July 2024 Wrap-Up and August TBR

Plus our first Booker of the Month pick from the 2024 longlist and August releases on my radar

Aug 06, 2024

Hi, book friends.

Can you believe it’s already August? I currently live in a time warp, so my July was both one second and one hundred years long. (If you’re new here — hi! — I had a baby on July 4th.)

Before I dive in to the monthly wrap-up, a quick FYI: Did you know that you can listen to this newsletter? If you read it in the Substack app, you can choose to have the app dictate it to you using text-to-speech. It’s a little bit of a Siri voice, but frankly, I think it does a pretty impressive job — I listen to a LOT of my Substack newsletters that way. Squeeze me in between your next audiobook or podcast sesh. 😙

Available for iOS and Android

What I Read in July

Four books is my slowest reading month in years, but I had no idea what July would bring in terms of reading time, so my expectations were low and I’m perfectly pleased with where I landed. (Click on each title to read my full review.)

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore* 📖🎧: Intriguing, atmospheric, and set in one of my all-time favorite places (the Adirondack Mountains) — this checked all the boxes for a great summer read.
Pearl by Siân Hughes 📖🎧: This was book club’s last book from the 2023 Booker Prize longlist, and it was a strong ending. What a beautiful book about the lifelong effects of grief.
Translation State by Ann Leckie 📖🎧: My second-to-last novel from this year’s set of Hugo Award finalists! It’s a standalone set in a universe that is already established by another trilogy (The Imperial Radch). I could definitely tell I was missing some easter eggs and such, but ultimately I didn’t feel lost and had a fun time with it.
The Palace of Eros by Caro De Robertis* 📖🎧: Two things I will always say yes to reading: a) Greek mythology retellings and b) anything by Caro De Robertis. This wasn’t perfect, but it still delivered. Definitely recommend.

I also read more than 300 pages of Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin. It’s written as a Targaryen history text, not a novel, so I focused exclusively on the section on the Dance of the Dragons, aka the events covered by HBO’s House of the Dragon. I think that practically counts as a fifth book, don’t you?

*gifted to me by the publisher

My August TBR Possibilities

This is a GIANT pile of GIANT books, and there’s zero chance that I’m going to read them all this month, but they’re all calling to me! So I’m dubbing this my TBMR — to be mood-read. I am notoriously bad at mood-reading, so we’ll see how this goes!

There’s only one (The Saint of Bright Doors) with a strong August deadline, and I’ve already started reading it. Maybe I’ll also finish Fire & Blood this month. And I’m seriously itching to pick up Heir ASAP!

The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera: My final novel from this year’s set of Hugo Award finalists. The award ceremony is this coming Sunday!
Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin: See above.
Heir (Heir Duology, #1) by Sabaa Tahir*: Out 10/1. It’s FINALLY TIME! (Yes, I have abandoned my plan to (re)reread the Ember quartet first. As much as I want to, there’s no time at the moment. I’ll just look over my notes from Sky and save the reread for another day.)
Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi*: A carryover from my July TBR. I’m still looking forward to this historical fantasy from Knopf!
The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko*: Out 8/13. This is a standalone set in the Raybearer universe, which I loved.
There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak*: Out 8/20. Another carryover from July. I love Shafak’s work and this sounds so, so tender and beautiful.
The Gods Below (The Gods Below, #1) by Andrea Stewart*: Out 9/3. I had a great time reading Stewart’s Drowned Empire trilogy (book 1 is The Bone Shard Daughter), so I’m eager to see what she does next.
Small Rain by Garth Greenwell*: Out 9/3. New Garth Greenwell! New Garth Greenwell!
A Song of Ash and Moonlight (Middlemist, #2) by Claire Legrand*: Out 9/17. I’m very much looking forward to this sequel to A Crown of Ivy and Glass!!
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney*: Out 9/24. Enough said?
Nicked by M.T. Anderson*: This came in the mail for me the other day, and it sounds SO GOOD, so I added it to the top of the TBR.
The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman: I’ve heard so many good things, and as established, I love a retelling, so I bought myself a copy!

*gifted to me by the publisher

August Booker of the Month

ICYMI, I run a book club called Booker of the Month, where we read one book from the Booker Prize longlist each month. There are 13, so we double up just once, and by the time next year’s longlist is announced, we’ll have read them all.

Last week, we got a brand-new 2024 longlist — which makes now the PERFECT time to jump in. Our first selection is THE book of the year, James by Percival Everett. Join us!!

Get yourself a copy
Find it on The StoryGraph or Goodreads
Sign up for our Zoom discussion on Monday, August 26 at 8 PM ET.

PS: Plan ahead — next month’s selection is My Friends by Hisham Matar. The rest of the year’s schedule won’t be set until we get the shortlist in mid-September, but you can bookmark all the meeting dates here, if you want!

August hot releases

I keep a running list of new releases I’m excited for on my Bookshop storefront, plus a list of recent releases I love or expect to love.

Aside from those mentioned in my wrap-up and TBR above, a couple of books that I have my eye on in August include:

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark
Blue Graffiti by Calahan Skogman
Highway Thirteen by Fiona McFarlane

As always, thanks for sharing your corner of the internet with me! It would mean a lot if you were to take a second to like this post. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, too.

Finally, if you like this newsletter, please send a few friends my way.

Share Deedi Reads

See you on Instagram!

— Deedi (she/her)