Reader's Forecast

Feeling caught between a rock and an alternative reality? Don't we all?! As a blustery noreaster barrels down on the east coast, so is a confusing combo of alterantive reality, scifi, historical fic, and history literature exploring heavy topics of immigration, ancestry, war, first contact, dual timeline mysteries, and death, including … a potential mixup of a couple going to Cloud 6 instead of 9?...

Batten down the hatches as a hurricane is whirling through with this nightmarish and apocalytic collection of literature, featuring 3 debut authors and a collection of horror, alternative reality, end times, mystery, and humorous satire. Fear not, however, as clear skies eventually arrive with a cross-country road trip and the comedy of an actress trying not to write the memoire she previously pro...

Blustery stormy weather breaks in the week with a part-history, part-business novel exploring economics from the Great Depression to the 2008 FInancial Crisis. Two psyops — one a lit fic and the other a sci fi thriller featuring a self-driving car — explore death, grief, and loss before diving into a WWI historical fic involving an unlikely spy setting: your local library. With one debut author an...

Pack your umbrellas for a week practically full of rain and storms, ranging from animal dark fantasy and scifi novels reflecting on humans and our humanity to three women's fiction exploring love, loss, and family. Three debut authors balance the inclusion of three war era historical fiction novels — one following a Jewish barman in Nazi-occupied Paris (based on a true story), one featuring two Ja...

Time travelers break out through time in showers of time-wimey storms from time traveling agencies that promised safe trips to the past as we explore generational stories of farming through the Great Recession and scientific breakthroughs in farming. We will have fun with a satirical dinner party and see the rainbow through a murder mystery. And if that doesn’t scratch your reading itch, there is...

Here we go: exploring tangled histories and where to fantasize them. Should history be fantasized in Hong Kong, Japan, the USA, Afghanistan, Italy, a fictional land, or elsewhere? Wherever we go, we’re sure to run into stormy weather with dark high fantasy in fictional land, a paranormal murder mystery in the USA, and a historical fiction in Hong Kong. Lest you believe the lies that our skies are...

Choose: a mystery crime writer who must solve a murder with an imaginary detective, a historical fantasy involving magic and the queens of Henry VIII, or romantic sci fi graphic novel of a teen who finds ancient fashion clothes in the depths of the submerged NYC that grant access to the rich upriver? Either way, you’re guaranteed a fun time as we explore new worlds and new civilizations to boldly...

Cloud heists getting you down in this era of the data empire? What does an astronaut have to do with an authoritarian Romanian regime in 1989? Don’t want to “make nice” with the Cloak and Dagger Club? Don’t worry! All of this hot and humid weather’s got nothing on this forecast’s selection of books, featuring a cloud heist thriller, a golden age murder mystery club, pioneering women, an assassin w...

Heat domes, thunderstorms, and sunshine — oh gee wiz! What is coming of this world? It’s almost apocalyptically cozy! Travel with the host through apocalyptic African American sci fi topping off a trilogy to a romantasy starting a new one like Throne of Glass. We explore the dramas of Death living and loving among us before escaping into the cool summer nights of the Disco era. Come with the Reade...

Ever wonder what happens when a classic literary hero becomes a time traveler? Are you curious what sentient moss would think and do? What would it be like to live forever and watch each of your romances end in the ever eventual death of each mortal suitor? This week’s forecast examines multiple genre-bending story scenarios, including a time traveling Jane Eyre, a smart moss serving as the brain...

Pull out your umbrellas for this downpour of debuts — because there are six of them out of a total of nine authors! Reader’s Forecast packs historical, fantasy, sci-fi, detective mysteries, thrillers, and more into this full episode. Whether it’s a modern romantic fairy tale or a raccoon private investigator, this forecast features a book for you. Click play to find out which book is your best mat...

Slow your summer roll with this cozy collection of history and fast fiction. What if Henry VIII and his queens lived in an epic fantasy world with dragons? What if a mother was secretly working as a paid assassin? What if an alien signal sparked the world to change? Explore your humanity and our very existence through these “what-if” novels involving historical fantasy, sci-fi, romance, history, a...

Ready for an exciting summer? Get ready for a Reader’s Forecast full predominantly of flavors of science fiction, including multiple sci-fi thrillers, mysteries, timebending, and more! There will be thunder; there will be screams; and there will be laughs. But, when I’m done, there won’t be any more ice cream, because the heat is rising and the books are opening… Three debut authors and a touch of...

Prepare for a week of storms, brusk winds, and lustrous lightning with a thriller, heist, and legal drama that cede the way to sunshine and rainbows with comedy and romance. This week’s forecast features mix of genres ranging from thriller to science and from sci-fi to historical fantasy and from historical fiction to humor. We’ll explore the culture of animal kingdoms, hunt for unicorns in a Fren...

Frigid horror freezes the beginning of the week but gives way to two sci-fi novels. Though, one requires you to be up to date on your spy craft while the other features a cyborg dog with a smart mouth. There’s fantastical heat and magic happening deep in rural South Dakota and black romance is in the air as much as aromanticism. Is it possible to be romantic when aromantic? We’ll find out in this...

Summer may not be the time of ghostly humans outside October, but it’s perfect for ghostly horses with all that heat outside. Perhaps, New York City brings to mind swearing people, but apparently, warblers are just as likely to swear with all this wretchedly hot, humid, and stormy weather. Expect a vibrant episode from the blues of the Pacific to the colorful language of animals in NYC. Perhaps on...

High temperature thrills and change crash out early in the week, giving way to the coldness of a space opera, but not to worry, as warmth returns with romantasy and a genre-questioning new fiction novel from a debut author. This week features 8 books — of which one might be for you! Stay tuned — 8 new books are headed your way in this week’s Reader’s Forecast! This podcast was not sponsored nor el...

Grab your umbrellas, weather radios, and ghost traps because, not only is there a deluge headed our way in this forecast, there is a ghost haunting us. Ghost author or ghost writer? Perhaps it’s better not to ask it as it lurks in this episode and brings a bonus novel it wrote. Catch the ghost before the rains finish falling in this week’s Reader’s Forecast! This podcast was not sponsored nor elic...

Spring ushers in new flowers — queerly growing from books! If that isn’t strange enough, there is a science fiction novel that goes off all dystopian on this couple of 40 years partnered and a humorous lit fit will drop the mic for all time! Two debut authors bring the storms while established authors bring the calm. Tune down with me in this week’s Reader’s Forecast to enjoy the temperate climate...

A space spy, a food journalist, and a faerie anthropologist walk into a bar… is probably not a good joke to be telling, but it makes for a heck of a hook! Where space operas, romantasies, and beachie murder mysteries collide is a forecast for the week of 21 April 2026 — promising to be full of adventure, danger, thrills, murder, and romance. Join Sam Vacik for this week’s most interesting book fin...

Cozy romantasy, curious historical fiction, and humorous litfic ring in the new week, but trouble brews as the week gives way to a book storm steeped with mystery, horror, and dual-timeline fantasy novels! Will our heroes this week find love, brave time, or solve the mystery before it’s too late? Find out if one of these 8 books is for you in this week’s Reader’s Forecast! This podcast was not spo...

Tumbling into this week’s Reader’s Forecast arrives four debut authors amidst bestsellers! Whether the book is being beset by book witches in a fantasy, exploring the sadness of small appliances, or subtly folding space, there is a genre for anyone and everyone. Join me in exploration of mystery, historical fantasy, a biography, and more as you relax and unwind with this episode featuring mostly c...

Do you enjoy the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and history? Have you ever read a novel where these genres blend together? There’s a new book out this week that blends all three, which perhaps should be call Historical Science Fantasy or HiSciFa. This episode features science fiction, fantasy, historical fantasy, historical science fiction, and blends thereof — some of which have a dash of ro...

Every so often there is a week filled with horror… novels, that is! For our horror, thriller, and suspense enthusiasts out there, this week is full of interesting thrills, but don’t take my word for it. Check out this week’s must reads, including some literary fiction, short stories, and romance to lighten the end of this week’s Reader’s Forecast! This podcast was not sponsored nor elicited. All b...

Get ready for a turbulent week as this week’s Reader’s Forecast features a week starting with dark and deep nonfiction, eventually giving way to sunny, warm literary fiction. This week’s got a book for all, whether you’re a searcher of history, a lover of horror, a witch with a twitch, or an explorer of the stars. Stay tuned and see if one of this week’s books is for you! This podcast was not spon...