It’s the first Thursday of the month. Time to report!
What’s the best book you read in July 2024 and why did you love it?
It doesn’t have to be a newly published book, or even SFF, or even fiction. We just want to share some great reading material.
Feel free to post a full review of the book here, or a link to the review on your blog, or just write a few sentences about why you thought it was awesome.
And don’t forget that we always have plenty more reading recommendations on our 5-Star SFF page.
One commenter with a U.S. mailing address will choose one of these prizes:
- a FanLit T-shirt (we have sizes M, L, XL)
- a $5 Amazon gift card (this is the only option for non-USA addresses).
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Subscribe to only giveaways here.
Portrait of an Unknown Woman (Gabriel Allon, #22)- Daniel Silva
The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Stories, #1)- Bernard Cornwell
Best for July was Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse, the last book in her Between Earth and Sky trilogy, set in a fantasy otherworld with a few vaguely pre-Columbian Americas resemblances. This resolves all the main plot threads, although there might be a possible hook for future stories in this setting. Runner-up was David Gemmell’s Legend, which I hadn’t previously read, an early work in the gritty (but not yet grimdark) military fantasy lineage, with a besieged city and its aged one-time warrior hero trying to outlast a huge invading army.
I think we skipped June last month. Kay Chronister’s short story collection, Thin Places, was the best of four or five horror-related works I read in June. Some of these stories are borderline surreal and others are of the unexplained “something is not right here” variety, both of which I prefer to the gory or grotesque type of horror.
I don’t always have a fantasy book in my monthly reading list, but in July I really enjoyed Elizabeth May’s “The Falconer.” It’s YA faerie fun and Goodreads adds steampunk as a genre. The Falconer is a human young lady with special powers handed down from her ancestors and she encounters all sorts of creatures as she seeks to avenge the death of her mother. May doesn’t shy away from the gore either. It’s a perfect mashup of mid-Victorian propriety and a wild girl destined to save the world as she struggles with her highborn upbringing – “I’m fairly certain Lord Linlithgow’s prerequisites for a wife do not include *trained for battle, highly aggressive, slaughters faeries.” A simple pleasure perhaps, but the cliffhanger ending has already persuaded me to track down the next in the series.
Not entering the giveaway, just posting. :-)
The book I enjoyed most in July was The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman. I’ve been really surprised by how much I love this series so far–I absolutely adore the characters, and I like the way Osman structures his narratives (and wraps up loose ends, to boot).
The runner-up was The Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan–an action-packed and fun entry in the Memoirs of Lady Trent series.
N/E
Not F/SF but I’m still binging on Alexandra Caluen’s books. It’s contemporary romances, a mix of MM, MF, FF, others but focusing on dancers, actors, filmmakers, musicians/singers, and people related to them. Almost all stories are set in Los Angeles and vicinity but there are a set in Las Vegas. Even though I’m not good at creative endeavors myself, I love reading about them. She’s built up a whole universe where characters with their own stories show up elsewhere or are used to make connections to someone else that can help a main character–living space, information, equipment, a dance studio or possible partner, etc. People actually talk to each other too! so there’s not the miscommunication trope. I think I’ve finally read almost everything, but she’s still publishing (shorts) on a fairly regular basis.
I did read Penric and the Bandit which I gave 4 stars. It’s Bujold so good but I didn’t feel it was one of the stand-out entries.
Dark Space trilogy by Lisa Henry. An alien race (insect-based) devastated Earth, so there’s now a big military complex to try to defend against more attacks including off-Earth space stations. The destruction caused large refugee populations. The narrator is from a long-standing refugee area and is not considered a citizen but can still be drafted and/or join the military as a grunt. Assigned to one of the stations, he ends up working in medical and is on-hand when a fighter pilot, who’s been a prisoner of the aliens for several years is suddenly returned. They end up mentally connected due to the alien tech and the books are about carving a life out and then trying to end the war. A little reminiscent of the atevi series, Cherryh in general as the aliens are very difficult to communicate with and use very different technology.
A Power Unbound finishes up Frey Marske’s trilogy, The Last Binding. I still need to read #2, but was able to pick up the plot okay.
There’s a new Penric story?? I gotta get that.
I recently finished the 20th book in my reading of all books written by Terry Pratchett, starting with the Discworld books. This one was “The Hogfather.” I don’t worry too much about the plots–a lot of the point seems to be for Pratchett to indulge in little jokes. This book is, according to an internet marketplace, the fourth book in the “Death” series. I think maybe I’ve enjoyed those the most, since Death is a pretty interesting character and he seems to be involved in some more compelling stories.
I have also been laying the groundwork for reading audiobook versions of the Gormenghast books by Mervyn Peake. I’ve bought most of two different versions of the audiobooks, because two of my favorite audiobook actors read the books. I figure I’ll put aside the abbreviated set, and listen to those a year or so after I listen to the non-abbreviated set, since I am sure to enjoy both versions and the sterling actors.
I figure I won’t read the Gormenghast books until after I read the Pratchett books. I’m also building up a stack of audiobooks that I have not yet listened to read by Wil Wheaton, another wonderful audiobook actor.
Finally, congratulations to the winner of “giveaway-whats-the-best-book-you-read-last-month-6/,” whoever you are.
Best fiction: Mercy of the Gods by James S. Corey
Runner-up: One Hundred Shadows by Hwang Jungeun (translated by Jung Yewon)
Best non-fiction: Taking Flight: The Evolutionary Story of Life on the Wing By Lev Parikian
Best poetry: Scattered Snows to the North by Carl Phillips
In the third and final installment of the Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novel trilogy “Smoke and Shadow”, Fire Lord Zuko’s leadership is tested as his lockdown of the capital in the wake of the Kemurikage’s appearances leads to more fear, and an old enemy is revealed as the mastermind behind them. Another example of fine Avatar storytelling that everyone should read.
Best book last month: Professor Odd #11, “Davebot”, named for the Professor’s tentacle monster companion Dave, who takes a central role in this story in the midst of a surprising alien invasion.
My favorite read last month was Oath and Honor by Liz Cheney, which my stepdaughters bought me for Christmas at my son’s suggestion. While I’m a firm liberal Democrat, I have to give Cheney credit for having the guts to stand up to Donald Trump that most politicians in her party lack, even though she seems to be in denial about the fact that her own father was part of the progression that gave us him. The account of what went on behind closed doors is both absorbing and upsetting.
I read that book, too. I agree, you have to admire Cheney and Kinzinger (even if you don’t agree with their politics). So many GOP politicians have talked tough for years and turned out to be totally spineless.
We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis Taylor. I liked the characters of the different “Bobs”
The Mercy of Gods. Easy decision!
_Eddie Lee Davis, if you live in the USA, you win a Fan Lit T-shirt (please specify 1st and 2nd preferred sizes) OR a $5 Amazon gift card. If your address is outside of the USA, you will get a $5 Amazon gift card.
Please contact me (Marion) with your choice and a US address. Happy reading!