Summer is coming to an end, I guess. The autumn equinox doesn’t hit until September 22nd, but we can already get pumpkin spice lattes, so I’m saying summer is over. A few more books read this month. No interviews, but I have so much excitement coming in September.

Read Cover-to-Cover in August

The Shadows by Alex North

• Adult thriller about a murder stemming from kids’ obsession with lucid dreaming and appeasing an entity
• Jaw-dropping twists
• Takeaway: How to execute incredible dual timelines

The Dark Tide (#1) by Alicia Jasinska

• Young adult fantasy about a girl falling in love with the witch cursed to eat a boy every year to appease an evil ocean
• Atmospheric like a fairy tale
• F/F enemies to lovers
• Takeaway: Threading gray morality through the lens of definitions

The Monster Baru Cormorant (The Masquerade #2)
by Seth Dickinson

• Adult fantasy sequel to Traitor Baru Cormorant
• Baru is a mess and having a hard time maintaining her cover
• The side characters are so good in this one (many queers throughout)
• Takeaway: Another book that takes its time processing the trauma of the previous book

Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling

• Adult horror novella about a botanist trying to contain and new threat
• Gothic af
• F/F pining
• Takeaway: Gothic atmosphere both in the setting and the interior journey

Drowned Country (The Greenhollow Duology #2) by Emily Tesh

• Adult fantasy novella in which the boyfriends from Silver in the Wood hunt a vampire and go to fairy land
• New fun characters and same old disasters gays
• Takeaway: Atmospheric, fairy tale storytelling

Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones

• Adult horror novella that reads like a slasher film
• Maybe it’s paranoia, maybe it is a sentient mannequin
• Left me squealing in delight
• Takeaway: Stream of consciousness at its finest

City Under the Stars by Gardner Dozois and Michael Swanwick

• Adult science fiction dystopia about a guy who commits a murder and goes off to meet god
• Vivid setting, good aesthetic
• Takeaway: Characters need to be more than just a vehicle for the plot

The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg

• Adult fantasy novella about trans elders who go to learn a fourth weave to take down a ruler
• Older main characters going on an adventure
• Art as magic, names as magic
• Takeaway: Intertwining identity and themes for a delight of a read

Audiobooks

A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers

• Adult horror that’s a memoir of a cannibal food critic
• Eat, Pray, Love but the love is pray
• Absolutely wild from start to finish
• Takeaway: How to write a despicable character without flinching

The Boatman’s Daughter by Andy Davidson

• Adult horror about a bog witch, her found family, gangs, and more
• I thought this was going to be a cool blend of horror and fairy tale (it wasn’t)
• Takeaway: Sometimes less is more

Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay

• • Adult horror about a pregnant woman and her doctor best friend trying to reach a hospital so she can give birth
  • 28 Days Later meets Bird Box meets the literal year 2020
  • Takeaway: Combining done tropes doesn’t necessarily add anything new

The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party
by Daniel James Brown

• Adult nonfiction that’s a deep dive into life on the Oregon trail while not avoiding the real tragedy of the Donner and Reed party
• Horrifying and like a novel
• Takeaway: Trying to find humanity in mind-bogglingly harrowing circumstances

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

• Adult mystery with ghosts and a motel’s mysterious past
• Dual timelines with beat-for-beat parallels
• Perfect pacing
• Takeaway: Satisfying mystery that centers female friendships and support structures

Raybearer (#1) by Jordan Ifueko

• Young adult fantasy inspired by West Africa about a girl whose mother created her to kill the boy she loves
• Excellent world-building and layered characters
• Nuanced look at complicated parental relationships
• Takeaway: Using a magic system that evolves with the characters and never feels like a deus ex machina

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The first half of September is busy on the blog front. Otherwise, the same grind of job hunting, reading, and writing.

Until next time,
Jo