Title: Fathomfolk (Drowned World #1) Author: Eliza Chan Publisher: Orbit Publication Date: February 27, 2024 Genre: Fantasy The Curated Bookshelf’s Monthly Theme: Characters Who Could Use a Vacation Welcome to Tiankawi – shining pearl of human civilization and a safe haven for those fleeing civil unrest. Or at least, that’s how it first appears. But ..read more

At Home This was such a long week. Though that might be because we had a heat advisory as temperatures rose above 100, and I had to take my kids to a 12:30pm swim lesson every day. I’m definitely not waiting until July to put them in more swim lessons again. On the bright side ..read more

Title: Son of the Storm (The Nameless Republic #1) Author: Suyi Davies Okungbowa Publisher: Orbit Publication Date: May 11, 2021 Genre: Fantasy The Curated Bookshelf’s Monthly Theme: Character Who Could Use a Vacation From city streets where secrets are bartered for gold to forests teeming with fabled beasts, a sweeping epic unfolds in this richly drawn fantasy inspired by the pre-colonial empires of West Africa.  In this world, there is no destiny but the one you make. In the ancient city of Bassa, Danso is a clever scholar on the cusp of achieving greatness—exc ..read more

Title: The Bright Sword Author: Lev Grossman Publisher: Viking Publication date: July 16, 2024 Genre: Historical Fantasy I wouldn’t call myself a huge fan of Arthurian legend, but I’m familiar enough with those stories to have felt like I wanted to read this. Fortuitously, it seems I needn’t have worried too much about not knowing all the stories, because The Bright Sword imagines a Britain where King Arthur has been dead for two weeks. It’s something of a sad affair, especially for young Collum, because he just arrived in Camelot hoping to become a Knight of the Round Table. With jus ..read more

/ Title: Back in a Spell (The Witches of Thistle Grove #3 – Nina’s book) Author: Lana Harper Publisher: Berkley Publication Date: January 3, 2023 Genre: Paranormal Romance The Curated Bookshelf’s Monthly Theme: Characters Who Could Use a Vacation Even though she won’t deny her love for pretty (and pricey) things, Nineve Blackmoore is almost painfully down-to-earth and sensible by Blackmoore standards. But after a year of nursing a broken heart inflicted by the fiancée who all but ditched her at the altar, the powerful witch is sick of feeling low and is ready to try something drastically ..read more

At Home This has been a busy week since I signed my kids up for two weeks of swim lessons. It’s right in the middle of the day so they don’t interfere with their afternoon activities, but it has made me feel a little like I’ve been jumping from one activity to the next. Fortunately, everything’s close by, but I’m a little tired of driving. It’s been hard to work in time to get things like reading and writing in, but I’m also glad I’m keeping my kids active. It’s so nice when they’re just ready to go to bed and actually fall asleep. The only really bad thing is that it’s hot. After a brief brea ..read more

The Lily Cafe is thrilled for the opportunity to participate in the book blog tour for The Backtrack by Erin La Rosa, a romance that gives one woman the opportunity to see what could have been with her childhood best friend. Title: The Backtrack Author: Erin La Rosa Publisher: Canary Street Press Publication date: July 16, 2024 Genre: Romance From the author of FOR BUTTER OR WORSE and PLOT TWIST comes a new speculative contemporary romance. One woman is sucked into the past—and shown glimpses of what her life could have been—as she listens to nostalgic hits on her old CD playe ..read more

Title: Light Years From Home Author: Mike Chen Publisher: MIRA Publication Date: January 25, 2022 Genre: Science Fiction The Curated Bookshelf’s Monthly Theme: Characters Who Could Use a Vacation Every family has issues. Most can’t blame them on extraterrestrials. Evie Shao and her sister, Kass, aren’t on speaking terms. Fifteen years ago on a family camping trip, their father and brother vanished. Their dad turned up days later, dehydrated and confused—and convinced he’d been abducted by aliens. Their brother, Jakob, remained missing. The women dealt with it very differently. Kass, suspecti ..read more

Title: The Dallergut Dream Department Store Author: Miye Lee, translated by Sandy Joosun Lee Publisher: Hanover Square Press Publication date: July 9, 2024 Genre: Fantasy The Dallergut Dream Department Store is a delightful translated novel (from Korean) fantastic for anyone who loves dreams. While I thought it ended rather abruptly, I had a wonderful time following Penny around as she begins her new job selling dreams to dreamers. This is whimsical, but also rooted in the things that make us human. There are happy dreams, sad dreams, dreams that make the dreamers think and wonder, an ..read more

Title: The Lost Story Author: Meg Shaffer Publisher: Ballantine Books Publication date: July 16, 2024 Genre: Fantasy, LGBTQ Romance I fell in love with the bookish nostalgia Shaffer’s first book, The Wishing Game, brought me, so I was eager for her next one. If there’s something I love just as much as the books of my childhood, it would be fairy tales. I grew up obsessed with fairy tales, so discovering the groundwork for The Lost Story was laid with them made this book feel tailor made to me. This is a story grounded in both fairy tales and reality, one where the villain is a little ..read more