Sometimes I think, “Ugh. There are so many books in the world, and I’ll never be able to get to them all.” And sometimes I think, “Wow. There are so many books in the world, and it’s fun to try to read as many as you can.” Today, I’m feeling the latter, which is why I want to share the fantasy books coming out this summer that I’m most excited to pick up. Friends, the world is one big TBR, but I’m here to help you narrow it down!
Magic Library of Waterfall Way By Julie Abbey (Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 25 August)
As a library lover, I never turn down a SFF book with a library setting. A young girl named Lyra Hunt is facing difficult times when she discovers the Guild of Scholars and its magical library. It seems like the perfect place for her, but to call it home, she must undergo an initiation: finding the Scholar’s Crystal, which was lost in a fire years ago. (Early hardcover editions will have adorable spray-painted edges with little flying books!)
Business of Blood: An Ana and Din Mystery (Shadow of Leviathan) By Robert Jackson Bennett (Del Rey, August 4)
This series is only going to be three books long, and it’s already one of the greatest series of all time. (That’s what I said.) This time, the unusual detective duo of Anna and Deen travel to a peasant Canton to investigate a murder allegedly committed by the heir to Canton’s wealthiest family. I’ve already read it, and holy cats, it’s brilliant. And I have a theory. (Hit me when you read this!)
dungeon book By Gareth Hanrahan (Orbit, 11 August)
Someone told me to add this to my TBR several months ago, and now I can’t remember who, but at least I remember the book! Which is great, because it feels like an amazing pleasure. It is about a young girl imprisoned in a dungeon who befriends the creatures who live with her there. And the whole thing is told through a talking skull named Cornelius.
Zahra Douglas’ inevitable destruction By Leslie Penelope (Redhook, August 11)
It can technically be classified as historical fantasy as it is set in the 1990s. (Lolsob.) After witnessing the kidnapping of her twin sister Anika, Zahra’s world is shifted to a timeline where her sister never existed, and only Zahra remembers her. Five years later, amidst the Y2K panic, Zahra thinks she has finally found a way to prove that Annika was real.
swords and spaceships
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The Divine Gardener’s Handbook: Or What to Do If Your Girlfriend Accidentally Turns Off the Sun by Ellie Snow (Saturday Books, August 18)
I couldn’t pass up a click-bait title like this, so as soon as the ARC landed in my lap, I read it. It’s a very fun and wildly imaginative story about an underground world, a flower contest, rivals-turned-friends, and gods. I can’t wait to read what Ellie Snow writes for us next! And the physical version of this book is so Gorgeous—there are flowers everywhere!
Okay, Star Bitches, now take the knowledge you’ve learned here today and use it for good, not evil. If you want to learn more about books, I talk about books nonstop (when I’m not reading them), and you can hear me saying lots of adjectives about them on the Book Riot Podcast. All the books! and on Instagram.
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