Hello from the ghost of Tuesdays past, book friends! Last week I decided to pretend it was already July 12th for the duration of writing my Top 5 Tuesday post, which means I did this week’s prompt, books set in school, a week early. You can check it out here ICYMI.

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Bionic Bookworm, now hosted by Meeghan Reads. If you’re interested in participating, check out their blog to get the details and the prompts for each week.

This week, I’m taking one more trip in the TARDIS to revisit the prompt I missed last week, because it’s a good one–most anticipated reads for July-September of 2022!

(Side note: Book links are Bookshop.org affiliate links, as always. But there’s more! Bookshop is currently hosting a two-day sale which includes FREE SHIPPING. A great time to haul some books if I do say so myself.)

Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata (July 5th, 2022)

This one came out last week but I haven’t read it yet, so I’m still counting it as anticipated. I adored Murata’s Convenience Store Woman and had mixed feelings about Earthlings, so I’m excited to check out her latest. Life Ceremony is a collection of short stories, which isn’t usually my preferred format, but in this case I’m very interested to see all the different directions this author will take us.

Wild is the Witch by Rachel Griffin (August 2nd, 2022)

I adored Griffin’s debut, The Nature of Witches, and can’t wait to read this next book! I can’t quite tell from the synopsis if we’re operating within the same/similar magic system or jumping to another take on witches altogether, but either way, I know it’ll be compelling.

Lucy Checks In by Dee Ernst (August 16th, 2022)

This one’s been on my NetGalley shelf for a while and I haven’t quite gotten around to it yet. Lucy Checks In is about starting over and rebuilding a life, in another country in this case.

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood (August 23rd, 2022)

Is there anyone who isn’t excited for this book? There probably is, but I’ve been seeing this on plenty of people’s lists of books they look forward to. I was lukewarm on the STEMinist novellas, so I’m excited to see Hazelwood back in full-length romance territory again.

Running While Black: Finding Freedom in a Sport That Wasn’t Built for Us by Alison Mariella Désir (October 18th, 2022)

Technically this book falls a few weeks outside the prompt parameters, but when I was purusing my list of upcoming releases and remembered this one, I knew I had to include it. Rules are meant to be broken, right? (Okay, that’s more something my husband would say than my rule-following self).

As a white runner, I’m conscious of the ways in which I carry privilege out on the trails and pavement every time I lace up my shoes. I’m also conscious of the fact that there are about a million things I can’t even begin to know about the experience of Black runners. Désir talks about this on her Instagram, and I was thrilled when I saw that she’d written a book about what it’s like to love running as a Black woman.

---

I’m sure there are many, many titles I missed that I’m also looking forward to in the coming months. One of the great (overwhelming?) things about being a reader is there are always more great books! What are your anticipated book releases for the next few months?