A book haul vacation

With the days getting hotter(and the headlines getting even more heated), taking a break during this time of year is a real necessity.

To that end, my book hauling as well as this blog is going to take a mini break (more on than in a moment). In the meantime, let’s celebrate some of my July picks:

Aardvark:

I decided to get just one book from Aardvark this time around and lucky for me, it’s an early release of Sangu Mandanna’s A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping.

Our innkeeper here is Sera Swan, who was once a powerful witch but due to a series of magical mishaps banished from her mystical community , is now running a small inn with the help of her recently resurrected aunt Jasmine, not to mention a talking fox.

When evidence of a long lost spell that could restore her her powers comes forth , Sera finds help from a rather unlikely source, Luke Larsen, known for his impressive skills as a magical historian as well as his cold nature.

Can these two succeed in not only regaining Sera’s sorcery but finding true love as well? 

I throughly enjoyed Mandanna’s prior book, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, and this new one looks to just as enchanting of a read indeed:

BOTM:

When it came to the main selection this month, I went with a new to me author, Megan Miranda and her latest thriller (which also happened to be an early release, just my luck!),You Belong Here.

Beckett Bowery is nervous about sending her daughter Delilah off to college but not for the usual reasons. Delilah, unbeknownst to her ,applied to Wyatt College and was granted a full scholarship and since it’s Beckett’s alma mater, that would sound like a dream come true.

Unfortunately, Beckett’s senior year ended sooner than expected due to an event that forced her roommate to flee after the strange demise of two locals. She has avoided that area for the past decade or so yet with Delilah becoming a Wyatt freshman, there’s no way to not return to campus.

Hoping that folks will forgive and forget, she lets Delilah go there yet when her daughter suddenly disappears, Beckett fears the worst of her past is being revisited on her child. Can she find Delilah before it’s too late?

This does sound intriguing, giving me some Gilmore Girls Gothic vibes there. Certainly seems worth a try and who knows, I might discover a favorite new writer in the bargain:

I paired that with The View from Lake Como by Adriana Trigiani.

We are introduced to Jess, who has moved back in with her parents upon the breakup of her marriage . Slipping back into place as the dutiful daughter, she puts her dreams of pursuing her artistic talents as a draftswoman in marble on the back burner, despite the encouragement of her devoted Uncle Louie.

An unforeseen event, however, gives Jess the opportunity to become the person she wants to be and that starts with going to the home of her ancestors in Italy.

There, she not only discovers a few family secrets but perhaps a new love in life named Angelo, whose artistry requires gold. Yet, is his heart golden as well or should Jess seek her own path paved with her own glory?

Trigiani is excellent when it comes to crafting tales of women seeking self fulfillment and family love and this one certainly appears to be another jewel in her story telling crown:

To round this selection off, my last pick was This Princess Kills Monsters by Ry Herman. Just that title alone made me want to read this book!

Princess Melilot is the least magically inclined stepdaughter of the Queen of Skalla, one of the most feared sorceresses around. While she’s not at all interested in accepting the marriage proposal of the king from a nearby crumbling realm, fear of what her powerful stepmother might do has Melilot saying yes to this regal wedding dress.

That’s not the worst of her problems as attempts are made on her life(nothing new to Melilot) and in  order to find out the real reason for this new royal alliance, she goes undercover as a maid only to become distracted by the welcome flirtations of her intended sister in law, Angelique.

 Combined with fighting off several enchanted creatures and a dozen identical masked men, Melilot has her hands full of fairy tale follies and then some.

This story seems to be having fun with the classic tropes of the genre and that take is most welcome. Herman’s previous works were published in the U.K. and this novel is their US debut, one that I do hope will be followed by more magical princess matchups to come:

So, for now, my book acquiring mantra is “Buy in July, then skip until September “. I also plan to use my renewal privileges at the library for as long as possible , just to do a little catch up reading there.

As to this blog, I will post my TBR for the Midsummer Readathon at Seasons of Reading (which begins in August and will have sign ups later this month) but am

going to take at least a week or so off until then. Too many things happening in the world these days, not to mention the horrible hot weather, makes a cool down like this a must.

Hope you all have a good rest as well, whether your plans involve a little travel or just staying put in the shade with something fun to read(mine is definitely the latter!)! and may we all see cooler days ahead, in the best sense: