Hello, friends! Just five months ’til Christmas/a brand new year of wondering where all the time has gone!
– What Happened –
I had a very dry month of reading in June, so this month I also listened to a couple of novellas while working around the house.
The first of those was The Seep by Chana Porter, a trippy and absurd spec fic story about what happens when conflict essentially disappers. The concept is brilliant and started off incredibly strong, but I did feel a little lost by the end. If you enjoyed Skyward Inn I recommend checking it out.
I read and reviewed Catalyst Gate, the thrilling conclusion to Megan O’Keefe’s The Protectorate trilogy. This is definitely one of my favourite sci-fi series.
I also listened to Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones, and was very excited as I’ve been wanting to read The Only Good Indians for some time. Unfortunately I was pretty disappointed (mostly because I thought there were going to be killer mannequins) and gave the book a 2-star rating on Goodreads.
After that, I really want to find a great horror read that emulated the experience of watching a film, so I then picked up The Final Girl Support Group which was a much better experience (plus the design of the special edition book is so damn well thought out). That said, I found the author’s commentary on sexism in slasher films a little out of place in a book that celebrates the genre as much as it critiques it, so I was a little confused. There was some pacing issues towards the middle of the book, but I did quite enjoy the final chapters.
It was really interesting to stray outside of sci-fi and fantasy into horror, and at some point I’d like to write a post about my love of horror films and wariness of similar themes and plot devices in books.
Lastly, I read and reviewed Goodbye to the Sun, a really interesting sci-fi debut that has been on my TBR since the author contacted me last year.
– The Damage –
Good gravy, July was a bumper month for special edition books! And of course most of them were ones I couldn’t miss out on.
I’m also trying to complete my collection of Wheel of Time UK first editions before the new show pushes prices up, which has bumped up my monthly tally. But I only have three books left until I complete my set!
AND Subterranean Press had some books that had been heavily discounted due to damage. It would be irresponsible not to get some of those too, right?
Someone please send help.
Ebook Purchases
Physical Books and Pre-Orders
– What’s Gonna Happen –
I feel like I haven’t had the chance to do much reading in the last couple of months, and I’ve really missed it. I’m also starting to get pretty behind on ARCs (found out this month that you have to download titles from Netgalley before they are achived).
So, I’ve decided to wake up early each morning and squeeze in some reading before I g to work (which is from home at the moment, to be fair). I’m aiming to at least get to the titles below which will all be published by the end of August:
What will you be reading this month?
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Jake is Reading 
I love the cover for Unravel the Dusk! Witches Steeped in Gold is one I’m really excited about. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and The Night Circus are EXCELLENT! Happy reading!
Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬
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The Book of Accidents was awesome!
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So many awesome covers!! Thank you, I can’t believe I still haven’t read The Night Circus
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Looking forward to that one! I’ve never read Wendig, but it sounds like he put a lot into this book!
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Congrats on another new job 😄 What you gonna be doing now? Is the house move related to the new job or totally separate?
Glad you’ve still had a little bit of time to read, even if it wasn’t much.
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Hey, thanks! I’m an analyst for a new patient record system.. I lasted less than 6 months as a nurse in a London hospital 😅
We bought our first flat! Put an offer down in Feb but the timing just worked out like that haha. How’ve you been?
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Hope you find more joy in the new job ☺️ Me and my gf bought our first place last year and couldn’t be happier. Loving my life as a proper normie, watering the plants and planning the spare room decorating haha. We’ve got a bird feeder and bird bath in the garden and all the winged little scamps bring so much joy into our life 😄
I’ve been good! Not a whole lot of exciting life stuff happening, just trundling along trying to have as chilled out a time as possible. Got some friends coming round to play board games tomorrow, for the first time in forever, which is nice. Hoping to rekindle our Dungeons and Dragons campaign at some point too, which is very exciting. I’m the Dungeon Master for the group and last time we played (nearly two years ago now) the party had just crossed into the faewild to retrieve a legendary magical bow they hoped will help them defeat the big bad guy so I’m anxious to get back to it 😃
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Ah that sounds so awesome!! I’ve never played D&D, or many board games for that matter. But there’s a board game bar near my work called Draughts and hoping to get a group to go soon! Someone I work with is keen to ply Catan too, so hoping it works out!
Haha I actually said to my partner recently it’s like we’re playing The Sims but for realsies! We hung a bird feeder out the window to give my cat some entertainment. Haven’t had any visitors yet so the birds clearly saw right through it.
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Catan is a great game, would def recommend playing if you get chance. Board game bars and cafes are really cool, I’ve long thought there need to be more places to go to socialise that don’t involve the expectation of getting drunk. There’s a tea place in Newcastle that stays open til midnight but just serves loads of different teas and stuff, so if you want to stay out late socialising but don’t want to get drunk or go into a loud bar where everyone is drunk and you can’t hear yourself talk over the music there’s another option.
There’s a game on Steam actually called Board Game Simulator (or something similar) that has TONNES of great board games set up to play; I wonder if some blogger pals might be interested in playing sometime over voice chat or something? Might be a nice thing to do for people to get to know each other outside of the blogosphere a bit, I dunno, I’ve been floating a similar idea with Peat about a book club haha, ignore me if you want.
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Also the irl Sims game is a joke me and my gf make it each other too 😄 Hope you manage to attract some birds to the garden, they’re so much fun. We have some very tame wood pigeons that potter around the garden even while we’re there. And there a gang of like four magpies that terrorise the neighbourhood, ripping the petals off people’s flowers haha. Right little hoodlums.
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Oh I’ll have a look! I know there’s another website you can go to directly to play online but can’t remember what it’s called now. I’ve heard Catan is like the daddy of most board games so I’m keen to play. Though tbf id planned to drink as well so I probably won’t win 😂
I’d be keen for that! Maybe not for a book club though, I’m trying to limit reading pressure as much as possible lately 😬
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Your book hauls are glorious! I’m rly curious about The Desert Prince so excited to hear your thoughts
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Your comment made me realise I just re-edited my July post instead of copying it and posting a new one 🤦
Haha this month is particularly out of control!
I’ve heard recently it could spoil some of the story from the first series, but I’ve requested on Netgalley so will see how it goes!
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