Highlights: July 2024

Well, June was the fourth “above average” rain month we’ve had here in Minnesota. And while that’s great after last summer’s drought, there has been entirely too little reading outside in the sun for our preferences (ok, mostly Serena’s preferences). But, luckily, we did manage to escape off to sunny San Diego for the ALA annual conference! And now we have even MORE books to add to the TBR piles. Here are some we’re particularly looking forward to this month!

Serena’s Picks

Book: “The Spellshop” by Sarah Beth Durst

Publication Date: July 9, 2024

Why I’m Interested: I have a complicated relationship with both Sarah Beth Durst as an author and with cozy fantasy as a subgenre. With both, there are books I’ve absolutely loved! And also with both, there have been books that I very much disliked. So, this one is a pretty big mystery! That said, the premise sounds right up my alley, with a librarian absconding to a remote cottage to protect her magical books. The cover is also everything one could want from a cottage-core cozy fantasy story!

Book: “Black Tide Son” by H.M. Long

Publication Date: July 9, 2024

Why I’m Interested: This is probably my most anticipated title for the month of July. I absolutely adored “Dark Water Daughter” when I read it last summer and have been eagerly awaiting the sequel! The combination of a unique fantasy world, an action-packed pirate plot, and a slow burn romance was everything I want from a book. And really, with this one, all I want is more of the same! I don’t have any particular cares about what the plot is, as long as I get to follow Mary and Samuel on their adventures and see their relationship progress. Honestly, I can’t wait for this one!

Book: “The Night Ends with Fire” by K. X. Song

Publication Date: July 2, 2024

Why I’m Interested: I featured this one on my list back in January of “Most Anticipated Titles of 2024” for one very simple reason: it’s an adult “Mulan” re-imagining. So it’s popping up here for the same reason! While I don’t think there have been that many re-tellings of this story, Sherry Thomas’s “The Magnolia Sword” currently holds the place as my favorite version to date. That said, I’m always on the look out for the next great take on this classic tale! I have really high hopes for this one!

Kate’s Picks

Book: “I Was A Teenage Slasher” by Stephen Graham Jones

Publication Date: July 16, 2024

Why I’m Interested: Given that Jones is one of my favorite authors writing right now, it’s no surprise that a new book of his is on this list the month it comes out. But this one is all the more special because of all the horror sub-genres, slashers are one of my all time favorite. And you just know that if Jones is going to be writing it, it’s going to be stupendous. In 1989 in a small Texas town a teenager is cursed to become a teenage slasher killer. It’s a simple premise, but I know that Jones is going to make it deeply complex and filled with nuance. I can’t wait to read it. And lucky me, I got a signed copy at ALA!

Book: “Bury Your Gays” by Chuck Tingle

Publication Date: July 9, 2024

Why I’m Interested: Chuck Tingle proved two things last year with his debut full length queer horror novel “Camp Damascus”; the first was that yes, love is real, and the second was that he wasn’t just a one trick pony with his monster porn parodies (and hey, look at how far monster romance has come in the past year!). So yes, of course I was looking forward to reading his next queer horror novel “Bury Your Gays”. Misha is a screenwriter who has been working in Hollywood for years, and has been channeling some of his best work in a storyline involving a queer romance in a successful TV show. But when the higher ups tell him that he has to kill off one of the lovers in the finale, he steadfastly refuses, unwilling to give in to a bigoted trope. But then he starts being plagued by stalkers dressed as past monsters from his writing history. I am hoping that Tingle continues to be fresh and creative with horror stalwarts.

Book: “Ghost Camera” by Darcy Coates

Publication Date: July 30, 2024

Why I’m Interested: We have another horror favorite! I have been really digging Darcy Coates for the past few years, as her horror stories are so unsettling and so visceral, and now we got back to one of her first ones with a re-release of the novella “Ghost Camera”! A woman finds an old Polaroid camera and decides to take a photo just for fun. But when it develops she sees a strange apparition in the background of the photo. As she and her friends take more pictures they see more ghosts, and the ghosts seem to be getting closer. And closer. And as if that wasn’t already enough, we get some other Coates short stories on top of this one! This has been a highly anticipated read for sure.

What books are you looking forward to this month? Let us know in the comments!