August reading thread!☀️

[adelbert]

It's August! How was your July? What books did you enjoy the most? What are you looking forward to reading this month?

[cakewench]

Here's my July rundown:

In this Bright Future by Peter Grainger (audio) - 4.5 stars
A Sinister Revenge by Deanna Raybourn - 4 stars
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez - 4 stars
The Only One Left by Riley Sager - 3.5 stars
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - 4 stars
Forsaken Country by Allen Eskins - 3.5 stars
The 7.5 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - 4.5 stars
Pretty Girls by Karen Slaughter (audio) - 2.5 stars
Funny Story by Emily Henry - 3.5 stars
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez - 4.5 stars
A Grave Robbery by Deanna Raybourn - 3.5 stars
The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary (audio) - 5 stars (and my favorite of the month)

It's August so Austen August officially starts for me today (reading all of Austen's novels this month) - some people sounded interested in participating (either all or in part) so I'm going to make a separate thread for that.

[overboard]

My July was terrible. I’ve been dealing with some serious back pain and couldn’t focus on anything.

I finally got some pain management in place so I started legendborn and I’m enjoying it.

I’m planning on doing Austen August with cakewench!

[cnf]

I finished up the SJM library in July and now I'm on a romance roll.

Queen of Shadows
Empire of Storms
Tower of Dawn
Kingdom of Ash
House of Flame and Shadow
It Started With a Book
Strictly The Worst

That's a low number of books for me in a month, especially being a summer bum without a job at the moment, but most were like 700-900 pages, so it definitely took some time to get through those longer ones. I'm going to rip through my pile of romance books then probably reread Powerless and then finally read Reckless that's been sitting in my Kindle for a month now. I can actually grab my holds as they come in too instead of pushing them out.

[thatgolfb]

July was… busy. Hah. So not as much reading as I would have liked. But I did read 8 books. I am way behind in my Goodreads yearly goal, but it was lofty anyway, and I’m trying not to pressure myself to read simply to reach an arbitrary goal. I have had a little more time to read this week than I had earlier in the month.



The Frozen River, Looking for Jane, and the Rom-Commers were my favorites. I had some quality books this month, which makes up for the lower than usual quantity.

This month I have a few ARCs to read, including the next Ex Hex book, and TJ Newman’s newest. I am sad, she will be at a book talk at my local bookshop this month, but it’s on the same evening as our back to school night. Bummer.

[angelashly]

July was a struggle. I read some good ones but also dnf s few too

Life’s to short
The perfect couple
The only one left
The right move
The rom commers

August books I am ready for
By any other name
Here one moment
Such charming liars

[melohdy]

It looks like I finished 4 books this month. I had a hard time focusing on physical reading rather than listening to audiobooks.

The Maidens - Alex Michaelidas - 3 Stars
Leather & Lark - Brynne Weaver - 4 Stars
The Unmaking of June Farrow - Adrienne Young - 3 Stars
Flawless - Elsie Silver - 3 Stars

[melohdy]

Currently reading: Throne of Glass (audio); Earl's Trip

[bearfootzcontinued]

July reads:
Funny Story
Husbands and Lovers
The Housemaid's Secret
The Housemaid is Watching

For August I'm looking forward to Just for Summer. Plotting what else to read while on vacation later this month. Thinking I need to find a family friendly audio book for the ride.

[mathrun]

I had a big July, some carryovers from June and had a period there where I had a bunch of library hold come in at once.

A Ruse of Shadows 4⭐️
All the Colors of the Dark 4.5⭐️
Nightcrawling 2⭐️
The Sorcress 4⭐️
Midnight Feast 3⭐️
Everyone on this Train is a Suspect 3.5⭐️
You Shouldn’t Have Come Here 0.5⭐️
The Necromancer 4⭐️
Vera Wongs Unsolicited Advice for Murders 3⭐️
A Talent for Murder 4.5⭐️
Stay Gold 3.5⭐️
The Great Influenza 3⭐️
A Ballad of Love and Glory 4⭐️
The Death of Joan of Arc 4⭐️
Horror Movie 3⭐️
Last Christmas in Paris 3⭐️
The Guncle Abroad 3.5⭐️
Democracy in Retrograde 3.5⭐️

I don’t have really any August new releases on my list for August. My hold on the newest Kate Quinn should be coming in along with Burnout, MurderBot #5 and a couple other random older releases that have been on my TBR.

[emma]

I finished 6 books in July so not great but not bad for me either. I finished the last 1/4 of Funny Story today so I’m counting it as a July book, also I absolutely loved it, it’s up there with Book Lovers and now I’m sad to be finished because I was really enjoying escaping to the town and library they lived it. I realize one of things I enjoy about Emily Henry is that she writes about FMC in their 30s and 40s instead of early 20s.
My July books:
Hey Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy and Other Lies - 3 stars
The Immortality Thief - 4 stars
Momfluenced: Inside the Maddening Picture Perfect World of Mommy Inflencer Culture- 1 star
Such a Bad Influence - 3.5 stars
The Well of Ascension (Mistborn 2) - 4 stars
Funny Story - 5 stars

I’m going on vacation soon and have a 10.5 hour flight so I’ll definitely get some reading done this month. I have All the Colours of the Dark, Demon Coperhead, and Cameno Island queued up on my kindle

[nelzie]

July was a great reading month for me. I read 17 books. Favorites were The Reformatory, Not Another Love Song, If You See Me, and The Next Mrs. Parrish. Least favorites were One Big Happy Family (which was a disappointment because I really liked her first book) and The Midnight Feast (I honestly don't know why I keep reading her books, I've never rated them higher than a 2 or 3).

I don't think I ever updated for June, it was a bad reading month for me. I only read 7 books and none of them were five stars. Favorites were The Rom-Commers, A Love Like the Sun, and Long Time Gone.

[nelzie]

August releases on my TBR:

The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava
The Chamber by Will Dean
House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen
Worst Case Scenario by T. J. Newman
Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca
Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown
The Last Party by A. R. Torre
You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Wisteria by Adalyn Grace
Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe
Marriage and Masti by Nisha Sharma
Return to Midnight by Emma Dues
The Examiner by Janice Hallett

I'm most excited for Wisteria!

I got an arc of the audiobook of Worst Case Scenario and I'm listening to that now. It's really good so far.

[DGM]

July was a weak reading month for me. I DNF Pride and Prejudice or a 21st Century Austen, Love and War in Woodhouse Hall. Last week, I started From Cradle to Stage by Virginia Grohl (Dave's mom) and hope to finish before it's due. Normally it's the kind of book I'd stay up late reading all night, but I've instead been staying up late watching/reading Olympic or election news. Edit: I'm going to try again to finish P&P for Austen August.

[cnf]

Aug 1, 2024 19:05:41 GMT -6 nelzie said:

August releases on my TBR:

The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava
The Chamber by Will Dean
House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen
Worst Case Scenario by T. J. Newman
Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca
Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown
The Last Party by A. R. Torre
You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Wisteria by Adalyn Grace
Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe
Marriage and Masti by Nisha Sharma
Return to Midnight by Emma Dues
The Examiner by Janice Hallett

I'm most excited for Wisteria!

I got an arc of the audiobook of Worst Case Scenario and I'm listening to that now. It's really good so far.

I'm so excited for Worst Case Scenario! I'm jealous you got an arc. Let me know what you think when you're done!

[abs]

July was a decent month for me. It was quantity over quality though. Look on the Bright Side and Husbands and Lovers were my favorites.
The others were only ok to meh.

Look on the Bright Side—5 stars
The Five Year Lie—3 stars
If Something Happens to Me—3.5 stars
Summer Romance—2 stars
Just the Nicest Couple—2 stars
Husbands and Lovers—5 stars
Sandwich—3.5 stars

I only have one book coming out in August that I’m looking forward to which is Behind Every Good Man. In fact the rest of 2024 seems light really.

[wedding]

I finally got out of my reading rut. I apparently just needed a vacation to clear my head.

I read 18 in July. I am loving Caroline Mitchell’s books. I’m also enjoying Kiersten Modglin. Hers are fast paced and shorter like Freida McFaddens but less predictable. I think The Husbands was my favorite this month. I’ve been struggling with feeling unseen and this book captures the feeling well.

[nelzie]

Aug 2, 2024 9:53:34 GMT -6 wedding said:

I finally got out of my reading rut. I apparently just needed a vacation to clear my head.

I read 18 in July. I am loving Caroline Mitchell’s books. I’m also enjoying Kiersten Modglin. Hers are fast paced and shorter like Freida McFaddens but less predictable. I think The Husbands was my favorite this month. I’ve been struggling with feeling unseen and this book captures the feeling well.

I've read 8 of Kiersten Modglin's books so far and have really enjoyed them all. She has so many books too so I'm slowly trying to get through them all. I really enjoyed her trilogy, first book is The Arrangement. Highly recommend.

[leahcar]

I read 10 books in July; that's higher than my recent norm courtesy of our extended hurricane power outage.

I hopped on the SJM train and read books 2-5 of ACOTAR this month. I can't even quite say I liked them, but I couldn't put them down. LOL I'm now waiting on her other series from the library!

If you're into modern politics at all, I also read The Power Worshippers. It's about the rise of Christian Nationalism and is a great primer on the current chaos we're living.

I need to re-read Evelyn Hugo for book club. August is insane with school starting. My husband goes back to work; my oldest is headed to college. So it's very TBD how much reading will happen.

[willow]

July was almost entirely fantasy and JA's books haha. I really like them though. Not What She Seems was pretty meh. It was super predictable and not in a fun way. 

[jaygee]

Aug 1, 2024 12:34:56 GMT -6 bearfootzcontinued said:

July reads:
Funny Story
Husbands and Lovers
The Housemaid's Secret
The Housemaid is Watching

For August I'm looking forward to Just for Summer. Plotting what else to read while on vacation later this month. Thinking I need to find a family friendly audio book for the ride.

Might be too young for your older kids but we love the Viva Durant series on Audible.

[jaygee]

I read/listened to four books in July (counting the one I finished the last 30 pages of yesterday)

Swan Song ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Anxious Generation (audio book) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Powerless ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Teacher ⭐️⭐️

The teacher gave me such the ick. I hated it. I only gave it two stars because it was fast and easy to get through. Although I wished I never picked it up. Of course my book club picked the Housemaid trilogy by the same author so I’m hoping I don’t hate those as well. I read the first one back in September last year and really enjoyed it though. I think I just could not get over the subject of The Teacher.

[cnf]

Aug 2, 2024 11:41:33 GMT -6 jaygee said:

I read/listened to four books in July (counting the one I finished the last 30 pages of yesterday)

Swan Song ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Anxious Generation (audio book) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Powerless ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Teacher ⭐️⭐️

The teacher gave me such the ick. I hated it. I only gave it two stars because it was fast and easy to get through. Although I wished I never picked it up. Of course my book club picked the Housemaid trilogy by the same author so I’m hoping I don’t hate those as well. I read the first one back in September last year and really enjoyed it though. I think I just could not get over the subject of The Teacher.

I have no desire to read The Teacher as an actual teacher myself. Ugh, pass.

[angelashly]

I just picked up such charming liars so I think I’m going to put down two truths and a lie

[loony]

I had a lot of drive time/down time in July, so I got through a bunch of audio books

⭐⭐⭐1/2
Playing with myself, Randy Rainbow
Four Eids and a Funeral, Faridah Abike Iyimide
The Good the Bad and the Aunties, Jesse Q. Sutanto


⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Summer She went Missing, Chelsea Ichaso
The Kind Worth Killing, Peter Swanson
Young Blood, Sasha Laurens
Play the Fool, Lina Chern
A Wicked Magic, Sasha Laurens


⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2
Queercenera, Alex Crespo
Razorblade Tears, S.A. Cosby
The New Girl, Jesse Q. Sutanto
My Roommate is a Vampire, Jenna Levine


⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Cherry Robbers, Sarai Walker
Light from Uncommon Stars, Ryka Aoki

DNF

The Tuesday Night Survivors' Club DNF - It was just not engaging enough

[marygracerich]

It was not the best I have ever done as far as reading goes, but not awful for me. I also traveled a bit this month so I was sort of too busy to read.


I am currently reading Promised in Fire. I am 90% done with that. I am considering going into the Percy Jackson books finally. 😂

I am waiting for the release of A Werewolf’s Guide to Seducing a Vampire. I think the 13th is the released date. I read the first two books in the series. They are very cute contemporary romances with a paranormal/magical twist. I like them a lot.

[adelbert]

Goodreads made a post about what's being read so far this year by people signed up for the reading challenge (basically just you saying you want to read a certain amount of books this year) and I thought some of the results were interesting.
Here is how Goodreads describes it.
Below you will find the most popular books being read by Goodreads regulars who have signed up for this year’s Challenge. We’ve sorted the titles by genre, then ranked the titles by overall popularity within the genre. So, for instance, Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in Chemistry is the most read Historical Fiction book among those taking the 2024 Reading Challenge. And here is the link to the actual post www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2781?ref=RCHalfYr24_eb

But I've tried to take screen shots of the different categories so we can discuss.

[adelbert]

The last three categories.

[adelbert]

I haven't read any of the romance or YA, My H has Outlive and I'll read that after he's done from the non-fiction. I still want to try out Bunny in the horror section but the others that I want to read I have already read. Historical Fiction is one of my least read genre's so I'm not surprised I haven't read any yet but I will still check out Heaven and Earth Grocery Store- even though I know some of you really hated it, and I think I will also check out The Frozen River as well. In the Fiction section I guess I'll check out Yellowface and maybe finally read the Bell Jar.

[bubblehape]

I dnf Normal People, got maybe 1/3 of the way through.

Loved Just for the Summer, and Funny Story.

Leather and Lark was ok, I had the paperback but the audiobook came available so I went that route and regret it. The narrators were 80% ok but the male was growly the entire time and there was too much actual laughing for "she cackled quietly" and that type of thing that was cringy af.

The House Across the Lake was decent, idk why I always forget his books are paranormal.

Listened to Paris Hiltons memoir and loved it too.

Currently listening to The Paradise Problem with Happy Medium up next, and reading Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah.