August was a difficult month for me. I suffered a great personal loss with the passing of my pet bearded dragon, after nearly 18 years of companionship. I got her when I was 18 and I’m almost 36 now. That’s half my entire lifespan so far, pretty much. I’ve hardly known adulthood without her. So, it’s been a little harder to find motivation for things. Nevertheless, I did pick up some books here and there in August, and I am determined to report as always, even if it is a couple of weeks late.

Let’s see what I picked up, shall we?

New Books

James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction, by various contributors, was a book I picked up because it somehow ended up at a dollar store, as liquidated stock of bigger books frequently does. Though interesting, it’s not something I would’ve gone out of my way to pick up otherwise. However, I recall watching the series this is based on (or maybe it’s the other way around?), and I rather liked it, so it was easy to say yes to picking this up for just $5. I don’t recall a great amount from the show, and hopefully it goes into even greater depth about the history of the genre in film besides.

Fairy Tale by Stephen King is a book I found at a second-hand store. Though it’s been much too long since I’ve read one of this books, and I own a number already that I have yet to read, finding a copy of this book that was in practically like-new condition was too good to pass up. I really enjoyed The Dark Tower as a series as well, so I think I’d really enjoy another one of King’s forays into fantasy. I’ve heard this one was quite well liked too.

Pokécology, illustrated by Chihiro Kinoshita, is a new official book released in English by the Pokémon Company. I’ve been a fan of this game series since childhood, but I don’t normally go much for picking up Pokémon books. However, I really loved the idea of a book taking a more naturalistic look at the ways these creatures live, especially in an official capacity rather than a fan-made one, so I kept light tabs on when it was coming out. I happened to find a copy on sale for a rather good price, so I decided to pick it up new. It’s been fun to flip through so far, but I eventually plan to read it all the way through.

Novel Discoveries

Memorials to the Dead by Dr. Kate Cherrell is a nonfiction book about unusual graves in England, written by  scholar of the occult whom I’m a fan of. I read her gothic novel last year, which I liked but didn’t love, and would love to continue to show her work support. I’m really curious to see how she approaches nonfiction.

The Butcher of Nazareth by David Scott Hay is a book that’s really caught my interest, and I’m not ashamed to admit that a lot of that has to do with the spectacular-looking cover. A Biblical horror novel, the story follows the titular “butcher”, who once took part in Herod’s slaughtering of innocents, trying to hunt down a pre-ministry Jesus in order to prevent a future he’s seen in apocalyptic visions of fire and ash, with countless dead in the name of a new messiah. I keep hearing great things about this book, so I’ll probably try to pick it up sometime soon.

The Story of Birds by Steve Brusatte is a nonfiction book about the history of birds, starting from their dinosaur origins up to the modern day. I’m especially interested in this book because of how much I loved Brusatte’s The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs. I still need to read The Rise and Reign of the Mammals, but once I read that one I’ll be sure to track this new one down. He has such a way of writing that feels very engaging without dumbing down the topic. I regret not reading his work with more determination.

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Until next time, thank you for reading!