Mamiwata” by Randall Kenan

18.   “Resurrection Hardware or, Lard & Promises” by Randall Kenan

19.   “The Acts of Velmajean Swearington Hoyt and the New City of God” by Randall Kenan

20.   “Now Why Come That Is?” by Randall Kenan

21.   “God's Gonna Trouble the Water or, Where Is Marisol?” by Randall Kenan

So that’s 28 short stories in July and 21 in August. Way less than “1 per day” (August 31st was the 243rd day of 2026.)

COMIC BOOKS

I’ve begun tracking the individual monthly comic book issues I read and thought it would be fun to include that list in this monthly round-up as well. I’m striving for a comic book per day. I’ve also started doing a “Random Back Issue Comic Books Read/Reread” daily post on my Facebook and Instagram accounts. I’ve italicized those issues. Here’s the comics I read in July and August:

July:

1.       Dracula #6 (Dell)

2.       House of Mystery #170 (Eclipso and Prince Ra-Man) (DC)

3.       Superboy #203 (DC)

4.       Superboy #228 (DC)

5.       All-Star Squadron Annual #1 (DC)

6.       All-Star Squadron #16 (DC)

7.       All-Star Squadron #17 (DC)

8.       All-Star Squadron #18 (DC)

9.       JSA (2024) #21 (DC)

10.   Batman/Superman: World's Finest #52 (DC)

11.   Green Lantern (2023) (DC)

12.   Green Lantern Corps (2025) (DC)

13.   Avengers Armageddon #1 (Marvel)

14.   Adventure Comics #389 (Supergirl) (DC)

15.   Justice League Unlimited #20 (DC)

16.   The Other/Half #3 (Ignition Press)

17.   Zatanna (2026) #02 (DC)

18.   Adventures of Superman: Book of El #9 (DC)

19.   The Fury of Firestorm (2026) #3 (DC)

20.   Superman Unlimited #14 (DC)

21.   Imperial Guardians #4 (Marvel)

22.   Barbara Gordon: Breakout #2 (DC)

23.   1776 #1 (Charlton)

24.   Captain America #255 (Marvel)

25.   Iceman #2 (Marvel)

26.   Magnus Robot Fighter #6 (Gold Key)

27.   Zatanna (2026) #2 (DC)

28.   The Flash (2023) #34 (DC)

29.   Green Lantern (2023) #36 (DC)

30.   The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #5 (DC/Vertigo)

31.   Superman (2023) #39 (DC)

32.   Adventures of Superman: Book of El #10 (DC)

33.   Brothers of the Spear #6 (Gold Key)

34.   Star Trek Celebrations #1 (IDW)

35.   Fireborn #3 (Image)

36.   Supergirl: Survive #1 (DC)

37.   Emperor Aquaman #18 (DC)

38.   Excommunicated #2 (Vault)

39.   Universal Monsters: Phantom of the Opera #4 (Image/Skybound)

40.   Super Creepshow #4 (Image)

41.   The Thing on the Doorstep #5 (Image)

42.   All-Star Squadron #19 (DC)

43.   All-Star Squadron #20 (DC)

44.   Tarzan Beyond #1 (Alien Books)

45.   Land of Never #1 (Mad Cave)

46.   Walt Disney's The Sword in the Stone #1 (Gold Key)

47.   Rawhide Kid #1 (Marvel Max)

48.   Justice League of America #198 (DC)

49.   Man From Atlantis #2 (Marvel)

50.   Wordsmith #2 (Renegade Press)

51.   The Nice House By The Sea #10 (DC/Vertigo)

52.   Marvel Two-In-One #99 (The Thing and ROM) (Marvel)

53.   All-Star Squadron #21 (DC)

54.   All-Star Squadron #22 (DC)

55.   All-Star Squadron #23 (DC)

56.   All-Star Squadron #24 (DC)

57.   All-Star Squadron #25 (DC)

58.   All-Star Squadron #26 (DC)

59.   All-Star Squadron Annual #2 (DC)

60.   DC Comics Presents Annual #1 (Earth-1 and Earth-2 Supermen) (DC)

61.   Superheroes #1 (Dell)

62.   Morlock 2001 #1 (Atlas)

63.   Superheroes #3 (Dell)

64.   Hawkman #5 (1960s) (DC)

65.   Micronauts: the New Voyages #11 (Marvel)

66.   All-Star Squadron #27 (DC)

67.   All-Star Squadron #28 (DC)

68.   Shogun Warriors #5 (Marvel)

69.   The Shadow #5 (Archie)

70.   Tarzan #258 (DC)

71.   Justice Inc. #1 (DC)

72.   The Image of the Beast #1 (Last Gasp)

73.   John Carter, Warlord of Mars #1 (Marvel)

August:

1.       Doc Savage (magazine) #1 (Marvel/Curtis)

2.       All-Star Squadron #29 (DC)

3.       All-Star Squadron #30 (DC)

4.       Gay Comics #22 (Gay Comix)

5.       The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #6 (DC/Vertigo)

6.       The Scorpion #1 (Atlas)

7.       The Scorpion #2 (Atlas)

8.       The Scorpion #3 (Atlas)

9.       The Shadow #1 (DC)

10.   Batman/Superman: World's Finest #53 (DC)

11.   Batman/Superman: World's Finest Annual 2026 (DC)

12.   Justice League Unlimited #21 (DC)

13.   Justice League: Knight Vision Special #1 (DC)

14.   Green Lantern #104 (1970s) (DC)

15.   Imperial Guardians #5 (Marvel)

16.   Avengers Armageddon #2 (Marvel)

17.   Captain America (2025) #12 (Marvel)

18.   Captain America (2025) #13 (Marvel)

19.   Supergirl (2025) #15 (DC)

20.   Superman (2023) #40 (DC)

21.   Superman Unlimited #15 (DC)

22.   Action Comics #1100 (DC)

23.   Superman Year One Thousand #1 (DC)

24.   Worlds Unknown #8 (Golden Voyage of Sinbad) (Marvel)

25.   All-Star Squadron #31 (DC)

26.   All-Star Squadron #32 (DC)

27.   All-Star Squadron #33 (DC)

28.   All-Star Squadron #34 (DC)

29.   All-Star Squadron #35 (DC)

30.   Supergirl: Survive #2 (DC)

31.   Summer of Supergirl Special #1 (DC)

32.   DC's Hawk-Girl Summer #1 (DC)

33.   Marvel Team-Up #28 (Spider-Man and Hercules) (Marvel)

34.   Sorcerer Supreme #8 (Marvel)

35.   Swamp Thing '89 #3 (DC/Vertigo)

36.   Swamp Thing '89 #4 (DC/Vertigo)

37.   The Fury of Firestorm (2026) #4 (DC)

38.   Barbara Gordon: Breakout #3 (DC)

39.   Emperor Aquaman #19 (DC)

40.   Batwoman (2026) #5 (DC)

41.   The Flash (2023) #35 ((DC)

42.   Green Lantern (2023) #37 (DC)

43.   Green Lantern Corps (2025) #18 (DC)

44.   The Man From U.N.C.L.E. #13 (Gold Key)

45.   Justice League of America #209 (DC)

46.   Classics Illustrated #108 (Knights of the Round Table) (Gilberton)

47.   Turok Son of Stone #73 (Gold Key)

48.   Marvel Premiere #57 (Doctor Who) (Marvel)

49.   Marvel Premiere #58 (Doctor Who) (Marvel)

50.   Marvel Premiere #60 (Doctor Who) (Marvel)

51.   All-Star Squadron Annual #3 (DC)

52.   Kona #16 (Dell)

53.   Showcase #28 (Sea Devils) (DC)

54.   Frankenstein #8 (Marvel)

55.   Strange Suspense Stories #75 (Captain Atom) (Charlton)

56.   All-Star Squadron #36 (DC)

57.   All-Star Squadron #37 (DC)

58.   Americomics #2 The Shade, The Messenger, Tara of the Jungle) (AC Comics)

59.   Rima the Jungle Girl # 1 (DC)

60.   Marvel Spotlight #33 (Deathlok) (Marvel)

61.   The Grim Ghost #1 (Atlas)

62.   Marvel Classics Comics #3 (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) (Marvel)

63.   All-Star Squadron #38 (DC)

64.   All-Star Squadron #39 (DC)

65.   All-Star Squadron #40 (DC)

66.   Secret Six #2 (DC)

67.   Walt Disney's Wart and the Wizard #1 (Gold Key)

So that’s 140 comics across the two months, way ahead of the “one per day” goal, but once again fewer new comics and more back issues, especially in August.

MOVIES

I watched ONE movie in July and ZERO in August. This is getting to be a habit I need to break.

1.       Heartstopper Forever, directed by Wash Westmoreland (STREAMING, NETFLIX)

TELEVISION

July:

·       Doctor Who Classic S09 Eps 1 – 26 (Pertwee Season 3) (26 Episodes)

·       Doctor Who Classic S10 Eps 1 – 26 (Pertwee Season 4) (26 Episodes)

·       Doctor Who Classic S18 Eps 9 – 12 (Tom Baker Season 7) (4 Episodes)

·       Man From Atlantis S01 Eps 1 - 3 (3 episodes)

·       Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S04 Ep 1 (1 episode)

August:

·       Doctor Who Classic S18 Eps 13 – 28 (Tom Baker Season 7) (16 Episodes)

·       Man From Atlantis S01 Eps 4 – 7 (4 Episodes)

·       Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S4 Eps 2 – 6 (5 Episodes)

·       Lanterns S01 Ep 1 (1 Episode)

LIVE THEATER

I saw no live theatre in July or August, which makes me sad.

PODCASTS

I’m a fairly recent convert to listening to podcasts, so I thought it would also be fun to list those here in the monthly roundups:

July:

1         The Doctor's Beard Episode 71 (Day of the Daleks)

2         World on Fire: An All-Star Squadron Podcast Episode 10 (All-Star Squadron Annual 1)

3         The Doctor's Beard Episode 72 (The Curse of Peladon)

4         The Doctor's Beard Episode 73 (The Sea Devils)

5         World on Fire: An All-Star Squadron Podcast Episode 11 (All-Star Squadron 14-15/JLA 207-209)

6         World on Fire: An All-Star Squadron Podcast Episode 12 (All-Star Squadron 16-17)

7         World on Fire: An All-Star Squadron Podcast Episode 13 (All-Star Squadron 18)

8         World on Fire: An All-Star Squadron Podcast Episode 14 (All-Star Squadron 19-20)

9         The Doctor's Beard Episode 74 (The Mutants)

August:

1.       The Doctor’s Beard Episode 75 (The Time Monster)

2.       The Doctor's Beard Episode 76 (Patreon Exclusive #61 (Season 8 Retrospective))

3.       The Doctor’s Beard Episode 77 (The Three Doctors)

4.       The Doctor’s Beard Episode 78 (Carnival of Monsters)

5.       The Doctor’s Beard Episode 79 (Frontier in Space)

6.       The Doctor’s Beard Episode 80 (Planet of the Daleks)

7.       The Doctor’s Beard Episode 81 (The Green Death)

8.       The Doctor’s Beard Episode 139 (The Full Circle)

9.       The Doctor’s Beard Episode 140 (State of Decay)

10.   The Doctor’s Beard Episode 141 (Warriors’ Gate)

11.   The Doctor’s Beard Episode 142 (The Keeper of Traken)

Summary of Challenges:

Books Challenge: This month(s): 14 read; YTD: 58 of 120 read.

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month(s): 49 read; YTD: 254 of 366 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge: This month(s): 2 read; YTD: 10 of 52 read.

Movie Challenge: This month(s): 1 watched; YTD: 7 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: This month(s): 86 episodes watched; YTD: 254 of 365 watched.

Live Theater Challenge: This month(s): 0 shows attended; YTD: 10 of 12 attended.

Comic Books Challenge: This month(s): 140; YTD: 538 of 365 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0 read/watched; YTD: 0 read/watched.

READING ROUND-UP: June 2026

The fifth monthly summary of what I’ve been reading, listening to, and watching in 2026!

BOOKS

I read 5 books in June: 3 in print, 1 in e-book format, and 1 in audio format. They were:

1.       Devout: Losing My Faith to Find Myself by David Archuleta. (AUDIOBOOK)

2.       Puck Wild (Storm Warning Book 1) by Declan Rhodes (E-BOOK)

3.       Leonard & Larry: Domesticity Isn't Pretty by Tim Barela (PRINT - SOFTCOVER)

4.       X-Men: Elsewhen Vol 1 by John Byrne (PRINT - HARDCOVER)

5.       A World of Curiosities (Inspector Gamage #18) by Louise Penny. (PRINT - SOFTCOVER; Stanza Books Mystery Book Club pick for June)

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 365 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) once again this year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

1.       “Ghost in the Tank” by M.R. Robinson, in Lightspeed Magazine #193, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Memostasis” by Benjamin Rosenbaum

3.       “The Overview Initiative” by David Marino

4.       “The Sharing of Some Familiar Song” by Adam-Troy Castro

5.       “The Best of Intentions” by Mari Ness

6.       “An Oral History of the Schooner Key Invasion” by Alex Irvine

7.       “I Cut Off A Monster's Arm. AITA?” by Marie Brennan

8.       “Ash-Shura; or, a Book, a Bowl, A Bag of Coins” by Beesan Odeh

9.       “Let Sirens Sing Your Name” by Seanan McGuire, from the Author’s Patreon

10.   “Ponyhenge” by Faith Allingham, From Kaleidotrope Spring 2026, edited by Fred Coppersmith

11.   “The Tipping Point” by S.M. French-Byrne

12.   “We Who Have Been Raised by Tigers” by P.V. Vamsidhar, from Otherside #2 edited by V.M. Ayala, M.R. Robinson, Ash Vale

13.   “In This Corner of the World” by A.E. Weisgerber, from The Deadlands #42, edited by E. Catherine Tobler

14.   “The Dog” by Phoenix Mendoza

15.   “The Glass City” by AnaMaria Curtis, from Uncanny #70, edited by Michael Damian Thomas

16.   “Extracted from an unravelled braid” by Aline-Mwezi Niyonsenga

So that’s 16 short stories in June. Way less than “1 per day,” and I don’t think I managed any author birthday short stories at all for like the 3rd month in a row, so that project may be on hiatus! (June 30th was the 181st day of 2026.)

COMIC BOOKS

I’ve begun tracking the individual monthly comic book issues I read and thought it would be fun to include that list in this monthly round-up as well. I’m striving for a comic book per day. I’ve also started doing a “Random Back Issue Comic Books Read/Reread” daily post on my Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky accounts. I’ve italicized those issues. Here’s the comics I read in June:

1.       Marvel Premiere #6 (Satana) (Marvel)

2.       House of Secrets #75 (DC)

3.       Sea Devils #20 (DC)

4.       Rip Hunter, Time Master #29 (DC)

5.       Exquisite Corpses #13 (Image)

6.       JSA (2024) #20 (DC)

7.       Blackhawk #202 (DC)

8.       Blackhawk #207 (DC)

9.       Wiccan & Hulkling: Raid of Ultron #1 (Marvel)

10.   Lost Fantasy #10 (Image)

11.   Justice League Unlimited #19 (DC)

12.   Superman (2024) #38 (DC)

13.   All-Star Squadron #5 (DC)

14.   All-Star Squadron #6 (DC)

15.   The Defenders #100 (Marvel)

16.   Gay Comics #20 (Gay Comics)

17.   Strikeforce: Morituri #1 (Marvel)

18.   Strikeforce: Morituri #8 (Marvel)

19.   Wordsmith #1 (Renegade Press)

20.   Metal Men #40 (DC)

21.   All-Star Squadron #7 (DC)

22.   All-Star Squadron #8 (DC)

23.   All-Star Squadron #9 (DC)

24.   DC Comics Presents Annual #2 (Superman and Superwoman) (DC)

25.   Giant-Size Fantastic Four #2 (Marvel)

26.   Gay Comics #21 (Gay Comics)

27.   Team America #1 (Marvel)

28.   Mage: The Hero Defined #1 (Image)

29.   All-Star Squadron #10 (DC)

30.   All-Star Squadron #11 (DC)

31.   All-Star Squadron #12 (DC)

32.   All-Star Squadron #13 (DC)

33.   Swamp Thing '89 #1 (DC)

34.   Gatchaman: Red Impulse #2 (Mad Cave)

35.   Gatchaman #18 (Mad Cave)

36.   The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #4 (DC/Vertigo)

37.   The Flash (2023) #33 (DC)

38.   Ironjaw #3 (Atlas)

39.   Ironjaw #4 (Atlas)

40.   Justice Society of America (1991) #4 (DC)

41.   Marvel Two-In-One #95 (The Thing & The Living Mummy) (Marvel)

42.   Toka #6 (Dell)

43.   Logan's Run #2 (Marvel)

44.   Justice League of America #207 (DC)

45.   All-Star Squadron #14 (DC)

46.   Justice League of America #208 (DC)

47.   All-Star Squadron #15 (DC)

48.   Justice League of America #209 (DC)

49.   Marvel Premiere #39 (The Torpedo) (Marvel)

50.   Marvel Premiere #40 (The Torpedo) (Marvel)

51.   Action Comics #1099 (DC)

52.   Deadly Hands of K'un-Lun #5 (Marvel)

53.   Americomics #1 The Shade, The Slayer, & Captain Freedom) (AC Comics)

54.   Batwoman (2026) #4 (DC)

55.   Supergirl (2025) #14 (DC)

56.   Sorcerer Supreme #7 (Marvel)

57.   The Shade Special #1 (AC Comics)

So that’s 57 comics, way ahead of the “one per day” goal, but fewer new comics and more back issues than last month.

MOVIES

I watched ZERO movies in June. This is getting to be a habit I need to break.

TELEVISION

·       Doctor Who Classic S08 Eps 11 – 25 (Pertwee Season 2) (15 Episodes)

·       The 49th Annual Tony Awards (1 episode)

LIVE THEATER

1.       The Balusters (comedy, Manhattan Theatre Club/Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, NYC)

2.       La Cage Aux Folles (musical, New York City Center, NYC)

PODCASTS

I’m a fairly recent convert to listening to podcasts, so I thought it would also be fun to list those here in the monthly roundups:

1         The Doctor's Beard Episode 65 (Terror of the Autons)

2         The Doctor's Beard Episode 66 (The Mind of Evil)

3         The Doctor's Beard Episode 67 (The Claws of Axos)

4         Borgo Pass Horror Podcast Episode 13 (Murders in the Zoo (1933))

5         Borgo Pass Horror Podcast Episode 14 (The Mummy's Hand (1940))

6         The Doctor’s Beard Episode 68 (Colony in Space)

7         The Doctor's Beard Episode 69 (The Daemons)

8         The Doctor's Beard Episode 70 (Patrick Troughton Retrospective)

9         World On Fire: An All-Star Squadron Podcast Episode 6 (Squadron Issues 6 & 7)

10     World On Fire: An All-Star Squadron Podcast Episode 7 (Squadron Issues 8 & 9)

11     Dropping Names ... and other things Episode 1  (Guest: LeVar Burton)

12     World On Fire: An All-Star Squadron Podcast Episode 8 (Squadron Issues 10 & 11)

13     World On Fire: An All-Star Squadron Podcast Episode 9 (Squadron Issues 12 & 13)

14     Justice Society Presents Episode 48 (Justice Society of America 1991 Issue 4)

Summary of Challenges:

Books Challenge: This month: 5 read; YTD: 44 of 120 read.

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month: 16 read; YTD: 205 of 366 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge: This month: 2 read; YTD: 8 of 52 read.

Movie Challenge: This month: 0 watched; YTD: 6 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: This month: 16 episodes watched; YTD: 84 of 365 watched.

Live Theater Challenge: This month: 2 shows attended; YTD: 10 of 12 attended.

Comic Books Challenge: This month: 57; YTD: 401 of 365 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0 read/watched; YTD: 0 read/watched.

READING ROUND-UP March 2026

The third monthly summary of what I’ve been reading, listening to, and watching in 2026!

BOOKS

I read 8 books in March: 6 in print, 1 in e-book format, and 1 in audio format. They were:

1.       The Mill House Murders (House Murders #2) by Yukito Ayatsuji (trans. Ho-Ling Wong). (PRINT - SOFTCOVER)

2.       The Labyrinth House Murders (House Murders #3) by Yukito Ayatsuji (trans. Ho-Ling Wong) (PRINT - SOFTCOVER)

3.       Something Is Killing the Children Vol 9 by James Tynion IV, Werther Dell'Edera, Miquel Muerto (PRINT - SOFTCOVER)

4.       Orchard of the Dead & Other Macabre Tales by Stefan Grabinski (trans. Anthony Sciscione). (PRINT - SOFTCOVER)

5.       The Twenty Days of Turin by Giorgio De Maria (trans. Ramon Glazov). (PRINT - SOFTCOVER)

6.       Butterfly Effects (InCryptid #15) by Seanan McGuire. (E-BOOK)

7.       Divine Ruin (Sister Holiday #3) by Margot Douaihy (PRINT – HARDCOVER) (STANZA BOOKS MYSTERY BOOK CLUB MARCH PICK)

8.       The Body by Stephen King (AUDIOBOOK – narrated by Wil Wheaton)

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 365 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) once again this year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

1.       “Eat, Prey, Love: A Modest Proposal for Ensuring Gender Equality Through Selective Dietary Practices; or, A Geriatric Millennial’s Guide to #GirlDinner” by Jilly Dreadful, in Lightspeed Magazine #190, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Espie Droger Dreams of War” by Matthew Kressel

3.       “Terms of Enlightenment” by Patrick Hurley

4.       “An Encounter at the Dawn of the Time War” by J T Petty

5.       “The Devourers of War; or, An Excerpt from the Cookbook of the Gods” by Oluwatomiwa Ejeigbe

6.       “The Tide Folk” by Jennifer Hudak

7.       “Lotus Dew for the Emperor's Tea” by Vanessa Fogg

8.       “When We Loved Giants” by Sara S. Messenger

9.       “When Your Ex-Husband Lies Dying and Only You Can Get Him the Magic Elixir from the Bodega” by Ben Francisco from Sunday Morning Transport March 2026, edited by Fran Wilde and Julian Yap

10.   “La Sirena's Blessing of Belonging” by V.M. Ayala

11.   “Self-Portrait, with Bones” by Alex Irvine

12.   “In A Yellow Wood” by Seanan McGuire, from the Author's Patreon

13.   “At Sarah's House” by Stefan Grabinski (trans. Anthony Sciscione), from Orchards of the Dead and Other Macabre Tales, edited by Anthony Sciscione

14.   “Burning Ground” by Stefan Grabinski (trans. Anthony Sciscione)

15.   “Parable of the Tunnel Mole” by Stefan Grabinski (trans. Anthony Sciscione)

16.   “Before A Long Journey” by Stefan Grabinski (trans. Anthony Sciscione)

17.   “Blind Man's Buff: by Stefan Grabinski (trans. Anthony Sciscione)

18.   “Orchard of the Dead” by Stefan Grabinski (trans. Anthony Sciscione)

19.   “Ksenia” by Stefan Grabinski (trans. Anthony Sciscione)

20.   “On the Trail” by Stefan Grabinski (trans. Anthony Sciscione)

21.   “Mud Hut in a Clear Field” by Stefan Grabinski (trans. Anthony Sciscione)

22.   “Red Magda” by Stefan Grabinski (trans. Anthony Sciscione)

23.   “The Loft” by Stefan Grabinski (trans. Anthony Sciscione)

24.   “Szatera's Engrams” by Stefan Grabinski (trans. Anthony Sciscione)

25.   “Countess Maspera's Secret” by Stefan Grabinski (trans. Anthony Sciscione)

26.   “The Death at Missolonghi” by Giorgio De Maria (trans. Ramon Glazov), from The Twenty Days of Turin, editor unknown.

27.   “We Sing It Anyway” by Seanan McGuire, from Butterfly Effects, editor unknown

28.   “The Snow Women” by Fritz Leiber, from Swords and Deviltry (Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser Book 1), editor unknown

So that’s 28 short stories in March. A bit less than “1 per day,” and I don’t think I managed any author birthday short stories at all! (March 31st was the 90th day of 2026.)

COMIC BOOKS

I’ve begun tracking the individual monthly comic book issues I read and thought it would be fun to include that list in this monthly round-up as well. I’m striving for a comic book per day. I’ve also started doing a “Random Back Issue Comic Books Read/Reread” daily post on my Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky accounts. We’ll see how long that lasts. Here’s the comics I read in March:

1.       Deadly Hands of K'un Lun #1 (Marvel 2026)

2.       Prowler #1 (Eclipse, 1987)

3.       Lost Fantasy #7 (Image, 2026)

4.       Exquisite Corpses #10 (Image, 2026)

5.       Green Lantern Corps #13 (DC, 2026)

6.       Batman/Superman: World's Finest #48 (DC, 2026)

7.       Blackhawk #251 (DC, 1980s)

8.       The Flash #29 (DC, 2026)

9.       Superman Unlimited #10 (DC, 2026)

10.   Wynd: The Power of the Blood #7 (Boom! Studios, 2026)

11.   The Flash #30 (DC, 2026)

12.   Wiccan: Witches’ Road #3 (Marvel, 2026)

13.   The Flash #269 (DC, 1970s)

14.   Blood of the Innocent #1 (WaRP Graphics, 1980s)

15.   Blood of the Innocent #2 (WaRP Graphics, 1980s)

16.   Blood of the Innocent #3 (WaRP Graphics, 1980s)

17.   Blood of the Innocent #4 (WaRP Graphics, 1980s)

18.   DC Special #14 (Secret Origins of Super-Villains) (DC, 1970s)

19.   Giant Size Invaders #1 (Marvel, 1975)

20.   Justice League of America #73 (1969)

21.   Marvel Premiere #54 (Caleb Hammer) (Marvel, 1980)

22.   Atari Force #12 (DC, 1984)

23.   The Miracle Squad #1 (Upshot Graphics, 1986)

24.   Superman Spectacular (DC, 1977)

25.   JSA #17 (DC, 2024)

26.   Other/Half #1 (2026)

27.   Avengers 1959 #1 (Marvel, 2011)

28.   Beowulf: Dragon Slayer #1 (DC, 1975)

29.   Beowulf: Dragon Slayer #3 (DC, 1975)

30.   Beowulf: Dragon Slayer #5 (DC, 1975)

31.   The Lost Planet #1 (Eclipse, 1987)

32.   The Lost Planet #2 (Eclipse, 1987)

33.   The Lost Planet #3 (Eclipse, 1987)

34.   The Lost Planet #4 (Eclipse, 1987)

35.   The Lost Planet #5 (Eclipse, 1987)

36.   The Lost Planet #6 (Eclipse, 1987)

37.   The Phantom of the Opera #1 (Image/Skybound, 2026)

38.   The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1 (DC/Vertigo, 2026)

39.   The Nice House By the Sea #07 (DC/Vertigo, 2026)

40.   The Nice House By the Sea #08 (DC/Vertigo, 2026)

41.   Nova: Centurion #5 (Marvel, 2026)

42.   Gatchaman #16 (Mad Cave, 2026)

43.   Action Comics #1096 (DC, 2026)

44.   Green Lantern Corps #14 (DC, 2026)

45.   Supergirl #11 (DC, 2026)

46.   Emperor Aquaman #15 (DC, 2026)

47.   Flash Spectacular (DC, 1978)

48.   Justice League Unlimited #16 (DC, 2026)

49.   Superman #35 (DC, 2026)

50.   Bug Wars: The Spyder Witch Special #1 (Image, 2026)

51.   Sword of Sorcery #1, featuring Fafhrd & The Grey Mouser (DC, 1973)

52.   Dead of Night #11, featuring The Scarecrow (Marvel, 1975)

53.   Marvel Spotlight #26, featuring the Scarecrow (Marvel, 1975)

54.   Marvel Two-In-One # 18, featuring the Thing & the Scarecrow (Marvel, 1976)

55.   Dell Four Color #775, featuring Sir Lancelot & Brian (Dell Comics, 1957)

56.   DC Comics Presents #91, featuring Superman & Captain Comet (DC, 1978)

57.   The Power of Shazam! #01 (DC, 1995)

58.   The Invaders #41 (Marvel, 1979)

59.   Camelot 3000 #1 (DC, 1982)

60.   The Tomb of Dracula #18 (Marvel, 1974)

61.   All-Star Squadron #1 (DC, 1984)

62.   Werewolf By Night #19 (1974)

63.   All-Star Comics #58 (DC, 1976)

64.   Ka-Zar the Savage #1 (Marvel, 1981)

65.   Batwoman #1 (DC, 2026)

66.   The Peril of the Brutal Dark: An Ezra Cain Mystery #1 (DC, 2026)

67.   Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #49 (DC, 2026)

68.   Justice League Unlimited #17 (DC, 2026)

69.   Superman Unlimited #11 (DC, 2026)

70.   Wiccan: Witches’ Road #3 (Marvel, 2026)

71.   Exquisite Corpses #11 (Image, 2026)

72.   Night Force #1 (DC, 1982)

73.   Gravestone #1 (Malibu, 1993)

So that’s 73 comics, way ahead of the “one per day” goal.

MOVIES

1.       Ten Little Indians (1989), directed by Alan Birkinsaw (DVD)

2.       Ten Little Indians (1987), directed by Stanislav Govorukhin DVD)

Still not even close to the “one per week” I’m aiming for.

TELEVISION

·       Shoresy Season 5 Eps 1 – 6 (6 episodes)

That’s 6 episodes of television, still not even close to the “1 per day” I was shooting for.

LIVE THEATER

1.       Death Becomes Her (musical, Lunt Fontanne Theater, NYC)

2.       Chicago, Teen Edition (Oneida High School, Oneida NY)

PODCASTS

I’m a fairly recent convert to listening to podcasts, so I thought it would also be fun to list those here in the monthly roundups, with links to the podcast stream websites or FB groups if available:

1         Justice Society Presents Episode 30 (The Sandman Slept Here 01 (Sandman Mystery Theatre Issues 1-4))

2         Justice Society Presents Episode 31 (JSA in the 90s: Justice Society of America #8 ('93))

3         Justice Society Presents Episode 32 (The Sandman Slept Here #2 (Sandman Mystery Theatre Issues 5-8))

4         Justice Society Presents Episode 33 (JSA in the 90s: Spotlight on Jim Corrigan The Spectre)

5         Justice Society Presents Episode 34 (JSA in the 90s: Spotlight on Ted Grant Wildcat)

6         Justice Society Presents Episode 35 (JSA in the 90s: Justice Society of America #9 ('93))

7         Justice Society Presents Episode 36 (JSA in the 90s: Justice Society of America #10 ('93))

8         Justice Society Presents Episode 37 (The Sandman Slept Here #3 (Sandman Mystery Theatre Issues 9 -12)

9         Justice Society Presents Episode 38 (JSA in the 90s: Spotlight on The World At War RPG Supplement by Mayfair Games)

10     Justice Society Presents Episode 39 (JSA in the 90s: Spotlight on the Holidays with Starman and The Flash)

11     Justice Society Presents Episode 40 (The Sandman Slept Here #4 (Sandman Mystery Theatre Issues 13-16))

12     Justice Society Presents Episode 41 (JSA in the 90s: Justice Society of America (1991) #1)

13     Justice Society Presents Episode 42 (JSA in the 90s: Justice Society of America (1991) #2)

14     Justice Society Presents Episode 43 (JSA in the 90s: Spotlight on Hippolyta as the Golden Age Wonder Woman)

15     The Earth-2 Podcast Episode 300 (Enactment of DC Special 10 (Strange Sports Stories)

16     The Earth-2 Podcast Episode 301 (Enactment of a Golden Age Bulletman story)

17     The Earth-2 Podcast Episode 270 (Enactment of a Silver Ghost story from a Batman special issue)

18     DC SpecialCast Episode 11 (Discussion of DC Special 27: Danger; Dinosaurs at Large)

Summary of Challenges:

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month: 28 read; YTD: 115 of 366 read.

Books Challenge: This month: 8 read; YTD: 29 of 120 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge: This month: 1 read; YTD: 5 of 52 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0 read/watched; YTD: 0 read/watched.

Movie Challenge: This month: 2 watched; YTD: 6 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: This month: 6 episodes watched; YTD: 25 of 365 watched.

Live Theater Challenge: This month: 2 shows attended; YTD: 3 of 12 attended.

Comic Books Challenge: This month: 73; YTD: 180 of 365 read.

READING ROUND-UP FEBRUARY 2026

The second monthly summary, slightly delayed, of what I’ve been reading, listening to, and watching in 2026!

BOOKS

I read 10 books in January: 8 in print, 0 in e-book format, and 2 in audio format. They were:

1.       Twelve Months (Dresden Files #18) by Jim Butcher. (PRINT - HARDCOVER)

2.       Better Dreams, Fallen Seeds, And Other Handfuls of Hope by Ken Scholes (PRINT - SOFTCOVER)

3.       The Yards Between Us: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Football by R.K. Russell (AUDIOBOOK)

4.       Finding My Way by Malala Yousafzai. (AUDIOBOOK)

5.       And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. (PRINT - SOFTCOVER)

6.       The Decagon House Murders (House Murders #1) by Yukito Ayatsuji (trans. Ho-Ling Wong). (PRINT - SOFTCOVER) (STANZA BOOKS MYSTERY BOOK CLUB FEBRUARY PICK)

7.       Theo of Golden by Allen Levi. (PRINT - SOFTCOVER) (SPARTA BOOKS BOOK CLUB FEBRUARY PICK)

8.       Zane Carrington (Stormgate Press Quick Read #3) by Charles F. Millhouse (PRINT – SOFTCOVER)

9.       Nimona by ND Stevenson (PRINT – SOFTCOVER) (STANZA BOOKS GRAPHIC NOVEL BOOK CLUB FEBRUARY PICK)

10.   Demon Lover Witch by Mark Harris (PRINT – SOFTCOVER)

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 365 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) once again this year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

1.       “Death Echoes Overlapping” by Megan Chee, in Lightspeed Magazine #189, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “The Worldbuilder” by Phoenix Alexander.

3.       “Sensor Ghosts” by Deborah L. Davitt

4.       “Warren's Tentacle” by Susan Palwick

5.       “Six Sides of a Fairy Tale” by Audrey Zhou

6.       “Dream Destinations (From the Lost Traveler's Tour Guide)” by Alexander Weinstein

7.       “The Salt and the Cure” by Ruleman Ragas

8.       “A Handbook to Spirit-Hunting” by Modupeowula Shelle

9.       “Wounds” by Celia Marsh from Sunday Morning Transport February 2026, edited by Fran Wilde and Julian Yap

10.   “Realm of the Shorn” by David Bowles

11.   “The Definition of a Second” by Carrie Vaughn

12.   “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and birds that fly above the earth across the expanse of sky” by P H Lee

13.   “Legacies” by Seanan McGuire, from the Author's Patreon

14.   “The Portobello Road” by Muriel Spark from All The Stories of Muriel Spark editor unknown

15.   “Harley Takes A Wife” by Ken Scholes, from Better Dreams, Fallen Seeds, and Other Handfuls of Hope, edited by Patrick Swenson

16.   “Of Anchor Chains and Slow Refrains and Light Long Lost in Darkness” by Ken Scholes

17.   “Stuck in Buenos Aires with Bob Dylan On My Mind” by Ken Scholes

18.   “Greatest Guns in the Galaxy” by Ken Scholes and Bryan Thomas Schmidt

19.   “The Monsters Underneath His Bed” by Ken Scholes

20.   “Let Me Hide Myself In Thee” by Ken Scholes

21.   “Better Dreams Than These” by Ken Scholes

22.   “That When I Waked I Cried to Dream Again” by Ken Scholes

23.   “Homeward Dreams and Fallen Seeds and Melody by Moonlight” by Ken Scholes

24.   “Business in Great Waters” by Ken Scholes

25.   “Evermore I Told The Raven” by Ken Scholes

26.   “Unsettled Nature” by Jordan Kurella, from Apex Magazine #154, edited by Lesley Conner

27.   “Twelve Facts About the Dermestid Beetle” by Marisca Pichette, from Nightmare Magazine #161, edited by Wendy N. Wagner

28.   ” The Ghost in Apartment 5K” by Everdeen Mason

29.   “Rest Stop” by Pedro Iriguez

30.   “Remember Me in the Meat” by Sarah Pauling, from Clarkesworld #233, edited by Neil Clarke

31.   “Chip” by D.A. Xiaolin Spires

32.   “The Doorkeepers” by A.T. Greenblatt, from Uncanny Magazine #41, edited by Michael Damian Thomas

33.   “The Source of the Spread” by Sam J. Miller, from the Author’s Newsletter

34.   “The Skull of Francisco Xalbec” by Alan M. Fisher, from The Deadlands #41, edited by Vajra Chandrasekara

35.   “The Uninvited Guest” by Josh Reynolds, from the Author’s Newsletter

36.   “Confessions of the Little Seer: An Accidental Ghost Story” by Emily Linstrom, from Kaleidotrope Winter 2025, edited by Fred Coppersmith

37.   “Water Softener People” by EC Dorgan

38.   “The Trial For Murder” by Charles Dickens, from The Collected Short Stories of Charles Dickens, editor unknown

39.   “The Man Who Lost the Sea” by Theodore Sturgeon, from Strange Horizons Website April 2009, editor unknown

40.   “Really A Sukkah!” by Sholom Aleichem, from Holiday Tales, edited by Aliza Shevrin

41.   “The Sisters” by James Joyce, from Dubliners, editor unknown

42.   “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison, from Bergen Community College website, editor unknown

43.   “Dust to Dust” by Mary Robinette Kowal, from Fireside Magazine, edited by Julia Rios

44.   “Jana Dives” by Tsitsi Dangarembga, from Yale Review website, editor unknown

45.   “Button, Button” by Richard Matheson, from Button, Button: Uncanny Stories), editor unknown

46.   “A Drama in Mexico” by Jules Verne (Trans. W.H.G. Kingston), from Four Short Stories, editor unknown

47.   “In Absentia” by Suzan Palumbo, from The Dark #129, edited by Sean Wallace

48.   “A Night's Lodging” by Stefan Grabinski (trans. Anthony Sciscione), from Orchard of the Dead and Other Macabre Tales, edited by Anthony Sciscione

49.   “The Fortune Teller” by Patricia A. McKillip, from Coyote Road, edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling

50.   “Hollow in the Hope” by Aimee Ogden, from Beneath Ceaseless Skies #451, edited by Scott H. Andrews

51.   “Breakfast” by John Steinbeck, from The Long Valley, editor unknown

52.   “The Best in the Country” by Walter Tevis, from The King is Dead: Stories, edited by Kevin Brockmeier

53.   “A Meeting in Valadolid” by Anthony Burgess, from The Devil's Mode: Stories editor unknown

54.   “Dr. Mid-Nite Thinks Fast” by Charles Reizenstein, from All-Star Comics #6 (1941), editor unknown

55.   “Testament of a Forgotten God” by Charles F. Millhouse, from Pulp Reality #1, edited by Charles F. Millhouse

56.   “The Barbarian” by Joanna Russ, from The Future is Female, edited by Lisa Yaszek

57.   “First Hunt” by Bryan Thomas Schmidt, from Aliens Vs. Predator: Ultimate Prey, edited by Jonathan Maberry & Bryan Thomas Schmidt

58.   “Kaddish For The Last Survivor” by Michael A. Burstein, from I Remember The Future: The Award-Nominated Stories of Michael A. Burstein, edited by Jason Sizmore

59.   “Lusting For Jenny, Inverted” by Elizabeth George, From Two of the Deadliest, edited by Elizabeth George

60.   “The Adventure of the Frightened Baronet” by August Derleth, from The Adventures of Solar Pons, edited by Vincent Starrett

61.   “Paper Casualty” by Len Deighton, from Declarations of War, editor unknown

So that’s 61 short stories in February. A bit more than “1 per day,” ha-ha (February 28st was the 59th day of 2026.)

COMIC BOOKS

I’ve begun tracking the individual monthly comic book issues I read and thought it would be fun to include that list in this monthly round-up as well. I’m striving for a comic book per day. I’ve also started doing a “Random Back Issue Comic Books Read/Reread” daily post on my Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky accounts. We’ll see how long that lasts. Here’s the comics I read in January:

1.       Edgar Rice Burroughs' Korak Son of Tarzan #3 (Gold Key 1964)

2.       The Micronauts #1 (Marvel, 1979)

3.       Exquisite Corpses #09 (Image Comics, 2026)

4.       Gatchaman: Jinpei: Henshin #1 (Mad Cave, 2026)

5.       Captain America #6 (Marvel, 2026)

6.       Everything Dead & Dying #5 (Image, 2026)

7.       Batman/Superman: World's Finest #47 (DC, 2026)

8.       Adventures of Superman: Book of El #5 (DC, 2026)

9.       Adventures of Superman: Book of El #6 (DC, 2026)

10.   Wiccan: Witch's Road #2 (Marvel, 2026)

11.   Action Comics #488 (DC, 1978)

12.   T.H.E. Cat #2 (Dell, 1967)

13.   Justice League of America #113 (DC, 1974)

14.   Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes #1 (Gold Key, 1964)

15.   The Undead Iron Fist #3 (Marvel, 2026)

16.   The Undead Iron Fist #4 (Marvel, 2026)

17.   Superman Unlimited #7 (DC, 2026)

18.   Superman Unlimited #8 (DC, 2026)

19.   Superman Unlimited #9 (DC, 2026)

20.   Showcase #101 (featuring Hawkman) (DC, 1978)

21.   Showcase #102 (featuring Hawkman) (DC, 1978)

22.   Showcase #103 (featuring Hawkman) (DC, 1978)

23.   Green Lantern: Galactic Slam #1 (DC, 2026)

24.   Wonder Woman Black and Gold 2026 Special #11 (DC, 2026)

25.   Captain Planet and the Planeteers #2 (Dynamite, 2026)

26.   Captain Planet and the Planeteers #3 (Dynamite, 2026)

27.   Captain Planet and the Planeteers #4 (Dynamite, 2026)

28.   Captain Planet and the Planeteers #5 (Dynamite, 2026)

29.   Captain Planet and the Planeteers #6 (Dynamite, 2026)

30.   Marvel Super-Heroes #18 (featuring The Guardians of the Galaxy) (Marvel, 1968)

31.   Lost Fantasy #1 (Image, 2026)

32.   Lost Fantasy #2 (Image, 2026)

33.   Lost Fantasy #3 (Image, 2026)

34.   Lost Fantasy #4 (Image, 2026)

35.   Lost Fantasy 5 (Image, 2026)

36.   Lost Fantasy #6 (Image, 2026)

37.   All-Out War #6 (DC, 1980)

38.   DC Special #10 (Strange Sports Stories) (DC, 1976)

39.   Charlton Classics #8 (featuring Hercules) (Charlton, 1981)

40.   ROM #1 (Marvel, 1979)

41.   JSA #16 (DC, 2026)

42.   Captain Action #1 (DC, 1968)

43.   Marvel Team-Up #23 (Human Torch & Iceman) (Marvel, 1974)

44.   Tales of Sword & Sorcery: Dagar the Invincible #12 (Gold Key, 1975)

45.   Sea Devils #18) (DC, 1966)

46.   C.O.R.T. Children of the Round Table #5 (DC, 2026)

47.   Supergirl #10 (DC, 2026)

48.   Aquaman #14 (DC, 2026)

49.   Action Comics #1095 (DC, 2026)

50.   Nova: Centurion #4 (Marvel, 2026)

51.   Man From Atlantis #1 (Marvel, 1979)

52.   DC KO: The Kids Are All Fight (DC, 2026)

53.   Superman #34 (DC, 2026)

54.   Justice League Unlimited #15 (DC, 2026)

55.   Dark Shadows #08 (Gold Key, 1970s)

56.   Time Warp #1 (DC, 1979)

57.   Showcase #95 (New Doom Patrol) (DC, 1970s)

58.   Fright Featuring Son of Dracula #1 (Atlas, 1975)

59.   Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (Captain Marvel) (Marvel, 1967)

60.   DC Special #12 (Historical Adventures) (DC, 1970s)

61.   Zatanna Special #1 (DC, 1987)

62.   Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery #46 (1973)

63.   Marvel Premiere #56 (Dominic Fortune) (Marvel 1980)

64.   World’s Finest #210 (DC, 1970s)

65.   Captain America #7 (Marvel, 2026)

66.   Shogun Warriors #15 (Marvel, 1979)

67.   The Warlord #1 (DC, 1976)

So that’s 67 comics, way ahead of the “one per day” goal.

MOVIES

1.       And Then There Were None (1945), directed by Rene Clair (DVD)

2.       Ten Little Indians (1965), directed by George Pollack (DVD)

Still not even close to the “one per week” I’m aiming for.

TELEVISION

·       Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Eps 4 – 10 (6 episodes)

·       The Muppet Show (2026) Sason 1, Ep 1 (1 episode)

That’s 7 episodes of television, still not even close to the “1 per day” I was shooting for.

LIVE THEATER

No live theater in February, sadly. It was a busy work month.

PODCASTS

I’m a fairly recent convert to listening to podcasts, so I thought it would also be fun to list those here in the monthly roundups:

1         Justice Society Presents Episode 23 (JSA in the 90s: Spotlight on Jay Garrick The Flash)

2         Justice Society Presents Episode 24 (Mr. and Mrs. Superman 01)

3         Justice Society Presents Episode 25 (JSA in the 90s: Justice Society of America #6 (Chris Franklin))

4         Justice Society Presents Episode 26 (The Sandman Slept Here 00 (World's Fair Comics #1, Sandman debut))

5         Justice Society Presents Episode 27 (JSA in the 90s: Spotlight on how the Post-Crisis JSA inspired the JLA)

6         Justice Society Presents Episode 28 (JSApril: Dr. Mid-Nite Thinks Fast dramatic reading)

7         Justice Society Presents Episode 29 (The Sandman Slept Here 01 (Sandman Mystery Theatre Issues 1-4))

8         Borgo Pass Horror Podcast Episode 5 (House of Horrors (1946))

9         Borgo Pass Horror Podcast Episode 6 (Night Monster (1942))

10     Warlord Worlds Episode 1 (First Warlord and Sable storyline synopses)

11     World On Fire: An All-Star Squadron Podcast Episode 4 (Squadron issues 4 & 5)

12     World On Fire: An All-Star Squadron Podcast Episode 5 (Listener Feedback)

Summary of Challenges:

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month: 61 read; YTD: 87 of 366 read.

Books Challenge: This month: 10 read; YTD: 21 of 120 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge: This month: 1 read; YTD: 4 of 52 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0 read/watched; YTD: 0 read/watched.

Movie Challenge: This month: 2 watched; YTD: 4 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: This month: 7 episodes watched; YTD: 19 of 365 watched.

Live Theater Challenge: This month: 0 show attended; YTD: 1 of 12 attended.

Comic Books Challenge: This month: 67; YTD: 107 of 365 read.

Reading RoundUp: January 2026

The first monthly summary of what I’ve been reading, listening to, and watching in 2026!

BOOKS

I read 11 books in January: 7 in print, 2 in e-book format, and 2 in audio format. They were:

1.       More Than Love: An Intimate Portrait of My Mother, Natalie Wood by Natasha Gregson Wagner. (AUDIOBOOK)

2.       The Day The Earth Froze by Gerald Hatch (PRINT - SOFTCOVER)

3.       Klaus: Complete Deluxe Hardcover by Grant Morrison and Dan Mora (PRINT - HARDCOVER, GRAPHIC NOVEL)

4.       Being Jazz by Jazz Jennings. (AUDIOBOOK)

5.       Rise of the Crones (The Crone Wars Book 5) by Lydia M. Hawke. (E-BOOK)

6.       Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. (PRINT - SOFTCOVER) (SPARTA BOOKS BOOK CLUB JANUARY PICK)

7.       The Searcher (Cal Hooper #1) by Tana French. (PRINT - SOFTCOVER) (STANZA BOOKS MYSTERY BOOK CLUB JANUARY PICK)

8.       Golden Age Christmas Mysteries, edited by Otto Penzler (PRINT – SOFTCOVER)

9.       Absolute Martian Manhunter, Volume 1: Martian Vision by Deniz Camp, Javier Rodriguez, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (PRINT – SOFTCOVER)

10.   Frankenstein Alive, Alive! By Steve Niles and Bernie Wrightson (PRINT – SOFTCOVER)

11.   A Confluence of Obsidian (The Obsidian Sisterhood #3) by Lydia M. Hawke (E-BOOK)

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 365 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) once again this year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

1.       “Mother’s Hip” by Corey Jai White & Maddison Stoff, in Lightspeed Magazine #188, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Bots All The Way Down” by Effie Seiberg.

3.       “Hunter, Hunter” by Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe

4.       “A Brief Public Announcement” by Eli Brown

5.       “Choose Your Own Damnation” by Kehkashan Khalid

6.       “Where The Chicken-Footed Dwell” by Marisca Pichette

7.       “Academic Neutrality” by M.R. Robinson

8.       “The Moving Finger” by Adam-Troy Castro

9.       “Dregs” by R. Diego Martinez, from Nightmare #160, edited by Wendy N. Wagner

10.   “The Tailors” by Kurt Fawver

11.   “Jennifer's Daughter” by Sara S. Messenger

12.   “A Skull in Reverse” by Stephanie Feldman from Sunday Morning Transport Dec 2025, edited by Fran Wilde and Julian Yap

13.   “'Brokeheart' GPT, or "A Superintelligent Being Reads Pat Rosal”” by Micaiah Johnson, from Sunday Morning Transport Jan 2025

14.   “Donuts From the Daydream Network” by Julia Vee

15.   “Slake” by Victor Manibo

16.   “The Final Voyage of the Ouranos” by Marie Brennan

17.   “The Stolen Christmas Box” by Lillian de la Torre from Golden Age Christmas Mysteries, edited by Otto Penzler

18.   “Persons or Things Unknown” by Carter Dickson

19.   “Death on Christmas Eve” by Stanley Ellin

20.   “If Christmas Comes” by Steve Fisher

21.   “The Christmas Bogey” by Pat Frank

22.   “Silent Night” by Baynard Kendrick

23.   “Dead on Christmas Street” by John D. MacDonald

24.   “A Reversible Santa Claus” by Meredith Nicholson

25.   “Crime's Christmas Carol” by Norvell Page

26.   “The Adventure of the Dauphin's Doll” by Ellery Queen

27.   “The Butler's Christmas Eve” by Mary Roberts Rinehart

28.   “Dancing Dan's Christmas” by Damon Runyon

29.   “The Wrong Santa Claus” by Vincent Starrett

30.   “So Many Miles to the Heart of a Child” by Richard Bowes, from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction 561 (April 1998), edited by Gordon Van Gelder

31.   “The Red One” by Jack London, from Voices From The Radium Age, edited by Joshua Glenn

32.   “First Bar at the End of the Day” by Ken Scholes, from Better Dreams, Fallen Seeds and Other Handfuls of Hope, edited by Patrick Swenson

33.   “Making My Entrance Again With My Usual Flair” by Ken Scholes

34.   “John Stevenson's Good Fortune” by Horatio Alger, from Horatio Alger Society Website, editor unknown

35.   “The End of the Story” by Clark Ashton Smith, from Vampire Tales: The Big Collection, editor unknown

36.   “The Hills of the Dead” by Robert E. Howard

37.   “Carnival of Crime” by Fred Whitby, from Star Spangled Comics 45 (June 1945), edited by Jack Schiff

38.   “Worth His Salt!” by Herbert E. Smith, from Captain Marvel Adventures 33 (March 1944), edited by Will Lieberson

39.   “A Tip on a Turtle” by Robert Silverberg, from Playing Games, edited by Lawrence Block

40.   “The Assimilated Cuban's Guide to Quantum Santeria” by Carlos Hernandez, from The Assimilated Cuban's Guide to Quantum Santeria, edited by Bill Campbell

41.   “The Adventure of the Clockwork Men” by Ron Goulart, from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction #721, edited by C.C. Finlay

42.   “The Invisible Event” by Seanan McGuire, from The Author’s Patreon

43.   “Minor Hockey Gods of Barstow Station” by Beth Cato, from Red Dust and Dancing Horses and Other Stories, editor unknown (originally published in Galactic Games, edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt)

44.   “The Collector” by Daniel Jose Older, from Salsa Nocturna: Stories, edited by Kay T. Holt

45.   “Incident at Bear Creek Lodge” by Tananarive Due, from The Wishing Pool and Other Stories, edited by Vince A. Liaguno and Rena Mason

46.   “The Astrakhan, the Homburg, and the Red Red Coal” by Chaz Brenchley, from Everything in All The Wrong Order, edited by Seanan McGuire

47.   “The Stars You Can't See By Looking Directly” by Samantha Murray, from Clarkesworld 232, edited by Neil Clarke

48.   “The Purloined Letter” by Edgar Allan Poe, from Poetry and Tales, edited by Thomas Ollive Mabbott

49.   “Hell on the Homefront Too” by Stephen Graham Jones, from Giving The Devil His Due: Special Edition, edited by Rebecca Brewer

50.   “Alchemy” by Carrie Vaughn, from Nevertheless She Persisted: Flash Fiction Project, editor unknown

51.   “Persephone” by Seanan McGuire

52.   “The Great King's Lost Bride” by R.K. Duncan, From Beneath Ceaseless Skies 449, edited by Scott H. Andrews

53.   “J.C. on the Dude Ranch” by Philip Jose Farmer, from Riverworld And Other Stories, editor unknown

54.   “The Fortingall Yew” by William Meikle, from A Winter's Tale: Horror Stories for the Yuletide, edited by Cliff Biggers, Charles R. Rutledge, James R. Tuck

So that’s 54 short stories in January. A bit more than “1 per day,” ha-ha (January 31st was, of course, the 31st day of 2026.)

COMIC BOOKS

I’ve begun tracking the individual monthly comic book issues I read and thought it would be fun to include that list in this monthly round-up as well. I’m striving for a comic book per day. I’ve also started doing a “Random Back Issue Comic Books Read/Reread” daily post on my Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky accounts. We’ll see how long that lasts. Here’s the comics I read in January:

1.       Knights of the Round Table #1 (Dell, 1954)

2.       ROM #1 (Marvel, 1979)

3.       Tomahawk #106 (DC, 1966)

4.       Marvel Super-Heroes #17 (Marvel, 1968)

5.       New Adventures of Superboy 29 (DC, 1983)

6.       Demon Hunter #1 (Atlas, 1975)

7.       Dark Shadows #6 (Gold Key, 1970)

8.       Marvel Two-in-One #33 (Marvel, 1977)

9.       Fence: Breakthrough: Quarter Clash #1 (Boom Studios, 2026)

10.   Nova Centurion #1 (Marvel, 2026)

11.   JSA #15 (DC, 2026)

12.   The Tin Can Society #9 (Image, 2026)

13.   Hero Zero #1 (Dark Horse, 1994)

14.   The MAZE Agency #2 (Comico, 1989)

15.   Hercules Unbound #12 (DC, 1977)

16.   Batman Family #12 (DC, 1977)

17.   Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery #36 (Gold Key, 1971)

18.   Teen Titans #44 (DC, 1976)

19.   Sorcerer Supreme #1 (Marvel, 2026)

20.   Shogun Warriors #1 (Marvel, 1979)

21.   C.O.R.T. (Children of the Round Table) #5 (DC, 2026)

22.   Aquaman #13 (DC, 2026)

23.   Green Lantern Corps #12 (DC, 2026)

24.   Supergirl #9 (DC, 2026)

25.   Action Comics #1094 (DC, 2026)

26.   Star Spangled Comics #45 (DC, 1945)

27.   Captain Marvel Adventures #33 (Fawcett, 1944)

28.   Nutsy Squirrel #71 (DC, 1956)

29.   DC Special #29 (DC, 1977)

30.   Tales of Evil #1 (Atlas, 1975)

31.   The New Warriors #1 (Marvel, 1990)

32.   Famous First Editions F-8 (reprinting Flash Comics #1) (DC, 1975)

33.   Showcase #83 (DC, 1969)

34.   Steel The Indestructible Man #1 (DC, 1978)

35.   Marvel Classics Comics (Dracula) #9 (Marvel, 1976)

36.   Kurt Busiek’s Astro City #1 (Image, 1995)

37.   Silver Age: Showcase #1 (The 7 Soldiers of Victory) (DC, 2000)

38.   The X-Men #44 (Marvel, 1968)

39.   Sea Devils #31 (DC, 1966)

40.   The Grim Ghost #2 (Atlas, 1975)

So that’s 40 comics, a bit ahead of the “one per day” goal.

MOVIES

1.       Zootopia 2 (2025), directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard (THEATER)

2.       Thunderbolts* (2025), directed by Jake Schreier (STREAMING, Disney+)

Not even close to the “one per week” I’m aiming for.

TELEVISION

·       Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 2, episodes 1 – 8 (8 episodes)

·       Behind the Curtain: Stranger Things: The First Shadow documentary (1 episode)

·       Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1 Eps 1 – 3 (3episodes)

That’s 12 episodes of television, not even close to the “1 per day” I was shooting for.

LIVE THEATER

1.       Oedipus (Studio 54, NYC)

PODCASTS

I’m a fairly recent convert to listening to podcasts, so I thought it would also be fun to list those here in the monthly roundups:

1         Justice Society Presents Episode 18 (JSA in the 90s: Justice Society #3)

2         Justice Society Presents Episode 19 (JSA in the 90s: Spotlight on the Holidays)

3         Justice Society Presents Episode 20 (JSA in the 90s: Justice Society #4)

4         Justice Society Presents Episode 21 (JSA in the 90s: Justice Society #5)

5         Justice Society Presents Episode 22 (JSA in the 90s: Spotlight on Jay Garrick, The Flash)

6         The History of Comics Books in 500 Issues Ep. 27 (African Comic Books Before World War Two)

7         The History of Comics Books in 500 Issues Episode 28 (Tijuana Bibles)

8         Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum Episode 400 (Tom Wilson interview)

9         Borgo Pass Horror Podcast Episode 3 (Man Mad Monster, 1941)

10     Borgo Pass Horror Podcast Episode 4 (The Invisible Man, 1933)

11     The Boxing Glove Arrow Podcast Episode 11 (Interview with Win Scott Eckert)

Summary of Challenges:

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month: 26 read; YTD: 26 of 366 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 11 read; YTD: 11 of 120 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge: This month: 3 read; YTD: 3 of 52 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0 read/watched; YTD: 0 read/watched.

Movie Challenge: This month: 2 watched; YTD: 2 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: This month: 12 episodes watched; YTD: 12 of 365 watched.

Live Theater Challenge: This month: 1 show attended; YTD: 1 of 12 attended.

Comic Books Challenge: This month: 40; YTD: 40 of 365 read.

2025 Reading Roundup: By The Numbers

Time for my annual round-up of what I read and watched in 2025. Because I dropped the ball on doing monthly Round-Up reports, I’m going to run a few more detailed posts over the next week or two listing everything I’ve read or watched. Today’s post is mostly a “by the numbers” thing.

BOOKS

I did manage to read 123 books in 2025: 13 hardcovers, 49 softcover/paperbacks, 35 e-books, and 23 audiobooks. 19 of those titles were rereads, the rest books I read for the first time in 2025.

Monthly distribution: 7 in January; 9 in February; 9 in March; 6 in April; 5 in May; 11 in June; 9 in July; 10 in August; 13 in September; 5 in October; 13 in November; and 26 in December.

I read work from approximately 110 different creators (authors and anthology editors mostly; I did not track graphic novels editorial staff, colorists, and letterers this year).

17 of these books were for book clubs at Sparta Books in Sparta NJ and Stanza Books in Beacon NY. 12 of them were Advanced Review Copies (either print or from NetGalley). 3 of them were for my “Reread My Favorites” project (hopefully debuting on the blog soon.)

The shortest book I read was 41 pages long (Jeffrey Ricker’s short story collection Lies I Tell Myself: Stories), the longest 609 (Suzanne Finstad’s Natalie Wood: The Complete Biography).

Genre Breakdown:

·       Adventure: 1

·       Biography: 1

·       Crime: 1

·       Pop culture analysis: 2

·       Fantasy: 20

·       Historical fiction: 2

·       History: 2

·       Horror: 28

·       Memoirs: 25

·       Mimetic/current day fiction: 3

·       Mixed genre short story collections: 2

·       Mystery: 12

·       Mythology: 1

·       Romance: 7

·       Science: 3

·       Science Fiction: 11

·       Superhero: 2

·       Thriller: 1

·       True Crime: 1

These were my own rough classifications, and in hindsight I’m not sure why I broke crime fiction and mysteries into separate categories. I was surprised to realize I once again read a lot more horror than I thought. I didn’t read any playscripts this year for the first time in a while. And also, for the second year in a row, not a single poetry collection. I am not a big poetry reader, but I usually like to at least try to read a collection or two during National Poetry Month.

STORIES

I did manage to read 366 short stories in 2025 by 243 different authors (this includes translators).

The monthly distribution: 35 in January; 38 in February; 36 in March; 8 in April; 24 in May; 31 in June; 17 in July; 16 in August; 39 in September; 14 in October; 12 in November, and 96 in December. (Clearly, I was way behind my 1-per-day pace by the time I hit December, but a few anthologies and single-author collections helped me catch up.)

These stories came from 23 anthologies and single-author collections, 15 different magazines, 1 author Patreon site, 1 author website, 1 stand-alone e-book independently published, 3 printed chapbooks, and 2 novels (as back-matter). Last year, I calculated exactly how many stories came from each format, but as I’m running behind on this post, I’m going to skip that this year. In previous years I’ve also counted how many different editors were involved, but I neglected to accurately track that this year as well.

Genre breakdown:

·       Adventure: 3

·       Comedy: 3

·       Crime: 3

·       Fantasy: 102

·       Horror: 134

·       Mimetic/modern-day: 4

·       Mystery: 9

·       Science Fiction: 104

·       Super-Heroes: 4

Again, I’m surprised that I read a bit more horror than I thought I did. And I’m still not sure why I separated crime, mystery, and thrillers into distinct subcategories.

MOVIES

I didn’t even come close on my “watch 52 movies” challenge. I watched 3 whole movies in 2025.

I had challenged myself to watch more of the several hundred DVDs I own (split between movies and television series). 1 of the 3 movies watched was on DVD. The other two were in actual movie theaters.

Genre breakdown:

·       Horror (kind of): 1 (The Life of Chuck, a movie that is hard to categorize)

·       Super-Heroes: 2 (Superman and Fantastic Four: First Steps)

These 3 movies were the work of 3 different directors.

TELEVISION

I only managed to watch 63 distinct episodes across 9 series, so nowhere near the “1 episode for every day” goal.

Genre breakdown:

·       Comedy: 2 series

·       Science Fiction: 2 series

·       Super-Heroes: 1 series

·       Horror: 1 series

·       Crime: 1 series

·       Variety/Comedy Specials: 2

LIVE THEATER

I saw 11 live theatrical productions in 2025, so I missed my “average one per month” goal by 1! I attended these shows in 11 different theaters, 9 of which were in New York City. One was in the Los Angeles area, and 1 was a local high school production. 8 were musicals, 3 were dramas. One was a new production of a show I’ve seen live before (Guys and Dolls), and two were shows I’ve seen movie or filmed stage versions of (Moulin Rouge and Pirates of Penzance).

OTHER LIVE EVENTS

I also tracked what other live events I went to. I attended:

·       one college graduation (my goddaughter’s, from the University of Pittsburgh),

·       1 baseball game (our local minor league team, The Sussex Miners)

·       1 work convention

·       2 book conventions/festivals (PulpFest; Milford Readers and Writers)

·       1 antiquarian book fair (in NYC)

·       1 annual birthday bookstore crawl (in NYC)

·       4 In-Person Author Events (1 at Kew and Willow in NYC, 3 at Stanza Books in Beacon)

·       6 online author events (mostly on C.S.E. Cooney and Carlos Hernandez’s Twitch channel)

·       16 book club meetings (6 at Sparta Books in Sparta NJ, 10 at Stanza Books in Beacon NY)

PODCASTS

I only really started listening to podcasts late this year (other than about a decade ago when I used to listen to the New Yorker’s short story podcast, back when I still had an iPod Nano). So of course I decided to track my listening: 54 individual episodes across 5 different podcasts. All of them were comic book-related with the exception of 2 episodes:

·       The Borgo Pass podcast (Universal Monsters): 2 episodes

·       World on Fire: the All-Star Squadron podcast: 3 episodes

·       The Boxing Glove Arrow podcast (Green Arrow): 5 episodes

·       JSA Presents (various Justice Society related shows): 16 episodes

·       The History of Comic Books in 500 Issues: 24 episodes

COMIC BOOKS

I also decided to track how many individual comic books (single monthly issues, or “floppies”) I read in 2025. The total was 467. 30 of those were rereads, the other 437 were new (and mostly newly published). These issues were stretched across approximately 112 different titles from 10 different publishers.

The monthly distribution: 32 in January; 55 in February; 15 in March; 34 in April; 45 in May; 42 in June; 35 in July; 29 in August; 31 in September; 66 in October; 29 in November, and 54 in December.

The genre breakdown:

·       Comedy: 2

·       Fantasy: 25

·       Horror: 44

·       Mystery: 7

·       Sports: 2

·       Science Fiction: 2

·       War: 2

·       Super-Heroes: 383

Summary of Challenges:

366 Short Stories Challenge: 366 of 365 read.

Goodreads Challenge: 123 of 120 read.

Movie Challenge: 3 of 52 watched.

Television Challenge: 63 of 365 watched.

Live Theater Challenge: 11 of 12 shows attended.

2026 Reading Challenges!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here’s hoping for a healthy book-and-story-filled 2026.

I always set myself more than one reading/viewing challenge per year. Some goals carry over from year to year, and some are new. Some are broad and some are themed. And in many cases, books read will help me meet more than one challenge. In 2024 I also started making some formal movies, television, and live theatre viewing challenges.

On the reading side of things, in 2025, I hit my overall book and short story goals but on the viewing side of things, I only got close to my goal for live theater, and majorly dropped the ball on my television and movie viewing goals. Instead of one large annual wrap-up post, I’m going to make a series of shorter posts: one for overall numbers (probably tomorrow), one for books, two for short stories (the first of which will go up on Sunday January 4), one for comic books, one for live theater and other live events (Thursday, January 8), and one for television/movies.

Once again, this year, I’m sticking mostly to the basic challenges:

365 SHORT STORIES CHALLENGE

Every year, I challenge myself to read one short story per day. Some years I keep the pace well, and some years I fall behind and then scramble to catch up (and some years, I catch up and fall behind again, and some years I blow past the goal handily). I’m defining “short story” as anything from flash fiction to novella-length. I am going to once again make an effort to review one or two stories every Sunday in my “Sunday Shorts” feature.

GOODREADS CHALLENGE

Goodreads allows members to set a challenge. In previous years, I’ve set goals ranging from 125 to 150 books. For 2025, I’m setting a goal of 120 to start with (10 books per month), and we’ll see what happens.

MOVIE CHALLENGE

I own a lot of DVDs. (I know, you’re shocked. Shocked!) Every year I say, “This is the year I’m going to make an effort to watch them!” And then, somehow, I … don’t. One year, I did a list of 12 and two alternates as I used to do for the ToBeRead Challenge, called it the ToBeWatched Challenge … and failed it miserably. In 2024, I got about halfway to the goal of 52 movies (an average of one per week). In 2025, not so much. So this year, I’m setting myself the same challenge. This includes movies on DVD, streaming services, and any trips to an actual movie theater (which have become rare for me).

TELEVISION CHALLENGE

Did I mention I own a lot of DVDs? And that I’m subscribed to a lot of streaming services? I did? Well, you won’t be shocked to know that it’s not all about the movies. So I’m setting myself a “TV Series Watch” challenge akin to my Short Story Challenge: an average of one full episode of a television series (regardless of length) for each day in the year, which this year means 365 episodes.

LIVE THEATRE CHALLENGE

I did pretty well with this one in 2025, even though I didn’t manage to post reviews of everything. So I’m continuing the goal for 2026: I want to see at least 1 live theatrical performance per month. Most of them will be in New York City, but I’ll count any play, musical, opera, ballet, or staged reading I see anywhere, regardless of whether it’s fully professional productions, college, community theatre, whatever. (Music concerts, author signings, and conferences/conventions do not count towards this but will be tracked separately.)

COMIC BOOK CHALLENGE

I also own a lot of comic books. I went “cold turkey” on buying new comics about 20 years ago for budget and space reasons. But then in 2018 Seanan McGuire and Saladin Ahmed, two authors whose work I love, started writing various comics for Marvel and thought brought me back into buying monthly comics. And I keep buying more. 2025 was the first year I actually tracked every individual comic book issue (“floppies,” as some people call them) I read, so I’m going to make this an official Challenge for 2026: as with the short stories and the television episodes, I plan to read at least one comic book (new or back issue) for every day of the year … so again, 365 total.

ALPHABET CHALLENGE

I saw at the beginning of 2025 several book bloggers posting about various alphabet challenges: one book title for each letter of the alphabet, one author for each letter of the alphabet. I made a good run at both in 2025 without necessarily making reading decisions based on either, so I think I’m going to do them again in 2026.

 NOVELLA NOVEMBER

I’ve made NovellaNovember (or, as another book blogger on Bluesky coined it, Novellavember) a thing for the past few years. My goal is to promote and discuss novellas and short novels (and even novelettes) throughout the month, including publisher, author and editor interviews. I say every year I’m going to shoot for a novella day, but I think I’ll make that a novella every two days for 2026.

OTHER UNOFFICIAL CHALLENGES

There are a few ongoing (in some cases, sort of life-long, or at least second-half-of-my-life long) challenges that I don’t think I’ve ever written about here. For instance, I’m well on my way to having read everything Bram Stoker ever wrote. Here are those challenges, and I’m going to do my best to create dedicated posts early in the year showing what I’ve already read/watched for each challenge and then update as I go along. Again, these are multi-year challenges:

·       The Complete Bram Stoker Read-Through

·       The Complete Seanan McGuire Read-Through

·       The Complete Silvia Moreno-Garcia Read-Through

·       The Complete Philip Jose Farmer Read-Through

·       The Complete Edgar Rice Burroughs Read-Through

·       The Complete Maurice Broaddus Read-Through

• The Complete Perry Rhodan Read-Through

·       The Complete Dark Shadows Rewatch

·       The Complete Doctor Who Rewatch

·       The Complete Star Trek Rewatch

·       The Complete Planet of the Apes Rewatch

·       The Complete Brother Cadfael Read-Through and Rewatch

·       The Complete A.A. Fair (Cool and Lam series) Read-Through

·       The Complete Marvel Comics 1970s Novels Reread

·       The Complete Hard Case Crime Read-Through

·       The Complete Radium Age of Science Fiction Read-Through

·       The Complete American Mystery Classics Read-Through

·       The Complete Doc Savage Read-Through

·       The Complete Three Investigators Read-Through

·       The Complete Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Girl From U.N.C.L.E. Read-Through and Rewatch

·       The Complete All-Star Squadron Reread

·       The Complete The Invaders (Marvel Comics) Reread

·       The Complete Starman (2000’s DC) Reread

·       The Complete Tomb of Dracula Reread

·       The Complete Micronauts and ROM Reread

·       The Complete Shakespeare Watch (either Live theater or filmed)

·       Read A Book or Story From Every Nation in the World

·       Read a Book From Every State and US Territory

·       Read a Book from Every Canadian Province/Territory

And one of these days I would really like to finish creating a list of every book I remember reading in my life.

ACCOUNTABILITY

So how am I going to hold myself accountable? I’m planning to bring back my monthly Reading RoundUps. (I know, I know … I said this in the 2025 Challenge post and failed miserably at actually doing it. Second time’s the charm?) I’m not going to rename/rebrand because I like the alliterative title (which falls well in line with Series Saturday, Sunday Shorts, and a few other blog series I’m hoping to make regular features again in 2026), but those posts will also track the Viewing challenges.

I would love to hear what YOUR Reading, Writing, or Viewing Challenges are for 2024. Let me know in the comments!

2025 Reading Challenges

I always set myself more than one reading challenge per year. Some carry over from year to year, and some are new. Some are broad and some are themed. And in many cases, books read will help me meet more than one challenge. Last year I also started making some formal movie, television, and live theatre viewing challenges.

On the reading side of things, in 2024, I hit my overall book and short story goals and blew past my non-fiction reading sub-goal, but didn’t complete any of the other reading challenges I set myself. On the watching side of things, I exceeded my goal for live theater, but only hit about 70% of my television goal and slightly less than 50% of my movie-watching goal.

So I decided this year, I’m sticking to the basics:

365 SHORT STORIES CHALLENGE

Every year, I challenge myself to read one short story per day. Some years I keep the pace well, and some years I fall behind and then scramble to catch up (and some years, I catch up and fall behind again, and some years I blow past the goal handily). I’m defining “short story” as anything from flash fiction to novella-length. I am going to once again make an effort to review one or two stories every Sunday in my “Sunday Shorts” feature.

GOODREADS CHALLENGE

Goodreads allows members to set a challenge. In previous years, I’ve set goals ranging from 125 to 150 books. For 2024, I’m setting a goal of 120 to start with (10 books per month), and we’ll see what happens.

MOVIE CHALLENGE

I own a lot of DVDs. (I know, you’re shocked. Shocked!) Every year I say, “This is the year I’m going to make an effort to watch them!” And then, somehow, I … don’t. One year, I did a list of 12 and two alternates as I do for the TBR Challenge, called it the TBW Challenge … and failed it miserably. Last year, I got about halfway to the goal of 52 movies, an average of one per week. So this year, I’m setting myself the same challenge. This includes movies on DVD, streaming services, and any trips to an actual movie theater (which have become rare for me).

TELEVISION CHALLENGE

Did I mention I own a lot of DVDs? And that I’m subscribed to a lot of streaming services? I did? Well, you won’t be shocked to know that it’s not all about the movies. So I’m setting myself a “TV Series Watch” challenge akin to my Short Story Challenge: an average of one full episode of a television series (regardless of length) for each day in the year, which this year means 365 episodes.

LIVE THEATRE CHALLENGE

I did pretty well with this one in 2023, even though I never posted about it (because I posted extraordinarily little here in 2023, but that’s a subject for another post), so I’m making it official for 2024: I want to see at least 1 live theatrical performance per month. Most of them will be in New York City, but I’ll count any play, musical, opera, ballet, or staged reading I see anywhere, regardless of whether it’s fully professional productions, college, community theatre, whatever. (Music concerts, author signings, and conferences/conventions do not count towards this.)

ACCOUNTABILITY

So how am I going to hold myself accountable? I’m planning to bring back my monthly Reading RoundUps. I’m not going to rename/rebrand because I like the alliterative title (which falls well in line with Series Saturday, Sunday Shorts, and a few other blog series I’m hoping to make regular features in 2025), but those posts will also track the Viewing challenges.

I would love to hear what YOUR Reading, Writing, or Viewing Challenges are for 2024. Let me know in the comments!

Reading Round-Up: 2024

Time for my annual round-up of what I read and watched in 2024.

I … did not do well on most of the reading and watching challenges I set for myself for 2024. Even though so many of them overlapped (the Graphic Novel Challenge and Non-Fiction Challenge and TBR Challenge all fed into my Goodreads (Read 120 books) Challenge, for examples). I managed to complete the two “big” reading challenges (120 books, 366 short stories), but didn’t come close on the subsidiary challenges. Nor did I come close on my “watching” challenges, as we’ll see below. I did do well on my “see live theater” challenge, as discussed in yesterday’s post.

BOOKS

I did manage to read 120 books in 2024: 13 hardcovers, 49 softcover/paperbacks, 35 e-books, and 23 audiobooks.

Monthly distribution: 10 in January; 9 in February; 8 in March; 15 in April; 9 in May; 9 in June; 14 in July; 8 in August; 7 in September; 11 in October; 5 in November; and 15 in December.

I read work from approximately 110 different creators (authors and anthology editors mostly, but also adding in graphic novels artists, colorists, and letterers).

Genre Breakdown:

·       Adventure: 4

·       Biography: 1

·       Children’s Books: 3

·       Crime: 2

·       Pop culture analysis: 4

·       Fantasy: 23

·       Historical fiction: 3

·       History: 2

·       Horror: 22

·       Memoirs: 13

·       Mimetic/current day fiction: 3

·       Mixed genre short story collections: 2

·       Mystery: 2

·       Playscripts: 3

·       Romance: 7

·       Science Fiction: 13

·       Spy fiction: 1

·       Superhero: 9

·       Thriller: 1

These were my own rough classifications, and in hindsight I’m not sure why I broke crime fiction, mysteries, spy fiction, and thrillers into separate categories. I was surprised to realize I read a lot more horror than I thought, and fewer memoirs than I thought. And also, for the first year in a while, not a single poetry collection. I am not a big poetry reader, but I usually like to at least try to read a collection or two during National Poetry Month.

STORIES

I did manage to read 366 short stories in 2024 (since 2024 was a leap year), by 200 different authors.

The monthly breakdown: 26 in January; 19 in February; 34 in March; 42 in April; 37 in May; 21 in June; 23 in July; 24 in August; 44 in September; 31 in October; 22 in November, and 43 in December.

46 of those stories were in anthologies (there were quite a few anthologies that I only read a story or two in, though); 7 were on Author Patreons or websites; 6 were in printed chapbooks; 124 were in single-author collections; 175 were in magazines (pretty much all in e-book form); 4 were additional material at the back of a novel; 1 was on a publisher’s website; and 2 were stand-alone e-books.

Genre breakdown:

·       Comedy: 1

·       Crime: 22

·       Fantasy: 109

·       Horror: 118

·       Mimetic/modern-day: 11

·       Mystery: 1

·       Pulp adventure: 4

·       Romance: 6

·       Science Fiction: 92

·       Spy fiction: 1

·       Thriller: 1

Again, I’m surprised that I read a bit more horror than I thought I did. And I’m still not sure why I separated crime, mystery, and thriller into distinct subcategories. With the magazines in particular, I tended to stick to familiar ground: Lightspeed, Nightmare, Clarkesworld, The Dark, and towards the end of the year Beneath Ceaseless Skies a bit more regularly. Towards the end of the year I also realized that I have a lot of anthologies that have been on my shelves a long time and that I will probably never get around to reading in their entirety, so I started just reading a story or two in random anthologies before putting them in the “bring to the used bookstore or donate” boxes.

MOVIES

I didn’t even come close on my “watch 52 movies” challenge. But I did make it to 24, so kind of half-way there.

I had challenged myself to watch more of the several hundred DVDs I own (split between movies and television series). 17 of the 24 movies watched were on DVD. 6 were on streaming services, and 1 was in a ballroom at the Pulpfest convention.

Genre breakdown:

·       Action: 1

·       Biography: 1

·       Documentary: 1

·       Horror: 2

·       Kaiju: 8 (all the Showa Era “Gamera” movies)

·       Musical: 1

·       Mystery: 1

·       Noir: 2

·       Romance: 1

·       Science Fiction: 1

·       Super-Heroes: 3

·       Thriller: 1

These 24 movies were the work of 19 different directors.

TELEVISION

I did a little better on my “watch 366 episodes of television” challenge. I managed 232 distinct episodes across 21 series on 8 different streaming services (plus 4 episodes of Doctor Who watched in full at the Pandorica Restaurant in Beacon NY, which you really should visit if you’re a Doctor Who fan and you’re in the NY/NJ/CT/PA area).

Genre breakdown:

·       Comedy: 3 series

·       Fantasy: 5 series

·       Romance: 1 series

·       Science Fiction: 5 series

·       Spy: 1 series

·       Super-Heroes: 3 series

·       Talk Show: 1 series

·       Variety/Comedy Specials: 2

Summary of Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: 7 of 15 read.

366 Short Stories Challenge: 366 of 366 read.

Goodreads Challenge: 120 of 120 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge: 17 of 52 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: 22 of 12 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: YTD: 2 read/watched.

Movie Challenge: 24 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: 232 of 366 watched.

READING ROUND-UP: January 2024

The first monthly summary of what I’ve been reading, listening to, and watching in 2024!

BOOKS

I read 10 books in January: 5 in print, 5 in e-book format, and 0 in audio format. They were:

1.       What Moves the Dead (Sworn Sword #1) by T. Kingfisher. (E-BOOK)

2.       Phantom on the Scan by Cullen Bunn, Mark Torres, David Sharpe. (PRINT, GRAPHIC NOVEL)

3.       What Feasts at Night (Sworn Sword #2) by T. Kingfisher (PRINT, ARC (publishes February 2024))

4.       Highlands Book One: The Portrait of Amelia by Philipe Aymond. (PRINT, GRAPHIC NOVEL)

5.       Highlands Book Two: The Survivors of Blackwater by Philipe Aymond. (PRINT, GRAPHIC NOVEL)

6.       We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker. (E-BOOK)

7.       Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. (E-BOOK)

8.       Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire. (AUDIOBOOK, REREAD)

9.       The Birds & Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier. (E-BOOK)

10.   Hellstrom: Evil Origins by Gary Freidrich, Herb Trimpe, Don Perlin, Bill Mantlo, and others (PRINT, GRAPHIC NOVEL)

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 366 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) this leap year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

1.       “Five Views of the Planet Tartarus” by Rachael K. Jones, in Lightspeed Magazine #164, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Shadow Films” by Ben Peek.

3.       “Night Desk Duty at the Infinite Paradox Hotel” by Aimee Ogden

4.       “We Shall Not Be Bitter at the End of the World” by David Anaxagoras

5.       “A Saint Between the Teeth” by Sloane Leong

6.       “In the Tree's Hollow” by Lowry Poletti

7.       “Farewell to Faust” by Adam-Troy Castro

8.       “To Be a Happy Man” by Thomas Ha

9.       “The Silver Sea” by Seanan McGuire, on the Author’s Patreon

10.   “Ten Thousand Crawling Children” by R.A. Busby, Nightmare Magazine #136, edited by Wendy N. Wagner

11.   “The Forgetter” by Andrew Snover

12.   “The Birds” by Daphne du Maurier, from The Birds & Other Stories

13.   “Monte Verita” by Daphne du Maurier

14.   “The Apple Tree” by Daphne du Maurier

15.   “The Little Photographer” by Daphne du Maurier

16.   “Kiss Me Again, Stranger” by Daphne du Maurier

17.   “The Old Man” by Daphne du Maurier

18.   “The Carnival” by Richard Chizmar, stand-alone chapbook published by Cemetery Dance

19.   “End Game” by Martin Edwards, stand-alone chapbook published by The Mysterious Bookshop

20.   “Nothing of Value” by Aimee Ogden, from Clarkesworld #208, edited by Neil Clarke

21.   “Down the Waterfall” by Cecile Cristofari

22.   “Willow Wood” by Linda Neihoff, from Beneath Ceaseless Skies #398, edited by Scott H. Andrews

23.   “Home Bread” by R.E. Dukalsky

24.   “Miriam” by Truman Capote, Fantastic #2 (1952)

25.   “The Star Dummy” by Anthony Boucher

26.   “Most of ‘81” by ‘Nathan Burgoine, from the Author’s Website

So that’s 26 short stories in January. A bit less than “1 per day.” (January 31st was, of course, the 31st day of 2024.)

MOVIES

1.       Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), directed by James Gunn (STREAMING, Disney+)

2.       Gamera the Giant Monster (1965), directed by Noriaki Yuasa (DVD)

3.       The Birds (1963), directed by Alfred Hitchcock (DVD)

4.       Gamera vs. Barugon (1966), directed by Shigeo Tanaka and Noriaki Yuasa (DVD)

TELEVISION

·       Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 1, episodes 4 – 8 (5 episodes) (SEASON REVIEW HERE)

·       What If…? Season 2, episodes 2 – 9 (8 episodes)

·       Slow Horses Season 1, episodes 1 – 6 (6 episodes)

·       Slow Horses Season 2, episode 1 (1 episode)

·       A Hero’s Journey: The Making of Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1 episode)

That’s 21 episodes of television, again not quite the “1 per day” I was shooting for.

LIVE THEATER

1.       Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, NYC)

Summary of Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 0 of 14 read.

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month:  26 read; YTD: 26 of 366 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 10 read; YTD: 10 of 120 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge:  This month: 4 read; YTD: 4 of 52 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 0 of 12 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 1  read/watched (“The Birds”); YTD: 1 read/watched.

Movie Challenge: This month: 4 watched; YTD: 4 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: This month: 21 episodes watched; YTD: 21 of 366 watched

Live Theater Challenge: This month: 1 show attended; YTD: 1 of 12 attended.