This is what I read in August. . . let’s see how September goes!
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell – I’m so excited to finally be in this world fully! It’s hard to not see Harry Potter characters in my head while listening but I enjoyed trying to mash them up to see who is who. I loved it, and I loved what I think were small references to a few other author’s books. Nice to see Levi’s coffee creation lives on. 5/5
Ice Planet Barbarian Honeymoon by Ruby Dixon – Did I do the two month free trial of kindle unlimited to keep reading these? SIGH. MAYBE. It’s interesting enough to continue that’s for sure. This was just a quick inbetween story. 3/5
Rise of the Witch by C. Rochelle – This is a reverse harem surrounding Baba Yaga lore that I heard about through tiktok, the author popped up on my FYP. When you see RH you think one thing but there was an actual story here and it was really good! The writing wasn’t as great though so I think I’ll stop here in the series. 4/5
It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey (audio)- This is my first book by Ms Bailey but it will absolutely not be my last. The male lead is an example of why you shouldn’t settle. WOWZA. It moved fast but the story was great and the characters were likeable; fair warning the audio isn’t something I’d listen to without headphones. Can’t wait to read Hannah and Fox’s story! 4/5
The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown (audio) – I’ve listened to Daring Greatly at least five times so far but have never listened to this one. I feel like I pick up something new with each listen of her books and this one I think will be the same (I will definitely have to relisten). While I fully understand and agree with her thoughts I still can’t make myself follow her advice out of fear. 5/5
Neon Gods by Katee Robert (audio) – Another new to me author, though I’m not sure if this was a rec by a friend or something I found on TIktok too. I know I see the author on my FYP so anything is possible. This was a “spicy” retelling of Hades and Persephone. It wasn’t a bad story, but something was missing for me. I’ll probably continue with the series though. 3/5
The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson (audio) – This was my favorite in the series by far! Loved the mystery in it and most of it was a complete surprise. BUT. . .while I’m aware of Stevie being a teen I feel like Stevie made absolutely no growth or learned a single thing from the main series. A lot of selfish things were done and I wasn’t a fan. I feel like everyone else grew overall though. I also think it would have been a little better reading versus audio, the narrator’s interpretation of the male voices threw me a bit. 4/5
Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher (audio) – I’d been wanting to read this one for a long time. Something about it told me it would be special. Grief is hard and it is unique to every single person. It was a wonderful and heartbreaking book though it read more like I was reading a Nicholas Sparks novel. I wouldn’t ever think of a teen speaking like these characters. 4/5
Tweet Cute by Emma Lord – This one is from my 12/12 (but really 13) recommendations from friends. I’ll have more on that post but overall it was a quick and cute read. 3/5
Giant Days Volume 10 by John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julia Madrigal – It took forever for my library to order these and I’ve been reading as they come in. Such a cute series, I love Susan and McGraw. 4/5
Giant Days Volume 11 by John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julia Madrigal – Cute as always. Fingers crossed for Ed! 3/5
Giant Days Volume 12 by John Allison, Max Sarin, and Julia Madrigal – I know things arecoming to an end and I’m sad. This is by far one of the cutest graphic novel series I’ve ever picked up. 4/5
Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert (audio) – Another 12/12 read from friends. The narrators was very monotone to me at normal speed so I had to speed it up. Fun fact – before I started reading this book I’d found book two without realizing this was a series and that I’d found book two, LOL. A cute but awkward read. 3/5
If the Shoe Fits by Julie Murphy (audio) – This was a bout of books choice. This was a hard one to rate. I loved the story overall and the audio – it gave me Beauty Queens from Libba Bray vibes but on the other hand I HATE the premise of The Bachelor. The idea of a group of women fighting over one man makes me want to punch a wall. You only see from Cindy’s POV as well so you just have to hope Henry’s intentions are pure. I almost went with 3 stars on this one but there was a letter written by someone near the end that had me crying. 4/5
The Comfort Book by Matt Haig – A self-help/inspirational book about when you are feeling low and need a pick me up. It’s definitely worth a look. 3/5
Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin – This was a book I carried around for a long time, never opened, and when I finally sat down to read I was mad at myself for waiting so long. I think the size was more off putting than anything but it moved quickly. Glad I already have book two ready to go! 4/5
Rat Queens Volume 8 The God Dilemma by Ryan Ferrier, Moritat, Casy Silver, Priscilla Petraites, & Marco Lesko – To be completely honest I’m completely lost to the storyline of this series. I have no idea what is going on anymore but I’m going to keep reading. 3/5