ladybusiness | Sidetracks - January 23, 2025

Sidetracks is a collaborative project featuring various essays, videos, reviews, or other Internet content that we want to share with each other. All past and current links for the Sidetracks project can be found in our Sidetracks tag. You can also support Sidetracks and our other work on Patreon.

Anna

1. These needlefelted books are so cute!

Renay

2. Fantasy Magazine is back! I shared this last week, but I saw a a recent announcement that they made it a quarter of the way to their subscriber goal. They need 335 total to survive. Getting all the way there from the jump isn't possible (they'll need time to publish and let some discoverability work for them), but I'll probably keep sharing their announcements just in case it might reach someone new.

3. Last week I shared my 2020 Redux book list, a list of books I'm anticipating that were first published in 2020. I asked other people for their standout books from 2020 over on BlueSky. Here are the ones that weren't already on my list:

City of a Thousand Feelings by Anya Johanna DeNiro
The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood
Mazes of Power by Juliette Wade
Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher
Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Vampire Slaying by Grady Hendrix
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Order Of The Pure Moon Reflected In Water by Zen Cho
A Ghostly Request by Krista Ball
A Wizard's Guide To Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
The Baron Of Magister Valley by Steven Brust
The Vanished Queen by Lisbeth Campbell
Doors of Eden by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Hierarchies by Ros Anderson
Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Seventh Perfection by Daniel Polansky
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee
Seven of Infinities by Aliette de Bodard
Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

The ones that jumped out at me were The Vanished Queen by Lisbeth Campbell and City of a Thousand Feelings by Anya Johanna DeNiro, which I had never heard of before.

4. I've been subscribed to Kate Elliott's Patreon for a while, and it's full of great content, especially for writers. But this year, she's publishing a brand new story to her page called dragonsea. The first part is out and there's a map (I love a map). This project reminds me a lot of the old-style forums/mailing lists/email lists/blogs where we all did fanfic/RP/original stuff in big groups back in the day. Very nostalgic.

5. Nerds of a Feather are publishing their recommendation lists, and there's always something good to be discovered. The ones up as of the Sidetracks deadline are: Fiction, Visual Works, Individual, Institutional Categories, and Best Poem.

The Poetry category is just for this year, and is the special Hugo the con is giving out. I really enjoy how the different cons use their special category to do interesting things. Seattle apparently has a thriving poetry community, and this is a way to honor that. I hope this continues!

6.ICE Watch Programs Can Protect Immigrants in Your Neighborhood — Here’s What to Know

7. Red Cards

8. You don't understand. I'm obsessed.

Watch on YouTube

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From:

sophia_sol

If you're interested in adding more 2020 books, here are some of my stand-out SFF novels and novellas that aren't on either of your lists yet, with links to my reviews. I've put a star next to the ones I particularly loved.