Sometimes I think, “UGH. There are so many books in the world, and I’ll never get to them all.” And other times I think, “WOW. There are so many books in the world, and it’s fun to try and read as many as I can.” Today, I am feeling the latter, which is why I wanted to share the fantasy books coming out this summer that I am most excited to pick up. The world is one big TBR, friends, but I am here to help you pare it down!
The Magic Library of Waterfall Way by Julie Abe (Bloomsbury Children’s Books, August 25)
As a library brat, I never pass up an SFF book with a library setting. A young girl named Lyra Hunt is having a rough time of things when she discovers the Guild of Scholars and its magical library. It seems like the perfect place for her, but in order to call it home, she must pass the initiation: find the Scholars’ crystal, lost years ago in a fire. (The early hardcover editions of this will have adorable sprayed edges featuring little flying books!)
A Trade of Blood: An Ana and Din Mystery (Shadow of the Leviathan) by Robert Jackson Bennett (Del Rey, August 4)
This series is only about to be three books long, and it’s already one of the greatest series of all time. (I said what I said.) This time, the unusual detective duo of Ana and Din travels to a farming canton to investigate a murder supposedly committed by the heir of the canton’s wealthiest family. I’ve already read this one, and holy cats, it’s so fantastic. And I have theorieeeeeeeees. (Hit me up when you’ve read it!)
The Dungeon Book by Gareth Hanrahan (Orbit, August 11)
Someone told me to add this to my TBR several months ago, and now I can’t remember who, but at least I remember the book! Which is great, because it sounds like a freaking delight. It’s about a young girl imprisoned in a dungeon who makes friends with the creatures who live down there with her. And the whole thing is narrated by a talking skull named Cornelius.
The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass by Leslye Penelope (Redhook, August 11)
This could technically be classified as historical fantasy because it’s set in the 1990s. (Lolsob.) After witnessing the kidnapping of Annica, her twin sister, Zahara’s world shifted to a timeline where her sister never existed, and only Zahara remembers her. Five years later, in the midst of Y2K panic, Zahara thinks she has finally found a way to prove that Annica was real.
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The Divine Gardener’s Handbook: Or What To Do If Your Girlfriend Accidentally Turns Off the Sun by Eli Snow (Saturday Books, August 18)
I couldn’t pass up a click-baity title like this one, so I read this as soon as an ARC landed in my lap. It’s a really fun and wildly imaginative story about an underground world, a flower pageant, rivals-to-friends, and gods. I can’t wait to read what Eli Snow has for us next! And the physical version of this book is so gorgeous—there are flowers everywhere!
Okay, star bits, now take the knowledge you have learned here today and use it for good, not evil. If you want to know more about books, I talk about books pretty much nonstop (when I’m not reading them), and you can hear me say lots of adjectives about them on the Book Riot podcast All the Books! and on Instagram.
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