August TBR Challenges, July Update and belated best Books so far this year!

Helloooo!!

So I managed this update before the end of the month! The good news is that things are a bit less manic. I’ve managed a lovely beach holiday in Spain and as you read this I’ll be ready for Prague for a week. The Autumn will be more busy though as the project that never ends approaches the end and it is going to be busy. Balancing health, work, reading and a life is the big challenge ahead of me. Next month though does have Fantasycon which is always a good way to recharge the book batteries!

TBR Update

By the end of July I managed

TBR Pile - 44

ARCs - 72

A grand total of 116. Not bad and as suspected ending SCKA now allows me more time to choose what I want to read. Currently balancing more books I’ve been meaning to read for ages and ones I need to review. Fingers corssed that lasts rest of the year

August TBR Challenge

Reward time you get to choose the book in your TBR pile no Themes, clues of queries to ask. Just take one off the list!

It’s British Summertime (if in time if not the weather we would like) so simply pick a book you want to. No pressure just enjoy the book. For me it’s going to some non-fiction Writing the Uncanny edited by Dan Coxon which explores one of my favourite type of reading experiences

Stretch Goal -I’d like you to read a translated work. If not in your TBR pile I’d like you to read a book with the theme of a character being on holiday

And for me it’s The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa translated by Stephen Snyder that sounds right up my weird fiction streak

Best Books So Far

I needed some free time I was joping to do this end of June and I therefore think after your holidays and before festive seasons lets give you some reading that may be great in a comfy chair while outside it gets nippy!

For sinister horror January saw me enjoy Such A Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester — Runalong The Shelves - mother/daughter relationships and dark secrets and terrible monsters await. A writer to watch!

Then in weird wonderful folk horror fantasy I enjoyed Now She Is Witch by Kirsty Logan — Runalong The Shelves - and this tale is gorgeous sumptious and strange. Fans of Spear should give this a try as it has a similar feel to it.

SF fans saw the ending of the Inscape trilogy with Downfall by Louise Carey — Runalong The Shelves that for me delivered a fine ending to an inventive and plausible sytopian future.

Loved the strange sibling relationships, subtle exploration of greif and evil puppets that can be found in How To Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix — Runalong The Shelves

Novella fans who enjoy smart and different SF and fanatsy should definitely pick up Ashes of the Ancestors by Andrew Knighton — Runalong The Shelves which I think brings another writer to watch to my atention.

Also in novellas and already getting a great deal of justifiiable acclaim exploring climate change and myths is the excellent Pomegranates by Priya Sharma — Runalong The Shelves In addion the strange but heartwarming Miasma by Jess Hyslop — Runalong The Shelves is well worth your time. Plus in SF Virgin Land by Chloe Smith — Runalong The Shelves

In February horror and having one of the best shock moments I’ve read in ages is The Whispering Muse by Laura Purcell — Runalong The Shelves with gothic Victorian theatres all things can go wrong! A Candle for Malka by Louise Carey — Runalong The Shelves is another smart SF tale exploring greenwashing and families and delivers a touch of horror too. While strange weirdness comes via The Last Night At The Star Dome Lounge by M R Carey — Runalong The Shelves where a B&B becomes a powerful battle scene for magical powers.

I was also very impressed by Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amelie Wen Zhao — Runalong The Shelves that delivers an eastern style fantasy but with a refreshing take and great storytelling, For thriller fans I LOVED the unusual What July Knew by Emily Koch — Runalong The Shelves where the 90s background sets a unique mystery for the 10 year old girl trying to find out what happened to her mother,

In Epic fantasy I was wowed by the storytelling behind The Stone Knife by Anna Stephens — Runalong The Shelves which got even more powerful in The Jaguar Path by Anna Stephens — Runalong The Shelves and I want and also fear the final book to come!

In short story collections I definitely can recommend the inventive and varied tales within Song of the Mango and Other New Myths by Vida Cruz-Borja — Runalong The Shelves. In anthologies for a neat mix of styles then have a look at Turning of the Seasons - A Dark Almanac by JS Breukelaar and Seb Doubinsky — Runalong The Shelves . And for suitably good causes and lots of fresh ideas try Eclectic Dreams - The Milford Anthology edited by J W Anderson, Pete W Sutton and Liz Williams — Runalong The Shelves

In science fiction with a long take and unusual characters I admired the inventiveness behind The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz — Runalong The Shelves. Action, adventure and even scares await in the awesome Hel's Eight by Stark Holborn — Runalong The Shelves And a brilliant smart dystopia awaits you in The Ten Percent Thief by Lavanya Lakshminarayan — Runalong The Shelves. An innovative take with Bif DUmb Objects awaits you in action adventure feast Descendant Machine by Gareth L Powell — Runalong The Shelves. While in military SF a refreshing approach awaits in The Iron Children by Rebecca Fraimow — Runalong The Shelves. While pushing epic to multiversal proportions is the excellent Infinity Gate by MR Carey — Runalong The Shelves. While fundamentalism is explored very well in Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh — Runalong The Shelves and a powerful galaxy smashing tale awaits Lords of Uncreation by Adria Tchaikovsky — Runalong The Shelves. While less SF and more climate change focused is the very thoughtful Mother Sea by Lorraine Wilson — Runalong The Shelves. The dangers of productivity is explored smartly in I Am AI by Ai Jiang — Runalong The Shelves While revolutions are explored via the intelligent and poetical Mage of Fools by Eugen Bacon — Runalong The Shelves. Another spin on this theme is the propulsive tale The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang — Runalong The Shelves

While a constant theme I enjoy reading about is identity and this gets explored very well in Telling The Bees By Emma K Leadley — Runalong The Shelves and also the magnificent Translation State by Ann Leckie — Runalong The Shelves

In fantasy a familiar idea becomes something very different in the fascinating And Put Away Childish Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky — Runalong The Shelves wardrobes do indeed feature! I also liked the gothic and weirdness of The Keep Within by JL Worrad — Runalong The Shelves which reminds me I need to read another book in that series! I was very impressed with the smaller but key stakes of the main characters in A Woman of the Sword by Anna Smith Spark — Runalong The Shelves and trust me Spark has another amazing book coming soon! Bawdier fun with legends awaits you in The Dust of the Red Rose Knight by James Bennett — Runalong The Shelves. In Historical fantasy Shakespeare gets played with in Verona in Autumn by Tom Lloyd — Runalong The Shelves . Norse myth gets revised in a powerful way with the entrancing The Valkyrie by Kate Heartfield — Runalong The Shelves. While what happens after heroes win is explored in the intriguing The Sword Defiant by Gareth Hanrahan — Runalong The Shelves while Arthurian legends are re-invented in The Cleaving by Juliet E McKenna — Runalong The Shelves. While the magnificent The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez — Runalong The Shelves stays on my mind for many weeks after reading it - one of the best books I’ve ever read.

A powerful contemporary fantasy tale is Broken Light by Joanne Harris — Runalong The Shelves exploring women, social media and so much more to powerful effect, While Arthurian Legends and the future collide in the very interesting Perilous Times by Thomas D Lee — Runalong The Shelves. A new unusual series commences also with the fascinating Gods of the Wyrdwood by RJ Barker — Runalong The Shelves

A new and brilliant series continues with Grave Danger by Alice James — Runalong The Shelves and this series goes strength to strength in Grave Suspicions by Alice James — Runalong The Shelves. Dont skip this serie sits something special.

While in horror a return to the amazing character of Jade came in the great Don't Fear The Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones — Runalong The Shelves. There are darker tales awaiting in the collection The Trees Grew Because I Bled There: Collected Stories by Eric LaRocca — Runalong The Shelves While as always mixing smiles with terror is the very entertaining A House With Good Bones by T KIngfisher — Runalong The Shelves. If you’ve not yet picked up Linghun by Ai Jiang — Runalong The Shelves do so its an amazing haunting tale of grief and ghosts.

A spooky trip to the beginning of the 20th cnetury has more dangers to face in the intelligent On The Nature of Magic by Marian Womack — Runalong The Shelves While the French revolution and vampires collide in the very smart Scarlet by Genevieve Cogman — Runalong The Shelves while a sumptious WW1 gothic ghost tale awaits you in the awesome The Others of Edenwell by Verity M Holloway — Runalong The Shelves and prepare for scary reveals while you read Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward — Runalong The Shelves or enjoy the thrills of Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia — Runalong The Shelves.

Fans of the gothic should run and get The Other Lives of Miss Emily White by AJ Ellwood — Runalong The Shelves for a powerful bewitching horror tale. While a dark fairy tale of very creepy proportions awaits you in The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw — Runalong The Shelves

Fun fresh eaters await you Zombies! By Paul Kane — Runalong The Shelves and dark surprises await you in No Happily Ever After by Phil Sloman — Runalong The Shelves. A short weird western worth your time is Between The Blood And The Sun by Jennifer R Donohue — Runalong The Shelves and scary family reunions await you in Wild Spaces by S L Coney — Runalong The Shelves. Also the haunting Isle of Skye is used to good effect in The Mystery At Dunvegan Castle by T L Huchu — Runalong The Shelves

That should keep you busy for a bit? Any suggestions leave in the comments

TidyTheTBRMatthew CavanaghAugust 28, 2023Comment