July is going to be a hot one and I am excited to have so many good books to read while I’m at the beach! (Or hiding inside in my air conditioning.) This month has a lot of books that I can’t wait to reading. One book I am particularly excited for is A Peculiar Peril by Jeff VanderMeer. I’ve read his previous books and they are just so weird in a good way and I can’t wait to see what he has in store for us with this one.
I’m both excited and terrified to read Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power. This just feels like one of those books that is going to keep me up all night and I won’t sleep until I find out what happens, but by the time I am ready for sleep I am so creeped out that my dreams are crazy. You know, one of those books. There are a lot of books I am really looking forward to reading this month, but this is a favorite.
By genre, here is a list in my opinion of some of the best books being released in July 2020:
Best Upcoming Cozy Mystery Books: July 2020
It Cannoli Be Murder by Catherine Bruns - Buy at Amazon: This will be the second book in Bruns’ Italian Chef series. This book sees Tessa preparing for the opening of her restaurant by catering for a bestselling author’s event at her cousin’s book store. Things go awry when the author’s publicist is found dead at the event and Tessa’s cousin is a prime suspect.
The Solace of Bay Leaves by Leslie Budewitz - Buy at Amazon: The latest book in the Spice Shop Mystery. The series follows Pepper Reece who bought a rundown spice shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market as a way to rebuild her life.
Tea & Treachery by Vicki Delany - Buy at Amazon: The first book in a new cozy series is out this month. The series features a New York City expat-turned-Cape Cod tea shop owner must solve the murder of a local real estate developer to help her feisty grandmother out of a jam.
Murder with Honey Ham Biscuits by A.L. Herbert - Buy at Amazon: Mahalia Watkins is back in the fourth book in this series. This book sees Mahalia getting the chance to showcase her talents on televison’s Elite Chef, but while there finds herself caught up in a murder mystery.
Macho Man Murder by Leslie Langtry - Buy at Amazon: Believe it or not, this is the 15th entry in the Merry Wrath Mystery series. Leslie Langtry’s series is still going strong with this book that sees Merry’s CIA past coming back to bite her in small town Iowa.
Best Upcoming Fantasy/Sci-Fi Books: July 2020
All These Monsters by Amy Tintera - Buy at Amazon: Amy Tintera is a bestselling author and she returns with All These Monsters. This book is a high-stakes sci-fi story about a teenage girl who will do anything to get away from her troubled home. She is ready to get out and fight back, and that’s exactly what she gets to do when she joins an international monster-fighting squad.
A Peculiar Peril by Jeff VanderMeer - Buy at Amazon: This will be the first book in a new series called The Misadventures of Jonathan Lambshead from the author of Annihilation. The series will tell the epic story of three friends who are trying to protect the world from a threat as unknowable as it is terrifying.
Or What You Will by Jo Walton - Buy at Amazon: Author Jo Walton has won the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards in her career and is back with this novel about the nature of stories. The book follows the idea in author’s head as “he” hopes to step off the wheel of mortality.
The Princess Will Save You: Fans of The Princess Bride will enjoy this book that takes direct inspiration from that classic film. Only in this one Princess Amarande is not going to standby while her commoner true love is taken, she’s going to fight for him.
Uranus by Ben Bava - Buy at Amazon: If you like hard science fiction, you must check out Ben Bava’s latest. The author of Earth returns for the first in his Outer Planets Trilogy that will continue his exploration of the future of a human-settled Solar System.
Best Upcoming Horror Books: July 2020
Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay - Buy at Amazon: Paul Tremblay is considered to be a master of horror and he returns here with what some critics are calling one of his best. The book features a rabies-like virus that takes over a small town and is driving people mad.
Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power - Buy at Amazon: Margot has never known family as it has always been just her and her mother. She’s yearned for a family her whole life and one day she finds a photograph amongst her mom’s things that points to a hometown, to family. Only when she gets there she learns that she should’ve listened to her mother.
The Unleashed by Danielle Vega - Buy at Amazon: Danielle Vega’s The Haunted was absolutely terrifying and this book is the follow-up to the events of that book.
Malorie by Josh Malerman - Buy at Amazon: Another great sequel coming out this month is Malorie, the sequel to Bird Box. The book takes place twelve years after the end of the previous story and there is still no explanation for the creatures that drive people to violence. A lot has changed in the world since then, but Malorie still lives by her rules. Only now she is thinking about breaking them to find someone that she thought was long lost to her.
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones - Buy at Amazon: One of the most anticipated books of the month is The Only Good Indians. The book sees four American Indian men who left behind the culture and traditions they grew up on, but now see that same culture after them in a violent, vengeful way.
Best Upcoming Mystery/Thriller Books: July 2020
His & Hers by Alice Feeney - Buy at Amazon: If you like smart and twisty thrillers, this is this month’s book for you. A woman is murdered in a quintessentially British village and newsreader Anna Andrews is reluctant to cover the case. This makes the detective on the case suspicious, but he has bigger things to worry about when he becomes a suspect in his own case.
Near Dark by Brad Thor - Buy at Amazon: The 20th book in the Scot Harvath series by Brad Thor sees Scot get the world’s largest ever bounty placed on his head. His only hope for survival is to outrun his enemies and find the truth, but in order to do that he’s going to need some help.
The Order by Daniel Silva - Buy at Amazon: Author Daniel Silva is the latest release in the long-running Gabriel Allon series of books. Gabriel is getting a much needed break at the start of this book with a vacation in Venice, but when the Pope dies suddenly he’s called into active duty. The public thinks that the Pope died of a heart attack, but the truth is much more sinister and Allon is on the case to find out whodunit.
The Shadows by Alex North - Buy at Amazon: Alex North debuted with The Whisper Man and makes his return here with an equally terrifying novel. The book takes us to a town where, twenty-five years ago, a teenager named Charlie Crabtree killed someone. Paul was friends with both of them and left this town behind a long time ago. Now, he needs to return to the town at the same time that a copycat of Charlie is on the loose.
House of the Rising Sun by Richard Cox - Buy at Amazon: This book could easily fit in the science fiction category, but it is a thriller through and through. The story sees all the technology in the world suddenly stopping and the aftermath of that event for a group of people.
Best Upcoming Romance Books: July 2020
Not Like the Movies by Kerry Winfrey - Buy at Amazon: The second book in the Waiting for Tom Hanks series by Kerry Winfrey asks the question: What happens when your life is a rom-com, but you don’t even believe in true love?
The Heir Affair by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan - Buy at Amazon: These two wrote the fun The Royal We that was inspired by Prince William and Kate Middleton, and now follow it up with this book. The book starts with the couple in exile, but they are soon called back to London where they must deal with their actions from the first book.
Now & When by Sara Bennett Wealer - Buy at Amazon: Skyar Finch cannot stand Truman Alexander and everything about him, but her phone seems to have other ideas about the two of them. Her phone keeps sending her notifications from the future and in the future, her and Truman are a couple. Skylar will do whatever it takes to change that future, but trying to change the future ends up leading her right where she belongs.
The Beginning of Everything by Kristen Ashley - Buy at Amazon: This fantasy series tells the story of an ancient prophecy where Triton’s four strongest warriors must wed its four most powerful witches. This is the story of their uneasy unions and the fate of the world that relies on them.
Girl from Nowhere by Tiffany Rosenham - Buy at Amazon: Sophia Hepworth is a girl trying to outrun her past when she ends up in Montana. She’s lived in 94 countries and attended 31 schools, but she is looking to settle here. She gets in with a group of friends and finds someone in Aksel, but it’s not long before her past manages to catch up with her again. Only now she’s ready for it and shows what she is capable of doing for love and survival.
What did I miss? I have a big reading list this month, but I’m always on the lookout for more so please share your recommendations with me in the comments below!
