September Hype Post
So many AMAZING books to get excited about coming out in September that I’m breaking my own rules – half of these I’m going to be reviewing on here! But I’m literally jumping around with glee at the prospect of being able to hold them in my hands within the next month, so let me have this moment of excitement!
Two of my favourite writers of queer YA are writing a book together. That’s about all I needed to know about Miss Meteor to make sure it went very high up on my excitement list. It is co-written by the fabulous Anna-Marie McLemore (check out their Dark and Deepest Red, for example) and Tehlor Kay Mejia (author of the We Set the Dark on Fire duology), this is a contemporary YA about Lita and Chicky, and the Miss Meteor pageant. I have no idea what I’m getting myself into, but I’m sure it will be brilliantly written, lyrical and heartbreakingly beautiful. I can’t wait. Miss Meteor is out on the 22nd of September and you can pre-order a copy from Amazon here.
Anthologies are totally my jam. Especially diverse ones. And as someone who was a teenager around 2010 (aka peak Twilight era) I’m all for the tasteful return of vampires that come without a side of racism. I’m currently reading Vampires Never Get Old as I’m lucky enough to be on the Hear Our Voices Blog Tour (look out for my review on the 24th of September) for it, and I’ve loved the stories so far. They are queer (many of them) and clever and full of interesting characters, and the line-up Zoraida Cordova and Natalie C. Parker have managed to assemble is stellar. This one is also out on the 22nd, and you can pre-order it here.
Arthurian mythology meets Black girl magic. I love seeing the diversity in modern takes on medieval stories, so I’m incredibly excited for Tracy Deonn’s Legendborn. I have an eARC so I’ve started reading the beginning, and I’m now doubly excited as it features the protagonist going to early entrance college, which I see myself represented in as a smarty-pants who went to uni at sixteen. A unique take on the mythos, with the Legendborn being descendants of the Arthurian knights and Merlins being mages, this urban fantasy is thoroughly modern. It’s out on the 15th of September and you can pre-order here.
One of the books I’ve been most anticipating is Aiden Thomas’ Cemetery Boys. Originally supposed to be released in May, the pandemic has pushed it back, and it is now finally coming out on the first of September. Cemetery Boys features a trans boy trying to prove himself a real brujo. It is queer and features the most amazing cover – and from what I’ve seen on Twitter Aiden is a fantastic human being too who deserves all our support. It sounds like perfection, and I’ve pre-ordered my copy months ago – you should get yours too, for example from Hive here!
Books about books are like catnip for nerds like me. So I’ve been eagerly awaiting Garth Nix’s The Left-Handed Booksellers of London ever since I first heard about it. And now it’s almost here – also published on the 22nd of September! Luckily I have an e-ARC thanks to the lovely folks over at Gollanz so do look out for my review soon. This is about fighting (left-handed) and intellectual (right-handed) booksellers, murder, magic and the most wonderful of all places, bookshops in my adopted home of London. And Garth Nix is nothing if not a damn good writer. So go ahead and just pre-order it. Click right here to do so.
Last year, I absolutely devoured Rena Barron’s Kingdom of Souls. And while I’m desperately waiting for the sequel, she is now back with a middle grade novel that sounds just as amazing: Maya and the Rising Dark. Another one out on that magical 22nd of September, this is the story of twelve-year old Maya, godling, half human, half Orisha and full nerd. Her dad has gone missing, and she has to face the Lord of Shadows, a creature from her worst nightmares to try and get him back and save the world. The book sounds wonderful and exactly what I need to read once I hand in my dissertation. Pre-order a copy here.