This could also have been the “holy cow, he actually read a non-fiction book” edition, as well.
The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned To Pay Attention, Master Myself, And Win, Maria Konnikova. Konnikova learns to play poker, and much more besides in what turns out to be a long, strange trip both through the worlds of poker and of herself. Strong candidate for my favorite book of the year so far. Will get a longer review. Read-again factor: already started!
Masters of Space Opera II, Jay Allan. Compilation of six installments from what I assume are all various space opera series. The quality of the individual elements is a bit varied. I thought Duel In The Dark and Rift were the best of the collection, and bought the other two Rift books. Looked into the Blood on the Stars series but wow, there's a ton of books there. Didn't finish The Heirs of Earth or Orbs--the writing just didn't do it for me. First Colony was strong and fun. The Awakening had an interesting premise, although it features one of the most annoying characters I've recently read. So all and all, a good low-cost introduction to some interesting series. Read-again factor: probably not.
Revenge: The Resistance Book 2, Nathan Hystad. Follow-up to the Rift book mentioned above. The first book was stronger, but this was still enjoyable. Hystad does a good plot, and this had some twists I wasn’t expecting. Will do a review of the trilogy when I’m done with the third one. Read-again factor: meh.
Til Valhalla, Richard Fox. Prequel or first volume, I forget which, to the very long and intricate Ember War series (plural). This introduces the core of what goes on to become the Terran Armor Corps, during bitter and seemingly hopeless fighting between Australian territorials and the PLA. I almost ditched this during the first chapter, but the story revived when the Armor arrives. There was not a ton of character development--most of the story is people integrated into giant powered suits of armor either fighting, getting ready to fight or recovering from fighting--but there was enough to give each character distinct contours and make me root for them. (Quietly, of course, since I read this stuff while waiting to fall asleep.) Read-again factor: if I do the whole series, yes.
The detective badge I recognize. The rest of the story is basically set on a dome in the moon or on Earth. This is literally unrelated. Why????
Consequences (Retrieval Artist #3), Kristine Kathryn Rusch. This was, I believe, from a Story Bundle purchase, which is the service which introduced me to KKR. I’ve found her work uneven although generally have enjoyed it, but this was a solid book and good story. One very strong point: it was written so that it could stand alone if it had to or if, like me, you read it not knowing it was a series. According to Goodreads, the series is 20 “primary” and 25 “total” works, so that’s a good thing. Read-again factor: Solid desert island reading list candidate.