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Readers' Most Anticipated Books of July
Our extremely informal series on the history of books continues this month with the following little nugget: The first artifacts that can be arguably termed books go back to at least 3,000 years BCE in Mesopotamia. These were basically account ledgers keeping track of traded goods, written on damp clay slabs, later baked into tablets. The Sumerians evolved this system into a form of pictograph writing, which eventually became letters, words, and–many years later–oddly specific romance novels.
Fast-forward 5,000 years and here are some of the most anticipated new books coming in July: Shelley Parker-Chan’s She Who Became the Sun presents an alternate history epic set in Mongol-occupied China. Grady Hendrix explores meta thriller tropes in The Final Girl Support Group. And an international translator finds trouble in the Hague with Katie Kitamura’s Intimacies. Also on tap: angry ex-cons, philosophical robots, and domestic lycanthropes.
Each month the Goodreads editorial team takes a look at the books that are being published in the U.S., readers' early reviews, and how many readers are adding these books to their Want to Read shelves (which is how we measure anticipation). We use the information to curate this list of hottest new releases.
Billed as a sort of contemporary and satirical fairy tale, this debut novel from author Rachel Yoder features a frustrated artist and stay-at-home mom who appears to be turning into, well…a dog. Oh, yes, quite literally. Some quick library research by our protagonist reveals that even stranger things are afoot. Yoder’s lycanthropic cautionary tale explores issues of art, ambition, and motherhood with a twist of magical realism. As you might suspect, it gets a bit Kafkaesque.
1345, China: The starving peasants of the Central Plains are dying out under the harsh rule of the Mongols. Two children, orphaned by a bandit attack, flee into the unknown. One survives, one doesn’t, and history pivots on its ancient axis. This highly anticipated debut from author Shelley Parker-Chan presents a kind of alternate history of China in the form of a sweeping, old-school, historical epic.
The new thriller from S.A. Cosby (Blacktop Wasteland) follows two hardened ex-cons–one Black, one white–determined to find the killer of their two sons, who were gay, and married, and in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ike and Buddy Lee must confront their own regrets and lingering prejudices as they return to the criminal underworld looking for vengeance.
Sometimes the title of a book is all you really need. This excellently named first novel from Emily R. Austin chronicles the adventures of Gilda, a “twenty-something, atheist, animal-loving lesbian” who takes a receptionist job at a local Catholic church and becomes obsessed with the death of her predecessor. Morbidly funny, or maybe funnily morbid, Austin’s debut is recommended for fans of Mostly Dead Things and Goodbye, Vitamin.
In the more self-aware neighborhoods of horror fiction, the “final girl” is the heroine at the end of a slasher story. She’s the one that survives and triumphs, invariably in a bloodied sleeveless t-shirt. Grady Hendrix (The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires) specializes in this kind of meta horror, and his latest concerns a real-life killer who is stalking real-life final girls. If slasher stories are about catharsis, and they are, then Grady Hendrix books are about right.
From the author of A Separation comes a novel about the ambiguities of love, language, and even Truth itself. At the International Court of Justice, in the Hague, an interpreter is drawn into simultaneous political and personal dramas. Her work involves interpreting for a former president accused of war crimes. Her love life is equally treacherous. Author Katie Kitamura explores the many ways that language can be deployed to confuse, obscure and wound.
Hugo Award winning science fiction author Becky Chambers kicks off her frankly fascinating new Monk & Robot series by introducing a world in which robots long ago became sentient. Quite sensibly, they quit working and wandered off into the wilderness. One day in a far-off future, a robot returns to ask a monk one simple question: What do people need? It’s a very good question, the kind usually best answered by ambitious speculative fiction.
This sounds amazing: Historical fiction specialist Vanessa Riley spotlights the true story of Dorothy “Doll” Thomas, who rose out of slavery in the colonial West Indies to become a wealthy and powerful entrepreneur. Defying the systemic oppression of women–especially women of color–Doll flipped the script on the entire 18th century and lived a life of adventure and intrigue, from the sugar plantations of Barbados to London’s corridors of power.
If you don’t know who Danny Trejo is, don’t worry–you actually do. The veteran character actor has one of those “oh, that guy” faces that you’ve seen in a hundred different movies (Heat, From Dusk till Dawn). Trejo’s memoir covers his rough upbringing and early adulthood, including stints in San Quentin and Folsom prisons, through to his eventual sobriety, spirituality and remarkable success in Hollywood.
Author T.J. Newman presents a scary debut thriller that hits us right where we worry: A commercial airliner is threatened when the pilot’s family is kidnapped. For his family to live, the plane must go down–the hard way. Newman is a former flight attendant, which makes for interesting conjecture as to the inspiration for this novel. Best not to think about it. Please secure your tray tables in the upright and locked position.
Which new releases are you looking forward to reading? Let's talk books in the comments!
Check out more recent articles, including:
July's Most Anticipated Young Adult Books
July's Hottest New Romance Novels
36 Break Out Debuts of 2021 (So Far)
Check out more recent articles, including:
July's Most Anticipated Young Adult Books
July's Hottest New Romance Novels
36 Break Out Debuts of 2021 (So Far)
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Jul 01, 2021 12:30AM
I’m excited to read Intimacies. 😁
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I am also super excited for Cold Hearted, the next installment in the Disney Villains series!
What if the most-worthy upcoming books aren't getting added to the masses' Want to Read shelves? Not that it wasn't obvious, but Goodreads sure loves capitalism—more than it loves books, I'd say.
Not excited for any of these books. Looks like a tbr pile reduction month!
i've been waiting for Parker-Chan's She Who Became The Sun to come out for more than a year!
I've read two Grady Hendrix books so far. Guess I'm in for a third.
I have only read one Grady Hendrix book (Horrorstor) and it was OK but I am very interested in taking a look at The Final Girl Support Group
You should add Headspace by J.D. Edwin. I had the opportunity to be an ARC reader for it, and it is an incredible story! I can't wait to buy a physical copy.
Agree with Lydia!! Headspace by J.D Edwin was awesome!!! I have a phone reminder for the paper copy 7/13!!!
Rebecca wrote: "Not excited for any of these books. Looks like a tbr pile reduction month!"Try Headspace by J.D. Edwin! Out of the norm, but addictive!
A male author has been included, presumably by mistake.
Scott wrote: "Have men stopped writing books?" They might as well do so. See this article published in The Guardian a few weeks ago: https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...
Rebecca wrote: "Not excited for any of these books. Looks like a tbr pile reduction month!" Spot on.
Too Much Capitalism .....Too Much Society Destroying Books
Tony wrote: "A male author has been included, presumably by mistake."Joke. I get it. Sorry to spoil it, but S.A. Cosby, Grady Hendrix and Danny Trejo are male.
