August disappeared before I realised it was here. Anyone else feel like it was a super speedy month? I honestly have no idea where it went or what I did! My reading was good, though not what I planned, oops! It was a much quieter blogging month for me, I was in a bit of a funk and needed some time offline. I did still get up two reviews though, which I am pleased about!

Reading Wrap

In August I read 7 books! As usual it was a real mish-mash of genres, but there was definitely not enough non-fiction. In fact, I only finished one out of the four non-fictions I had planned for the month. I feel like that tracks with the chaotic-ness of August though. Hopefully I can catch up with some of them in September.

Titles with a * have been gifted.

• Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. Not my usual, but I had bought this for my mum and was intrigued. Overall I thought it was good, very page-turning and I didn’t see the twist!
• A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett. Book 3 in the Ana and Din Mysteries series. I love the fantasy x mystery combo, so this was a big hit. I am still enjoying the world Bennett has created, and I keep getting more and more curious about Ana!
• Wilderlands* by Eloise Kane. One from the Wainwright Prize lists this year, and I really loved it. Such an interesting look at how the ‘wilds’ of England have changed since humans first settled on the isles.
• The Sea Within by Missouri Vaun. This was okay. It’s a climate fiction that follows a team going back in time to try and save the oceans. It definitely could have used some more editing, and I was hoping for more focus on the research, but it wasn’t a bad read at all.
• Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter. I really, really like Porter’s writing. It’s so unique and lends such character to his work. I didn’t connect with this as much as I did Lanny, but it’s still a brilliant little book.
• The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy by Roan Parrish. This was fine. Very cheesy and would make a good Halloween read. I didn’t care much for the characters and everything was annoying me by the end, but if you love sappy romances then you’ll enjoy this.
• The Incandescent by Emily Tesh. I really enjoyed this one. I’ve always loved books about magical institutions, and having a story from the perspective of a teacher was brilliant.

Books ACQUIRED

I gained 6 books in August, which is less than last month, but still more than I wanted. Once again I have the fortunate problem of having good relationships with publishers! Icon Books were particularly generous this month.

• The Ancient Ways by Seren Hawley-Plows (from BlueBird/PanMac)
• The Restless Coast by Roger Morgan-Grenville (from Icon Books)
• Forensic Science by Sanjukta Mondal (from Icon Books)
• Eva and the Island by Tim Ecott (from Icon Books)
• The Red Mouth by Sheila Armstrong (from Bloomsbury)
• Life Story by Jonathan Loh (from Vintage Books)

Reading Challenges

Over on Pagebound I had a very exciting month. My own quest launched! I was part of the old TC Program, and one of the perks was being able to create a quest or two. My first quest went live in August. It is a Climate Fiction quest, and you can see it here! I made sure to have at least half my chosen books read for launch, so I immediately received the gold badge.
I also earned my level 10 badge, bronze in Fever Dreams and Strange Realities, bronze in Black Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Speculative Fiction, and bronze upon the launch of The Kaleidoscope of Time.

Blog Wrap

REVIEWS:

• The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
• Wilderlands by Eloise Kane

READING UPDATES:

• July Wrap-Up
• The Summer Sweatalong Book Tag
• WWW Wednesday: 26/08/26

Life Wrap

You Tell Me: How was your August? What was your best read?