Hah! The first Recommended Reading List that’s been on time in months (years?). I finished it in December, and am putting it up as soon as I can. Feels good. All of this, except for this little part, was written in December as I finished my reading. Now onto finishing the last 2 from 2025…and working on January. So…here’s December:
Lots of reading in December, some of which surprised the heck out of me. See below.
It has taken me a while to get to my annual holiday reading. I’m more in the mood for Christmas crime stories than I am for Christmas romance, and unfortunately 90% of my TBR shelf is romance. So I tried to finish a cozy anthology that I started last year. The second novella had no setting. None, zip, zero, and as a result, I didn’t care about the characters. (It’s a series story, and the author assumed I knew everything she did.) Then I tried the last novella from an author I like, and the story is about the abduction of a precocious five-year-old. Um…no, thank you. I did skip ahead twice, though. The first time to see if the kid lived (he did, but his stepfather didn’t) and the second time to see if the murder was the dominant part of the story or the kid was. The kid was. No, thank you. Not why I’m reading Christmas stories…although I will read Christmas noir if it’s short or doesn’t involve children.
As a result, I had to order some holiday books, and they didn’t arrive until the last week before Christmas. So I didn’t do as much holiday reading as usual. Instead, I read some thrillers, including the Kelley Armstrongs, below. Not exactly the most cheerful reading, but very good nonetheless.
December, 2025
Armstrong, Kelley, City of the Lost, Minotaur Books, 2016. I have had this book on my TBR pile for so long that the pages on the spine are foxed from being in the sun. For some reason, I thought this was fantasy and I have to be in a really specific mood to read fantasy. Then, one afternoon, when I was feeling frustrated at the quality of the new releases I was reading, I picked this up, read the back, frowned, and realized this wasn’t the book I thought it was. (These are not the droids you’re looking for… just flashed through my mind. Whoops!) It’s a thriller, but it shares a lot in common with sf. An isolated town where people go to hide out? I’m so there! Why did I not read this when I got it?
The book is powerful and suspenseful, which is what I ask of my thrillers. I really did not know how it would turn out, which is rare for me. The read was so enjoyable that I picked up the next book…and it will not sit on my shelf for nine years. I promise.
Armstrong, Kelley, A Darkness Absolute, Minotaur Books, 2017. As promised, I didn’t wait nine years for the second book in the Rockton series. I read it after the McDermid (below). What I learned? Boy oh boy, is that title accurate. This book is very dark. I couldn’t put it down, but ouch! Dark. And the ending. Perfect. Set up by the title and the events and a gut-punch. Well done. But I’m waiting a few days before I start the next one. These are not bingeable for me.
Dickson, Carter, “Persons or Things Unknown,” “A Traditional Christmas,” Murder Under The Christmas Tree, edited by Cecily Gayford, IPS Profile Books, 2017. I had forgotten what a good writer Carter Dickson is. The structure of his fiction could have led to the way that Mick Herron writes. (I’m not sure of the influences, but I see similarities.) This story is an old-fashioned puzzle mystery, told in layers–narrated by a someone who speaks for a group, listening to a story, hearing some parts read, and yet it’s extremely compelling. It also poses a side question to the reader: would you sleep in that room at the top of the stairs? (Spoiler alert: I sure as hell wouldn’t.)
Glennie, Jay, “How Quentin Tarantino Bent Hollywood To His Will To Make ‘Once Upon A Time in Hollywood,'” I cannot tell you how much I love the ending of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. It is my favorite Tarantino film by a long stretch and speaking of the impact of real-life murder (see below), the Tate-LaBianco murders, known as the Manson Murders, had a huge impact on my life. This film, which is a fairy tale, made me (makes me) really happy. This article is an excerpt from a super-expensive coffee table book that I may have to get. It’s about the making of the movie and what Tarantino had to do (and palms that had to be greased) to make the authentic-looking movie. It’s tough to do location shoots. It’s even tougher when you want to remake eight city blocks of one of the most famous and busy cities in the world. Fascinating reading, that did the right thing (at least for me). It made me want to buy the book.
Hibberd, James, “‘I Don’t Have To Be A Leading Man,'” The Hollywood Reporter, September 10, 2025. Great interview with 73-year-old Mark Hamill who is having a career renaissance. He’s in four different films this year, and he’s in prominent roles. This interview talks about the ups and downs of a long career, the disappointments that happen even after success, and about being pigeon-holed. Definitely worth reading.
Hibberd, James, “See No Evil,” The Hollywood Reporter, September 18, 2025. Written after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, this piece hit my reading list the day before Rob and Michele Reiner were murdered. I’m writing this on the day their son was charged with the crime. Hibberd’s piece is about the way that viewing the actual violent act, as so many did with Kirk’s assassination, has a traumatic impact on the viewer. I immediately thought of my childhood. When I was little, my parents had the news on every night. I saw the Vietnam war footage over the dinner table, including the burning of an entire group of Vietnamese farmers in a hut (I am not looking this up), a fire set by U.S. soldiers. Not counting a child being burned alive, the Manson murders (and the pictures of the crime scenes), the attempted assassinations of President Gerald Ford, assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, and oh, so much more. It is the burning of people, particularly children, that I can’t unsee, and I know has a lot to do with my aversion to reading about children in danger. Also, the early school shootings (God I hate the word “early” there), one of which occurred in Oregon, and I couldn’t get away from the coverage. Traumatic impact for any of us who are human. Sometimes the videos just scroll whether we want them to or not. Whenever I log onto a news site, they appear, and I’ve trained myself not to look at them. I survived more than a decade as a broadcast journalist, and I’m still not over the Challenger disaster which I had to cover stem to stern on the day it happened. I am always empathetic with the journalists, and I sure do understand why there are so many failed marriages among my former colleagues as well as so much burnout. This piece cites experts on the impact to all of us who see them. It’s worth reading and thinking about. (Sigh.)
Las Vegas Weekly, September 18-24, 2025. I wanted to call this the “What-If” edition, but they didn’t exactly do that, so I’m not. I have two copies of this, one in my office and the other in our library. This is thoughtful and a lot of fun. The topics include the building of the Hoover Dam, the family friendly era of the city, Howard Hughes’s vast impact, and the atomic age. You can read this for free on their site, and I recommend doing so. Brock Radke’s piece on the Golden Knights actually made me laugh out loud in recognition with this little passage:
We will always and forever be loyal fans. We buy and wear all the gear. We take our seats in the Fortress every year. And we shout “knight” during the National Anthem, even when we’re at a different sporting event. We are Vegas Born, even if we’re not literal natives, because we were born again with this team. [emphasis mine]
Yes, we all shout “knight” in the “Gave proof thro’ the [k]night that our flag was still there…” section, which makes me laugh every single time and confuses anyone who is not from here. It’s one of the many weird Vegas traditions that only locals know. And now you do too. Read this, though. It’s good analysis and alternate history. (And if you don’t know the history of the Knights and why they are essential to the city (the born-again line), this outlines it for you.)
McDermid, Val, “A Traditional Christmas,” Murder Under The Christmas Tree, edited by Cecily Gayford, IPS Profile Books, 2017. A delightful short story that riffs off Rebecca. The beginning even echos the beginning of that famous novel. The collection it’s in is for die-hard holiday mystery fans and there is no ebook edition (at least in the States), but it’s worth getting just for this story.
McDermid, Val, Silent Bones, Atlantic Crime, 2025. The latest in McDermid’s Karen Pirie series caught me up short a bit. I felt like it didn’t have any depth, until I realized I was the one who lacked the depth. This is about Scottish politics and I’m pretty sure if I were more versed in it, I would understand who, exactly, some of these characters are supposed to represent. But I love her work, so I continued on and by the middle of the book, it caught fire for me. The ending convinces me that it is about Scottish politics (with a dose of humor: the Pirie series is a TV streaming series these days). I think you’ll really like this if you’re familiar with Scotland. Otherwise, it’s merely a good read.
Millman, Ethan, “The Hitmaker Hits Back,” The Hollywood Reporter, October 1, 2025. You might not know Justin Tranter’s name but if you listen to current music, you’re familiar with his work. He’s a hit-making songwriter. This far-ranging interview examines what he does, how he does it, and what he sees for the future. There’s a lot in here about the licensing of songs and the payments for songwriters, and it’s quite worthwhile for fiction writers to read this. As I always say, music is ahead of us on trends, and this is not a good one. Take a look.
Sancton, Julian, “The Voices In Your Head,” The Hollywood Reporter, November 19, 2025. The Hollywood Reporter does a series of roundtables throughout the year. This one is for podcasters. It features folks who started their own all the way to those whose podcasts were afterthoughts for their larger program. Great business startup things here, but the best quote is the end quote from Keith Morrison of Dateline. He says,
I’ve been telling stories for almost 60 years, but every year, some different thing happens in the way they’re consumed, but you still tell them.
Yeah. I needed to hear that right now.
