July(June?) Listy List

A round up of reads and watches for the first half of summer

Jul 14, 2025

I’m on summer break, the Authorstrator programming slow and inconsistent - all the things one must not be on the soshe meeds. But I’ve been taking time to re-work my portfolio and finish my latest manuscript. I hope you're finding time to take it easy, be good to yourself, and come September we will be back to our regular programming.

Because of the summer break, the Listy List got away from me and June came and went with no list. But still it was building. And here we are in July, with still more things to be shared! I’m finding lots of great books I want to read, and discovering a few things for the Watch List too.

If you’re new here at Authrostrator, the Authorstrator Listy List is a roundup of what I think are the most interesting bits and bobs I collect for all the lists I keep in my notebooks over the course of the month! My TBR, my watch list, my list of arty things I want to try out. And I’m always on the lookout for more, so if you’ve got a great recommendation for a read, a watch, or arty stuff, I invite you to share your latest finds in the comments!

The Reading List

Everyone is Lying to You by Jo Piazza - I just stumbled across

Jo Piazza

‘s newsletter and saw she had a new book coming up - a #tradwife murder mystery. Loved the sample pages on google so I was quick to hit that pre-order button.

Year of the Mer by L.D. Lewis - Not out til next year, but a an adult fantasy re-imagining of The Little Mermaid. Done.

Realms of the Roundtable by John Matthews, illustrated by John Howe - Little known Arthurian legends AND it’s illustrated? Yes. I am here for this.

Seventhblade by Tonia Laird - This one comes from Canadian indie publisher ECW Press and I find their books, especially their fantasy, to be really different and awesome. THIS book is a fantasy with a mom as the warrior hero and…I dig that.

For young readers:

Titan of the Stars by EK Johnston - A YA sci fi, this one billed as Alien meets Titanic from the amazing EK Johnston (Exit, Pursued by a Bear). I have no doubt this one will be unputdownable.

Free Piano (Not Haunted) by Whitney Gardner - A middle grade, coming-of-age graphic novel that looks super cute.

Other Side of the Rainbow by Beatrice Blue - This one looks like a magical adventure of a picturebook. I love Beatrice Blue’s art style so I will definitely be adding this to my collection of Beatrice Blue books.

Newsletters

If you’ve been here a while, you know I love all things notebook related, so I thought this was a really fun exercise - a notebook review from

Carolyn Yoo

I’m kind of obsessed with writing essays at the moment - not sure how that happened. But anyway! This post of essay writing tips from

the digital meadow

was great!

As someone fairly clueless on the soshe meeds, I do find this newsletter from

Virtually Annie

is full of great practical advice.

The Watch List

The Grizzlies - This Canadian film is from 2018 but I only just came across it this month. An inspiring true story about a group of Innuit students in the Arctic who form a lacrosse team. This one grabbed me by the shirt collar and didn’t let up.

Kpop Demon Hunters - if you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend. This is a fun, funny, zany adventure that gives me real Buffy/Sailor Moon vibes. My kids can’t stop listening to the soundtrack (Soda Pop!).

James Gunn’s Superman - Having been fascinated by Superman for….my whole life, I am DESPERATE to get to the theatres to see the new movie. I don’t know when babysitting will allow such a thing, but if the opportunity to go to the movies arises, its going to be to see Superman because. In the meantime, I’m re-watching the Superman movies that came before in order to prepare.