July Reading Goals + Book Feature

Hail, friends! It’s been a while. June was a very busy month for me. I uploaded a Youtube video, created a lot of art, had a friend visit from across the country, worked on my summer class, learned how to play mancala, and wrote about ten thousand words on a different story while procrastinating on my Ashen Blaze edits. As such, I didn’t have much time to read, but I want to make up for that this month. (I’ve also been suffering from creative burnout, so hopefully reading will remedy that.)

Here are some of the books that I want to dig into this month (or later if I can’t fit all of them in)!

• Dust by Kara Swanson (I have heard a lot of good things about this Peter Pan retelling)
• Auralia’s Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet (isn’t the title so pretty? the plot also looks interesting)
• Fable by Adrienne Young (this book seems to have sailing, pirates(?), and a nice cover, so that’s a win for me)
• To Sleep in A Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini (I have heard mixed reviews about this book, but I’m in the mood for science fiction)
• Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger (several of my friends are into the series, so I might read the first book just to see what all the hype is about)

A lot of epic books released recently, as well, and I plan to read them as soon as I can get my hands on them!

• Starganauts by C.E. Stone (a science fiction book by an indie author that looks very cool!)
• Sabre Black by Arianna Fox (I’ve followed this book’s journey from concept to publishing, and I can’t wait to read it!)

And last but not least…

• Ignite by Jenna Terese!

That’s right, as of July 2nd, Jenna Terese’s debut novel Ignite is officially available to read! I’m honored to be part of the Ignite blog tour.

Look there, my blog is on the list! (I don’t know why that makes me so happy)

I also participated in the cover reveal at the end of May. Isn’t it epic?

Here’s the book blurb:

What if superhumans weren’t considered heroes?

When Scarlett Marley is attacked by an illegal super with fire powers, she doesn’t get burned, but now she has a fire-like glow flickering in her eyes.

With superpowers criminalized, she has no choice but to turn herself over to the Superhuman Containment Facility, or risk hurting everyone she loves.

Her normal life seems lost forever, until she is selected to be one of the first to receive the experimental cure to destroy her powers. In exchange, she must first complete one mission:

Infiltrate and capture one of the largest gangs of supers in the remains of once-great Rapid City. 

With the cure and all her future at stake, Scarlett is prepared to do whatever it takes to bring these criminals to justice so she can return to her family. But this gang and their leader, Rez, aren’t what everyone says, and Scarlett begins to question everything she was ever told about the SCF and the fire flowing in her veins.

The cure is her only hope for returning her life to what it was before, but is that life worth returning to after all?

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I’m hooked already. I have always loved superhero stories, and this one especially reminds me of The Incredibles. Even though my usual genre preference is fantasy, superhero fiction isn’t that far off. (Stay with me here.) When you think about it, a lot of fantasy books have superhumans, people with unique gifts that they can use for good or evil. This book’s premise and setting make it unique from most other books I’ve seen, and I can’t wait to read it. If superhero fiction intrigues you as much as me, go check out Ignite here: https://amzn.to/3fS78LX.

Jenna Terese believes stories are powerful. That’s why she’s dedicated to creating fiction that will impact the world. You can find this INFP dreaming about the future, fangirling over her favorite books, geeking out about Marvel, playing piano, or sipping a chai tea latte as she writes sci-fi novels.

Thanks for reading, friends! I may take a break from blogging for the rest of July (ignore the fact that I basically did that for June too), but I’ll check back in at the end of the month to let you know how my reading went!

Preparations for publishing my own book are still ongoing, but the edits may take another few months. We’ll see!

Until next time,

P.S. How’s your summer going? Have you read any of the books I mentioned above? What did you think of them? Which book are you going to read next?

If you don’t have any in mind, I know of a book…