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Series: Five Books About... Archives - Reactor

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Five Books About...

Guest authors curate lists of five books centered on a theme — a common subgenre, a shared trope, an unusual character trait, a specific plot point, or whatever else sparks their imagination!

Latest

Photo of a brown bear in a clearing

Bears in the Woods: Eight SFF/H books with Ursine Characters

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Comment number: 15
detail from the cover of A Philosophy of Thieves

Six High Tech Heists That Defy the Odds

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Comment number: 10
Photo of a decorative white skull sitting on top of a book

Treading the Veil: Five Books Featuring Encounters With Death and the Dead

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Comment number: 6
Photo of a model office with several workstations and model workers

Five Books With the Worst and Weirdest Office Jobs

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Comment number: 9
detail from the cover of The Splinter in the Sky

Five SFF Books About Searching for a Missing Sibling

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Comment number: 1
Photo of a brown bear in a clearing

Bears in the Woods: Eight SFF/H books with Ursine Characters

By
Comment number: 15
detail from the cover of A Philosophy of Thieves

Six High Tech Heists That Defy the Odds

By
Comment number: 10
Photo of a decorative white skull sitting on top of a book

Treading the Veil: Five Books Featuring Encounters With Death and the Dead

By
Comment number: 6
Photo of a model office with several workstations and model workers

Five Books With the Worst and Weirdest Office Jobs

By
Comment number: 9
detail from the cover of The Splinter in the Sky

Five SFF Books About Searching for a Missing Sibling

By
Comment number: 1
Detail from the cover of Bitterblue; art by Kuri Huang

Five SFF Books With Abilities You Absolutely Do Not Want

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Comment number: 1
Photo of a red masquerade eye mask, red beaded necklaces, and glitter heart decorations

Five Fantasy Books Where the Love Interest’s Face Is Hidden

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Comment number: 2
Images from three SFF-adjacent video games: Blue Prince, Strange Horticulture, and Mass Effect

Five Video Games for Every Type of SFF Reader

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Comment number: 5
Photo of an open book with its central pages folded in to form a heart

Five SFF Books About Forced Proximity and Its Romantic Ramifications

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Comment number: 5
Photo taken during the 2011 Perseid meteor shower

Six Star-Gazing Books to Celebrate the Perseid Meteor Shower This Summer

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Comment number: 0
Detail from the cover of The Adventures of Amina Al-Sarifi by S.A. Chakraborty

Five Warm Weather Fantasy Books for Summer

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Comment number: 0
Detail from the cover of A Cruel Thirst

Five SFF Books for Darcy and Elizabeth Stans

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Comment number: 5
Illustration from Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen (1916); art by Harry Clarke

Five Atmospheric Books That Feel Like Dark Fairy Tales

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Comment number: 2
Photo of several small anima;-shaped toys

Five YA Books With Unexpectedly Important Animals

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Comment number: 2
Detail from the Cover of Their Vicious Games

Five Books That Serve Serious Eat-the-Rich Energy

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Comment number: 1
Detail from the cover of Julie Chan Is Dead

Five Books About the Horrors of Surviving in America

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Comment number: 1
Photo of an old-fashioned classroom with wooden desks

Five Books That Rethink Magic School Tropes

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Comment number: 12
Illustration from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark; Art by Stephen Gammell

Five SFF Works Inspired by Urban Myths

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Comment number: 3
Detail from the cover of Lore of the Wilds

Five Romantasies With Brooding Daddies

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Comment number: 3
Image from the animated film Whisper of the Heart: Shizuku reads in a library

Five SFF Books That Feel Like Studio Ghibli Films

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Comment number: 11

“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.”

William Gibson, Neuromancer

TPG 2026 • Site Credit