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“What Song for Christmas?” The Joyful Silliness of Nativity 2: Danger in the...
Welcome to Close Reads! In this series, Leah Schnelbach and guest authors dig into the tiny, weird moments of pop culture—from books to theme songs to viral internet hits—that have burrowed into our...
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A Definitive Ranking of Rifftrax’s Holiday Shorts
Over the years Rifftrax’s holiday offerings have become a big part of my December media habits. Which led, naturally, to wanting to make them battle for supremacy in my heart. Here is a ranking of as...
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Why I Started a Home Lending Library
I’ve always been a voracious reader. During my Midwestern childhood summers, my sister and I would even compete to see who could finish the most pages between the end of one school year and the start...
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13-ish Times Aliens Learned the True Meaning of Christmas
Lots of TV series decide they need a little Christmas come December, but they’re not quite sure how to do it. Do you talk about the big Jesus-shaped elephant in the room? Do you just focus on Santa? Do...
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The Memorable Books We’ve Received as Gifts
The right book can stay with you forever, especially one given as a thoughtfully chosen gift. Whether it’s your first childhood foray into fantasy, or a new adventure found later in life, these are the...
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Merry Christmas From the Void: Revisiting Lovecraft’s Holiday Poems
Today we’re digging into the archives of the Lovecraft reread, with a look back at three seasonal poems from H.P. himself: “Christmas,” “Festival,” and a holiday greeting to Frank Belknap Long’s cat....
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How Do You Measure a Year in Reading?
It is the season for a lot of things, and one of them is people bemoaning the fact (though “fact” seems a bit like the wrong word here) that they didn’t read enough books this year. “Enough” in this...
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Always Winter, But Never Christmas: Santa Claus in Narnia
Well, my friends, it is winter here where I live and Christmas is well on its way. The trees are up (we have two, a tradition that started because my family fought over which one we should cut down),...
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Storytelling Lessons From Mister Rogers
After more than forty years, I still maintain that the greatest moment in the history of television took place on February 6, 1980. That day, in episode #1468 of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Fred...
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6 SFF Movies That Are So Bad They’re Good
Movies that are known for being so bad, they’re good form a loose genre, but it is one that can be hard to define. Sometimes these films are classed as guilty pleasures or cult classics, but...
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5 Recently Completed SFF Series
Among life’s many pleasures is that little thrill one gets on completing a project, whether it is placing the last piece into a jigsaw puzzle, sliding the final book into its assigned place on a...
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11 Oddball Holiday Classics to Seek Out This Season
First, I should admit that I’m a sucker for a lot of holiday standards, from The Grinch and Peanuts to Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman. I adore both White Christmas and National Lampoon’s Christmas...
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I, Cthulhu, or, What’s A Tentacle-Faced Thing Like Me Doing In A Sunken City...
Please enjoy what has become a quiet holiday tradition in the Tor.com offices: the reading of Neil Gaiman’s original story: “I, Cthulhu, or, What’s A Tentacle-Faced Thing Like Me Doing In A Sunken City...
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The “Plotter vs. Pantser” Writing Divide Has Been Exaggerated
When it comes to outlining vs. improvising, I’ve found that we all do the same steps in a different order. Many writing conversations (whether on panels, in blog posts, etc.) discuss a plotter vs....
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10 Great SFF Novellas and Novelettes
Did you know that thousands of speculative fiction books are published every year? Did you also know that although most are in the 300-400 page range, books can be as hefty as a doorstopper or as brief...
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The Striking Geology of The Wheel of Time
Of all the things I love about The Wheel of Time, it wasn’t until my most recent reread of the series that I truly noticed the striking geology of Robert Jordan’s world, and how it’s incorporated into...
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Five Stories About Embracing Found Family
Some of our favorite SFF protagonists tend to form their own circles, building communities with those that love them for who they are. Around the holidays, these stories offer a gentle reminder that...
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Comfort Reading With Comfort Food
Throughout COVID, I’ve written a lot about books. However, I’ve not yet written about something that has equally sustained me: instant ramen. Reading and ramen have been an ongoing part of my life....
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5 Fantasy Cafes I’d Love To Visit
Sometimes, our favorite fantasy characters need a break—an escape from the woes of brutal, unforgiving worlds and a safe space to ruminate on life, or simply exist in peaceful solitude. Or perhaps...
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How Do You Decide What to Read Next
You’ve turned the last page of your book. Maybe you read the acknowledgements, the author bio, reread the blurbs on the back now that you have more context for them. Maybe you let it fall heavily on...
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