july and august reads

a dead arctic explorer, a sex robot, two rebounding roommates, and an a-list couple walk into a bar...

I’ve been reading less these last couple of months simply because I’ve been writing more.

I know, I know. When people tell me that they’re actively NOT reading while writing: big-time cringe. But my excuse is that I start reading, and then the little aliens who run my brain all get together to say, “Put the book down - you need to make X, Y, and Z changes to your novel.”

Reading is essential to writing. Wider reading also makes for better writing. So, I went out of my comfort zone these last couple of months, in an effort to read books that may not have seemed like my cup of tea at first blush.

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer is the biggest surprise to me in this lineup because, in general, androids and synths really freak me out but not Annie. I don’t mind the beep-boop Star Wars droid kind of robots, but the kind of technology written about in Annie Bot totally does. Annie is a Stella, a kind of robot mainly purchased for straight men to use for sex. Her version is called “Cuddle Bunny” which icked me out every single time it came up. Unlike many of her fellow Stellas, Annie is autodidactic, meaning that she can learn. This ability gets Annie into some very interesting and also terrifying situations. The beginning of this novel unfolds like a romance between android and human, but that facade lasts only a short while. Annie’s relationship with her owner becomes complicated as soon as her autodidactic “setting” stops being useful to him.

This book gave me major flashbacks to playing Detroit: Become Human, a motion-capture video game released by Quantic Dream in 2017. Detroit also follows synthetic humans as they question exactly how human they truly are. I know that plenty of books and movies also pose this question, but I don’t think another novel has focused on a sex robot like Annie Bot (at least not from the android’s POV). It’s a really interesting—if a little creepy—read. There are also plenty of triggering subjects and situations in Annie Bot, so look into those before reading.

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Double Exposure by Elissa Sloan is, on its face, a second chance romance about a famous couple (a la Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston) who are navigating their newfound Hollywood stardom alongside their relationship. Double Exposure is so much more than that.

Maiko is a model and Adrian is an actor, and both are up-and-coming A-listers separately (though their relationship certainly contributes to their rise). Taking place in the early 2000s, this novel is a nostalgic time capsule but also a deep look at the less glittering aspects of relationships beyond the glamour in the tabloids. Maiko and Adrian feel like real people who could have easily rubbed elbows with Kate Moss and Ben Affleck on a red carpet. They also, more importantly, feel like people I could know. Their struggles and faults aren’t glossed over or made into trope-fodder. The author confronts their everyday issues with sensitivity, but also honesty. The world is a very different place now (despite how it might feel sometimes), but Sloan does a fantastic job of recognizing the rampant misogynistic culture of the early aughts while balancing it with a modern lens aimed at empowering her characters.

Double Exposure is available for preorder now from Bookshop.org or your local bookstore, and will be released on September 10th. I was lucky enough to receive an Advance Reader Copy from William Morrow & Company to review this book.

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I saw The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley on the shelf at my local bookstore and couldn’t walk away. Book covers all tend to look the same these days (I’m looking at you, weirdly sharp, metallic romantasy script…), but this one didn’t. I judged a book by its cover, picked it up, and I’m so glad I did.

The Ministry of Time is an adventure thriller, romance, and sci-fi all rolled up into one. It’s part Outlander and part John Le Carré novel, with zings of hilarity and sadness throughout. I cried at how touching some of the scenes were and also at how good the writing was—okay that last part is an exaggeration, but the writing is seriously good.

I don’t want to give you the usual plot summary/rundown as I went into this book blind and had an amazing experience. But the no spoilers version is: a low-level government bureaucrat is required to live with a dead Arctic explorer from the 1800s and lots of hijinks ensue. Time is affected, perhaps even changed, and so are the people involved. It’s touching and sexy. Also, Ministry manages to not take itself too seriously while writing about lofty subjects which is a quality I always admire in a novel.

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This is the second time I’ve read Funny Story by Emily Henry, but the first in print (not in audiobook). If you’re an audiobook reader like me, and you haven’t yet ventured into the world of dual-reading, I highly recommend it.

I feel like I discovered new things about the story—which I loved the first go-round—and also about Henry’s style. I’ve listened to all of her other books and have only read Beach Read in physical format as well.