Cian's reading Stand Still Stay Silent, an amazing postapocalyptic Scandinavian adventure/horror webcomic. A small research crew set out from safety to explore the Silent world, full of mysterious and barely-known dangers. It's gorgeous to look at and well-told (and free!).
This is the whole of the A Pocketful of Clouds crew, so their complete picture is below.




Mallow's book is Till We Have Faces, CS Lewis' last novel and one written with his wife Joy. It's a retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth, from the point of view of the older sister, and quite different to his other fiction.
Below is Mallow and Ganzorig reading together ^^




Iashar is enjoying The Witness for the Dead, a book set in the same world as the Goblin Emperor, and featuring one of the side characters in a murder mystery setup (no surprises as to why I liked it!).
Below is the combined picture; I like the way they look reading together, each absorbed in their own little world :)




Kelyn's reading How to Invent Everything: Rebuild All of Civilization (with 96% fewer catastrophes this time), by Ryan North. It takes the form of a repair manual for a time machine, but almost the first page tells the reader (presumably a time traveller with a broken machine) that the machine is not repairable. Instead the book offers hints and tips for improving their life whenever they have ended up, starting with a handy flowchart for working out when in fact that may be. It's interesting and funny and covers a lot of ground, although sadly leaves out most of textiles, which is an unfortunate omission.




Naira's got Girl Genius book 1, by Phil and Kaja Foglio. I love this ongoing webcomic, which is a blend of adventure, fantasy, and mad science. It's also now a book series, if you prefer text to pictures (I like - and am collecting - both; pity my bookshelves).




Nikiruka has The Five Red Herrings, by Dorothy Sayers, a book from another historical murder mystery series I like to listen to :) There aren't as many of these as there are of the Falco books, which is a shame.
Scroll down to see Nikiruka and Chiamaka reading their whodunnits together.




Kirill's book is Monday Begins on Saturday, by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. It's a comedy/satire featuring a young programmer who is hired to work in the Scientific Research Institute of Sorcery and Wizardry. It satirises scientific research, academia, academic politics and academics, and is very funny, although I'm sure I'm missing quite a few of the references.




Finding a good book for Vincathaxis was hard, but I chose From Far Away because it's a rare portal fantasy where the main character has to learn the language of the world she's pitched into. Plus, it's really good. I should read it again.




Yozhik has All Systems Red, the first of the Murderbot Diaries. I love this series so much, it's definitely near the top of my list of favourite sci-fi stories. It's almost all narrated by the titular Murderbot, a security cyborg which has hacked itself to override its master control, and has discovered that rather than embarking on a murderous killing spree, what it really wants to do is watch media. Murderbot is sarcastic and funny and very relatable.
Meg and Yozhik are the only characters included from Phoenix Feathers this year, so their completed picture is below ^^




Ember is reading The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison, which is about the surprise ascension to the throne of the Emperor's youngest son who had lived in exile until his father and half-brothers were all killed in a zeppelin crash. It's got a lot of politics, a touch of steampunk, a sprinkle of magic, and is steeped in fantasy words (which may put some people off, but I loved it all).




Inric is reading Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit (probably in the original Japanese, but it is available in English). Nahoko Uehashi, the author, is a Professor of Ethnology, and it shows; all of her creations have fantastic worldbuilding.




Saryth's book is Penric's Demon, by Lois McMaster Bujold, the first of several novellas (and a couple of novels) all featuring Penric and set in her "World of the Five Gods". I love the worldbuilding in all these books, especially the magic system.
Also, since this is the first completed "set" of characters from the same story, scroll down to see him and Kite reading together too :)




Jenny's reading Shoulder-a-coffin Kuro, a haunting manga told mostly in 4-panel strips. Kuro is travelling with her friend Sen, a bat, and a coffin which she carries with her, and she's searching for... something. It's got a nearly fairytale-like feel to it.




Miervaldis has the Years of Rice and Salt, a fantastic book by Kim Stanley Robinson. It's an alternate history exploring what might have happened if the Black Death had wiped out nearly all of Europe's population instead of a third. It spans hundreds of years, and follows recurring reincarnated characters, which works far, far better than I just made it sound.




Chiamaka is reading The Silver Pigs, by Lindsay Davis, a whodunnit set in ancient Rome. I love these, and I get a lot done while listening to the audiobooks.




Nazarchtharin is considering a book called, fittingly enough, Consider the Fork, by Bee Wilson. It covers more than just the fork, being a well-told and engaging history of how we eat. It seemed appropriate for Nazarchtharin - it's not a recipe book, but would make a good addition to their hoard :)




Ganzorig is reading Flatland, probably the oldest book in this list. It's about geometry, and philosophy, and religion, and maths, all wrapped up in a weird little tale told by a square who lives in a 2-dimensional world.




Erlea is reading Witch Hat Atelier, which is a fantastic manga. It's about a girl who becomes an apprentice witch after she discovers that magic can be cast by anyone, even "non-witches" like her. The art is gorgeous and the story really engaging and occasionally quite dark.




Mina is reading Eagle of the Ninth, one of Rosemary Sutcliff's best-known books. It features a young Roman ex-centurion searching for the truth about the disappearance of his father's legion beyond Hadrian's Wall. Sutcliff wrote a great many children's books covering different historical eras, and her stuff is not only well researched but incredibly well told. I'm working on collecting all her books, and I've only got five to go ;)




Kite is reading the Lord of the Rings, a book I have read many times. I remember my dad reading this to me and my sister when we were little, and doing the voices.




Meg is reading Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett. It seems appropriate for the season and is one of my favourites of his books :) Actually, it's been too long, I should read it again.