As we’re staring down the last three months of the year, I already know that I want to prioritize catching up on sequels. That was a fairly recent topic for a Tuesday Top 10 post though, so instead I’m going to focus on new-to-me reads that I’d like to read before we ring in 2027. Typically the winter months see me moving more into comics and romances, but I don’t want to get totally disconnected from reading queer speculative fiction either.
I will happily say that I have read (or attempted to read, in the case of An Accident of Dragons) every book I promised to read in 2026, so I don’t need to worry about anything on that front. However, will I be cramming all of these plus the sequels I want to try to prioritize plus wherever my mood takes me? Probably not. Let’s consider this list an aspirational one, rather than the most realistic portrait of what you can expect to see me reviewing in the near However, if I keep saying that I can read every book, it’ll come true someday.
- Kid Wolf and Kraken Boy by Sam J Miller: a novella following a boxer and tattoo artist in 1920s USA. Not well known at all, but consensus from those who have is that it’s incredible. I’m surprised I didn’t read it back during my July readathon, to be honest.
- Sword Dance by AJ Demas:I don’t know a ton about this other than that there’s some romance in a Mediterranean historical setting, along with some gender fuckery. It’s interested me for a while, and it’s time to pull the trigger.
- Saga by Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples: this 1000 page behemoth as been sitting on my shelf for more than three years at this point. I’m scared, I’m excited, and this one is one of the institutions ins speculative fiction comics.
- Thirty Love by Tom Vellner: this was supposed to be the year of tennis romance for me, but I’ve only read one! At first my library hold time made it seem like this wouldn’t be possibly until 2027, but the wait time has shrunk rapidly!
- Absolute Martian Manhunter by Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez: this is one of the comics of 2025 that had a bunch of people buzzing, and won top billing at the Eisner awards. Looks a bit avant garde for the superhero genre, which always excites me.
- The Halls of the Dead by SM Hallow: a necromantic horror/romance hybrid from my favorite author of 2025. This is a library checkout that is pushing on overdue. Very excited for it, and I’m hopeful that I love it as much as How to Survive this Fairytale.
- The End and the Beginning by Poppy Dale: found this book from stumbling upon one of Australia’s most active Goodreads users, who just so happens to focus on gay fiction. This looks like a heartbreaking romance tracing a marriage through cancer. Hell, the first line of the blurb is If you knew the end was coming, would you still want to begin? Tissues will be on hand.
- We Call them Giants by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans: look at that cover! This was an impulse buy on my end as I was looking for YA comics that I could use as teaching tools. It’s very short (100 pages) which means I could run it in 2 class periods. Otherwise I’ll admit I’m flying a bit blind on this one. I think it got recommended to me on the graphic novels subreddit?
- The Seep by Chana Porter: what better to read during the month of October other than a book about aliens who grant wishes, and one woman’s wish to be reborn as a baby, despite her wife’s objections. Seems like a great book to chew on, and I’m jazzed for it. I was really hoping it would have been picked as a bookclub option for one of the (too many) I participate in, but Light From Uncommon Stars got picked instead. Considering that’s a masterpiece, I couldn’t be too mad.
- Nausica and the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miazaki: It’s a classic, and I loved the movie! I’ve heard the manga is even better, if a bit text heavy. Bring on the weird bugs!
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
