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Genres
11genres
312books sorted
Have a favorite genre you like to read? Every book I've reviewed in it is consolidated here, grouped by the rating I gave it — so you can start with the five-star shelf and work down, rather than scrolling a whole year to find the thrillers.
Science Fiction
23 reviewed · 3.8 avg rating★★★★★Five stars
8 books
Book
Rating
Genre
Yesteryear
Caro Claire Burke#2 of 2026
★★★★★#2 of 2026
A "tradwife" and Instagram influencer has cultivated a seemingly idyllic life for herself and family, but it's all upended when she wakes up one day in 1855.
★★★★★
Literature & Fiction Science Fiction Mystery and Thriller
Chain-Gang All-Stars
Nana Kwame Adjei-BrenyahBEST OF2023#3 of 2023
★★★★★BEST OF2023#3 of 2023
Set in a near-future society that feels all too possible, prisoners fight in gladiatorial death matches for a chance at freedom.
★★★★★
Science Fiction
Project Hail Mary
Andy WeirBEST OF2021#3 of 2021
★★★★★BEST OF2021#3 of 2021
A scientist trapped alone in space trying to survive. What worked for The Martian does again and this time might be even better.
★★★★★
Science Fiction
The Last Watch + The Exiled Fleet
J.S. DewesBEST OF2021#5 of 2021
★★★★★BEST OF2021#5 of 2021
A ragtag group of soldiers (and a few criminals) are staffed at the end of the universe. Things are mostly boring...until they're not
★★★★★
Science Fiction
Rubicon
J.S. DewesBEST OF2023#7 of 2023
★★★★★BEST OF2023#7 of 2023
A stand-alone novel unrelated to her "Divide" series, author Dewes elegantly explores immortality, AI, and what it means to be human.
★★★★★
Science Fiction
The Relentless Legion
J. S. Dewes#16 of 2024
★★★★★#16 of 2024
A satisfying conclusion to one of the better sci-fi trilogies I have read, the Sentinels once again try to defy odds to save humanity.
★★★★★
Science Fiction
Scythe
Neal Shusterman#21 of 2025
★★★★★#21 of 2025
Two teenagers are forced to compete to become a Scythe, whose job is to control overpopulation by killing a set number of people each year.
★★★★★
Science Fiction
Silver Elite
Dani Francis#22 of 2025
★★★★★#22 of 2025
A young woman with special powers infiltrates a training program for the military while working undercover for a resistance organization.
★★★★★
Science Fiction Fantasy Romance
★★★★★Four stars
6 books
Book
Rating
Genre
AVAILABLE AUG 4, 2026
The Infinite StateOut Aug 4
Richard Swan#16 of 2026
★★★★★#16 of 2026
A woman attempts to found a fledgling nation to escape the suffocating control of a totalitarian empire in this interesting sci-fi space opera.
★★★★★
Science Fiction
Operation Bounce House
Matt Dinniman#17 of 2026
★★★★★#17 of 2026
A war novel blended with humor and social commentary that pits peace-loving settlers of a planet against an invasion of giant robots intent on killing them.
★★★★★
Science Fiction
The Future
Naomi Alderman#26 of 2023
★★★★★#26 of 2023
Filled as much with philosophy and social commentary as with plot, Alderman envisions a near-future society rocketing toward disaster.
★★★★★
Science Fiction
Antimatter Blues
Edward Ashton#31 of 2023
★★★★★#31 of 2023
The sequel to Mickey7 finds our hero once again trying to find a way to save the colony while somehow avoiding yet another death.
★★★★★
Science Fiction
Sublimation
Isabel J. Kim#38 of 2026
★★★★★#38 of 2026
A thought-provoking sci-fi debut exploring identity and immigration through "instances" where a copy of a person is created when they immigrate to a new country.
★★★★★
Science Fiction
Thunderhead
Neal Shusterman#42 of 2025
★★★★★#42 of 2025
A continuation of the Arc of a Scythe series, the novel picks up where book one ended as the scythedom becomes increasingly divided.
★★★★★
Science Fiction
★★★★★Three stars
5 books
Book
Rating
Genre
The Toll
Neal Shusterman#51 of 2026
★★★★★#51 of 2026
The third and concluding book the "Arc of a Scythe" trilogy answers a myriad of open questions but plods along for much of the story.
★★★★★
Science Fiction
Detour
Jeff Rake, Rob Hart#52 of 2026
★★★★★#52 of 2026
An interesting start to a series, but be warned that this is purely setup for a broader story with no resolution in this first installment.
★★★★★
Science Fiction
The Compound
Aisling Rawle#64 of 2025
★★★★★#64 of 2025
A modern take on Lord of the Flies, centered around a reality TV show, where winning depends on who can be the most self-absorbed and materialistic.
★★★★★
Literature & Fiction Science Fiction
Departure 37
Scott Carson#72 of 2025
★★★★★#72 of 2025
A B-52 bomber that has been missing for over 60 years suddenly returns to U.S. airspace in 2025...and it's carrying a nuclear bomb.
★★★★★
Science Fiction Mystery and Thriller
The Fourth Consort
Edward Ashton#77 of 2025
★★★★★#77 of 2025
A colonizer from Earth is stuck on an alien planet and must unravel the internal politics of the local species while trying to survive
★★★★★
Science Fiction
★★★★★Two stars
4 books
Book
Rating
Genre
Homebound
Portia Elan#59 of 2026
★★★★★#59 of 2026
A multi-timeline story that had me hopeful for something akin to Cloud Cuckoo Land unfortunately sputters to a disjointed and wholly unsatisfying conclusion.
★★★★★
Science Fiction Literature & Fiction
The Ministry of Time
Kaliane Bradley#63 of 2024
★★★★★#63 of 2024
An alternative take on Stranger in a Strange Land; social commentary abounds as an 1847 explorer tries to acclimate to modern society.
★★★★★
Science Fiction Literature & Fiction
Womb City
Tlotlo Tsamaase#65 of 2024
★★★★★#65 of 2024
An unfocused debut that combines elements of Minority Report with a grisly ghost story, an all-powerful being, and more. It's a mess.
★★★★★
Science Fiction
A Psalm for the Wild-Built
Becky Chambers#85 of 2025
★★★★★#85 of 2025
A non-binary monk leaves on a journey to find themself and in the process encounters a robot who is seeking to learn what humans need.
★★★★★
Science Fiction Literature & Fiction
Why this page isn't a single ranking
Each book's rank is its position within the year I read it. That makes it directional, not absolute: the best book of a thin year and the fifth-best of a strong one can't be stacked against each other honestly. So these are grouped by the rating I gave them, which is comparable across years, and ordered within each group by how they placed in their own year. Where I have ranked an author's books against each other, that list says so and shows the numbers.
Want more like these?
One email on the first of every month with a summary and rating of each book reviewed over the past 30 days, and a look at where the year's ranking stands.