After wading through hundreds of upcoming titles, I have narrowed the list of July New Release Books to these eight exciting titles.

I flipped through book review catalogs, book blogs and library chat forums to ensure that I found the most interesting and original new books.

​I try to include a variety of Fiction, Non-Fiction and even Young Adult books. This month’s selections include a dark fairy tale, a cutesy romance, and zombie horror, to name a few. Hopefully there is something for everyone!

I exclude sequels and anything that will not have broad appeal. 

Breaking the Lore is a snarky urban fantasy novel. It starts with one dead fairy and before you know it, you are up to your eyeballs in magical creatures. One quirky and clever detective, an elf, a troll, a witch, at least seven dwarfs, centaurs, and the rest. All introduced with a tone of hilariously disbelieving sarcasm.

The characters are thrown together when a war in the magical world spills over into the gardens of Manchester. Let’s just say, the gardens of Manchester are ill-prepared to handle a magical skirmish. Luckily, the quirky and clever detective, Nick Paris, is on the case!

While the plot of this book is entertaining and the characters are fun, what I really love is the writing! This book is packed full of that dry British humor that tickles your brain. I laughed the whole way through this book. 
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Karin Slaughter is one of those intense thriller authors that fans can’t seem to get enough of. Every book she publishes leaves her readers begging for more.

Luckily her fans never have long to wait as she publishes about a book per year. Between her popular Will Trent series and her standalone books, she always has a new book on the horizon.

Her upcoming book, Silent Wife, is the tenth Will Trent book. I know it can be daunting to see that a series is on #10 if you haven’t started it, but stay with me. You have options!

The Will Trent series can be read as a standalone and out of order. So you could read, Silent Wife, and then go back and read book three, if you wanted. However, fans recommend starting at the beginning and binge-reading the series in order.
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Release Date: October 06, 2020

Tara Teaspoon is an experienced chef with a passion for her craft. She has worked with Martha Stewart and was the food director of Ladies Home Journal Magazine.

She credits her mother with her creativity and enthusiasm in the kitchen. Tara worked alongside her mom in the kitchen since she was old enough to reach the counters.

Through her work Tara has access to the best equipment and ingredients, but she understands that home chefs often have to make-do with what they have.

I love the idea of finding my next favorite author by following the book awards. Unfortunately, the reality is a little different.

Most well-known book awards are published on unwieldy websites that are damn-near impossible to navigate.

​In addition to being difficult to track down, the winning books are often selected by critics for critics. These are books that critics read and then congratulate each other for reading. They are just too unpleasant and pretentious to attract most readers.
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​I created this list in an effort to find the award winning books that people actually want to read. I started with the 30 most well-known book awards and narrowed the list to these eleven. Many of these awards are still listed on websites designed by MC Escher, but the books tend to be well rated and widely read.

Carry On begins in Simon Snow’s final year at Hogwarts, errrr I mean Watford. Simon is just trying to make it through his last year without being obliterated by Voldemort, Dammit! The Insidious Humdrum! He’s faced Dragons, Ghosts, Foster Care, and his *suspected* blood sucking, vampire roommate. What will this final year bring? What will he do when he leaves Watford? Assuming he lives that long…

Carry On is Harry Potter Fan Fiction. I don’t have a lot of experience with fanfic, but Carry On was inspired by and will be loved by fans of Harry Potter. 
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Every year libraries host Summer Reading Clubs for all ages, including teens.

The main goal of the program is to help reduce the loss of knowledge that occurs every summer, known as the “Summer Slide”. Studies show that students lose about 20% of their school year knowledge during summer break (Austrew, 2019).

As you can imagine, this year will be particularly bad because of the early school closures. Luckily, Summer Reading Clubs have shown to help prevent and reduce the Summer Slide.

Libraries are operating a little differently this year.
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Willowdean Dickson, aka Will, aka Dumplin’, is the plus-size daughter of a former Texas Bluebonnet Beauty Queen. She has always been confident and always had strong relationships with her friends and family.
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Willowdean’s mother remains an important part of the local pageant planning team and committees. For a few months every year, the pageant takes-over life at the Dickson household. Will has never had an interest in the pageant and seems to just stay out of her mother’s way, when it’s pageant season. After a few interactions rub her the wrong way, Will decides to enter the pageant to prove a point. 
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This is the perfect year to join your local library Adult Summer Reading Club program!

Summer Reading Club will certainly be a little different this year, but in some ways that will be great for adults.

Most libraries have taken this situation as an opportunity to streamline their Summer Reading Programs. You will likely be able to sign up online, through email, or over the phone, even if your library is not currently open.

A lot of libraries are even still offering prizes for curbside pickup along with books and other materials. Prizes vary by community, but I have seen everything from restaurant coupons, to drawings for a brand new iPad. It comes down to local funding and donations. Your library will have a list of prizes.

To put it simply, Murmur of Bees is a family saga set in early 1900s Mexico. It follows multiple generations of a small town farming and ranching family.
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​But, Oh My Gawd! There is so much more to this stunning story. 
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​​This book is told in two timelines, with multiple perspectives. There is the ancient man looking back on his life, and the stories of the people who lived through the ongoing wars, corruption and the Spanish Influenza outbreak of the time.

After wading through hundreds of upcoming titles, I have narrowed the list of June New Release Books to these ten exciting titles. I flipped through book review catalogs, book blogs and library chat forums to ensure that I found the most interesting and original new books. I try to include a variety of Fiction, Non-Fiction and even Young Adult books. This month’s selections are a little on the dark side, with a couple of fun humorous options thrown in. Hopefully, there is something for everyone!

I exclude sequels and anything that will not have broad appeal.
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Please note, publication dates are shifting due to the Coronavirus epidemic. I verified the publication dates on multiple sources, however they may still change. Thank you for your understanding, if some of these become inaccurate. 
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I’m 98% sure that this book was based off of one of my past lives. I was definitely an independent, book pushing, pack horse librarian. Or at least, I hope I was. 
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The Giver of Stars, is a historical fiction book based on the real life American Pack Horse Library Project. The project began in the mid-1930s in rural Appalachia and was meant to bring books to remote residents. While this project only lasted for eight years, the idea of ensuring access to books and educational materials has always been, and will always be a primary driver for librarians. For this reason, there are almost 700 bookmobiles in operation within the United States to this day. Same idea. 

Stephen King is such a prolific author that a scientific study is required to understand which of his published books are his very best. In order to scientifically determine his best works one needs to consider, not only all of his novels, but the author as well. 

I wanted to include a quick biographical section on Stephen King in my scientific study, so naturally I went to his website stephenking.com 

I expected to find how many books King has published, but determined that the number is incalculable. He does have a list of his written works, so if you have a strong scrolling ability, you can try to determine the total that way. Please let me know if you find the answer. I suspect it’s a constantly changing variable.

There is some interesting biographical information on his website. Stephen King is 6’4” tall, which is unexpected and newsworthy. He met his wife in a library, which is the most appropriate and adorable thing ever. Much more about his life, parents, where he lives, etc. on his website.

The Family Upstairs is a psychological thriller about growing up in a cult-like environment. A previously rich family opens their doors to a con-man and his family. They slowly infiltrate every aspect of their lives, implementing bizarre rules and demanding complete submission. Before long they are all barefoot, wearing homemade tunics, and worst of all, VEGAN… Just kidding, things get way worse.
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Jewell’s writing of this book can only be described as “crafted”, everything is done on purpose. Some of the book is first person, while other sections are third person narratives. The narrative shift, added an interesting layer of complexity to the story. As if that weren’t enough to keep you guessing, the story is told through multiple perspectives with alternating timelines. This book is complex and thought provoking. 

Don’t you love it when you find a good dark and thrilling mystery? The kind of book that keeps you reading late at night because you just can’t put it down. Isn’t it great when a book gives you the creeps? When writing gives you goosebumps? These are the best mysteries.

This list was made for fans of Gone Girl, and The Woman in Cabin 10. If you love dark mysteries with lots of plot twists, these books are for you. These stories feature haunted hotels, spooky local folklore, accidents, murder and mistaken identity. All the elements of great creepy thrillers.

​The following books were published within the last two years and have been keeping people up at night ever since. Check out the summaries below to pick your next favorite dark mystery!

Orla is fresh out of college and eager to prove herself as a reporter. She wouldn’t mind finding a boyfriend, but is determined to put her career first. So, of course she literally falls head over heels for Aiden.

Aiden is a wildlife photographer and won’t be in England for long. He lives in a tent and goes where the animals are. No serious girlfriends. He is not sticking around.

This book was the Goodreads Choice Winner for 2019 Memoirs. While I have been reading more memoirs, I don’t typically watch reality TV, so I didn’t know who Jonathan Van Ness was. I didn’t even know that they had rebooted Queer Eye! I was looking for something light and funny and this seemed to fit the bill. Plus it was available on audio from my library, score!

What I love about this book is that Jonathan Van Ness (JVN) is so positive! This book is crammed full of inspirational and body positivity quotes. I love how JVN is unapologetically original and completely himself. If you are looking for a positivity boost, this is for you!  

I never really knew a lot about Greek Mythology. I like the stories, but I always feel bogged down by the details and those impossible Greek names. I love pondering the religious aspect of Greek mythology, how all the Gods had different jobs and were tangible forces in the world. Their religion was so colorful, so awe and fear inspiring. Just don’t ask me to tell you which God had which job…    

What I like about Circe is that it takes a handful of Greek myths and connects them through one central character. You see everything from the point of view of one of the lesser goddesses. You learn about Prometheus, the River Styx, Helios, and the Trojan Horse from someone who was there at the time. It makes the stories more understandable and approachable. It’s not a collection of fairy tales, it is one story with a relatable main character.  

Don’t get me wrong! I love World War II Historical Fiction! It’s just, there is so much more to history than WWII. History starts one second ago, and goes all the way back. Everywhere. Have you ever wondered what life was like in Japan, in the 1600s? How about Russia, in the 1920s? With historical fiction you can go just about anywhere at any time.

I compiled this list with the help of some librarians and book bloggers on Twitter. All of these titles are rated at least four stars on Goodreads and most of them have hundreds-of-thousands of reviews. About half of these books were published within the last few years and the other half are considered to be classics. All of them are readily available for check-out or purchase.
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These books make varying attempts to be historically accurate. The Giver of Stars is loosely based on true events and will make you feel like you are living in depression era Kentucky. The Underground Railroad features a LITERAL underground railroad. The author may have taken some artistic liberties with that, but the result is amazing! All of these books will transport you to another time and place with their own unique style.

The Girl from Widow Hills is a “Baby Jessica” story. The details are a little different, there is an underground drainage system instead of a well and there is sleepwalking involved, but you get the gist.

Arden/Olivia is six years old when she sleepwalks into an open grate on a stormy night and is lost for days in the drainage system. She unwillingly becomes a media darling and symbol of hope for the nation when she is miraculously rescued. The Girl from Widow Hills begins twenty years later.

I was lucky enough to receive an advance reader’s copy of this book and I was excited to get approved. I love the concept, who doesn’t love a good rescue story? Plus, anything about sleepwalking is so interesting!