Ry Herman's Blog, page 2

Hasty Book List

My author interview with Hasty Book List is up!

I talk a lot about books.

https://www.hastybooklist.com/blog/author-interview-ry-herman

With Apologies to Rudolph

Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark
Had a very ghostly Dad.
And if you ever saw him,
You would think that you’d gone mad.

All of the other Danish
Thought that Hamlet was deranged.
He killed his girlfriend’s father,
Which was deemed a little strange.

Then one later century,
Shakespeare came to say:
“Hamlet, with your brain so weird,
Won’t you star in my premiere?”

Then all the critics loved him,
And they shouted out with glee:
“Hamlet, the Prince of Denmark,
Say ‘To be or not to be!'”

Edinburgh Fringe Week One

First weekend of Edinburgh Fringe has come and gone. I’ve seen seven shows so far, and the definite standout was Circa: Wolf.

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/circa-wolf

Just an absolutely stunning show.

I’d also like to give a shout-out to another very good show, Ohio —

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/ohio

Honestly, it was better than its description makes it sound!

Favorite Books — July 2025

A favorite book this month from a favorite author:

BURY OUR BONES IN THE MIDNIGHT SOIL, by V. E. Schwab

1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada. A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. 1827. London. A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. 2019. Boston. After an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers.

I love a story where vampirism is a curse. Something that’s difficult, horrifying, and makes those who have it worse people. This is definitely one of those stories. I thought it was great.

Other books I loved this past month included: LIVES OF THE MONSTER DOGS by Kirsten Bakis, DEATH AT THE SIGN OF THE ROOK by Kate Atkinson, NO GODS FOR DROWNING by Hailey Piper, I LOVE THIS PART by Tillie Walden, SAINT DEATH’S HERALD by C. S. E. Cooney, IT GETS BETTER… EXCEPT WHEN IT GETS WORSE by Nicole Maines, EVERYBODY WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD EXCEPT ME by Django Wexler, NOBODY IN PARTICULAR by Sophie Gonzales, and SERVICE MODEL by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Sighting of This Princess Kills Monsters in the wild!

At Buffalo Street Books in Ithaca.

BotM

The Book of the Month edition of This Princess Kills Monsters!

Favorite Books — June 2025

June was a good reading month, with a lot of really lovely books. Picking a standout was difficult, but I decided to go with:

UNDER THE UDALA TREES by Chinelo Okparanta

Ijeoma is eleven when civil war breaks out in the young republic of Nigeria. Sent away to safety, she meets another displaced child and they fall in love. They are from different ethnic communities. They are also both girls. When their love is discovered, Ijeoma learns that she will have to hide this part of herself. But there is a cost to living inside a lie.

This is just a beautifully told story. The characters are depicted so well, and it viscerally feels like what happens when you try to bend yourself into the shape everyone else thinks you should be.

Other fantastic books from June included ISOLA by Allegra Goodman, DREAMLAND by Rosa Rankin-Gee, THE ENGLISH EXPERIENCE by Julie Schumacher, THE DARK LORD’S DAUGHTER by Patricia C. Wrede, THE NEXT CHAPTER by Camille Kellogg, SISTERSONG by Lucy Holland, DISAPPOINT ME by Nicola Dinan, and THE FACULTY LOUNGE by Jennifer Mathieu.

IT’S PUBLICATION DAY!!!

I hope you all enjoy This Princess Kills Monsters. I’m honestly pretty proud of it.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/753910/this-princess-kills-monsters-by-ry-herman

My author copies have arrived!

Favorite Books — May 2025

I read lots of really quite wonderful books in May, but my favorite of them all was:

WHEN THE ANGELS LEFT THE OLD COUNTRY by Sacha Lamb

Uriel the angel and Little Ash the demon are the only two supernatural creatures in their shtetl. Pogroms and the search for a new life have drawn all the young people from their village to America. When one of those young emigrants goes missing, Uriel and Little Ash set off to find her. Along the way the angel and demon encounter humans in need of their help, including Rose Cohen, whose best friend (and the love of her life) has abandoned her to marry a man, and Malke Shulman, whose father died mysteriously on his way to America.

A beautifully-written book of queer Jewish historical fantasy checks a lot of boxes for me, especially when it’s about the same immigrant journey that my great-grandparents underwent. This is a story with great characters and a strong sense of social justice, as well as angels, demons, and dybbuks. I loved it.

Other fantastic books I read in May included THE SAFEKEEP by Yael van der Wouden, A CATHEDRAL OF MYTH AND BONE by Kat Howard, A SHARP ENDLESS NEED by Marisa Crane, EMBERCLAW by L. R. Lam, GRETA & VALDIN by Rebecca K. Reilly, A HAUNTING IN THE ARCTIC by C. J. Cooke, A LITTLE DAYLIGHT LEFT by Sarah Kay, THE TELL by Amy Griffin, WHEN WE CEASE TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD by Benjamin Labatut, and NUMBER9DREAM by David Mitchell.