September TBR and MBR
Reflections on August
August has been an interesting month; I needed to have a little bit of a break from fantasy. While I still read a few books, I have mostly focused on historical fiction and it was glorious.
September marks the month of my return to exclusive fantasy reads and I am pretty excited as I will be participating into a few Fantasy Buddy Reads. In fact, if you are looking for a fun place to experience a fantasy read with other fantasy lovers, then this is the place for you!
Now, what are my plans for September?
TBR and buddy reads
I will be reading Ashes of the Sun by Django Wexler and I cannot wait to start. In fact, I have recently hyped myself up with a post on why I added this series on my TBR. And I just cannot wait to experience this world!
I will also continue my experience through The Age of Madness with The Trouble with Peace by Joe Abercrombie. And I am enjoying the series so much, it feels a familiar place to go back to (and it is a cruel and violent place to be), the writing is ironic and sarcastic, oozing out of the page. And there are some familiar characters but mostly the cast of characters is new and fresh! So I cannot wait to read a book that is called the trouble with peace!
Last but not least, in my TBR list and buddy read, I have the fist book in the Greatcoats series, Traitor’s Blade by Sebastien de Castell. I have recently posted why the Greatcoats are on my TBR (and this is an entire re-read for me) and so I am truly excited about the series and I cannot wait to start!
TBR of my own volition
Now, next to these reads, I also find myself interested in different stories. First I will continue my adventure in The Shadows of the Apt by Adrian Tchaikovsky, with books 5 and 6 of the series, respectively The scarab path (my last re-read) and The sea watch. I just cannot wait to make fast progress in this series!
Furthermore, I want to balance out the male dominated month with two more books: the first is a new released of earlier in the year that I have not focused on just yet: The adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Charkaborty (and I cannot wait to read a pirate themed story, sea focused - hopefully - with a strong female lead!).
Furthermore, Talonsister by Jen Williams starts a duology in a brand new world with incredibly appealing characters, as I expected by Jen Williams. Plus, gryphons! Plus Anna Stephens, another great voice in fantasy, raves about this book! It will be release around mid September and I cannot wait to get my hands on that book!
MBR
There are plenty of books that belong to this category; and while I could just mindlessly list them, I want to share the books that are at the top of this list but it is a very flexible list.
Vicious by V.E. Schwab; I remember reading it a few years ago and truly enjoying it. Now that there is a sequel for the book, this might be another great read for the month of September.
I am also interested in reading two books I own, both new releases in 2023.
The first is by James Islington and I loved his Licanius trilogy (heavily inspired by the Wheel of Time but inventive, modern and a page turner); his latest book, The Will of the Many seems to be a Roman inspired fantasy novel, kicking off a new series called The Hierarchy. And other than knowing that this is one of those fantasy books that all readers love, I do not want to know much more than this, so I can experience the book without any spoiler!
The other story that I want to experience because it should have quite a bit of diversity is The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem. Plenty of elements that caught my attention: this is a woman in fantasy, writing an Egyptian inspired story of a strong female lead working with another strong male lead. I cannot wait to start reading this series too!
I also would like to slowly keep learning about Thrawn, with Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn. The cover shows the potential collaboration between Thrawn and Darth Vader, not to mention that Eli is doing something more interesting and unique in this world!
Audiobook focus
While I did not include this category in the past, I think I need to give a bit more visibility to the stories that I experience only via audio!
First and foremost, I have a buddy read on Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews and I am excited to listen to this story with a fun group of people!
I also have one more book left - so far - in the Mercy Thompson series (one of my favorite heroines in urban fantasy, and she was so cool that she inspired a post in the future dedicated to heroines in fantasy) with Soul Taken by Patricia Briggs.
I will then turn to the other series in this world, Alpha and Omega, a story focusing on Charlie and his mate Anna. I am curious to see what we get out of this couple. I love the way that Mercy and Adam collaborate (and this is one of the reasons I like Mercy so much) and I am hoping to see a different example of great collaboration!
I might also start Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews, starting the series dedicated to Kate Daniels.
I am also itching to re-read Heartstrikers by Rachel Aaron, a story focusing on dragon-shapeshifters and Julian in particular. I recently found out that there is a new series called DFZ and I cannot wait to return to this world!
Summary
In essence, I have a pretty challenging reading month ahead of me. Not only I have already seven books that I plan to read in September (and it is feasible based on my past month performance), I also have quite a lot of interests that I would like to pursue and I want to make sure that I spend the right amount of time on each of them!
What are you plans for the month? What would you like to experience in September?
