I always try to get my monthly TBR lists posted on the first day of the month, but it just so happens that the first of July is also Canada Day! Basically, I was out all night and day celebrating, but I would never leave you all hanging! Here we have my JULY TBR! As usual, I’m not very strict about these lists and I almost never read everything that I have pre-chosen for myself. Enjoy!

---

Armada

Author: Ernest Cline

Publisher: Crown Publishing

Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy

Release Date: July 14th 2015

Page Count: 368

Format: Hardcover

ISBN: 9780804137256

Goodreads synopsis: Zack Lightman has spent his life dreaming. Dreaming that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies, and videogames he’s spent his life consuming. Dreaming that one day, some fantastic, world-altering event will shatter the monotony of his humdrum existence and whisk him off on some grand space-faring adventure. But hey, there’s nothing wrong with a little escapism, right? After all, Zack tells himself, he knows the difference between fantasy and reality. He knows that here in the real world, aimless teenage gamers with anger issues don’t get chosen to save the universe. And then he sees the flying saucer. Even stranger, the alien ship he’s staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada—in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders. No, Zack hasn’t lost his mind. As impossible as it seems, what he’s seeing is all too real. And his skills—as well as those of millions of gamers across the world—are going to be needed to save the earth from what’s about to befall it. It’s Zack’s chance, at last, to play the hero. But even through the terror and exhilaration, he can’t help thinking back to all those science-fiction stories he grew up with, and wondering: Doesn’t something about this scenario seem a little…familiar? At once gleefully embracing and brilliantly subverting science-fiction conventions as only Ernest Cline could, Armada is a rollicking, surprising thriller, a classic coming of age adventure, and an alien invasion tale like nothing you’ve ever read before—one whose every page is infused with the pop-culture savvy that has helped make Ready Player One a phenomenon. 

---

Let Me Explain You

Author: Annie Liontas

Publisher: Scribner

Genre: Fiction, Contemporary

Release Date: July 14th 2015

Page Count: 352

Format: ARC provided by Simon & Schuster Canada

ISBN: 9781476789088

Goodreads synopsis: LET ME EXPLAIN YOU begins with a letter: Stavros Stavros Mavrakis-Greek immigrant, proud owner of the Gala Diner, having had a premonition of death and believing he has just ten days left to live, sends an email to his estranged ex-wife and three grown daughters in which he lays out his last wishes for each of them. He then sets about preparing for his final hours. With varying degrees of laughter and scorn, his family and friends dismiss his behavior as nothing more than a plea for attention, a mid-life crisis of sorts, but when Stavros disappears without explanation, those closest to him-particularly his eldest daughters Stavroula and Litza-are forced to confront the possibility of his death and the realities of their loss.

---

Old Green World

Author: Walter Basho

Publisher: Craft Fiction

Genre: Science Fiction, LGBTQ+

Release Date: May 19th 2015

Page Count: 224

Format: ARC provided by NetGalley

ISBN: 9780996153812

Goodreads synopsis: The apocalypse happened 4000 years ago; now, a wild forest covers the world. Albert Todorov, an immigrant military prodigy, lives on an island, in the shadow of the forest. He loves Thomas Newton, a boy he can never marry. A new island civilization is blossoming, led by strange monks called the Adepts–who have power over matter and the mind–and their holy figures, the mysterious Old People. They plan to storm the forest, to tame it for civilization. The forest doesn’t care. It is patient and vast. This is what happens. Walter Basho’s first novel extends the patterns and practices of genre fiction to explore perception, identity, and culture. It is a science fantasy adventure, a coming-of-age story, a romance, and a meditation on what it means for the world to end.

---

ODY-C, Volume 1.

Author: Matt Fraction Illustrator: Christian Ward

Publisher: Image Comics

Genre: Graphic Novel, Sci-Fi, Fantasy

Release Date: June 10th 2015

Page Count:  136

Format: ARC provided by NetGalley

ISBN: 9781632153760

Goodreads synopsis: An eye-searing, mind-bending, gender-shattering epic science fiction retelling of Homer’s Odyssey starting with the end of a great war in the stars and the beginning of a very long journey home for Odyssia and her crew of warriors. The journey to Ithicaa begins HERE, by Matt Fraction (Sex Criminals) and Christian Ward (Infinite Vacation, Olympus).

---

Boy Meets Boy

Author: David Levithan

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBTQ+

Release Date: February 19th 2009 (first published September 9th 2003)

Page Count:  157

Format: eBook

ISBN: 9780307482440

Goodreads synopsis: This is the story of Paul, a sophomore at a high school like no other: The cheerleaders ride Harleys, the homecoming queen used to be a guy named Daryl (she now prefers Infinite Darlene and is also the star quarterback), and the gay-straight alliance was formed to help the straight kids learn how to dance. When Paul meets Noah, he thinks he’s found the one his heart is made for. Until he blows it. The school bookie says the odds are 12-to-1 against him getting Noah back, but Paul’s not giving up without playing his love really loud. His best friend Joni might be drifting away, his other best friend Tony might be dealing with ultra-religious parents, and his ex-boyfriend Kyle might not be going away anytime soon, but sometimes everything needs to fall apart before it can really fit together right. This is a happy-meaningful romantic comedy about finding love, losing love, and doing what it takes to get love back in a crazy-wonderful world.