Hi friends! 👋🏻 We’re now into summer in the Northern Hemisphere and I am not looking forward to it. I don’t need to explain how much I hate summer and hot weather in general but my hatred for it just intensifies as I get older (thanks to global warming).
Usually, I centre my seasonal TBRs around specific genres and contemporary has been my summer genre for a long time now, but I’ve been reading so much horror and thriller recently that it’s all I want to read really. And that doesn’t bother me one bit because whoever said that horror is only for Halloween? The Texas Chain Saw Massacre took place in the summer, after all.
House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson – Normally I wouldn’t pick a book about vampires for the summertime, but I’ve ended up picking five. Whoops. I’ve had a copy of House of Hunger on my shelves for a little while and since we’re nearing the end of Pride Month, I figured there’s no better time to read it. Because I am a vampire in real life.
The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave – Another sapphic vampire book, but a YA one this time. I’ve never read anything from Kiran Millwood Hargrave since most of her books that I’ve seen are Middle Grade, which I don’t read, but this one caught my interest when it was first released because it tells the story of Dracula’s Brides, and I love Dracula. That much should be obvious.
The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager – I’ve been on a bit of a Riley Sager kick recently. I read Final Girls last year and really enjoyed it, and I recently read Home Before Dark and loved that one too. I didn’t think that thriller was a genre that I really enjoyed until I picked up his books because they do have horror elements like final girls and “haunted” houses.
Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo – I am really bad with pre-orders, even when they’re for autobuy authors. It’s been a few years since I read Ninth House and I told myself I would read it as soon as it came out, and yet here we are. I could reread Ninth House before going into this one, but nah.
Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste – Another vampire book! This one is a historical novel set in the 1960s and follows Lucy Westenra from Dracula and Bertha Mason from Jane Eyre as vampires in Los Angeles. The cover just screams ‘summer’ to me and I’m curious to see how the characters are tackled.
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix – I’ve only read one of Grady Hendrix’ books so far (The Final Girl Support Group) and I really liked how he took on the trope, so I’m curious to see how he tackles vampires too.
Mina and the Undead by Amy McCaw – Last vampire book! I’ve had this book on my bedside pile for well over a year at this point, which is really bad considering that the sequel has been out since last year. But it takes place in summer, so that makes it a summery book!
My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones – Another one that’s been on my bedside for a while, I’ve heard so much praise about this book and Stephen Graham Jones’ books in general. I know that this one is very much influenced by slasher movies so that really intrigues me.
You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron – I haven’t really been keeping up with YA releases for a while so I was surprised to find out that Kalynn Bayron had written a horror book. I really enjoyed This Poison Heart and the sequel so I reserved it from our library but I don’t think the order has been sent yet so who knows when it’ll arrive.
Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang – I haven’t read any of R.F. Kuang’s books because grimdark high fantasy isn’t for me, but I have been interested in this one and have seen some good reviews for it. As of me writing this post, I’m number 3 on the waiting list, so the order of this TBR is very likely to change!
talk to me!
What’s on your TBR for this season?
I’m definitely a vote for reading horror in summer – maybe just because I’m easily spooked so I’d rather read/listen in the daylight…
Enjoy your summer reading 🙂
Author
Being easily spooked is a perfectly good reason for summertime horror reading! 🙂
Goodluck with your tbr, and have fun!
Omg I understand you.. I don’t cope with heat very well to begin with, and my meds makes me overheat faster 😅 so yeah.. recipe for LOTS of heat fatigue way too easily 🤦🏽♀️
Author
My meds make my body go haywire with the heat too so it’s just an all round sensory nightmare for me 😅
Oh reading horror over the summer seems like fun and Tammy recently posted about how there were more new releases this summer so a lot to pick up from there as well 😉 I’ve heard some good things about The Deathless Girls and I enjoyed The SOuthern’s Book Club Guide to Vampire Hunting.
Author
I’ll definitely have to take a look at Tammy’s post! 🙂
I have so many horror/thriller titles on my summer TBR (which I did a post about) and I can’t wait to get into July’s releases. The Southern Book Club is fabulous!
Horror is such a fun genre.
And, yeah, I’m not a fan of summer heat waves either. You are so not alone there.
Here is my Top Ten Tuesday post.
House of Hunger sounds good.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
Yellowface was so good! Hope you enjoy it – and the other books on this list – when you get the chance to read it.
My Summer TBR
These all sound great! I hope you love them!
I really like Sager, too. I’ve actually read all of his books but FINAL GIRLS. I’m looking forward to his new one that’s coming out soon. Enjoy all your books!
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I recently saw an ARC of You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight at work, and I’m thinking I’m gonna snag it. I love Bayron, and this book would be a fun foray into YA horror for me.
I definitely feel you on the dislike of summer, I like being able to wear all my cute summer dresses (though tbh I do still wear a lot of them in autumn/winter just with tights!) but I don’t like being hot and sweaty all the time and I hate pollen season because of my hayfever so all in all it’s not a fun time for me. Anyway, your list looks like a lot of fun, I also have both Hell Bent and Mina and The Undead on my TBR and I haven’t read them yet.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2023/06/20/top-ten-tuesday-425/
I hate summer too. The constant heat makes me crazy. I hope you like The Southern Book Club’s Guide. I thought it was a fun book.
Five vampire books, heck yeah! Vampires year-round lol. I’ve read and loved one Stephen Graham Jones book, but I think it was his one not horror book. Hope you like these!
I agree that you should read whatever you want, whenever you want to. Horror is definitely readable all year long, if that’s what you like. I really want to read You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight.
Ohhh Yellowface! I really enjoyed this one, I hope you will, too! 🙂