August Wrap Up & September TBR

August was such a huge month for me! Not just because I was stuck inside in Stage 4 lockdown (panicked peace signs everywhereee), but also because I read so much! I was smashing books left and right and completed my first successful readathons in a LONG time. I haven’t felt so inspired to read in so long and I’ve been super motivated to blog heaps too, so look out for more posts this month.

Oh, and before I forget, I managed to smash my Goodreads challenge of 50 this month which was AMAZING. I’m hella proud of myself.

This month, I participated in the Tome Topple readathon, where I read 3 tomes (the most I’ve ever read in this readathon) and I also participated in the Diversify That Shelf readathon (reading 2 of the 3 tome topple reads) hosted by The Perks of Being Noura, which I also successfully completed. I’m so happy that I managed to read what I set out and that I made the right decision by making a doable TBR! I’m very keen to do more readathons in the future knowing I can actually do them again haha.

After I interviewed a particular BookTuber, I was also inspired to join in on A Conjuring of Readalongs and read A Darker Shade of Magic for the first time. The liveshow was so fun, and I’m keen to read the next book on audio from Scribd next month.

Let’s get onto everything I read though ~

What I Read In August

I read SO SO many, it baffles me how, especially because I read so many big books! Although I know that I smashed through some smaller books in one or two days, AND I read an audiobook for the first time in ages.

Other than A Darker Shade of Magic, I also read 2 books from authors I have been hearing about for so long; Taylor Jenkins Reid and Brandon Sanderson. I’m pretty glad that I finally read one of their books and I’m really looking forward to reading more! My reading month was exceptional with so many 5 stars too, I’m so happy about this.

Total Books: 13 (inc. DNFs)

Total Pages: 5,200 (excl. DNFs)

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

★★★★★ (4.75/5) | RTC

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

★★★★★ (5/5) | STUNNING, go read it.

The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare

★★★☆☆ (3/5) – kinda disappointing.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

★★★★☆ (4/5) – Great but VERY emotional read.

Five Dark Fates by Kendare Blake

★★★★☆ (4/5) – A satisfying ending to the series.

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

★★★★★ (5/5) | REVIEW – A new FAVOURITE.

This Adventure Ends by Emma Mills

★★★★★ (5/5) – STUNNING, heartfelt with great writing Emma always gives me. I didn’t expect anything less.

Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare

★★☆☆☆ (2/5) | DNF at 280/650. Couldn’t make myself care despite seeing great characters I know and love.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E Schwab

★★★★★ (5/5) – AMAZING. I kicked myself for not reading this earlier. Read this as part of ‘A Conjuring of Readalongs’ hosted by Sabine’s Book Nook and yasminthereader.

Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

★★★★☆ (4/5) | RTC

They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman

★★★★☆ (4.5/5) | RTC

Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power

★★★☆☆ (3/5) – Disappointing NetGalley audiobook, not as ‘horror’ as I wanted I guess.

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

★★★★★ (5/5) – AMAZING re-read & buddy read before I read The Toll for the first time <3 Neal is a genius.

Blogging Highlights!

While I don’t think I blogged that much, here are some posts you may have missed that I sure had fun writing!

Book Vs Adaptation: Netflix’s Cursed

Turning Book Twitter Drama Into Book Recommendations

BookTube Babble: An Interview with Yasminthereader

Minimalism & Books: A Tense Love Triangle

What I Watched in August

Other than Cursed, I actually watched a few movies but I’ll be talking about them in a separate post coming soon 🙂

My September TBR

There are literally SO many books I want to read, that it was so freaking hard to boil down my TBR from the 20 something to a more reasonable and achievable 7 books below. Yes I have been reading a lot but I also want to give myself space and time to achieve the books on my TBR and not get stressed out. Reading shouldn’t stress me out but a lot of the time TBRs do. So the following 7 are the books I really want to get to in September and hope to finish so that I can read more!

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody

The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare (didn’t quite get to it in August)

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo (re-read so that I can finally read Crooked Kingdom)

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon (another re-read in anticipation for its existing sequels and the next book in the series coming out early next year!)

It’s also pretty inevitable that I’ll be reading The Toll by Neal Shusterman as I’m reading the trilogy with my SO. I’ll probably also start listening to a few audiobooks, namely The Gathering of Shadows by V.E Schwab on Scribd because I don’t own the sequels T_T I’m super slow with audiobooks so I prefer not to put those on my TBR to, again, avoid that mighty anxiety that sometimes occurs from my excitement and subsequent procrastination/lack of motivation strikes.

Overall, I am SUPER excited for September. I’m hoping to read more amazing 5-star books and to perhaps get some more freedom in real life so I can go out of the house a little bit more.

What was your best read from August and what are you hoping to read in September?

Until next time,