Pile by the Bed reviews The Watch by Emily Smith a twisty post-apocalyptic tale that is much more than it first appears.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon, a heatwarming story of a plucky vacuum cleaner and fellow appliances who try to save their humans in an AI-controlled future.

Pile by the Bed reviews Sublimation by Isabel J Kim a science fiction novel that uses a mind-bending premise to consider iddes of individuality, agency, autonomy, homecoming and legacy.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett the third book in his excellent Shadows of the Leviathan series featuring investigators Ana Dolabra and Dinios Kol.

Pile by the Bed reviews Contrapposto by Dave Eggers a sprawling American novel about art and artists that follows two characters from childhood to old age.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead the final book in his Harlem crime trilogy bringing his main character, fence Ray Carney into the 1980s.

Pile by the Bed reviews After the Fall by Edward Ashton which imagines a post alien invasion Earth in which humans have been bred to be servile.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Unicorn Hunters by KAtherine Arden historical fantasy that reminagines the life of Anne of Brittany only with unicorns and fae beings.

Pile by the Bed reviews Heaven’s Graveyard by Grace Cutris, a follow up to her fantasy novel Idolfire but set in a future time when the events in that novel are considered to be mythology and children’s stories.

Pile by the Bed reviews Absence by Andrew Dana Hudson an exploration of loss, grief and belief set in a world in which people are mysteriously disappearing.

Pile by the Bed reviews Foundling Fathers by Meg Elison, a satirical novella that takes on America’s foundational mythology.

Pile by the Bed reviews My Name was Gerry Sass debut crime fiction by Tiffany Hanssen, very much in the style of the Coen Brothers, which follows the aftermath of the killing of a small-time criminal in small town America.

Pile by the Bed reviews Detour by Jeff Rake and Rob Hart a puzzlebox science fiction story about a mission to Saturn’s moon of Titan that feels very much like it was written to be a TV series and ends on multiple cliffhangers.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Killing Spell by Shay Kauwe a debut fantasy novel that explores the relationship of magic and language from the perspective of a Hawaiian magic user.

Pile by the Bed reviews Ode to the Half-Broken by Suzanne Palmer a tale of a robot and his rag tag group of friends trying to stop a new conflict between humans and machines.

Pile by the Bed reviews Your Behavior Will be Monitored by Justin Feinstein a day-after-tomorrow exploration of AI.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Rabbit Test and Other Stories by Samantha Mills, a collection of diverse speculative fiction short stories anchored around the multi-award winning title story.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Palaces of the Crow by Ray Naylet the story of a group of children taking refuge in a Lithuanian forest during World War II and their relationship with the crows there.

Pile by the bed reviews The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean a hsitorical urban fantasy set in Hong Kong in the 1970s and drawing on Asian history and mythological traditions.

Pile by the Bed reviews Radiant Star by Ann Leckie, a fun stand alone novel set on a small planet in her Imperial Radch universe.