Fiction Picks Collective: May 2025 edition
Your Substack binge-read headquarters to find great stories
Images shown are from (in order clockwise starting from the top-left-center) by , , , , , ,
This month’s collection of my favorite Substack series reads includes some comedy stories, which I absolutely love.
Especially since I’m psyched because we’ve got International Towel Day coming up on May 25th (looking at you, my fellow Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fandom)!
And I had the good fortune of being able to actually go to Innsbruck, Austria (site where Douglas Adams first had his big idea for HHGTTG) earlier this month! 🥳 I will post about that later on May 25th, and all I can say now is that it’s definitely a quirky town where I could imagine an out-of-place alien like Ford Prefect wandering around.
If you want to play HHGTTG trivia games with me – which I’ll be playing with on Substack notes throughout this month – then start with this Quiz #1 note. 😁
Perhaps this is your first time here, so you can find more of the previous reads I recommended by clicking on this lovely button:
Or you can click here to go to the Substack Fiction Picks Collective section list of posts. I’ve been excited about finding other great fiction series’ writers here on Substack ever since completing my own 🛸 Sci-Fi Comedy Series “The Intergalactizen’s Guide to Taming Earthlings.”😂
This index includes:
My May Series Picks
Other Books I’m into ATM
Mentions of other shows and films I’m in love with to entertain you this weekend
New series I’m into for May 2025:
1. The Book Group by James Ross
I love this opening because of the gradual build of intrigue that’s both humorous and rather realistic with the natural dialogue. I think it might include a ghost 😉but that’s just my guess. The setting sounds historical— possibly just after WWII England, I’m guessing. I love the British-style humor and highly recommend it!
You can read more by him on
.2. Echoes from the Abyss by Bradley Ramsey
My favorite excerpt from the opening:
“What’s your jurisdiction again?” the sheriff asked.
The entirety of the Synaptic Sprawl. A nearly infinite number of parallel universes.
“I’m from a national agency,” I said.
He nodded. “Oh, so like the FBI or something? Listen, I don’t want to get in your way or anything, but do you have some kind of badge or ID I can see? It’s just protocol. Can’t be too careful.”
No, you cannot.
I reached into my jacket pocket, knowing there was nothing there. I brandished my empty hand, palm facing outward. Sheriff Bill leaned in, squinting as if he was trying to read something.
"Oh yeah, FBI, I was right! That's a nice photo of you, by the way."
I pretended to place the non-existent badge back into my jacket pocket. The weak-minded ones were always easiest to fool. He saw what he wanted to see.
The blend of Sci-Fi mystery with a touch of humor is excellent here 😁. I love the intrigue building and also the weirdness woven into an otherwise ordinary Earth-bound setting.
Read more from chapter 1 here at this link or click here to see more from
.3. The Silent Fleet by MaryEllen Brady
The suspense in this one is great – traditional Sci-Fi vibes with plenty of good mystery and excellent pacing. I felt the shock of he discoveries here as if I was in the scene myself.
Also – side note – I first read this portal fantasy short story by this same author and loved the surrealism of it that truly transported me into another place:
Here’s where you can learn more about
.4. Death Whispers Series by Kummer Wolfe
I adored the historical setting reinvented this way. It’s so fun and twisty. I mean, books that can kill you? YES please!
I love the smell of an old library, even one abandoned in a tropical swamp. The scent of linseed oil, aged leather, and old parchment lingered behind the swamp musk. It was somehow soothing. But the bitter smell of salty fungus and frustrated anger? That was a different story. I yanked the stained red leather book off the shelf in front of me, then jammed it into my battered canvas backpack.
“Run!” I yelled to the others.
A manic, staccato-like tapping sound from the floor to ceiling bookshelves flooded the gray, moist air. All around us, shadows shivered while forgotten papers rustled on their own across the wide, three story octagonal room. My blood ran cold.
“Pedro! The books! They have mouths with shark teeth!” A voice behind me yelped.
“They have razor-sharp claws and venom, too!” I shoved the gunner’s mate ahead of me. “Thesaurus crabs! Everyone, run!”
This is so much fun to read. It covers many elements I love, like pirate vibes, adventure combined with humorous surprises and excellent world building where anything can happen next. Check it out here:
Learn more about
here.Books I’m reading now:
Since it’s the month of International Towel Day, I’m obviously diving back into HHGTTG with number 3 in the series:
**Note: I do write book reviews, but now I only do it if it’s an outstanding book. Otherwise I tend to leave shorter notes about the books on my GoodReads pages.
Shows/ films I’d love for you to see:
Poker Face
Wow, I love this show. If you’re a fan of Knives Out, then totally watch this because it’s written by the same writer. The writing is excellent. No wasted moments with top-notch payoffs.
Plus, I also highly recommend watching The Queen’s Gambit:
Have you read or seen any of these? If so, tell me what you thought about them and/or recommend other reads in the comments!
Thank you very much for including me! ❤️😊
Omgosh, I'm so thrilled to be included with Kummer & Bradley here, THANK YOU!!! I'm so happy you enjoyed reading my fiction. It means so much that you shared. Thank you!