Yeah, I know, summer is already half over. It’s almost the time of sweaters and pumpkin spice lattes. You don’t need to remind me.
I’ve been going through a bit of a book binge of late which has been a nice change. I’ve spent the majority of 2018 in a serious reading slump. Maybe it’s the nice weather or that I’ve had a great run of books… but all I wanted to do lately is read.
So I decided to sit down and make a list of the books I want to read before the end of the summer. My list is a little ambitious and given my track record of summer TBRs not very likely.
But here you have it. Wish me luck.
I’m not going to limit this list to books that were released in 2017 and instead I’m going to talk about the books that I loved. Yes, you’re going to see just how behind on certain releases I am. Come at me.
The Muse of Nightmares – Laini Taylor
We managed to receive ARCs of The Muse of Nightmares at Book Expo this year, Chelsey has a great story about my reaction to the book drop. The fact that I still haven’t picked up the novel is a testament to my loyalty to the Death of the Author reading schedule. Strange the Dreamer was one of my favourite reads last year and I’ve spent a lot of time and effort trying to get more people to read it. With Muse of Nightmares Laini Taylor brings the duology to a close. Will Lazlo Strange survive? I really hope so. I love him.
THE TRAITOR BARU CORMORANT – SETH DICKINSON
Years ago my office got this brilliant idea to do a book club. The Traitor Baru Cormorant was the book we all decided on. Everyone went out and bought it and then we all promptly forgot about our plans to read it. I got about halfway through Traitor and was really enjoying it, but then had to put it down for website related books. For the last few years this book has been giving me the side eye as it gathered dust on my bedside table. The fact that the sequel is coming out in the fall adds a new level to my motivation to finish this book. The question is, do I pick up where I left off or do I start from the beginning?
THE STRANGE CASE OF THE ALCHEMIST’S DAUGHTER – THEODORA GOSS
I was reading a review on Tor for the sequel and it convinced me that I needed to pick up this novel. The Strange Case has a lot of things I like: Sherlock Holmes, girl gangs, reimaginings of famous characters, mad scientists, and secret societies. The list goes on. I’ve heard nothing but good things about this novel. It’s comforting to know that if I love it I don’t need to wait a year to read the sequel.
INTO THE DROWNING DEEP – MIRA GRANT
This book was on my last TBR post, but I never got around to reading it. Into the Drowning Deep is the sequel to Mira Grant’s short story Rolling in the Deep. It’s about killer mermaids. Let that sink in. In this novel a new ship sets out to find out what happened to the crew of the Atargatis (hint: it wasn’t great). Is this new natch of scientists and media professionals doomed? Probably. I loved Mira Grant’s Newsflesh series. I’m ready to see if she can do the same thing she did for mermaids as she did for zombies.
THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD – PAUL TREMBLAY
I came across The Cabin at the End of the World on the io9 June book list.This book was an instabuy for me. The premise sounded so creepy and cool. The novel centers around a family vacationing at a remote cabin. Their relaxing trip is interrupted when four strangers arrive claiming that they need their help to save the world. Then the horror starts. Goodreads compares The Cabin at the End of the World to Stephen King’s Misery and Ruth Ware’s In a Dark Dark Wood. Since I don’t want to be spoiled for this one so I haven’t done much research or read any reviews since I bought it. I don’t know if it’s a thriller or if it has supernatural elements.. or really much detail past the basic premise. I also picked up Tremblay’s Head Full of Ghosts, but I’m saving that for October and Halloween
NEVERNIGHT – JAY KRISTOFF
Here at Death of the Author we’re big fans of the Illuminae Files. When Jay Kristoff announced his solo fantasy series The Nevernight Chronicles I was seriously excited a dark fantasy in a world inspired by Venice? YES PLEASE. This was two years ago. I keep meaning to read this series but I keep getting distracted or putting it off. This is the summer I’m going to read it God damn it. The city in this novel was built from the bones of a dead God. That’s my jam! How have i not read this yet?
THE CHANGELING – VICTOR LAVALLE
I’ve sung the praises of The Ballad of Black Tom for years now. I listened to the audiobook in one sitting. If you’re a fan of cosmic horror and Lovecraftian inspired fiction that critiques its roots, I suggest you pick Ballad up. The Changeling sounds like a mashup of horror and folktales. This is another book that’s been on my radar for a while but I haven’t looked into it too much for fear of spoilers. I picked up a copy of the novel at The Strand this year so now I just need to start it.
THE TWILIGHT PARIAH – JEFFREY FORD
Three friends discover something creepy in the basement of an abandoned house and it turns their life into a living hell. This novella sounds super creepy. Not much else to say other than I’m excited.
EDIT: So during the process of writing this post I sat down and read The Twilight Pariah. It was interesting but I didn’t love it like I thought I would. There is a possibility of an essay on this book in the future. We’ll see.
LIFEL1K3 – JAY KRISTOFF
Look at that, Jay Kristoff has two books on this list. LIFEL1K3 isthe start of Kristoff’s solo YA scifi series and it has the best summary I’ve ever come across.
It’s Romeo and Juliet meets Mad Max meets X-Men, with a little bit of Blade Runner cheering from the sidelines.
I like all those things and I like Jay Kristoff. As mentioned before, LIKEL1K3 is the first book in a new series by Kristoff and he hasn’t let me down yet.
SOMETHING BY STEPHEN KING (PROBABLY SALEM’S LOT)
Last summer was the summer of Stephen King’s It. I carried around all 1000+ pages of that novel everywhere I went. It got me long shifts at the carnival and it was with me for every bus ride. I was engrossed. I was obsessed. When I finally finished It and said goodbye to the Loser’s Club and Pennywise the Dancing Clown I felt lost. I had spent so much of my time with that book and now it was gone. Now it’s a year later and I’m starting to feel the itch to pick up another Stephen King novel. I haven’t decided which one yet, but I’m leaning heavily towards Salem’s Lot. What can I say? I’m a sucker for vampires. It’s also one of King’s novels that I’m not very familiar with. I haven’t even watched the adaptation. But then again I might save it for vampire month. We’ll see what happens.
I realize that the majority of this list is made up of horror novels. I don’t know what it is about the summer but it always makes me want to pick up the creepiest books I can find. Maybe it’s the sunlight?
What are the books that you want to pick up this summer? Tell me about them in the comments below.
