Hello Readers! Aaaand it’s another wrap-up for you today. August was blissfully long for me. I was happy that it took its sweet time. The last full month of the summer for us here in the states—even though with our 100+ temps here in Texas it will feel like summer for much longer—it’s the perfect month for reading challenges and readathons. And I had my best reading month probably ever—or at least since leaving college.
I read 17 books, for a total of 4,926 pages! (Why didn’t I just read another 74 pages to get to 5,000??) I completed all the prompts on my #20BooksOfSummer23 Challenge and my Trope-ical Readathon, as well as crossing off several more of my yearly Popsugar Reading Challenge prompts. I read a nice mix of ARCs and backlist books, with many different genres, as well. I read so many books, I had to change the format of my wrap-up post a bit.
Let’s see what I read!
Be sure to check out The Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction!
August Wrap-Up
(Link to synopsis on Goodreads through the book title.)
◀ My first book of the month was one of Christina Lauren’s backlist books, Beautiful Bastard. It also fulfilled a hard-to-fill prompt on my reading challenge. It took me a few chapters to warm up to this ultra steamy romance, but as they always do, the writing duo won me over! ▶ I couldn’t resist the invitation to read the undersea thriller Whalefall by Daniel Kraus, especially when I heard it’s already been picked up to be adapted. I thought it was excellent!
Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren
➤My Rating: ★★★¾
➤Popsugar advanced prompt: A book that started out as fan fiction
Whalefall by Daniel Kraus
➤My Rating: ★★★★★
➤Popsugar prompt: A book you think your best friend would like
➤My Review
➤Published on August 8, 2023
◀ When I picked up two free novellas from romance author Camilla Isley, I knew they’d be perfect additions for my challenge and readathon. My Billionaire Grump was cute and swoon-y with a lovely Italian setting, although a bit more insta-love than I prefer. ▶ Surprisingly bookish, I enjoyed Love or Hate so much, I wished it had been longer. I also think it’s the first open-door romance I’ve read by Isley, and I wouldn’t mind if it’s a new trend by her.
My Billionaire Grump by Camilla Isley
➤My Rating: ★★★¼
Love or Hate by Camilla Isley
➤My Rating: ★★★½
◀ Technically I started The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the prequel to The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins, in July, but I’d paused my reading so I could use the bulk of it for my readathon. I struggled through most of this one, but the last few chapters redeemed it for me. And I was very satisfied with the ending! ▶ I’ve been wanting to read Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev for a few years, and I’m happy to have finally picked it up! I laughed at so much of this one, but also ached for the characters.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
➤My Rating: ★★★★☆
➤Popsugar prompt: A book becoming a TV series or movie in 2023
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev
➤My Rating: ★★★★☆
➤Popsugar prompt: A modern retelling of a classic
◀ A perfect summer read was Tilly in Technicolor by Mazey Eddings, a YA romance about Tilly and Ollie, two neurodiverse teens working together in Europe for the summer. ▶ The Team Book for my readathon was Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy, which I happened to have waiting on my bookshelf. It’s another book I finished and wondered why I hadn’t read it sooner. It definitely made me nostalgic for growing up in a small Texas town.
Tilly in Technicolor by Mazey Eddings
➤My Rating: ★★★★★
➤My Review
Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy
➤My Rating: ★★★★★
◀ I didn’t plan on reading Friends Don’t Fall in Love by Erin Hahn until next month, but I suddenly didn’t want to wait any longer. I sped through this swoon-y and steamy romance! ▶ I also hadn’t planned on reading my next installment in the Heartstopper universe (Vol. 3), but quickly added it so I could read it before I watched the newest season of the adaptation. (It was great!) I will always be a fan of Nick and Charlie!
Friends Don’t Fall in Love by Erin Hahn
➤My Rating: ★★★★☆
➤My Review
➤Expected on October 17, 2023
Heartstopper: Vol. 3 by Alice Oseman
➤My Rating: ★★★★★
◀ Another book I’ve been wanting to read for a good bit is Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. This Middle Grade remix of Stamped from the Beginning packs a lot of information into a smaller book, but I learned so much. It’s a great introduction to the history of racism and antiracism. ▶ When I heard Kit Frick’s latest mystery, The Reunion, being described as the YA White Lotus, I had to read it! It’s an apt comparison, but I found it hard to tell the four narrators apart.
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
➤My Rating: ★★★★★
➤Popsugar prompt: A book that’s been banned or challenged in any state in 2022
The Reunion by Kit Frick
➤My Rating: ★★★¼
➤My Review
➤Published on August 29, 2023
◀ One of the very specific prompts on my yearly reading challenge was to read a book based on a movie, which meant I had several books to choose from thanks to my recently acquired collection of movie novelizations—or books written from the screenplays of popular films, particularly those from the 80s and 90s. I chose to reread Pretty in Pink, a book I’d owned and read as a preteen. It also fulfilled my readathon prompt: A book with a love triangle. ▶ I’m slowly making my way through Katherine Center’s backlist books, and I’ve been hoping to pick up The Lost Husband for a few years. I adore Center’s new releases, but there’s something so comforting and simple about her backlist books!
Pretty in Pink by H.B. Gilmour
➤My Rating: ★★★★☆
➤Popsugar advanced prompt: A book based on a popular movie
The Lost Husband by Katherine Center
➤My Rating: ★★★★☆
◀ I was a big fan of campy horror films and the Fear Street books when I was a preteen and teen, so when You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron showed up in my latest book subscription box, I knew it would be the perfect addition to my summer reading. I had so much fun with this one! ▶ I was in the last few days of the month and knew I needed something quick to read to cross off another prompt on my readathon. I ended up pulling Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez off my shelf. This book was not what I was expecting at all, but I really enjoyed it. Entertaining and humorous, I also had no idea it was based on a true story.
You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron
➤My Rating: ★★★★☆
Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez
➤My Rating: ★★★★☆
◀ And finally, to fulfill another prompt, I picked up a previously DNFed book, Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton. When I’d originally tried to read this dystopian novel back in 2019, I could feel it sending me into a reading slump. It’s well-written, with plenty of humor but watching the extinction of humans through the eyes of a pet crow can be a bit depressing. I still found it sad, but oh so very smart and funny.
➤My Rating: ★★★★☆
➤Popsugar advanced prompt: A book with a pet character
How was your reading month? Have you read any of these books? Did you add any of them to your TBR? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Wandering!
Great job with the challenges. It’s too hot in Texas for me. I had no idea Beautiful Bastard started out as fanfic. Those books were just ok for me. I like the newer CLo books more. They are more my speed. DNF to 4-stars, that’s great! I wonder if that would ever happen with any of my DNFs?
It is very hot! BUT, the current forecast shows temps in the 80s next week! We’ll believe it when it actually happens. 😉 Yeah, I’m definitely more of a fan of CLo’s newer stuff, too. Not sure if I’ll continue with this series. Maybe if I need to fulfill another specific prompt on a reading challenge. Ha! I think it’s actually the second time I’ve picked up a DNF and it was four stars. I did that with Within These Wicked Walls, too. It’s always a nice result!
Forgot to mention that Beautiful Bastard was another Twilight fanfic. 😆
Wow that is indeed a lot of pages! Congrats on being able to finish the readathon and get through so many prompts this month! I’ve had The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes on my bookcase for awhile, but I’ve been hesitant to read it so far. I’m also looking forward to the newest Kalynn Bayron book. I was obsessed with the Goosebumps and Fear Street books growing up and still own most of my copies, so I really hope to get around to that one soon! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it.
If/when you decide to pick up Ballad, just stick with it! And I hope you enjoy Bayron’s book as much as I did. It definitely was reminiscent of the Fear Street books. I was a little too old for Goosebumps. 😃 Happy reading!
What an incredible reading month! I’m always in awe of how you just slay these challenges and read all of these awesome books. I need to be more like you, haha! 😂 I’ve got quite a few of these on my TBR and no idea when I plan to read them. That CLo book was the first I ever read by them and I think the whole series treads more on the erotic side but I had no idea it was a fanfic! 👀 I hope you have an amazing September, Dedra!
Thank you! I don’t know what it is about readathons that make me actually put my head down and read?! I can’t do them too often, but if I know it’s only a few times a year, I’ll commit. Haha! Oh wow, you’ve been a CLo fan for a long time! Yeah, it was another Twilight erotic fanfic. 😃 Happy reading, Dini!
Oh through the yes of a pet crow? That is really interesting, huh.
Sounds like you had a really good reading month 😀
It was very different! And really written so well. But definitely outside of my usual genre. 🙂
I really keen on finishing Sonali Dev’s series. The first two books were great! I hear you when it comes to summer. Everyone is celebrating the end of summer, but I know for me, it won’t cool down until November. Ugh. Happy September!
Oh, I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the second book in Dev’s series. Makes me even more excited to get to it! Out of nowhere, we have a forecast for cooler temps next week!! I’ll believe it when it actually happens, but it’s nice to see in the forecast. 😂
You read some great books this month! I’ve been really curious about Whalefall because it’s been selling really well at the B&N I work at. Good to hear it lives up to the hype.
It’s so so good! Very impressive and different.
Wow, that’s a lot of reading and some great progress on your reading challenges! I still want to read Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors too. I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it!
I thought it was done so well. Worth a read just for her interpretation of *that scene* in P & P. 😃