August Goodreads Update 1

Apparently, I enter a fugue state and just add books to my TBR. I thought I maybe had five to share with you here. It's more than that. Like 15 more. If I find any I am second-guessing, I will take them off the TBR before I put them here. I'm getting dangerously close to 1000 books on that list.

Anyway, on to the books.

Starter Villain by John Scalzi - I don't even care what this is about. It's by John Scalzi and there is a cat in a suit on the cover. Sold.

The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney - This is a crime novel that I would not normally pick up, but it is set in Oklahoma City. That's close enough to home to get my attention.

The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older - I heard this book's praises sung on a podcast and had to add it. It's a murder mystery set in space in which the fate of life on Earth hangs in the balance.

Coleman Hill: A Biomythography by Kim Coleman Foote - The author made a novel out of her family lore and created a sweeping family saga of three generations. Biomythography interested me.

Fair Rosaline by Natasha Solomon - This is Romeo and Juliet retold from the perspective of Juliet's cousin Rosaline. This should be fun.

Jane and the Final Mystery by Stephanie Barron - I am so sad about this one. It's the last in the Jane Austen Mystery Series that I so love. In the last one, Jane was starting to suffer from the disease that eventually killed her.

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow - This is a haunted house story set in a small town. Opal takes a job at the Starling House whose sole occupant is Arthur Starling. They have to confront the house's past before the whole town is overcome by evil. Very intense.

The High 5 Habit: Take Control of Your Life With One Simple Habit by Mel Robbins - I don't usually hold a lot of truck with these click-bait-type self-help books, but a friend of mine recently rated it 5/5 stars on Goodreads, so I added it to my list. We'll see if I manage to read it ever.

The Perfect Guy Doesn't Exist by Sophie Gonzalez - Sophie Gonzales writes the best YA romance. I will just always read what she writes. This one is about a girl who brings her fan fiction hero to life, but the characteristics that she loves on the tv show don't translate well to real life. I love what this says about fictional crushes. When Twilight came out, I was like, "Yes, I love it, too. But sneaking into someone's bedroom to watch them sleep is being an actual stalker." This comes out next March.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - This is the second book in the Hunger Games series. I read the first one years ago. It was Jamie's favorite series. She got terrible headaches when she read, but she would power through just to read and reread this series. I bought the first three at the bookstore last week and put them on the list to read.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - This is the third book. There is a prequel, but Jamie wasn't interested in that one, and never read it. I'll have to be super fascinated with the series to bother with it.

The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff - I love Lauren Groff. Her writing is just a little bit weird and a lot lyrical. This is about a colonial servant good who runs away from her post into the woods. That's all I know. This comes out September 12.

The Fragile Threads of Power by V. E. Schwab - I feel like I'm really behind on the V. E. Schwab train. I've read 2 of her books. I really liked them. But there are so many more I'm interested in. This is the first in a new series that comes out September 26.

Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare - Clare has a series of YA Fantasy books that probably has 15 books in it, plus lots of short story collections. This is her first adult novel. It's 600 pages, which is considerably shorter than the last books in that series. We'll see how she transitions to writing for adults.

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree - This author is the Cinderella of publishing. He published the first book in this series himself and it blew up. Then it got picked up by a mainstream publisher and went bananas. That book, Legends & Lattes, made cozy fantasy a thing people wanted. This is the second book in the series, and I have an ARC for it. Better read the first one, huh.

The Brothers Hawthorne by Jennifer Lynn Barnes - I did NOT know we were getting a fourth Hawthorne book, but I'm not mad about it. This series is pretty great. The ending of the third book absolutely blew my mind.

Why Women Read: The Stories of Our Lives by Helen Taylor - I don't think I have to explain why this book called to me. I want to see what this author's conclusion is and see if it checks out with my experience.

Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward - Ward is such a great writer, but her books are difficult because they are firmly set in the black experience. Which is hard. This one is about a slave girl who is sold from North Caroline to a Louisiana sugar plantation. Apparently it isn't all doom and gloom which is what makes her writing brilliant.

The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry - This is not my usual type of historical fiction as it starts during WWII with two sisters living in the country to escape the London bombings. One of the sisters disappears and the other carries the guilt. Then, decades later, the remaining sister finds a book that makes her think her sister is still alive and she goes on the hunt.

OK. I believe that is all of them. Whew!

Did any catch your fancy?