I’ve done this a few times some years ago, but as a practice, it never stuck. But as I spend time doing this every month for myself, I might as well take a couple of minutes and post it, right? This is not going to be an exhaustive list—I’ll probably read other things, too, and may not get to all of these. But as of today, this is my plan.
Strange Animals
by Jarod K. Anderson
Green trips on the curb, falls flat into the street, and sees the city bus speeding toward him. And then . . . blink. He’s back on the curb, miraculously still alive. A five-foot-tall crow watches him from atop a nearby sign, somehow unseen by the rushing crowd of morning commuters.
Desperate for answers and beset by more visions of impossible creatures, Green finds his way to a remote campsite in the Appalachian Mountains, where he meets a centuries-old teacher and begins an apprenticeship unlike anything he could imagine.
Under his new mentor’s grouchy tutelage, Green studies the time-bending rag moth, the glass fawn, and the menacing horned wolf. He begins to see past hidden nature’s terrors and glimpse its beauty, all while befriending fellow misfits—and finding connection and community.
Along the way come clues about the forces that set him on this path—and, most incredibly, a sense of purpose and fulfillment like nothing he’s felt before.
But Green’s new happiness promises to be short-lived, because alongside these marvels lurks a deadly threat to this place he’s already come to love.
Creepy, cozy, and beautiful, Strange Animals is a fantasy about home, belonging, and the fearfully wonderous nature all around us.
I honestly don’t remember what precisely jumped out at me about this book when a publicist reached out to me about the ARC. Reading it now, it sounds promising–and I’m looking forward to it.
Everybody Wants to Rule the World
by Ace Atkins
It’s 1985, what will soon become known as “The Year of the Spy,” and fourteen-year-old Peter Bennett is convinced his mom’s new boyfriend is a Russian agent. “Gary” isn’t in the phone book, has an unidentifiable European accent, and keeps a gun in the glove box of his convertible Porsche. Peter thinks Gary only wants to get close to his mom because she works at Scientific Atlanta, a lab with big government contracts. But who is going to believe him? He’s just a kid into BMX and MTV.
But after another woman who works at the lab is killed, Peter recruits an unlikely pair of allies—a has-been pulp writer and muckraker named Dennis Hotchner and his drag performer buddy and heavy, Jackie Demure. Both soon become the target of an unhinged Russian hitman (Is it Gary? Maybe!) with a serious Phil Collins obsession.
Meanwhile, Sylvia Weaver, a young, Black FBI agent, investigates Scientific Atlanta in the wake of the employee’s murder and discovers a nest of Russian spies in the Southern “city too busy to hate.” Little does she know her investigation is being thwarted by a seriously compromised colleague in Washington, D.C., who is in league with a lovesick, hypochondriac KGB defector who is playing both sides of the Cold War to his benefit.
As Ronald Reagan and Soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev prepare for a historic nuclear summit in Geneva, what happens in Atlanta might change the course of the Cold War, the twentieth century, and Peter Bennett’s freshman year of high school.
Okay, an Atkins stand-alone sounds appealing. A humorous spy-thriller set in the mid 80s? I’d take a second look at that just from this premise, but if it’s from Atkins, it’s almost a guaranteed hit.
Twelve Months
by Jim Butcher
One year. 365 days. Twelve months.
Harry Dresden has been through a lot, and so has his city. After Harry and his allies narrowly managed to save Chicago from being razed to the ground, everything is different—and it’s not just the current lack of electricity.
In the battle, Harry lost people he cared about. And that's the kind of loss that takes a toll. Harry being Harry, he’s doing his level best to help the city and his friends recover and rebuild. But it’s a heavy load, and he needs time.
But time is one thing Harry doesn’t have. Ghouls are prowling Chicago and taking out innocent civilians. Harry’s brother is dying, and Harry doesn’t know how to help him. And last but certainly not least, the Winter Queen of the Fae has allied with the White Court of vampires—and Harry’s been betrothed to the seductive, deadly vampire Lara Raith to seal the deal.
It's been a tough year. More than ever, the city needs Harry Dresden the wizard—but after loss and grief, is there enough left of Harry Dresden the man to rise to the challenge?
I’ve been waiting for this for ages. Mostly patiently, although that part has been getting harder lately. I really need to be sure that I’ve got my ducks in a row when this comes out, because I pretty much see myself ignoring other books until I’m done with this one.
Memes & Mayhem Volume II:
by Ashley DeLeon
Spooky mysteries meet digital dysfunction! The Circleville Letters, The Max Headroom Incident, The Watcher House, Roanoke...and the cursed Mary Celeste. But, like...make it unhinged. Anonymous letters that ruin lives. A TV hijacker with a creepy rubber face. A house that watches you. A colony that vanishes. A ghost ship that drips in "nope." Throw in some conspiracy theories, bad decisions, and meme-worthy reactions, and you've got yourself another chaotic collection of cursed tales and internet irreverence. If you like your mystery with a dash of mayhem and a side of snark, this book is for you!
DeLeon’s mix of (light) horror and storytelling through memes was so good in the first volume that I didn’t even think before shelling out some cash for this next one. This should make for a very pleasant afternoon.
Olivia
by Ian Falconer
It's everyone's favorite pig...it's OLIVIA!
Join Olivia as she...
-dresses up
-sings songs
-builds sand castles
-naps (maybe)
-dances
-paints on walls
-and—whew!—
...finally goes to sleep at last.
I’m working my way through Slate’s “25 Greatest Picture Books of the Past 25 Years,” and this is the first on the list. I have seen the cover a handful of times, so I’m not unfamiliar with it.
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
by Mordicai Gerstein
In 1974, French aerialist Philippe Petit threw a tightrope between the two towers of the World Trade Center and spent an hour walking, dancing, and performing high-wire tricks a quarter mile in the sky. This picture book captures the poetry and magic of the event with a poetry of its own: lyrical words and lovely paintings that present the detail, daring, and--in two dramatic foldout spreads-- the vertiginous drama of Petit's feat.
This is the second from Slate’s list. I’m curious how they manage to make this appealing for kids without instigating a bunch of copy-cat accidents on playgrounds.
Through the Ashes
by Irene Hill
He survived the fire—but the man he was didn’t. Ever since that night, former deputy and search and rescue expert Joe Higgins has cut himself off from the world, holed up on his Wyoming ranch with only nightmares and liquor for company. But when a young boy vanishes in the unforgiving mountains of Joe's backyard, Joe's old boss begs one last favor. Joe doesn’t want the job—but he’s the only one who can read the land well enough to find the kid before it’s too late. What starts as a routine search spirals into something far darker. This boy didn't just wander off. The treacherous mountains tell no lies. Guilty people tell no truths. If he fails again, there will be nothing left to save. To solve the case, Joe must confront not just the terrain, but his own demons. And the deeper he goes, the more he realizes, finding this boy might be his last shot at redemption—or the first step into a deeper hell.
I’ve talked to Irene Hill at a couple of local author events these last few months and am eager to see what she brings to the thriller genre–hopefully I dig it, because she’s got a few others ready to dive into.
All the Best Dogs
by Emily Jenkins, illustrated by Manuel Preitano
For anyone who loves a dog--and anyone who loves a laugh, comes this sensitive (and silly!) story about growing up and mending fences. An enduring message of friends, community, and the joy of pets.
Ask anyone who has a dog and they’ll tell you that their dog is the best. Really, truly, the best dog in the world. Theirs is the best dog that ever lived, ever, ever, in the history of the known universe.
Welcome to the dog park! It’s a playground for dogs in the big city. Here, four sixth graders (and their dogs!) overlap on one hilarious and important June weekend.
Ezra needs to find his lost dog.
Cup-Cup needs a friend. (She also needs to learn to walk on a leash.)
Mei-Alice wonders if anyone will ever understand her.
Panda wonders what will happen if she breaks the rules.
Kaleb is covering up a terrible mistake.
Grover and Lottie are making lots of terrible mistakes. (Some of them are disgusting.)
And Jilly needs to make a new life in a new place.
On this almost-summer weekend, a series of surprises, mishaps, and misunderstandings will end up changing all of their lives.
I saw this cover in an advertisement on Bookshop.org and just had to look into it. And then once I read it, how could I not get my hands on it? There’s nothing about this that doesn’t scream “Get this, HC!!:
The Land of Sweet Forever: Stories and Essays
by Harper Lee
From one of America’s most beloved authors, a posthumous collection of newly discovered short stories and previously published essays and magazine pieces, offering a fresh perspective on the remarkable literary mind of Harper Lee.
Harper Lee remains a landmark figure in the American canon – thanks to Scout, Jem, Atticus, and the other indelible characters in her Pulitzer-winning debut, To Kill a Mockingbird; as well as for the darker, late-’50s version of small-town Alabama that emerged in Go Set a Watchman, her only other novel, published in 2015 after its rediscovery. Less remembered, until now, however, is Harper Lee the dogged young writer, who crafted stories in hopes of magazine publication; Lee the lively New Yorker, Alabamian, and friend to Truman Capote; and the Lee who peppered the pages of McCall’s and Vogue with thoughtful essays in the latter part of the twentieth century.
The Land of Sweet Forever combines Lee’s early short fiction and later nonfiction in a volume offering an unprecedented look at the development of her inimitable voice. Covering territory from the Alabama schoolyards of Lee’s youth to the luncheonettes and movie houses of midcentury Manhattan, The Land of Sweet Forever invites still-vital conversations about politics, equality, travel, love, fiction, art, the American South, and what it means to lead an engaged and creative life.
This collection comes with an introduction by Casey Cep, Harper Lee’s appointed biographer, which provides illuminating background for our reading of these stories and connects them both to Lee’s life and to her two novels.
Yes, Go Set a Watchman has made me a little trigger shy about trying this. But…it’s worth a shot. If only so I can understand it a little more–and generally gain a little more insight into one of my favorite writers.
Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold
by C.S. Lewis
This twist on an old story, is an exploration of love—between sisters, between friends, between teacher and pupil, between men and women. Till We Have Faces is retold through the eyes of Psyche’s oldest sister, Orual.
Orual was born ugly and even though she’s a princess, she struggles with the death of her mother and the friction between her sisters. There are two lights in Orual’s life. One is her tutor, the Fox, a Greek slave captured through war. The other is her much younger sister Istra, later nicknamed Psyche, born from Orual’s father’s second marriage. Istra is beautiful and sweet and good but far from being jealous of her, Orual loves her as a daughter. When the priest of Ungit says that Psyche’s great beauty is an insult to the goddess and she must be sacrificed, Orual fights to prevent this. When Orual expects to find her sister dead, she finds her well and thriving. But, why can’t Orual see what everyone else sees? Blinded by her jealous love, Orual castes blame on the duplicity of gods. What is the truth? What is real?
Lewis’s novel is a brilliant examination of envy, loss, betrayal, blame, grief, guilt, and conversion. Why must holy places be dark places? Lewis reminds us of our own fallibility and the role of a higher power in our lives. “Holy places are dark places. It is life and strength, not knowledge and words, that we get in them. Holy wisdom is not clear and thin like water, but thick and dark like blood.”
This is supposed to be Lewis’ greatest work. So I’m sure there’s a really good explanation for the fact that I’ve never read it–I’ve only been reading Lewis for a measly 36 years or so.
Banners of Wrath
by Michael Michel
War has come... To book three in the Dreams of Dust and Steel series. Murder, betrayal, high-stakes, and sorrow and all that good stuff continued here.
Until Michel finishes the Dreams of Dust and Steel, I’m going to be rushing to get to the next thing available. I doubt I’ll finish this before the end of the month, but I’ll hopefully start it.
Remington Platypus
by Steven Nash
Remington Platypus is many things: badger, detective, Platypus by name, but not by nature. When a grotesque body turns up in the city, a fusion of multiple species, Frankensteined together into something that should never have existed. He knows he can’t look the other way. Someone is making monsters. His boss wants him to walk away. The Murder wants him gone. Their syndicate of crows controls half of the city. In the shadows, the Rev, their enigmatic raven leader, watches. Silent. Patient. And far too powerful. Remington has never been good at playing it safe. But when nothing adds up, and no one is who they seem, who do you trust? In a city of fur, feathers, and fangs, where predators set the rules and prey vanish without a trace, Remington is about to learn that some monsters aren’t born, they’re made.
Raven Crime Reads raved about this on their blog, and repeatedly on their social media accounts. The strength of this made me succumb. This should be fun.
Troubled Deep
by Rob Parker
Nobody ever knew what happened to the Brindleys. One summer they were there - flashy, loud and beautiful - and then they were gone. A mother, father and two children, vanished into the East Anglian night. Some said the family never made it home from the party; their speeding car thrown off the tracks and the four of them silently buried in the marshes. Others said they had simply moved on. For thirty years, the case remained as cold as the freezing waterways of the Norfolk broads. Until Cam Killick found the car. An ex-marine and ex-SBS officer, Cam Killick's PTSD has made the return to civilian life a living nightmare. The only place he can find peace is underwater, where the world is muffled to white noise. As a cold case diver it is his job to scour the waterways of the country for the lost, the submerged, the drowned, laying their stories to rest alongside them. Except when Cam throws open the doors to the Brindley car, all four bodies are missing. And Cam will soon learn that some secrets, once submerged, are better off staying that way.
The fact that I didn’t make time for this one last year has been a bur under my saddle for months–I see it every time I look at my physical TBR shelves, taunting me. It’s beyond time to get this read.
She Who Became the Sun
by Shelley Parker-Chan
She Who Became the Sun reimagines the rise to power of the Ming Dynasty’s founding emperor.
To possess the Mandate of Heaven, the female monk Zhu will do anything
“I refuse to be nothing…”
In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…
In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.
When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother's identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.
After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother's abandoned greatness.
This is the selection for my Fantasy Book club, I know nothing about it, but it looks promising.
Lit
by Tim Sandlin
In a small town in the woods of northwest Wyoming, Kasey Cobb lives alone in a cabin, runs a drive-through coffee kiosk, and hangs out at the library, reading the classics. He's the least-likely guy to become the center of a culture clash... and death. Yet that's what happens when he strays past a book-bonfire, ignited by a pastor and his hapless followers, and inadvertently rescues a self-important (drunk) author from being burned with his obscure novel.
From that moment on, Kasey's life becomes a whirlwind that sweeps up a laconic lawman, a pissed off grizzly bear, a relentless podcaster, a sensuous librarian obsessed with death, a fierce female rancher and, most troublesome of all, a devious murderer. And yet, amidst the chaos, Kasey chases another shot at a lasting love, even if it might kill him.
I saw something about Lit a few weeks before it was released, and I’ve been champing at the bit to get at it since.
Children of Time
by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, they discover the greatest treasure of the past age -- a world terraformed and prepared for human life.
But all is not right in this new Eden. In the long years since the planet was abandoned, the work of its architects has borne disastrous fruit. The planet is not waiting for them, pristine and unoccupied. New masters have turned it from a refuge into mankind's worst nightmare.
Now two civilizations are on a collision course, both testing the boundaries of what they will do to survive. As the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, who are the true heirs of this new Earth?
I read my first book by Tchaikovsky last year–a fantasy novel–and have been wondering why I ignored so many people who encouraged me to read him ages ago. Looking forward to seeing how he handles SF.
The Final Score
by Don Winslow
The trademark literary style, trenchant wit, and incisive characterization that have made Don Winslow a repeat New York Times bestselling author and “America’s greatest living crime writer” (Providence Journal)are on brilliant display in this new book sure to delight Winslow’s most devoted fans and first-time readers.
The multi-million-dollar casino heist is impossible—it can’t be done. That’s what makes it irresistible to a legendary robber facing the rest of his life in prison for his “Final Score.” An ambitious, hard-working college-bound teenager has a side job delivering illegal booze to “The Sunday List” until a crooked cop, a seductive customer, and a fake guru threaten to end his dreams. Two wise guys tell each other a “True Story” over breakfast at a diner. It’s all bullshit and laughs until someone else has to pick up the check. An otherwise honest patrolman has to make an excruciating choice between his loyalty to the job and his love for a ne’er-do-well cousin in “The North Wing.” The entitled, substance-addicted movie star that surfer/PI Boone Daniels and his crew are hired to babysit in “The Lunch Break” is a problem. She also has a problem—someone wants her dead. Finally, the one terrible, momentary mistake that a devoted family man makes sends him to prison and on a “Collision” course between the man he wants to be and the killer he’s forced to become to survive.
The Final Score is a propulsive, perceptive, and deeply immersive book of crime writing — the ultimate testament to Don Winslow's prowess as a living legend of the genre.
Winslow’s deciding he was done with retirement is great (if somewhat expected) news. Can’t wait to get my hands on this. I’d say that without a Dawn Patrol story. But with one? I’m jonesing for it already.
What about you? What’re you planning to tackle this month (assuming you think that far in advance)? Have you read any of these and want to caution or encourage me as I head into them?
(Image by DaModernDaVinci from Pixabay)
