#would die for mona awad

[aridadne]

i love u the secret history i love u long books

[jolapeno]

JO IS (NOT) STUDYING IS GENIUS AND I ADORE YOU????

here are some novels I've loved recently:

our wives under the sea by julia armfield (this is one of my favorite novels of all time. listen. listen. just read it (everyone). litfic + horror + lesbians + surrealism + haunting deep sea expeditions + PERFECTION)

whoever you are, honey by olivia gatwood (litfic + silicone valley techies + spying on neighbors + poetryyyyyyy ugh ugh gorgeous prose)

the only good indians by stephen graham jones (horror + indigenous oral traditions + holy shit just gorgeous fucking writing this book haunts me in all the best fucking ways it's my favorite horror novel of all time)

rouge by mona awad (speculative litfic + creepy skincare + cults + snow white + I would die for mona awad any day of the fucking week and when I met her at a book signing her skin was GLOWING ok mama did her research)

motherthing by ainslie hogarth (literary horror / speculative + unhinged housewife + mother-in-law's ghost + gore + madness + genius)

omg freya, thank you for the book recs!!!! I love this! there’s deffo a few I’m going to try and add to my list! now, I’m staring at my bookshelves to see what I can rec you based off this list…

I am a contemp romance reader 😂 so apologies for the list:

it’s a popular one but the seven husbands of evelyn hugo is pretty masterful, such a fun age by kiley reid is a must read and belladonna by adalyn grace 🩷

[kamreadsandrecs]

Title: Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in My Country

Author: Patricia Evangelista

Genre/s: nonfiction, history, politics, crime, journalism

Content/Trigger Warning/s: journalistic depictions and discussions of crimes such as murder, kidnapping, and rape, as well as natural disasters, including the effects of Typhoon Haiyan (PH name Yolanda)

Summary (from publisher's page): “My job is to go to places where people die. I pack my bags, talk to the survivors, write my stories, then go home to wait for the next catastrophe. I don’t wait very long.” Journalist Patricia Evangelista came of age in the aftermath of a street revolution that forged a new future for the Philippines. Three decades later, in the face of mounting inequality, the nation discovered the fragility of its democratic institutions under the regime of strongman Rodrigo Duterte. Some People Need Killing is Evangelista’s meticulously reported and deeply human chronicle of the Philippines’ drug war. For six years, Evangelista chronicled the killings carried out by police and vigilantes in the name of Duterte’s war on drugs—a war that has led to the slaughter of thousands—immersing herself in the world of killers and survivors and capturing the atmosphere of fear created when an elected president decides that some lives are worth less than others. The book takes its title from a vigilante whose words seemed to reflect the psychological accommodation that most of the country had made: “I’m really not a bad guy,” he said. “I’m not all bad. Some people need killing.” A profound act of witness and a tour de force of literary journalism, Some People Need Killing is also a brilliant dissection of the grammar of violence and an important investigation of the human impulses to dominate and resist.

Buy Here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/some-people-need-killing-a-memoir-of-murder-in-my-country-patricia-evangelista/19968748

Spoiler-Free Review: Okay, so. I already had this in my TBR and was planning to read it in some vague point in the future, but a close friend of mine picked it up and mentioned it in a tweet. Since I was midway through Mona Awad’s Rouge at the time, I promised to give it a shot once I was done with that. The finishing of THAT book got further delayed because Paladin’s Faith got released and I had to read THAT, then continued with Rouge to finish it. When it was all said and done though I picked this up and got stuck in.

Now just to be clear: I am Filipino, have lived in the Philippines all my life, and am lucky enough to live a privileged life by the standards of my country. I didn’t vote for Rodrigo Duterte in the 2016 elections because I liked neither his politics nor his values, and I certainly didn’t like the stories I’d read in the news about the Davao Death Squad, and so was one of many people who felt that sucking wave of dread when it was announced he’d won.

What followed was a nightmare I was lucky enough to view from a distance (afforded to me by my aforementioned privilege), and through the hazy fog of slow-rolling grief because of my mother’s cancer diagnosis, treatment, and death in the following years. I didn’t see all the news reports, but I did see the reactions on social media. One of the earliest ones was #CardboardJustice, which was started by my friend Hope Swann, and then popularized by Adrienne Onday. It was a response to how many murder victims had been turning up with a piece of cardboard attached to them with the statement “Pusher ako” (”I am a [drug] pusher”), as if that would justify their slaughter to those who came upon the victim’s body, as if all that was needed to pronounce one guilty of drug pushing was to have a cardboard sign saying so on one’s person. #CardboardJustice was one of the first grassroots movements pushing back against the drug war, and it was adopted quite widely in the latter end of 2016 and early into 2017.

Another one that sticks out in my mind is #Tumindig (”Stand Up”), which was inspired by the artwork of the same name by Kevin Eric “Tarantadong Kalbo” Raymundo. That artwork, released in 2021, was in response to Duterte’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also to his government’s half-dozen years of murder, red-tagging, and censorship. Like #CardboardJustice, #Tumindig inspired a movement, especially among other artists - and it was still popular enough by the time the 2022 national elections rolled around to be used by those supporting Leni Robredo’s presidential campaign. #CardboardJustice and #Tumindig - one emerging from the first year of the Duterte presidency, the other from its last - bookend six years of continuous pushback against him and his government.

But what’s puzzling is, there wasn’t any mention of this in Evangelista’s book. And even if she was unaware of those specific movements, surely she was aware of the many other grassroots movements that emerged throughout Duterte’s presidency? People from all walks of life protested against Duterte from before the beginning of his regime, all the way to the end, and even beyond. Why was no mention made of these efforts to push back? My assumption, of course, would be that any mention of these movements was left out for the sake of keeping the book’s narrative and subject matter focused, but if there was room for Evangelista’s personal stories, why was there no room to tell, even in brief, the stories of those who protested and fought back? The concepts of “lumaban” and “nanlaban” are key themes in this book, so why didn’t Evangelista even nod to the protests and protesters?

I would hope that readers, especially foreign readers, will know better than to assume that ALL Filipinos approved of what Duterte was doing, but a part of me is too cynical (especially where white Westerners are concerned) to believe that will be the case. Worse, they might assume that the masa (”the masses”) were uniformly duped into voting for him. So let me say, here and now: many Filipinos from all walks of life saw through Duterte and knew him for what he was. We didn’t vote for him, and we fought back, each in our own way, all throughout his presidency. Some of us - students, activists, social workers, journalists, and many more - were killed, or disappeared, becoming the desaparecidos (”the disappeared”) of the Duterte regime. Many were not directly targeted, but fled due to the dire circumstances both economic and social produced by his regime, looking for better and safer work and living conditions elsewhere. And many of us continue to fight back today.

As for Evangelista herself, her personal stories are scattered all throughout this book, though they are most present at the beginning. While I don’t think there’s really anything wrong with the inclusion of such stories (not least because “memoir” is right there in the book’s subtitle), I kind of found myself sliding through them more quickly as I sought out the more journalistic material on the drug war. It’s not that Evangelista’s personal story isn’t INTERESTING, per se, but I think it would be more interesting to foreigners, who didn’t witness the drug war in real time like most Filipinos did.

Overall I think this is a pretty important read - or, at least, for foreigners: for anyone who, as I said, didn’t see the drug war happening in real time, in front and all around them. And for the most part, it certainly reads like it's aimed at that specific audience, shining a light on events that the rest of the world probably didn’t know about, or only understood peripherally. It’s timely too, considering the ICC case against Duterte plus who the current President and Vice President are. But for those of us who WERE here to witness the drug war, who had to live with Duterte running the country for six entire years and feared he’d declare martial law and rule us for much longer - this book might feel a bit lacking in some areas, not least the coverage of the many protests across those six years. Many people did what they could to fight back - some even disappeared, or were killed, or had to go into hiding or flee to protect themselves and/or those closest to them. It would have been nice to see them get even some coverage in this book.

Rating: four bullets

[i-will-not-be-caged]

hi Emmett! (I love your name btw) I saw your tags on the post about starting to read again and I thought I would ask you for some help with a couple things, if you don’t mind 💖 (you can reply to this publicly if you think it’ll help other ppl!)

First thing—recs. I am generally a nonfiction person, I LOVE history and pretty much anything across the humanities. I love micro-histories/micro-(humanities analyses??) on any given topic. I love anything about death, Stiff by Mary Roach and Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty are two of my FAVES. Because Internet by Gretchen McCullough (linguistics) is also one of my favorite things ever written.

For fiction, I loved My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh. Some things I’ve been wanting to read are Bunny by Mona Awad and A Good Happy Girl by Marissa Higgins. I love psychological/dark fiction but not super into thrillers/crime (dislike true crime especially). I also rly love poetry and I love lesbians generally long as they don’t die 😅 (although I’ll read some dark shit too)

Second, if you don’t mind giving some advice—how do you recommend getting into reading? I used to be a voracious reader but twelve years ago I developed chronic migraines along with other health problems, and it made it almost impossible. Now I find it so so hard to focus. How do you advise teenagers to read, especially those who maybe struggle with focus/adhd/etc?

Thank you so so so much for even taking the time to read all this 💖 I appreciate any help you can give!

(just pls no booktok 😉💖💖💖)

Haha, we must have been sending asks at the same time! I hope you got my other message with things to try. As for specific recs, it sounds like we have pretty different tastes - I’ve only read like two nonfiction books in the past few years, although both were excellent (Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and Four Lost Cities by Annalee Newitz).

The good news is there’s been a huge boom in sapphic romances in the past few years. Romance was how I kept up my pleasure reading habit during grad school (I love a guaranteed HEA), although there’s a pretty wide variety of quality in the genre. I’m more of an mm reader, but check out Casey McQuiston and Ashley Herring Blake as a jumping off point. I also love Freya Marske’s Last Binding trilogy, the second of which is sapphic.

And I know you said no booktok, but that’s actually where I’ve gotten a lot of good recs; you’ve just got to find your niche. Here’s a couple people you might try:

-pagemelt has super thoughtful recs from a variety of genres and has never steered me wrong

-bookbinch reads tons of queer lit fic and poetry that it sounds like you might enjoy

-haleystewfart is hilarious and has some nonfic recs that make me actually want to pick some up

[measureformeasure]

was tagged by the lovely @goosemixtapes to post my top 9 books of the year (sorted roughly in order of preference and then a whole shelf of That’s Just The Tempest, Oh My God)

1. everyone in this room will someday be dead by emily austin is a fantastic, terribly relatable portrait of a very anxious young woman who’s taken a job as a receptionist at a catholic church despite being a lesbian atheist. high-key recommend.

2. all’s well by mona awad is a super jaded professor trying to keep a theatre minor afloat with a production of all’s well that ends well, and it’s great

3. brutus and other heroines is a really insightful read by harriet walter about playing shakespeare’s women, and later shakespeare’s men. it’s half acting manual and half memoir (more like 70-30, honestly) and it’s so compelling btu only if you have my brainrot

4. who is vera kelly is a FANTASTIC spy novel and i didn’t think i would, yknow, enjoy a spy novel but i do. what a good quick read to enjoy while on a 3 hour bus ride anxiously awaiting an upcoming terrible conversation!

5. unholy by diane flacks is a play about four women debating religion (two for, two against) and i bought it so i’d have a reason to email diane flacks again after i met her in a playwriting thing and then i didn’t so. it’s a good play FHVHDSF

6. the dog the night and the knife is a play obscure enough i couldnt find an actual cover for it in 15 seconds of googling. i had to design for this for a school application (i did not get in!) but i really enjoyed just how Bonkers it is. also i love when eating/not eating someone is, like, metaphorical for love in weird surrealist shit so.

7. hag-seed by margaret atwood. look i reread this still in the throes of my tempesting and oh my god is it just fantastic. i do think about it. ms atwood you were right about that one

8. miranda in milan is for people who read tempest and went ‘hm. needs more lesbians, and i want prospero to Fucking Die’ (me). it’s for me. thank you katharine duckett

9. the tempest is the play i did this year i could never Not include it. i got to have my lesbian prince gender <3 shakespeare you did not really go off with the colonialism but some of the words are still good

tagging. uh. @ardenrosegarden @lazarusemma @sofyarostova @flora-like-the-fairy @brechtian n anyone else inch rested i am sorry i am tired

[sophielovesbooks]

Sophie’s Exhaustive Dark Academia List

For a while now, since my dark academia rec list was such an unexpected success, I’ve wanted to create a list of all the dark academia books I’m personally aware of, regardless of whether I have already read them, as sort of a resource for the community. I have now done just that!

The titles in bold are the ones I have read. The ones I would especially recommend (which, okay, yeah, are almost all of the ones I’ve read) are in bold and italics. Note that this doesn’t mean I loved absolutely everything about the recommended book, just that I think it was good or worth reading overall. 

If anybody is aware of a dark academia read that didn’t make the list, please leave a comment and I’ll update the list! Thank you! And thank you to everyone who has already recommended titles to me, helping me compile this list! :)

Also, just to be clear: My personal definition of dark academia would be a story that is set at a school or university or focuses heavily on academia otherwise (maybe the characters are in a secret book or debate club, discuss academic topics, something like that) and in which something bad or dark happens. This could be a crime (violent or non-violent), an accidental death, something supernatural going on... Note: Some of the books on the list (meaning of those I haven’t read) might only fit a looser definition of dark academia, e.g. maybe they have a dark subject matter and include some intellectual elements, even if the setting isn’t actually an academic institution. 

And now, without further ado, enjoy!! As I said, I hope this will be a good resource for the dark academia community! And I want to update this list regularly so that it’s as exhaustive as possible! :)

A Beautiful Doom (Laura Pohl)

Academy Gothic (James Tate Hill)

Ace of Spades (Faridah Abike-Ayimide)

A Fatal Inversion (Barbara Vine)

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (Holly Black)

A Great and Terrible Beauty (Libba Bray)

A Lesson in Vengeance (Victoria Lee)

An Education in Ruin (Alexis Bass)

A Question of Holmes (Brittany Cavallaro)

A Separate Peace (John Knowles)

As Good As Dead (Holly Black)

A Student of History (Nina Revoyr)

A Study in Charlotte (Brittany Cavallaro)

All Summer in a Day (Ray Bradbury)

As I Descended (Robin Talley)

Bad Habits (Amy Gentry)

Black Chalk (Christopher J. Yates)

Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh)

Bunny (Mona Awad)

Cat Among the Pigeons (Agatha Christie)

Catherine House (Elisabeth Thomas)

Different Class (Joanne Harris)

Dismantled (Jennifer McMahon)

D.O.G.S. (M. A. Bennett)

For Your Own Good (Samantha Downing)

F.O.X.E.S. (M. A. Bennett)

Gaudy Night (Dorothy L. Sayers)

Gentleman and Players (Joanna Harris)

Girlhood (Cat Clarke)

Give Me Your Hand (Megan Abbott)

Good Girl, Bad Blood (Holly Black)

Good Girls Lie (J. T. Ellison)

Hex (Rebecca Dinerstein Knight)

House of Leaves (Mark Z. Danielewski)

How We Fall Apart (Katie Zhao)

If We Were Villains (M. L. Rio)

In My Dreams I Hold A Knife (Ashley Winstead)

Kill All Your Darlings (David Bell)

Killing November (Adriana Mather)

Miss Pym Disposes (Josephine Tey)

Murder Scholastic (Janet Caird)

Ninth House (Leigh Bardugo)

Party Girls Die in Pearls (Plum Sykes)

Peace Breaks Out (John Knowles)

People Like Us (Dana Mele)

Picnic at Hanging Rock (Joan Lindsay)

Private (Kate Brian)

Shadow of the Lions (Christopher Swann)

Sleepwalking (Meg Wolitzer)

Special Topics in Calamity Physics (Marisha Pessl)

S.T.A.G.S. (M.A. Bennett)

Summer Sons (Lee Mandelo)

The Basic Eight (Daniel Handler)

The Bellweather Revival (Benjamin Wood)

The Book and the Brotherhood (Iris Murdoch)

The Case for Jamie (Brittany Cavallaro)

The Chandler Legacies (Abdi Nazemian)

The Club (Takis Würger)

The Deceivers (Kristen Simmons)

The Devil Makes Three (Tori Bovalino)

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (E. Lockhart)

The End of Mr. Y (Scarlett Thomas)

The Furies (Katie Lowe)

The Furies (Natalie Haynes)

The Girls Are All So Nice Here (Laurie Elizabeth Flynn)

The Hand on the Wall (Maureen Johnson)

The Ivies (Alexa Donne)

The Lake of Dead Languages (Carol Goodman)

The Last of August (Brittany Cavallaro)

The Lessons (Naomi Alderman)

The Likeness (Tana French)

The Lying Game (Ruth Ware)

The Maidens (Alex Michaelides)

The Mary Shelley Club (Goldy Moldavsky)

The Night Climbers (Ivo Stourton)

The Orchard (David Hopen)

The Secret History (Donna Tartt)

The Secret Place (Tana French)

The Shadow Year (Hannah Richell)

The Swallows (Lisa Lutz)

The Truants (Kate Weinberg)

The Vanishing Stairs (Maureen Johnson)

The Wave (Morton Rhue)

The Wishing Game (Patrick Redmond)

The Wyndham Case (Imogen Quy)

The Year of the Gadfly (Jennifer Miller)

These Violent Delights (Micah Nemerever)

They Never Learn (Layne Fargo)

They Wish They Were Us (Jessica Goodman)

T.I.G.E.R.S. (M. A. Bennett)

Truly Devious (Maureen Johnson)

Trust Exercise (Susan Choi)

Very Bad People (Kit Frick)

White Ivy (Susie Yang)

Without Anette (Jane B. Mason)

[hagatha-christie]

thots on my year in reading

I read more this year (as in started and completed books) than I have in the last 3 years combined and WOW did I read a lot of mediocre romances. Anyway, some highlights of the year:

Open Book by Jessica Simpson: I know celebrity memoirs are, like, mostly cash grabs or a blatant attempt at some positive PR but my GOD does Jessica Simpson come across as a genuinely lovable human in this. Didn’t really have an opinion of her before reading this, and now I would defend her honor anytime, anywhere.

Bunny by Mona Awad: Fucked up in the best ways, and so, so funny. I don’t think you have to have completed an MFA program (or in my case an MFA-adjacent program) to “get” it, but it doesn’t hurt.

There’s a Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom by Louis Sachar: Read this with my 3rd graders and somehow hadn’t read it as a kid, and it made me sob! It’s the first book the teachers had chosen where the characters have some shades of gray, especially considering we only fucking read Roald Dahl before then because all the teachers are British and only know British authors? Anyway Louis Sachar is a genius and this book is incredible.

Circe by Madeline Miller: Listened to this on audiobook and cried through the last two chapters on my 1.5 hr commute home from work. Nothing more to say that hasn’t already been said, I loved it.

The Weather Detective by Peter Wohlleben: I could read this sweet lil German man write about soil health until I die. If Bob Ross was super passionate about gardening.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett: Fucked up YA that I honestly thought I would hate because most of the YA I’ve read in the past has been incredibly trope-y and bad. It did NOT play out like I thought it would, in the best way.

Love in Color by Bolu Babalola: Bolu is THAT BITCH and my favorite Twitter follow when I had Twitter. Short stories that are all so perfect and lovely and I honestly had such a great time reading this.

She Come By It Natural by Sarah Smarsh: The Dolly Parton book we all needed and deserve. I have Smarsh’s other book that I need to read. She writes really beautifully about how class works in America which honestly is not something I’ve read much about but want to learn more.

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan: AHHHH THIS BOOK. I think the selling point of “Song of Achilles meets Mulan” is completely inaccurate and doesn’t do it justice. Political intrigue and shady alliances? CHECK. Revenge? CHECK. The concept of fate and meditations on whether or not you can change your fate? CHECK. Unexpected reflections on gender that made me yell WHO TOLD at my book? CHECK.

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune: Schmaltzy goodness that filled the The Good Place-sized hole in my heart.

Worst books of the year: the dumb Reylo book! That one ~Alexis Rose inspired~ romcom that made me ask myself: do I hate reading about straight people now? Grady Hedrix’s books that have snappy titles and no substance! A book that promised a lot more than it delivered and gave me NOTHING!

[mycrazystrangeworld]

It has been a long hiatus, though to me it didn’t seem to be one. Time flies. June and July have flied by so fast, and I can’t keep up, shit things happening one after the other, and I’m still coping… But it’s a process. I’m functioning now enough to write and interact on this blog.

As I promised, this first post is a list of June releases (from June 3rd) and the reviews I found about them until now. You’re all welcome to let me know if you have a review that I forgot to add.

Since July is also over, I’m also sharing this month’s books and reviews.

As always, updating is constantly happening, if you know about a book or have a review, just let me know! 😉

Welcome back on Swift Coffee, everyone!

For the newbies (welcome 😘): if you don’t yet know what this is all about: I’m posting a list every Monday of the books that get released during the current week. I also include other people’s reviews about them! I try to do a blog hop from time to time and spread the word about this feature, but I obviously can’t find every review that’s related, so a sign that you have one would be very much appreciated! Every review is eligible that is written about a book published on the week in question, even if it was written before said week!

So… one question remains:

Would you like to join the ride?

It’s very easy!

These are the rules:

To be featured, you don’t have to do anything else, but to leave a comment below this post, or contact me by any other way, and let me know you have a review. A link to it makes it easier, but if you only say your review comes out on x day of the week, that’s okay as well, I’ll watch out for it! Following me is not a must, but I appreciate it very much, if you do! 🙂

I continuously update this post according to your infos/comments, and I share it again every time I’ve made an update.

The book you reviewed don’t have to be from the list here, if it’s not listed, but published this week, I’ll add the book, too!

You can also send me a review for next week, because these posts are scheduled! 😉

Books Published in June:

‘After the End’ by Clare Mackintosh mystery/thriller

‘All the Missing Girls’ by Megan Miranda mystery

‘A Merciful Promise’ by Kendra Elliot mystery/romantic suspense

‘A Nearly Normal Family’ by M.T. Edvardsson, Rachel Willson-Broyles (Translation) mystery/thriller

‘Ayesha at Last’ by Uzma Jalaluddin romance

‘Beyond Āsanas: The Myths and Legends behind Yogic Postures’ by Pragya Bhatt, Joel Koechlin (Photographer)

‘Bound to the Battle God’ by Ruby Dixon fantasy/romance

‘Briar and Rose and Jack’ by Katherine Coville middle grade

‘Bunny’ by Mona Awad horror

‘City of Girls’ by Elizabeth Gilbert historical fiction

‘Close to Home’ by Cate Ashwood M M romance

‘Dear Wife’ by Kimberly Belle mystery/thriller

‘Dissenter on the Bench: Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Life and Work’ by Victoria Ortiz non-fiction/middle grade

‘Fleishman Is in Trouble’ by Taffy Brodesser-Akner contemporary

‘Five Midnights’ by Ann Dávila Cardinal horror

‘Fix Her Up’ by Tessa Bailey romance

‘Fixing the Fates: A Memoir’ by Diane Dewey non-fiction

‘Ghosts of the Shadow Market’ YA fantasy

‘Gun Island’ by Amitav Ghosh cultural/India/historical fiction

‘If Only’ by Melanie Murphy

‘Just One Bite’ by Jack Heath mystery/thriller

‘Like a Love Story’ by Abdi Nazemian YA/LGBT

‘Magic for Liars’ by Sarah Gailey fantasy/mystery

‘More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say)’ by Elaine Welteroth non-fiction

‘Mrs. Everything’ by Jennifer Weiner historical fiction

‘Mostly Dead Things’ by Kristen Arnett contemporary/LGBT

‘Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune’ by Roselle Lim contemporary/romance

‘On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous’ by Ocean Vuong poetry

‘Rapture’ by Lauren Kate YA fantasy

‘Recursion’ by Blake Crouch science fiction

‘Searching for Sylvie Lee’ by Jean Kwok mystery

‘Somewhere Close to Happy’ by Lia Louis romance

‘Sorcery of Thorns’ by Margaret Rogerson fantasy

‘Storm and Fury’ by Jennifer L. Armentrout fantasy

‘Summer of ’69’ by Elin Hilderbrand historical fiction

‘Sweet Tea and Secrets’ by Joy Avon cozy mystery

‘Teeth in the Mist’ by Dawn Kurtagich horror

‘The Accidental Girlfriend’ by Emma Hart romance

‘The Bookshop on the Shore’ by Jenny Colgan contemporary/women’s fiction

‘The First Mistake’ by Sandie Jones thriller

‘The Friends We Keep’ by Jane Green women’s fiction

‘The Friend Zone’ by Abby Jimenez contemporary/romance

‘The Girl in Red’ by Christina Henry fantasy/horror

‘The Haunted’ by Danielle Vega horror

‘The Holiday’ by T.M. Logan

‘The July Girls’ by Phoebe Locke mystery/thriller

‘The Last House Guest’ by Megan Miranda mystery/thriller

‘The Most Fun We Ever Had’ by Claire Lombardo contemporary/literary fiction

‘The New Achilles’ by Christian Cameron historical fiction

‘The Red Labyrinth’ by Meredith Tate fantasy

‘The Resurrectionists’ by Michael Patrick Hicks horror

‘The Rest of the Story’ by Sarah Dessen YA contemporary/romance

‘Ollie Oxley and the Ghost: The Search for Lost Gold’ by Lisa Schmid middle grade

‘The Space Between Time’ by Charlie Laidlaw

‘The Stationery Shop’ by Marjan Kamali historical fiction

‘The Summer Country’ by Lauren Willig historical fiction

‘They Called Me Wyatt’ by Natasha Tynes mystery

‘This Might Hurt a Bit’ by Doogie Horner YA

‘Time After Time’ by Lisa Grunwald historical/science fiction

‘Waiting for Tom Hanks’ by Kerry Winfrey contemporary/romance

‘We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir’ by Samra Habib non-fiction

‘We Were Killers Once’ by Becky Masterman mystery/thriller

‘Where The Story Starts’ by Imogen Clark women’s fiction

‘Wicked Fox’ by Kat Cho YA fantasy

‘Wild and Crooked’ by Leah Thomas YA contemporary/LGBT

‘Wolf Rain’ by Nalini Singh paranormal romance

Reviews:

‘Sorcery of Thorns’ by Stephanie at Between Folded Pages

‘The Rapture’ at Book Bound

‘The Resurrectionists’ by Jen at Shit Reviews of Books

‘The Haunted’ by Kris at Boston Book Reader

‘The Friends We Keep’ by Vicky at Women in Trouble Book Blog

‘This Might Hurt a Bit’ by Amanda at Between the Shelves

‘Wild and Crooked’ by Amanda at Between the Shelves

‘The Haunted’ by Mandy at Book Princess Reviews

‘We Were Killers Once’ by Vicky at Women in Trouble Book Blog

‘Five Midnights’ by Sian at Sci-fi & Scary

‘Wolf Rain’ by Corina at Book Twins Reviews

‘Just One Bite’ by Berit at Audio Killed the Bookmark

‘Where the Story Starts’ by Anjana at Superfluous Reading

‘The Red Labyrinth’ by Anjana at Superfluous Reading

‘Fixing the Fates’ by Anjana at Superfluous Reading

‘Gun Island’ by Anjana at Superfluous Reading

‘If Only’ by Anjana at Superfluous Reading

‘Sweet Tea and Secrets’ by Rekha at The Book Decoder

‘Storm and Fury’ by Claire at bookscoffeeandrepeat

‘The New Achilles’ by Zoé at Zooloo’s Book Diary

‘Time After Time’ by Ashley at Ashes Books and Bobs

‘Recursion’ by Lilyn G at Sci-fi & Scary

‘The Space Between Time’ by Rekha at The Book Decoder

‘The Rumor’ by Vicky at Women in Trouble Book Blog

‘The Search for the Lost Gold’ by Lilyn G at Sci-fi & Scary

‘They Call Me Wyatt’ by Jen at Shit Reviews of Books

‘After the End’ by Linda at Linda’s Book Bag

‘Beyond Asanas’ by Shashank at Wonder’s Book Blog

‘The July Girls’ by Nicola at Short Book and Scribes

‘We Have Always Been Here’ by Kristin at Kristin Kraves Books

‘Close to Home’ by T. J. Fox

‘Dissenter on the Bench’ by Taylor at Tays Infinite Thoughts

‘Bound to the Battle God’ by Corina at Book Twins Reviews

‘Briar and Rose and Jack’ by Briana at Pages Unbound

‘Teeth in the Mist’ at Lori’s Bookshelf Reads

‘All the Missing Girls’ by Celine at Celinelingg

‘The Holiday’ by Zoe at Zooloo’s Book Diary

‘The July Girls’ by Joanna at Over the Rainbow Book Blog

‘More Than Enough’ by Jessica at Jess Just Reads

‘Somewhere Close to Happy’ at Jess Just Reads

‘The Accidental Girlfriend’ by Tijuana at Book Twins Reviews

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Books Published in July:

‘Along the Broken Bay’ by Flora J. Solomon historical fiction

‘A Stranger on the Beach’ by Michele Campbell mystery/thriller

‘A Whisker In The Dark’ by Leighann Dobbs cozy mystery

‘Dark Age’ by Pierce Brown science fiction

‘Depraved’ by Trilina Pucci romance/erotica

‘Deserve to Die’ by Miranda Rijks thriller

‘Drummer Girl’ by Ginger Scott YA romance

‘False Step’ by Victoria Helen Stone mystery/thriller

‘Girls Like Us’ by Cristina Alger mystery/thriller

‘Gods of Jade and Shadow’ by Silvia Moreno-Garcia fantasy/historical fiction

‘Good Guy’ by Kate Meader romance

‘Gore in the Garden’ by Colleen J. Shogan cozy mystery

‘How to Hack a Heartbreak’ by Kristin Rockaway romance

‘Last Summer’ by Kerry Lonsdale contemporary

‘Life Ruins’ by Danuta Kot audiobook/mystery

‘Lock Every Door’ by Riley Sager mystery/thriller

‘Maybe This Time’ by Kasie West contemporary

‘Never Have I Ever’ by Joshilyn Jackson mystery/thriller

‘Never Look Back’ by Alison Gaylin mystery/thriller

‘Nightingale Point’ by Luan Goldie

‘Reclaimed by Her Rebel Knight’ by Jenni Fletcher historical romance

‘Resist’ by K. Bromberg romance

‘Salvation Day’ by Kali Wallace science fiction

‘Season of the Witch’ by Sarah Rees Brennan YA fantasy

‘Sisters of Willow House’ by Susanne O’Leary

‘Spin the Dawn’ by Elizabeth Lim fantasy

‘That Long Lost Summer’ by Minna Howard

‘The Betrayed Wife’ by Kevin O’Brien mystery/thriller

‘The Bookish Life of Nina Hill’ by Abbi Waxman contemporary/romance

‘The Chain’ by Adrian McKinty thriller

‘The Gifted School’ by Bruce Holsinger contemporary fiction

‘The Golden Hour’ by Beatriz Williams historical fiction

‘The Guy on the Right’ by Kate Stewart NA romance

‘The Last Book Party’ by Karen Dukess historical fiction

‘The Marriage Trap’ by Sheryl Browne thriller

‘The Merciful Crow’ by Margaret Owen fantasy

‘The Miraculous’ by Jess Redman middle grade

‘The Need’ by Helen Phillips horror/thriller

‘The Nickel Boys’ by Colson Whitehead historical fiction

‘The Rogue King’ by Abigail Owen paranormal romance

‘The Seekers’ by Heather Graham mystery

‘The Silent Ones’ by K.L. Slater thriller

‘The Storm Crow’ by Kalyn Josephson fantasy

‘The Wedding Party’ by Jasmine Guillory romance

‘Three Women’ by Lisa Taddeo non-fiction/feminism

‘To Be Devoured’ by Sara Tantlinger horror

‘Truly Madly Royally’ by Debbie Rigaud YA romance

‘Under Currents’ by Nora Roberts romance

‘War’ by Laura Thalassa fantasy/romance

‘Whisper Network’ by Chandler Baker mystery/thriller

‘Wilder Girls’ by Rory Power YA horror/mystery

A fantastic review of…

‘Reclaimed by her Rebel Knight’ by Demetra at Demi Reads

‘The Merciful Crow’ by Clarissa at Clarissa Reads It All

‘The Bookish Life of Nina Hill’ at Flavia the Bibliophile

‘The Merciful Crow’ by Kaleena at Reader Voracious

‘The Guy On the Right’ by Astrid at The Bookish Sweet Tooth

‘False Step’ by Jordann at The Book Blog Life

‘The Guy On the Right’ by Angela at Reading Frenzy Book Blog

‘Reclaimed by Her Rebel Knight’ by Joules at Northern Reader

‘Depraved’ by Demetra at Demi Reads

‘Never Have I Ever’ by Steph AT Steph’s Book Blog

‘Reclaimed by Her Rebel Knight’ by Jennifer C. Wilson

‘That Long Lost Summer’ by Shalini at Shalini’s Books and Reviews

‘Sisters of Willow House’ by Joanne at Portobello Book Blog

‘A Whisker in the Dark’ by Berit at Audio Killed the Bookmark

‘The Rouge King’ by Ashley at Falling Down the Book Hole

‘Good Guy’ by Astrid at The Bookish Sweet Tooth

‘Drummer Girl’ by Astrid at The Bookish Sweet Tooth

‘The Need’ by T. J. Fox

‘The Seekers’ by Shalini at Shalini’s Books and Reviews

‘The Silent Ones’ by Steph at StefLoz Book Blog

‘Resist’ by Tijuana at Book Twins Reviews

‘Reclaimed by Her Rebel Knight’ by Jess Bookish Life

‘Sisters of Willow House’ by Joanna at Over the Rainbow Book Blog

‘How To Hack a Heartbreak’ by Corina at Book Twins Reviews

‘Somebody Else’s Baby’ by Shalini at Shalini’s Books and Reviews

‘Life Ruins’ by Amanda at mybookishblogspot

‘The Miraculous’ by Chris at Plucked from the Stacks

‘The Betrayed Wife’ by Shalini at Shalini’s Books and Reviews

‘Salvation Day’ by Lilyn G at Sci-fi & Scary

‘The Marriage Trap’ by Shalini at Shalini’s Books and Reviews

‘The Chain’ at Jess Just Reads

‘To Be Devoured’ by Sam and Gracie at Sci-fi & Scary

‘Truly Madly Royally’ by Olivia at The Candid Cover

‘Season of the Witch’ by Jill at Jill’s Book Blog

‘Gore in the Garden’ by Rekha at The Book Decoder

‘Never Look Back’ by Berit at Audio Killed the Bookmark

‘Wilder Girls’ by Kathy at Pages Below the Vaulted Sky

‘Deserve to Die’ by Shalini at Shalini’s Books and Reviews

‘Sisters of Willow House’ by Shalini at Shalini’s Books and Reviews

‘Sisters of Willow House’ by Berit at Audio Killed the Bookmark

‘Nightingale Point’ by Amanda at mybookishblogspot

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See these beautiful covers? *.*

Which are your favorites?

I’m so happy to be here with you bookish guys again!!

Don’t forget to let me know if you have a review!

Oh, and in the near future comes another post with the releases of the beginning of August! You can send me reviews for that post, as well.

Have a wonderful time!

Hugs 🙂

I’m back! – A Master List of Book Releases of June and July + Reviews! It has been a long hiatus, though to me it didn't seem to be one. Time flies.

[tigertanyx]

I’m not the biggest Taylor stan, but I do really enjoy some of her music and Cardigan is just *chef’s kiss.*

This tag was created by Ilsa @Whisper Of Ink  Thanks Ilsa!

RULES

Link to the original creator: Ilsa @ A Whisper Of Ink

Tag at least 3 people.

Declare the rules and list of prompts in your post

Thank whoever tagged you and link to their post.

The 1 ~ An ending that left you speechless

I decided to listen to the songs while doing this and it was a mistake.

If We Were Villains; A skull

I LOVED the ending, which I feel is a bit of a different reaction. I love endings that are complicated/realistic, similar to the ending of Allegiant. I feel as if the endings we’re used to are too formulaic, and real life doesn’t end with all of the answers known or with everyone happy. This ending in particular implies plenty of adventure beyond the story we’re told.

Cardigan ~ A book that makes you feel happy and sad all at once

I might literally cry if I listen to one more of these songs.

They Both Die At The End blue cover

I loved this book, but obviously it was the saddest book I’ve ever loved. 

The Last Great American Dynasty ~ A fascinating and well-told story

Yes, an actual Happy song

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me; Cool

And a not-so-happy book. But it’s truly a Look into manipulative relationship, and is especially important to convey that w/w relationships can be harmful too.

Exile ~ A book you wish you hadn’t read

Strange how a song impacts you differently each time you listen.

Girl, Woman, Other– I deleted every photo I had of this after what happened. It’s great for most of the book, but then you get to the non-binary character and TRANSPHOBIA. ALL THE TRANSPHOBIA. It really shocked and hurt me, and I haven’t seen anyone mention this even though it should be a trigger warning for anyone who might read and be impacted by this.

My Tears Ricochet ~ a book that made you cry uncontrollably 

My feelings are just numb at this point.

History Is All You Left Me

I have to go with more Adam Silvera. He’s such a good Sad writer. I hated the book he co-authored with Becky. Adam is Sad King, and nothing else will compare.

Mirrorball ~ A book that feels like it was written just for you

Who broke Taylor Swift’s heart cause I’m coming after them.

Yuri On Ice

Merlin

Dan Howell

Couldn’t think of a book that wasn’t If We Were Villains, so here’s some shows/youtube.

Seven ~ A childhood book that makes you feel nostalgic

Is this Taylor’s coming out album? Is she f-ing gay?

Boxcar Children #1

Magic Treehouse Polar

Boxcar Children and Magic Tree House were the two series I’d read devotedly as a kid. It was then I also learnt to be disappointed by the library selection, as I’ve never read the entire series of either. RIP Mary.

August ~ A book that reminds you of summer

Yet another gay song- set in college this time.

  View this post on Instagram

I am loving Last Bus To Everland! A bit depressing in places, but that what makes it so immersive. #amreading #bookdragon #queerbooks #quarantinereads #lgbtq🌈

A post shared by BrittainX (@killedbyabook) on Apr 20, 2020 at 7:50pm PDT

I don’t think The Last Bust To Everland is actually set in summertime, but it does have summer vibes. Everland is a magical place to get away from reality and be a part of only the fun, childlike aspects of humanity. Much like summer is a time to get away from school.

This Is Me Trying ~ A book that deals with loneliness & sadness

Well, I felt that.

I don’t really see this book talked about, but it’s basically the story of a bisexual movie director who puts her art about all else, to the detriment of her relationships and her own mental health. Much to my frustration, it’s told from the viewpoint of everyone but Sophie.

Illicit Affairs ~ A book that gave you a book hangover

Meh.

If It Makes You Happy, photo cred https://www.instagram.com/killedbyabook/

I could say that everything I binged in 2019 gave me a hangover- I haven’t really reached that level of reading this year, except for this past month. I had to take summer classes to stay in the dorms, and only really got to reading during the Reading Rush-which was a mess, but also my first week of summer. For a specific book, I’d say If It Makes You Happy, which was my first read of the year and was unmatched until I read Gallery Of Unfinished Girls and Felix Ever After. 

Invisible String ~ A book that came into your life at the exact right time

Isn’t it just so pretty? Yes, yes it is.

My book love

Raise your hand if you saw that coming.

Mad Woman ~ A book with a female character you adore

Vicious, VE Schwab

I adore Sydney! Plus, she has such an amazing power.

Epiphany ~ A book that was haunting

View this post on Instagram

This is a book that really had me thinking about what it meant. What's the line between magical realism and contemporary? Is art always expressive, or just the product of not knowing what you're doing? Are you defined by your best self or are you always a mess, regardless of what you can do? * A bisexual protag with f/f hints but never gets romance heavy. Would recommend for queer artists. * #bipride🌈 #booklover #bookaddict #artist #magicalrealism

A post shared by BrittainX (@killedbyabook) on Jun 23, 2020 at 3:38pm PDT

Gallery of Unfinished Girls got to me. It had me in that thinking state of wonder, pondering how one creates art.

Betty ~ A book couple that fills you with yearning

I ain’t gonna hope like that. Don’t make me.

Bunny, Mona Awad

This might be a strange one, but Ava + Samantha in Bunny- there was so much yearning and the ending- I can only wish for a “best friend” like this. Plus, I really love dark academia but this and If We Were Villains might be the only ones I’ve actually read. I’ve been looking at Secret History, but I’ve heard it has a lot of problems. Please rec me some?

Peace ~ A book character you’d die for because you love them so much!

wHY ARE YOU SO RELATABLE 

I would die for Sherlock Holmes.

Hoax ~ A book that you thought you were going to love but didn’t

T Swift got me tearing up again like why???

Also, I could just do Girl, Woman, Other again because the transphobic betrayal so late in the book… Like, I was invested. And the stuff she was writing came suddenly, as if she had no awareness of trans people during the early chapters, but something clicked and all of the ignorant hate came pouring out…

Anyway! Have you done this tag? Let me know! Do you want to do this tag? Do it! Did any of my books match yours? 

*If you are a regular, please fill out this short survey! I’d love to know what you’re thinking!*

Folklore Book Tag! I'm not the biggest Taylor stan, but I do really enjoy some of her music and Cardigan is just *chef's kiss.*