For the past few months, time has been crawling. But now summer’s gone and monsoon’s already at my doorstep. June was mighty slow. It was dry too, and horridly humid. Rains were expected to wash away some of the desperation but alas! With a windy appearance and rains in its satchel, July seems to have some better plans. I now hope for some better days, and a better mood, essentially.
Although, I tried my hands at baking; and that turned out good, I didn’t read much nor did I write, half as well as I’d like to. With the cool climate and lush greens around, I do seem to have a shift of temperament and a creative rush I haven’t experienced in a while. Which is why, I plan to give July a productive spin.
One of the most amazing things about the start of a new month is organising my TBR for that month. The excitement is always immense when I am foraging through my endless TBR to pick the best few for the month. June wasn’t too great for my reading. But with the TBR in place, July does look mighty inspiring and I wish it is speedy.
Without much ado, let’s take a look at my TBR for July.
The Song of Achilles
Achilles, “the best of all the Greeks,” son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods’ wrath.
They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.
Circe
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child—not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.
Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.
But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.
The Writer’s Idea Thesaurus: An Interactive Guide for Developing Ideas for Novels and Short Stories
Need an idea for a short story or novel? Look no further than The Writer’s Idea Thesaurus. It’s far more than a collection of simple writing prompts. You’ll find a vast treasury of story ideas inside, organized by subject, theme, and situation categories, and listed alphabetically for easy reference.
Author and award-winning writing instructor Fred White shows you how to build out and customize these ideas to create unique plots that reflect your personal storytelling sensibilities, making The Writer’s Idea Thesaurus an invaluable tool for generating creative ideas and vanquishing writer’s block—for good.
If It Bleeds
If it Bleeds is a collection of four new novellas —Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, The Life of Chuck, Rat, and the title story If It Bleeds— each pulling readers into intriguing and frightening places. A collection of four uniquely wonderful long stories, including a stand-alone sequel to The Outsider.
The novella is a form King has returned to over and over again in the course of his amazing career, and many have been made into iconic films, If It Bleeds is a uniquely satisfying collection of longer short fiction by an incomparably gifted writer.
The Regrets
For weeks, Rachel has been noticing the same golden-haired young man sitting at her Brooklyn bus stop, staring off with a melancholy air. When, one day, she finally musters the courage to introduce herself, the chemistry between them is undeniable: Thomas is wise, witty, handsome, mysterious, clearly a kindred spirit. There’s just one tiny problem: He’s dead.
Stuck in a surreal limbo governed by bureaucracy, Thomas is unable to “cross over” to the afterlife until he completes a 90-day stint on earth, during which time he is forbidden to get involved with a member of the living — lest he incur “regrets.” When Thomas and Rachel break this rule, they unleash a cascade of bizarre, troubling consequences.
Set in the hallucinatory borderland between life and death, The Regrets is a gloriously strange and breathtakingly sexy exploration of love, the cataclysmic power of fantasies, and the painful, exhilarating work of waking up to reality, told with uncommon grace and humor by a visionary artist at the height of her imaginative power.
~~~~~
That’s all the books I plan to read. And with these interesting titles, July looks a lot exciting to me.
Have you read any of these titles or plan to read them? Do share your thoughts in the comments below.
✍Question of the day✍
What’s on your TBR for July?
Happy reading till we meet next.
Until then, carpe diem! 🙂
~~~~~
© Asha Seth
Never miss a post!
Subscribe Now: Youtube| Twitter| Instagram| Facebook| Tumblr
I haven’t yet decided. These days, I am reading randomly…I read the HP series again during the lockdown along with some other previously-read books. Don’t know why I’m re-reading them, but it makes me happy… 😁😃
LikeLike
Re-reading is always fun. I long to start Harry Potter all over again. Do tell what all you re-read during the lockdown. I revisited some Ruskin Bond books and short stories of Daphne du Maurier.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Coincidentally, I read the HP seines and some other Bengali classics…
LikeLike
I love the look of The Writer’s Idea Thesaurus – it’s going straight onto my TBR list!! Great post : )
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s great, Kate. I have high expectations from ‘The Writer’s Idea Thesaurus’. I shall start it next week hopefully. What are you reading?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Asha! I’m currently reading ‘Pages for You’ by Sylvia Brownrigg – I read her other book, ‘Pages for Her’ a while ago, and this is a prequel featuring the same characters but years before when they first met, which I thought was a fascinating idea. Happy reading : )
LikeLike
It’s great that you gonna read so many books this month. Will wait eagerly for book review 😄
LikeLike
I’m excited too. Thanks for stopping by. You can checkout in some days for the reviews.
LikeLike
Got a couple of books to read. Still reading a couple of them, including Laws of the Spirit. Bought a couple of books on Amazon e-book and a hard copy. My reading took a beating this year. Your list is super interesting, Asha. Trick lies in getting few books to beat the blues, abandon the current one, finish a new one and get back to it.
LikeLike
My reading has suffered too, Vishal. But I hope to pick it up now. July had a good start. Some books really do slow you down. Game of Thrones, was that series for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah m trying to pick up in July too and spending on Amazon gotta reap its fruits!
LikeLike