July was an action packed month filled with travel, vacations, friends, writing workshops, the beginning of a new writing project, a return to healthy eating (haha), and lots and lots of reading! Yay!
Here’s what I read in July:
This month started with Tome Topple. I decided my first Tome would be The Tiger’s Daugher by K. Arsenault Rivera, and oh boy. As you may already know if you read my “Mid-Year Book Freakout” post, this is my favorite book I read so far this year. The world-building is excellent. I loved the characters. The framing of the story (mostly told through a massive letter written by one woman to her best friend / love) made me want to go back and re-read the beginning as soon as I finished the last page. There is so much detail in those opening pages that takes on even more meaning once you’ve read the end. If you like epic fantasy, but you want something other than the usual medieval-based stuff, definitely check this out. It’s not getting near enough buzz considering how good it is.
After that, I dove into The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton. This is not Tessa’s first book, but it’s the first book I’ve read by her. You may remember that I attended a Madcap Retreat a while back where she was one of the organizers / instructors and was blown away by her awesomeness. I’ve been eagerly waiting to read this book for over a year, and it did not disappoint. I haven’t read King Lear, so I can’t speak to the retelling aspects of this story, but again, if you like epic fantasy, especially Game of Thrones type stuff, but think it would be even better if it was almost exclusively about the badass ladies and if there was a lot more magic and witchy vibes, then you definitely, definitely, need to read this book.
On the last day of my vacation (basically, on the very long trip across the country to home), I managed to squeeze in what I thought was the last book in the Adirondack mystery series I’ve been reading for years now. Unfortunately, Through the Evil Days by Julia Spencer Fleming ends on a cliffhanger and there is no sign of if/when the series might continue. Even more unfortunately, I wasn’t exactly thrilled with this book. So, I think I’m done with this series, whether or not it continues. If you have a recommendation for a similar series (contemporary small town romantic mystery / suspense), please let me know. This is not a genre I’m very familiar with, but I think I’d like to read more. Bonus points to you if you have a recommendation that is written by an author of color.
I returned from vacation only to repack and get back on the road, this time to the annual RWA Conference in Denver, CO. For that trip, I decided to listen to the final book in the Court of Fives series, Buried Heart by Kate Elliott. Maybe you are super sick of hearing me gush about this series, but too bad! This series finale was so good! It was everything I wanted it to be and more that I didn’t even know that I wanted. But yeah, please read this series if you like YA fantasy along the lines of Ember in the Ashes and The Winner’s Curse (but even better than those, IMO).
Then, as though I hadn’t had enough epic fantasy this month, I finally read Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake! This book has been on my Kindle forever. It is one of two YA fantasy books that released in 2016 that I have been trying to get around to reading because now both series are almost complete (the other is The Queen of Blood). Three Dark Crowns sounded like a five star read for me from the moment I read the blurb, and it definitely delivered. Sometimes, when you write books, you read a book and you think, “Damn, I wish I wrote that.” This was one of those books. It’s exactly the kind of YA fantasy that I love to read (and want to write). This is also true about the Court of Fives series. So, check this one out if you haven’t already, because I’m about to devour the rest of the series, and you’ll probably be hearing about it a lot in the coming months.
Finally, I found out that Sherry Thomas has a short story in her Lady Sherlock series called Charlotte Holmes and the Locked Box. You can find it here, if you’re interested in getting a free taste of this series. It’s very short (6 pages), and I don’t think reading it will really spoil anything if you haven’t read the first book in the series. But, it will give you an idea of the voice / tone of the novels if you’re curious and haven’t been able to get the first one from your library. Reading a six page, free short story shouldn’t really count toward my reading goal, but whatever. I’m including it because I love this series.
I’ve been trying not to do TBRs, but I currently have three books on my Kindle from my library that will disappear if I take my Kindle off airplane mode. This is a problem because I just purchased a bunch of new ebooks on sale, plus I have some upcoming new releases pre-ordered. So, I really have to read/finish these three books in August so that I can get my new books onto my Kindle. Luckily, I have one last family vacation coming up that should allow me some quality lakeside reading time. Expect to hear more about those books next month.
I hope you are enjoying the last bit of summer (or winter) and that you have some excellent books to read. Until next post, Happy Reading!
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