What’s On My Plate – August 2020

The last month of summer and we’re still knee deep in COVID anxiety/frustration/quarantine/life upheaval! Didn’t you think back in March when this all started that we’d be back to normal by now? I guess we were wrong. For those of you in “smart” countries where you’ve been able to keep the virus under control, I applaud you and wish I lived in your country! Also COVID related to my August reading pile, so many of these books were pushed from the spring, which is why my August list is so big. Consider this a “menu” of books I’ll chose from this month, and not a literal TBR. Let’s get started!

Two of my most anticipated books for the month are Architects of Memory by Karen Osborne and Lone Jack Trail by Owen Laukkanen. One science fiction/space opera and the other a mystery/thriller. Can’t wait for both!

The Hollow Ones by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. I just got a review copy of this in the mail, so I’m going to try to squeeze it in. Reviews are sort of mixed? So I’m a little nervous…

A Chorus of Fire by Brian D. Anderson is the sequel to The Bard’s Blade, which I loved earlier in the year.

Ink & Sigil by Kevin Hearne will be my first Hearne, can you believe it?

I don’t usually do blog tours, but I am doing two this month! First up is Blood World by Chris Mooney, and my review will be up on the 18th.

My second blog tour will be a review on the 25th of Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles. I’ve been looking forward to this for quite a while!

My Tor.com novella of the month is the sequel to Silver in the Wood, Drowned Country by Emily Tesh.

The highly anticipated Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir hits shelves on August 4th. Gideon the Ninth was a mixed bag for many reviewers, and beloved by others, so I’m very curious to see how this goes.

The Last Uncharted Sky by Curtis Craddock is the final book in his entertaining Risen Kingdom series.

The Mother Code by Carole Stivers is one I’m a little hesitant about, simply because I’m seeing a lot of three star reviews on Goodreads.

A book that’s getting excellent reviews, however, is Lobizona by Romina Garber. This is the start to a new fantasy series that delves into Argentinian folklore, and I can’t wait to check it out!

Driftwood by Marie Brennan is getting great reviews too, and it appears to be the start of a new series.

Crystal Lake Publishing is a new small press I’ve just started working with, and the first title I’ll be reading is Belle Vue by C.S. Alleyne. It sounds good!

One of August’s “big” releases is The Living Dead by Daniel Kraus and George A. Romero. Kraus completes Romero’s uncompleted book (after his death) and I’ve been hearing pretty good things about this book.

Seven Devils by Elizabeth May & Laura Lam sounds like a bunch of fun, and from what I understand it’s sort of an homage to Star Wars (I think!).

Twin Daggers by MarcyKate Connolly. This is a YA retelling of Romeo & Juliet, and it sounds pretty good. Probably not high on my priority list to get to this month, however.

Burnt Tongues Anthology edited by Chuck Palahniuk. I’m very curious about the eclectic mix of authors who make up this collection.


Here’s a recap of the books I read and reviewed in July. My three favorites? Stormblood, Random Sh*t Flying Through the Air and The Midnight Lullaby. Click on the titles to check out my reviews:

Stormblood by Jeremy Szal

Random Sh*t Flying Through the Air by Jackson Ford

The Midnight Lullaby by Cheryl Low

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

Opium and Absinthe by Lydia Kang

Dark Celebrations by Calvin Demmer

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho

Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings


Are you planning to read any of these books?

Posted August 1, 2020 by Tammy in What's On My Plate / 40 Comments

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40 responses to “What’s On My Plate – August 2020

  1. Will

    I actually totally called this plague thing. Though I expected more countries to mishandle it. But I’m a pessimist, so, whatever. Ink & Sigil is my first Hearne too, as I DNFed his first Iron Druid one.

    Personally, I have complete faith in your ability to read all of these this month! You can do it!

  2. Ooh nice selection! I’d like to read Seven Devils too, hope you get to it!
    I forgot to account for Harrow in my August TBR… hopefully I can read faster this month

  3. I’m so excited for Ink & Sigil! I’ve just recently finished up The Iron Druid Chronicles which has been an favorite series so a spin off could be awesome! Happy reading!

  4. I’m in the middle of The Hollow Ones right now. I’m enjoying it. del Toro and Hogan teamed up for The Strain and I really enjoyed that too so they’re quite a reliable team. Hope you enjoy the reads you do get to this month!

  5. Annddd… you’ve done it again! Played havoc with my TBR pile, darn it… I will shortly be scampering across to order Architects of Memory, because it sounds awesome and really good space opera adventures cannot be denied:)). I’m AM resisting Driftwood with some difficulty, but mostly because I’m not really all that keen on post-apocalyptic anything right now.

    As for your list – I’ve read Seven Devils and LOVED it and The Mother Code, which is an intriguing story that has some really interesting elements, although is rather uneven. And I have Ink and Sigil on pre-order so am very much looking forward to that one!

  6. Your reading list this month looks a little light, Tammy? What’s going on? There’s got to be more you can add to the list. 🙂

  7. I recently got a copy of the Hollow Ones in the mail too and am looking forward to reading it. I read two of the Strain trilogy books that the del Toro and Hogan wrote together and quite liked them (liked the first one but not so much the second one).
    I ended up liking Drowned Country more than I did Silver in the Wood 🙂 I’d love a story from Mrs. Silver’s POV.

  8. In March, I told myself we’d go through a few weeks of weirdness, but we’d lock everything down and be back up and running by summer. Everybody worried about SDCC in July needed to calm down, we’d have our act together by then. *Turns and look at the August hellscape.*

    Anyway, yay books! I”m hoping to read Harrow soon, we’ll see how that shakes out. My TBR is a mess because of Oathbringer. Just 350 pages to go!
    Caitlin G. recently posted…Monthly Wrap-Up: July 2020My Profile

    • Tammy

      Yeah, it’s so sad. I feel like every day gets worse instead of better:-( I hope we both enjoy Belle Vue!

  9. Smart countries? What’s that?! *laughs in American* Hope you’re staying safe, at least.

    I’ll be reading Harrow the Ninth soon and Ink & Sigil this month, too! I’ve actually already finished Drowned Country (if I ever get around to writing a review), and if you liked Silver in the Wood, I thought this one was even BETTER. Silver is a treasure.
    Sammie @ The Bookwyrm’s Den recently posted…July Recap || Is This All A Fever Dream?!My Profile

    • Tammy

      I know! August is crazy. And I have no idea if pushing all those books to August actually did any good for the publishers, lol.

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