Jonathan and Gary kick off 2026 with no guests, but with the sort of wide-ranging ramble that some listeners seem to enjoy, and that others probably gave up on years ago. We talk about some books due in the new year, especially story collections by Samantha Mills, Amal El-Mohtar and others, how story collections can contribute to an author’s career, and whether it’s necessary to read the stories in the order in which the author presented them. But we also get discuss re-reading old favorites, whether Australian or UK authors get a fair shake in the US these days, and what our listeners would like to hear about in the new year. Feel free to offer ideas, comments, and suggestions at Coodestreet (@) gmail.com.

For our year-end discussion of 2025 books, we’re joined by Locus reviewers Ian Mond and Alex Pierce, and distinguished critic and novelist James Bradley. As usual, we mention a lot of authors and titles, and probably forget to mention many deserving others. But you’ll no doubt find some suggestions you hadn’t thought of, and some of our usual digressions about familiar questions of genre, literary ambition, and books that at least some of us think have been overlooked.

Alex's list

• Adrian Tchaikovsky, Shroud
• Claire North, Slow Gods
• Darkly Lem, Transmentation | Transgression
• EJ Swift, When There Are Wolves Again
• Alastair Reynolds, Halcyon Years
• Emily Tesh, The Incandescent
• The Isle in the Silver Sea, Tasha Surii

Ian's list

• Mark Danielewski, Tom’s Crossing
• Alex Pheby, Waterblack
• Isaac Fellman, Notes from a Regicide
• Nnedi Okorafor, Death of the Author
• Nick Mamatas, Kalivas!

James's list

• Claire North, Slow Gods
• EJ Swift, When There Are Wolves Again
• Laila Lalami, The Dream Hotel
• Nina Allan, A Granite Silence
• Sarah Hall, Helm
• Catherine Chidgey, The Book of Guilt.

Gary's list

• Alix Harrow, The Everlasting
• Laila Lalami, The Dream Hotel
• Natalia Theodoridou, Sour Cherry
• R.F. Kuang, Katabasis
• Silvia Moreno-Garcia, The Bewitching

Jonathan's list

• Alix E. Harrow, The Everlasting
• EJ Swift, When There Are Wolves Again
• Emily Tesh, The Incandescent
• Nina Allan, A Granite Silence
• Silvia Park, Luminous

After a very busy end of the year, that's the final episode for 2025. See you all in early 2026 with something new! And thank you to Alex, Ian, and James for making time to talk to us. We hope you enjoy the episode.

E.J. Swift's sixth novel, When There Are Wolves Again, is one of the standout science fiction novels of 2025. For the final instalment of the Coode Street Advent Calendar for 2025, Jonathan chats with Emma about what she has been reading and would recommend, the writing and publication of When There Are Wolves Again, her holiday reading, and what she has coming up next.

As always, our thanks to Emma for making time to chat with us. Our thanks also to everyone who has taken part in the Advent Calendar. We hope you enjoy this and all of the other episodes.