As for my own reading lately, I've been mostly occupied with older stuff, including some classics from Ray Bradbury, Stanislaw Lem, Philip K. Dick, Stephen King, and John Barth. However, there was at least one new book I read recently that I thought worth recommending:

• Headstone City by Tom Piccirilli (Bantam Spectra, mm, 302 pages, March 2006, USA & Canada)
      This is a jaunty story of a guy with little ambition and some unnerving supernatural abilities (mostly the burden of communicating with the dead) who falls afoul of a gangster family in his native New York. One member of the family, formerly Dane's best friend, blames him for the death of his sister. Dane was only trying to save the girl, but now he's been doing time for running down a cop while she died in the back of his cab. And the family is going to make his life uncomfortable -- and possibly rather short -- now that he's going to be back on the street again. On the whole, this is a well-crafted and entertaining tale, albeit with a rather implausible ending. There are levels of darkness, resulting from the supernatural elements as well as from the more mundane forms of violence. And there's definitely a dark aspect to the humour; I found it quite funny at times, but I've been told my sense of humour has a warp to it. My wife thought the cover made it look like a Forgotten Realms novel, which I can agree with if you only glance at it. But the cover is only one small facet of this book that warrants a closer look.

Children of the Serpent Gate: The Tears of Artamon, Book 3 by Sarah Ash
Bantam Spectra (mm, 640 pages)
Publication date: 6 June 2006, USA & Canada
SF Site Review of Book 2, Prisoner of the Iron Tower

Sleeping Policemen by Dale Bailey and Jack Slay, Jr.
Golden Gryphon (hc, 198 pages)
Publication date: June 2006, USA & Canada

Quantico by Greg Bear
Science Fiction Book Club (hc, 355 pages)
Publication date: 8 May 2006, USA

The First Betrayal by Patricia Bray
Bantam Spectra (mm, 342 pages)
Publication date: 6 June 2006, USA & Canada

K-Machines by Damien Broderick
Thunder's Mouth Press (trade, 319 pages)
Publication date: 2006, USA & Canada
SF Site Review

Night Visions 12 edited by Kealan Patrick Burke
Subterranean Press (hc, 271 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 31 October 2006, USA
    Featuring stories rom Simon Clark, Mark Morris and P.D. Cacek.

Getting Lost: Survival, Baggage and Starting Over in J.J. Abrams' Lost edited by Orson Scott Card
BenBella Books (trade, 220 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): August 2006, USA

Time Dancers: The Meq, Book 2 by Steve Cash
Del Rey, Ballantine (trade & e-book, 395 pages)
Publication date: 6 June 2006, USA & Canada
SF Site Review of Book 1, The Meq

Clarke's Universe by Arthur C. Clarke
ibooks (trade, 343 pages)
Publication date: December 2005, USA & Canada
    Originally published separately as The Lion of Conmarre (1953), A Fall of Moondust (1961) and Jupiter V (1956).

Foundling: Monster Blood Tattoo, Book 1 by D.M. Cornish
G.P. Putnam's Sons (hc, 434 pages)
Publication date: May 2006, USA & Canada
    For readers 10 and up.

Ghost of Sijan: Cry Wolf, Book 2 by Doug Crill & Daniel J. Frey
Open Book Press (trade graphic novel, 80 pages)
Publication date: June 2006, USA & Canada & Australia

Widdershins by Charles de Lint
Tor (hc, 560 pages)
Publication date: May 2006, USA & Canada

A Small and Remarkable Life by Nick DiChario
Robert J. Sawyer Books (hc & trade, 208 pages)
Publication date: May 2006, Canada & USA

Renegade: The Marq'ssan Cycle, Book 2 by L. Timmel Duchamp
Aqueduct Press (trade, 622 pages)
Publication date: 1 June 2006, USA

The Hashish Man and Other Stories by Lord Dunsany
Manic D Press (trade, 144 pages)
Publication date: 2006, USA & Canada

Crystal Gorge: The Dreamers, Book3  by David & Leigh Eddings
Voyager, HarperCollins (mm, 517 pages)
Publication date: May 2006, UK
SF Site Review of Book 1, The Elder Gods

The Bonehunters: A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 6 by Seven Erikson
Bantam Press (hc & trade, 891 pages)
Publication date: 2006, UK & Canada
SF Site Review of Book 5, Midnight Tides

The Painted Bride by Stephen Gallagher
Subterranean Press (hc, 180 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): October 2006, USA

Sweet & Savage: The World Through the Schockumentary Film Lens by Mark Goodall
Headpress (trade, 160 pages)
Publication date: 2006, UK & USA

Warrior Coven: Deathwatch, Book 2 by C.S. Goto
Warhammer 40,000, Black Library (mm, 416 pages)
Publication date: June 2006, USA & Canada

Deathstalker by Simon R. Green
Gollancz (mm, 571 pages)
Publication date: 11 May 2006, UK

Occult Crimes Investigation Unit #1: Sorcery Squad by Jamie Gregory
Lulu.com (trade, 138 pages)
Publication date: April 2006, UK

Revelation by W.A. Harbinson
BookSurge (trade, 494 pages)
Publication date: 2006, UK
    First published in 1982.

To Ride a Rathorn by P.C. Hodgell
MeishaMerlin Publishing (hc, 456 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): September 2006, USA

The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner
Bantam Spectra (trade, 400 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 1 August 2006, USA & Canada

Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey
Albany Audio (8 CDs, unabridged, performance by Carole Edie Smith)
Publication date: 2006, USA
    First published in book form in 1987.

Black Juice by Margo Lanagan
Eos, HarperCollins (mm, 262 pages)
Publication date: March 2006, USA & Canada
    For readers 12 and up.
SF Site Review

Daughters of Earth: Feminist Science Fiction in the Twentieth Century edited by Justine Larbalestier
Wesleyan University Press (hc & trade, 424 pages)
Publication date: 22 May 2006, USA

The Greener Shore by Morgan Llywelyn
Del Rey, Ballantine (hc, 301 pages)
Publication date: 6 June 2006, USA & Canada

Dragon's Fire by Anne McCaffrey & Todd McCaffrey
Del Rey, Ballantine (hc, 384 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 11 July 2006, USA & Canada

Necromunda: Cardinal Crimson by Will McDermott
Black Library (mm, 256 pages)
Publication date: June 2006, USA & Canada

Jigsaw Nation: Science Fiction Stories of Secession edited by Edward J. McFadden III & E. Sedia
Spyre Books, Wilder Publications (hc, 235 pages)
Publication date: 2006, USA
    Featuring stories from Paul Di Filippo, Douglas Lain, Ruth Nestvold & Jay Lake, C.J. Henderson, and many more.

The Outcast: An Anthology of Exiles and Strangers edited by Nicole R Murphy
Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild (trade, 213 pages)
Publication date: 2006, Australia
    The 7th anthology from CSFG Publishing features 20 stories from some of Australia's top writers, including Richard Harland, Maxine McArthur, Cory Daniells, Cat Sparks, Martin Livings, and Kaaron Waren.

Quag Keep by Andre Norton
Tor (trade, 272 pages)
Publication date: 2 May 2006, USA & Canada
    First published in 1978.

Throne of Jade: Temeraire, Book 2 by Naomi Novik
Del Rey, Ballantine (mm, 432 pages)
Publication date: 25 April 2006, USA & Canada
SF Site Review of Book 1, His Majesty's Dragon

Black Powder War: Temeraire, Book 3 by Naomi Novik
Del Rey, Ballantine (mm, 400 pages)
Publication date: 30 May 2006, USA & Canada

Relentless by Robin Parrish
Bethany House (hc, 384 pages) Publication date (forthcoming): July 2006, USA

The Va Dinci Cod by A.R.R.R. Roberts (writing as Don Brine)
Gollancz (trade, 180 pages)
Publication date: 11 May 2006, UK

Keeping it Real: Quantum Gravity, Book 1 by Justina Robson
Victor Gollancz (hc & trade, 279 pages)
Publication date: 18 May 2006, UK

There Will Never Be Another You by Carolyn See
Random House (hc, 242 pages)
Publication date: 16 May 2006, USA & Canada

To Be Continued: The Collected Stories of Robert Silverberg, Volume One by Robert Silverberg
Subterranean Press (hc, 392 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): November 2006, USA

Missile Gap by Charles Stross
Subterranean Press (hc, 100 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): December 2006, USA

Dark Future: Jade Dragon by James Swallow
Black Flame (mm, 256 pages)
Publication date: June 2006, USA & Canada

Now You See It... by Vivian Vande Velde
Magic Carpet Books, Harcourt (mm, 288 pages)
Publication date: June 2006, USA & Canada
    For readers 12 and up.

A Well-Timed Enchantment by Vivian Vande Velde
Magic Carpet Books, Harcourt (trade, 240 pages)
Publication date: June 2006, USA & Canada
    First published in 1990. For readers 10 and up.

The Orchard of Dreams: Godfire, Book 1 by Tim Waggoner
Five Star (hc, 331 pages)
Publication date (forthcoming): 2 July 2006, USA

One Nation Under George by Z.M. Wagner
Infinity Publishing (trade, 133 pages)
Publication date: April 2005, USA

The Unauthorized X-Men edited by Len Wein
BenBella Books (trade, 215 pages)
Publication date: April 2006, USA

Angelos by Robina Williams
Twilight Times Books (trade, 175 pages)
Publication date: May 2006, USA

Tomorrow by Alexander Winslow
Squires Publishing (trade, 317 pages)
Publication date: 2006, USA

Crisis on Infinite Earths by Marv Wolfman
ibooks (trade, 347 pages)
Publication date: February 2006, USA & Canada

The Ascendancy Veil: The Braided Path, Book 3 by Chris Wooding
Gollancz (mm, 451 pages)
Publication date: 11 May 2006, UK
SF Site Review of Book 1, The Skein of Lament

Jake and Sarah - A Science Fiction Fantasy Epic by Janice Wee Tien Yong
SFXFantasy (trade, 284 pages)
Publication date: 2006, Singapore

Magazines

Fantasy & Science Fiction, May 2006, USA
Contributors to this issue include: Matthew Hughes, M. Rickert, Gene Wolfe, Charles Coleman Finlay, Robert Reed, Steven Utley, Terry Bisson, Albert E. Cowdrey.

Fantasy & Science Fiction, June 2006, USA
Contributors to this issue include: Laird Barron, Albert E. Cowdrey, Gardner Dozois, John Morressy, Tim McDaniel, C.S. Friedman.

Fantasy & Science Fiction, July 2006, USA
Contributors to this issue include: Ysabeau S. Wilce, R. Garcia y Robertson, Steven Popkes, Terry Bisson, Matthew Hughes, Robert Onopa, Jerry Seeger, Heather Lindley.

Interzone, Issue 204, June 2006, UK
Contributors to this issue include: Mercurio D. Rivera, Tim Akers, Martin J. Gidron, Jamie Barras, Elizabeth Hopkinson, plus interviews with John Picacio, Mike Carey, and Toby Longworth.

Mythic Delirium, Issue 14, Winter/Spring 2006, USA
Contributors to this issue include: Constance Cooper, Catherynne M. Valente, C.S. MacCath, A.D. Eldritch, Sonya Taaffe, Ann K. Schwader, Deborah P. Kolodji, oino sakai, Teri Santitoro, Mary Margaret Serpento & ushi, Suzette Haden Elgin, Ana Tambour, Ian Watson, Mikal Trimm, Michael A. Arnzen, John Peery, and JoSelle Vanderhooft.