So Many Books! August 2023
Aside from the fact that I can barely believe it is August soon, I also have a hard time wrapping my head around the sheer number of books coming out in August that I am excited to see hit shelves.
August 1st: Wild Spaces by S. L. Coney
This is a debut novel, but it promises to take toxic relatives to the same levels as H.P. Lovecraft’s eldritch abominations so I am, by default, fully invested in seeing reactions to this work. I love the direction Lovecraftian literature has been leaning these last few years, and I am optimistic that this will be another feather in the growing cap of accolades for bringing a new bent to Lovecaftian works.
August 8th: The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride
Historical and literary fiction releases usually are not on my radar, but the title for this one caught my eye. Then I read the summary and it takes place in Pennsylvania. A skeleton is found while digging the foundation for a new development so I was sold. It doesn’t hurt that I’ve heard some pretty high praise for some of McBride’s previous work.
August 8th: Masters of Death by Olivie Blake
This year has had me shifting some long-held opinions on books I like since I’ve discovered both horror and romance books that I’ve enjoyed (which was a first). So I’ve been branching out even further, and this sounds like a hilarious romance with plenty of supernatural elements. A vampire real estate agent, a ghost haunting a house, and Death’s godson all get tangled up in shenanigans that I can’t wait to dive into!
August 15th: Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher
I was lucky enough to have received an advance reading copy of Thornhedge, and I enjoyed the alternate perspective and setting of this Sleeping Beauty retelling. It’s always a good book when I’m rethinking my idea of monstrosity not even part way through – extra impressive when it’s a novella. Kingfisher has crafted another odd and sweet tale here that I recommend to all lovers of fairy tales retold.
August 22nd: He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan
This one is a sequel. She Who Became the Sun came out in June of 2021 and got book-internet famous for being part of the yellow jacketed sapphic trifecta. I enjoyed the supernatural take on what felt like a historical fiction novel of 1300’s China, and I want to read the next one because I have to know how disastrously all of the main character’s decision making goes. I have to know. I need to know.
August 22nd: The Water Outlwas by S. L. Huang
This title wins for my longest awaited 2023 release. It’s been on my radar since the author made a Twitter announcement about it and mentioned that it was a take on the Chinese classic The Water Margin. I adore martial novels, especially ones with legendary masters and the jianghu. So hearing that a talented author was taking on the task to reimagine a cornerstone classic of the genre has me so pumped.
August 22nd: The Art of Libromancy by Josh Cook
If you’re reading this blog it is no surprise to you that I love books. I also love books about books, and having handsold books to random strangers because they happen to be looking at a book I love means that I absolutely want to read a book by an actual bookseller on selling books. Explain the complicated and multifaceted magic of this to me Mr. Cook!
August 29th: Guardian by priest
Background context time! One of my younger siblings visits me and shows me TV shows that they think I will like. They’re always right. One visit, much like many other, the show they put on the TV was the c-drama Guardian. The CGI was painfully awful, and I binged the whole thing because I couldn’t turn away from the characters on screen and then my heart was ripped out and shredded. After shrieking ‘WHY!’ into the pillow I asked where on earth they found this show and they pointed me to Chinese web novels. My reading world got weirder, and I love it.
Several years later and I am lucky enough that Chinese web novels are popular and are being licensed for official English translations. I know that the c-drama Guardian had to change dramatically from the source material to get past censors so that it could air, but I can’t wait to dive into the source material for the show I couldn’t stop watching. After all, even with large-scale changes, a supernatural murder investigation squad and an unassuming professor crossing paths as circumstances around an unusual murder get weirder sounds like a good time to me.
Hats off the August for bringing me a great host of books!
