Ry Herman's Blog

Favorite Books — August 2025

There are two amazing books I read in August that I particularly want to rave about:

TO THE CHAPEL PERILOUS by Naomi Mitchison

Had journalists plied their trade in the days of King Arthur, how would they have reported breaking stories like the Quest for the Holy Grail? Or the love affair between Lancelot and Guinevere?

This was a strange and sometimes opaque story about two newspaper correspondents reporting on the fall of Camelot. It’s often very funny, and often very sad. The story uses the grail quest, in all its myriad forms, as a launchpad for an examination of truth, history, and the search for meaning. If you’re familiar with Arthurian legends before reading this, it will help you fill in a lot of what isn’t being said.

LITTLE MYSTERIES, by Sara Gran

Who destroyed Professor Wolf’s prize-winning tomatoes? What’s behind the mysterious goings-on at Killington Manor? And why does life sometimes feel like we’re stuck in a mystery, with few clues and no solutions?

This was a set of fabulous stories from the writer of the world’s most esoteric mysteries. There may be some crimes to be solved, but isn’t the real investigation the one into the detective’s sense of self?

Other fantastic books I read last month included THE DEVILS by Joe Abercrombie, A TERRIBLY NASTY BUSINESS by Julia Seales, I CAN FIX HER by Rae Wilde, WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE? by Sophie Kinsella, THE VALKYRIE by Kate Heartfield, THISTLE AND THYME by Sorche Nic Leodhas, and NOTES FROM A REGICIDE by Isaac Fellman.

Because

Why do rats
Swarm out of the ground
Every time
You’re around?
Just like me
They long to be
Close to you.

New podcast interview!

My interview with The Well-Read Podcast is up!

https://linktr.ee/thewellreadpodcast

The Ry Fringe Awards!

Edinburgh Fringe is over, which means it’s time to give out the Ry Fringe Awards for the best shows seen by Ry! This year, I saw 36 shows (about 1% of the total on offer), and have given out these entirely irrelevant awards in 22 different categories, unless I miscounted!

BEST SHOWS ALL AROUND
Nominees: All shows seen

Winners:
Dusk/Night/Dawn
Elf Lyons: Swan
By a Thread

THEATER CATEGORIES

BEST PLAY
Nominees: Lady Magic, Sponsored by the Void, Mythos: Ragnarok, Yellow, Lost Girls / At Bus Stops

Winner:
Lost Girls / At Bus Stops

BEST MUSICAL
Nominees: Count Dykula, Lesbian Space Crime, Ohio, Girlz, Lady Macbeth Played Wing Defence, 1457 – The Boy At Rest

Winner (Drama):
Lady Macbeth Played Wing Defence

Winners (Comedy):
Count Dykula
Lesbian Space Crime

BEST SOLO THEATER SHOW
Nominees: Buen Camino, Chopin’s Nocturne, Body Count, The Other Mozart, Elf Lyons: The Bird Trilogy (ChiffChaff, Swan, and Raven), Lapdog, Delusions and Grandeur

Winner (Drama):
The Other Mozart

Winners (Comedy):
Elf Lyons: Swan
Elf Lyons: Raven

DANCE, PHYSICAL THEATER, AND CIRCUS CATEGORIES

BEST CIRCUS
Nominees: Circa: Wolf, Hamlet by the New York Circus Project, Dusk/Night/Dawn, Delusional – I Killed a Man, Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett, Cirque Kalabanté: WOW, The Genesis, By a Thread

Winners (Acrobatics):
Circa: Wolf
Cirque Kalabanté: WOW

Winner (Aerial):
Dusk/Night/Dawn
Delusional – I Killed a Man
By a Thread

Winner (Contortion):
Cirque Kalabanté: WOW

BEST POLE DANCE
Nominees: Dusk/Night/Dawn, Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett, Bella’s Ballerinas, Lapdog

Winner:
Dusk/Night/Dawn

BEST DANCE (NON-POLE):
Nominees: Trace of Belief, pAges, Bella’s Ballerinas

Winner:
Trace of Belief

OTHER CATEGORIES:

BEST STAND-UP COMEDY
Nominees: Stevie Martin: Clout, Alasdair Beckett-King: King of Crumbs, Jenny Tian: Jenny’s Travels

Winner:
Stevie Martin: Clout

BEST SHOW BY PODCASTERS
Nominees: The Cryptid Factor, Black Girls Do It Too: Mama Told Me Not to Come, Alasdair Beckett-King: King of Crumbs

Winner:
Black Girls Do It Too: Mama Told Me Not to Come

BEST LIVE MUSIC
Nominees: Chopin’s Nocturne, Ohio, Delusions and Grandeur, Cirque Kalabanté: WOW, Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett, 1457 – The Boy At Rest

Winner (Classical):
Delusions and Grandeur

Winner (Folk):
Ohio

Winner (Cabaret):
Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett

Winners (Non-European Traditions):
Cirque Kalabanté: WOW
1457 – The Boy At Rest

BEST NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE SHOW
Nominees: 1457 – The Boy At Rest, Cirque Kalabanté: WOW

Winner:
Cirque Kalabanté: WOW

SPECIAL AWARD CATEGORIES

BEST MEDITATION ON MORTALITY
Nominees: Buen Camino, Ohio, Hamlet by the New York Circus Project, Delusional – I Killed a Man, Sponsored by the Void, 1457 – The Boy At Rest

Winner (Metaphorical)
Delusional – I Killed a Man

Winner (Actual)
Ohio

BEST USE OF NUDITY
Nominees: Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett, Dusk/Night/Dawn, Delusional – I Killed a Man, Elf Lyons: Swan, Bella’s Ballerinas

Winner:
Elf Lyons: Swan

BEST WRASSLIN’
Nominees: Mythos: Ragnarok

Winner:
Mythos: Ragnarok

Edinburgh Fringe Week 4

Fringe is coming to an end. Tomorrow, the entire city will look hungover and I will post the widely ignored Ry Fringe Awards! But for tonight, I will just pay homage to the best shows of the past week. I saw 16, bringing the complete total to 36 (about 1% of the total performances on offer.) And there were a lot of brilliant shows this week, so I will just mention my top three:

The astonishing, playful aerialists of BY A THREAD

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/by-a-thread

The inimitable Elf Lyons lovingly skewering Swan Lake in ELF LYONS: SWAN

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/elf-lyons-the-bird-trilogy

And the masterful acrobats and contortionists of CIRQUE KALABANTÉ: WOW

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/cirque-kalabant-wow-world-of-words

More tomorrow!

Edinburgh Fringe Week 3

During the third week of Fringe, I saw 4 shows, for a total of 20. The shows were very strong in general this week, but the best of them was:

DELUSIONAL — I KILLED A MAN

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/delusional-i-killed-a-man

I also, however, need to give serious props to TRACE OF BELIEF:

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/taiwan-season-trace-of-belief

and BERNIE DIETER’S CLUB KABARETT:

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/bernie-dieter-s-club-kabarett

New Maisie Book from Jack Jackman!

It’s publication day for Maisie vs. the Himalayas, by my friend Jack Jackman! If you have children aged ~9-12, I would highly recommend the Maisie series. Fun, funny, and adventurous!

Edinburgh Fringe Week 2

Week 2 of Edinburgh Fringe, I saw 9 more shows for a total of 16. The standout this week by far was:

DUSK/NIGHT/DAWN

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/dusk-night-dawn

Just an amazing show. Some of the most beautiful aerial pole work I’ve ever seen. Stunning and evocative. I can’t rave about this one enough.

I also really liked The Other Mozart, Stevie Martin: clout, and Alasdair Beckett-King: King of Crumbs.

A lot of news this week…

Listen to me chat about Greek myths and queer fairy tales on the Turn The Page podcast!

http://turnthepage.blubrry.net/2025/08/07/turn-the-page-episode-362b/

Word is Spreading

This Princess Kills Monsters has been getting some nice mentions around the Web —

9 of the Best Audiobooks to Listen to This Summer at In Between Drafts

These New Fantasy Books are Making Waves This Summer at Fully Booked

These New Fantasy and Science Fiction Novels Will Make You Laugh at BookBub and The Best New Fantasy Books at Readworthy