Wednesday, 30 September 2026

What I Read in August 2026

I'm still hopelessly behind with these What I Read posts, so I'm here to talk about what I read in August. September (and a bookstack photo for this post) will follow soon.

As always, I'm going to show you what I read, and then I'll talk about some of my favourites and least favourites reads of the month.

August Reading Stats:

📖 15 books completed, 1 started.
📖 6 hardbacks.
📖 2 ebooks.
🎧 7 audiobooks
📖 2620 pages (5201 pages including audiobooks).
🎧 72.32 hours listened at 1.1x to 1.3x speed.
📖 9 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads!
📖 2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️+ reads!
📖 Average rating: 4.45 stars.
📖 Average book length: 346 pages.
📖 Average time to finish: 5 days.

August was a great reading month, and one of my favourites of the year so far. I read fifteen books and started another- although, a couple were really short novellas, so it's not as impressive as it sounds. Nine of them were 5 star reads, but I did reread a bunch of favourites in new formats, so I'm not sure that counts when I already knew I loved them. Either way, I enjoyed what I read, and that's all that matters at the end of the day.

I Read:

📖The Night Prince by Lauren Palphreyman. 3.5⭐
📖Rose in Chains by Julie Soto. 5⭐
📖Violet Thistlewaite is Not a Villain Anymore. 5⭐
📖The Rose Bargain by Sasha Peyton Smith. 4.5⭐
📖The Thorn Queen by Sasha Peyton Smith. 3.75⭐
📖The Lion and the Deathless Dark by Carissa Broadbent. 4⭐
📱The Wednesday Witches Book Club by Sarah Beth Durst. 3⭐
📱Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk by Travis Baldree. 3⭐
🎧Belladonna by Adalyn Grace. 5⭐ (Reread)
🎧Foxglove by Adalyn Grace. 5⭐ (Reread)
🎧Wisteria by Adalyn Grace. 5⭐ (Reread)
🎧Holly by Adalyn Grace. 5⭐ (Reread)
🎧The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst. 5⭐ (Reread)
🎧The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst. 5⭐ (Reread).
🎧How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black. 5⭐ (Reread).

And I started:

🎧Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. (Reread).

If you're wondering why so many of the books have flower names, it's because I took part in a reading challenge with a nature theme. It was a good excuse to read some books that had been on my shelf for a while, and to listen to some favourites as audiobooks for the first time.


Favourite Reads: My favourites last month were probably Rose in Chains and Violet Thistlewaite is Not a Villain Anymore, although, I was addicted to The Rose Bargain, and The Lion and the Deathless Dark, too.

Rose in Chains was a harrowing dark fantasy about a fallen kingdom and the trafficking and sexual abuse of young women for their magic by power-hungry, misogynistic men. It follows a princess who is purchased by the boy she hates more than anyone in the world- but also has a secret crush on- and how she fights to survive in a dangerous new world where being a princess holds no status, and people with mind-control magic have no rights. I found it upsetting to read at times, and most of the male characters enraged me, but this book also kept me in a chokehold, and I'm still thinking about it weeks later. I was particularly entertained by Briony and Toven's turbulent relationship- especially the flashbacks to their school day rivalries- and can't wait to see how their relationship develops in book two. I swear, if they don't act on their feelings and reclaim the kingdom together, I'll be throwing the book out of the window. Also, please check trigger warnings before reading, because it covers upsetting topics like rape, kidnapping, slavery, and violence against women. You can read my in-depth review of Rose in Chains on Goodreads here. 

Violet Thistlewaite is Not a Villain Anymore always sounded like a bad contemporary teen romance, which initially put me off reading it, but as soon as I realised it was a cosy fantasy with magic and a sentient homicidal plant, I couldn't get my hands on a copy fast enough. It follows a similar style to The Spellshop books by Sarah Beth Durst, with plenty of wonder and whimsy, magical beings, fantastical world-building, loveable and complex characters, cute sidekicks, a slow-burn, grumpy/ sunshine enemies-to-lovers romance, and an ambulatory plant that likes to hold people at knife-point. It just comes with more spice, villainy, fast friendships, alchemy, and an ex-villain who is trying her hardest to start over and be a better person to make up for all the awful things her recently-deceased master made her do. She opens a charming flower shop in a new town, uses her powers to grow flowers instead of hurt people, and rents a room from a moody alchemist who isn't happy about her presence at all... at least until he is... But then an unwelcome face from Violet's past shows up in town, and the new life she built for herself is put in jeopardy as the truth of her past threatens to be exposed... It was the perfect mix of cute and cosy, with no shortage of lovely and humorous scenes which left me feeling so happy and content, but it was far from just meaningless fluff. It focuses on many difficult topics, like trauma, kidnapping, grooming of a child (for villainy), grief and loss, accidental death, loneliness, debt, anxiety, and panic attacks, which helped make the main characters more relatable and realistic, and gave the story so much heart. It was such an entertaining read, and I know it's one I'll be returning to time and time again in the future. You can find my full review of the book on Goodreads here.

Favourite Listens: I'm not even sure I can pick a favourite audiobook this month; every one I listened to is an all-time favourite book, and they were all a lot of fun. I loved listening to the Belladonna series for the first time- which is an amazing gothic fantasy series where Death and Fate are love interests, everyone gets poisoned, and one of the female main characters can communicate with ghosts. But I also really enjoyed having a reread of The Enchanted Greenhouse and The Spellshop ahead of Sea of Charms' release, which were so much fun to listen to and reacquaint myself with. I love both books so much! And even though I've read it three of four times, I couldn't resist returning to How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories from the Folk of the Air series to complete my reading challenge criteria. It's the fourth book in another of my favourite series, and it's always so interesting reading from Cardan's point of view, and learning why he did the things he did, or why he was the way he was. Holly Black's writing is so magical and immersive.

Least Favourites: Everything I read in August was enjoyable, but if I had to choose one, I'd say Miss Gentle and the Case of the Very Flat Monk- but only because it was such a weird one. I liked it well enough, just not in an I'm-going-to-make-this-my-whole-personality kind of way. It's a short novella from the author of Legends and Lattes about a monastery employing the help of a very unusual detective in knight's clothing to help investigate the death of a monk who has fallen from a bell tower. Everyone's a suspect, but nobody quite suspects who it turns out to be. Except that I had my suspicions from early on, and I'd be surprised if most people don't figure it out, too. It wasn't bad, it just gets least favourite because I read so many great books in August, and something has to be last. It's only about fifty pages long, so I'd recommend it if you want a quick read to help boost your reading goal.


And that's what I read in August.

I'll be back with what I read in September really soon.

Have you read any good books lately?

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Monday, 31 August 2026

What I Read in July 2026


July is likely to be one of my best reading months of the year. I finished fourteen books, and started two others, and discovered some real gems along the way- including four five-star reads.

A number of the audiobooks I listened to were only around four hours long, so the quantity read sounds more impressive than it really was, but I'm going to take the achievement and run, anyway! Haha! It's still a lot of books, even if they weren't all chunky.

I'm going to run through what I read in July, and then talk about some of my favourites- and least favourites- of the month with you.

July Reading Stats:

📖 14 books completed, 2 started.
📖 4 hardbacks.
🎧 10 audiobooks
📖 1409 pages (3281 pages including audiobooks).
🎧 62.33 hours listened at 1.1x to 1.3x speed.
📖 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads!
📖 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads!
📖 Average rating: 3.82 stars.
📖 Average book length: 252 pages.
📖 Average time to finish: 4 days.

I read a good mix of authors and genres of fantasy; finally got to When the Coffee Gets Cold, and the rest of the Wayward Children series after years of meaning to; and listened to a ton of audiobooks.

I Read:

📖The Ballad of Falling Dragons by Sarah A. Parker. 4⭐
📖Under the Whispering Door by T. J. Klune. 5⭐
📖The Bones Beneath My Skin by T. J. Klune. 5⭐
📖Six of Crows: A Darker Shore Letters From Ketterdam. 4⭐
🎧Rite of the Starling Graphic Audio Part One by Devney Penney. 5⭐
🎧Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire. 3.5⭐
🎧Mislaid in Parts Half Known by Seanan McGuire. 3.5⭐
🎧Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire. 4⭐
🎧Through Gates of Garnet and Gold by Seanan McGuire. 3⭐
🎧Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. 3.5⭐ (Reread).
🎧Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Yamamoto. 3.5⭐
🎧A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher. 2.5⭐
🎧Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco. 3⭐ (Reread, 5 stars in print).
🎧A Crown of Ruin Graphic Audio Part Two by Jennifer L. Armentrout. 5⭐ (Reread).

And I started
📖The Wolf King by Lauren Palphreyman.
🎧Belladonna by Adalyn Grace. (Reread).

Favourite Reads: My favourites for July were Under the Whispering Door, The Bones Beneath My Skin, and The Ballad of Falling Dragons

I'm so glad that I bought Under the Whispering Door with my birthday money (along with The Bones Beneath My Skin), in an effort to try more of TJ Klune's work, because it's one of my favourite reads of the year so far. It's about a recently-deceased, tyrant workaholic learning the error of his ways in a way station between life and death, and discovering for the first time what it means to live. I can't help but compare it to The Midnight Train- if The Midnight Train was set in a tea shop instead of on a train, had diverse characters with a playful sense of humour, and the lessons were learned moving forward instead of looking back. A story about Death might sound depressing, but it was actually a wonderfully uplifting and heartfelt read, with cosy fantasy and found family vibes, epic world-building, the loveliest gay romance, and a good dose of comedy. I laughed my way through it- except when I was sobbing over the bittersweet and hearfelt moments- which may have happened a time or a dozen... I found it to be a very thought-provoking read, and it got me thinking about my own mortality, as well as the mysteries of the afterlife, and the impact different kinds of loss have on us. It also made me consider what's really important in life, and left me wanting to make better life choices, so I don't end up like Wallace. I should note that the story focuses on different kinds of death, including heart attack, murder, and suicide, plus a parent's grief caused by a child's death from cancer, and while it's all handled sensitively and often in a light-hearted way, if you find any of those topics triggering, this probably isn't the book for you. But if it isn't triggering and won't upset you, I'd highly recommend this book because it's amazing.  You can find my full review of the book on Goodreads, here, if you want to know more.

The Bones Beneath My Skin was another fantastic book from TJ Klune, and I think I enjoyed this one even more than Under the Whispering Door. Seriously, I was obsessed with this book, and wish I could erase my memory so I could read it for the first time all over again. It's about two guys  on the run from the government with an alien in the body of a ten-year-old girl who calls herself Artemis Darth Vader. An alien who is obsessed with bacon and western novels and the healing powers of chicken soup. There's a hostage situation, a bit of Stockholm Syndrome, a road trip across America as they flee for safety, and a tense stay in a creepy cult to hide from the bad guys while they try to get Artemis back where she belongs. There's also a lovely LGBTQIA+ enemies-to-lovers romance, and unbreakable bonds between the three main characters that will give you all the feels, and might just tear the heart right out of your chest. It's awesome, and everyone should read this book. Just trust me on this.

The Ballad of Falling Dragons was a sequel I was excited to dive in to after loving the first book, When the Moon Hatched, but after an interesting start, I was actually disappointed by how slow-paced it was. For much of the book, I couldn't discern what the true purpose of the plot was, or where the author was taking it, and it wasn't until I was about three-quarters into it that it really started to come together, make sense, and get good. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the story all the way through- especially the humour, banter, the relationship between Raeve and Kaan, the bonds with the dragons, and Pyrok developing feelings for someone unexpected... it just felt like a lot of effort for little return at times. The story flourished into an exciting, action-packed, and trauma-inducing clim@x, rolling out wave after wave of shock reveals, despicable villainy, harrowing fights for survival, and enough emotional pain to leave a girl rocking in a corner. The imprisonment, torture, childbirth flashback, and dragon deaths were brutal, and turned me into a sobbing wreck! I ploughed through the last two hundred pages in a whirlwind of emotions, and enjoyed it more that the rest of the book combined. Ironically, after days of struggling onwards, by the end, I was so invested in the storyline and characters' wellbeings, that I was sad it was over, and left longing for more! I need to know what happens to them all next! It ended with so many unanswered questions, and I can't wait for the third and final installment. Even if I'm waiting another couple of years to get it. I wrote a much longer review on Goodreads here.

Favourite Listens: I listened to a lot of audiobooks in July, but I think my favourite was probably A Crown of Ruin by Jennifer L. Armentrout.

Crown of Ruin was a reread of a novella from The Blood and Ash series that I read in print last winter, but it was a lot of fun to hear the story brought to life as an audiobook. It follows straight on from the The Primal of Blood and Bone, and helps to end a bit of the agony that its massive cliffhanger ending left us in before the final book's release. I'm so very grateful for this novella, because that book left me shooketh, and I would have been left reeling in despair until the next one comes out and everything ends happily for the three main characters- because I refuse to believe in any other ending for the series. I loved getting a taste of Casteel in his 'chaos era'- villanous Cas is delightful- and seeing him and Kieran mending the rift between them. Plus Millie and Malik's back and forth was hilarious, and I felt less anxious about the main characters' futures by the end. Jadis' return broke my heart, though, and Kolis, as usual, just gave me the ick. The only thing, besides Kolis, that I found off-putting was that the narrator made Cas sound like he belonged in a 1970s crime drama, and Kieran like he should be lurking in the shadows of a smog-filled London alleyway with a dagger in his boot. Which was just weird, since they're both meant to be nobility that grew up together from birth... I much prefer the narration on the Graphic Audio versions of the series over these unabridged versions, but Graphic Audio hasn't reached this book yet, and the unabridged is still well worth a listen. The first book in the series is From Blood and Ash, but just a warning, it's a very spicy romantasy series, and not suitable for under eighteens.

Least Favourites: And the worst thing I read last month was definitely A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher. I enjoyed this middle-grade fantasy story well-enough, but I found the exaggerated English accents- especially the haughty voice of the FMC, which made her sound more like a 50-year-old woman off to a luncheon at the country club than a teenaged baker girl- incredibly annoying, and it was a real effort to keep listening. In fact, it got so bad, I had to pause it and listen to something else for a few days to destress, before going back and trying again. I wish I'd just bought a physical copy instead. Maybe I will one day. I'd like to give her children's books another go, because I always love T. Kingfisher's YA and adult books, because of her imaginative and humourous writing, and I'm curious about how she writes for younger audiences.

Anyway, that's what I read in July.

I'll be back to talk about what I read in August really soon.

Have you read any good books lately?

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Friday, 31 July 2026

What I Read in June 2026

June was another great reading month for me. I finished fourteen books, and listened to a few hours of a fifteenth-that I ended up DNFing because I hated the narration. I loved almost everything else that I read, though, and nine of them scored four stars or above, so that helps me feel better about not finishing one I loathed.

Let's have a closer look at how I got on in June, and then I'll recommend a few books I loved- and one or two I hated that you might want to avoid.

June Reading Stats:

📖 14 books completed.
📖 1 DNF.
📖 3 hardbacks.
📖 1 paperback.
🎧 11 audiobooks
📖 1734 pages (3804 pages including audiobooks).
🎧 59.18 hours listened at 1.1x or 1.2x speed.
📖 6 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads!
📖 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads!
📖 Average rating: 4.05 stars.
📖 Average book length: 281 pages.
📖 Average time to finish: 4 days.

I Read:

📖Divergent by Veronica Roth. 5⭐ (Reread).
📖The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune. 5⭐
📖Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T. J. Klune. 5⭐
📖A Dance of Lies by Brittney Arena. 2⭐
🎧The Swimmer of Auschwitz by Renaud LeBlond. 3 ⭐
🎧Shield of Sparrows Graphic Audio Part One by Devney Penney. 5⭐
🎧Shield of Sparrows Graphic Audio Part Two by Devney Penney. 5⭐
🎧Avalon Tower Graphic Audio by C.N. Crawford and Alex Rivers. DNF⭐
🎧Down Amongst the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire. 3.75⭐
🎧Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire. 4⭐
🎧In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire. 4⭐
🎧Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire. 3⭐
🎧Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire. 4⭐
🎧Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire. 3⭐
🎧A Soul of Ash and Blood Graphic Audio Part Two by Jennifer L. Armentrout. 5⭐ (Reread).

Favourite Reads: The answer is easy this month: The Cerulean Chronicles duology- The House in the Cerulean Sea and Somewhere Beyond the Sea. I finally got around to reading the books that my sister gave me for Christmas a year and a half ago, and my only regret is that I didn't start them sooner. I. Adored. Them! I loved every last thing about them, from the diverse characters and the slow-burn middle-aged gay romance, to the daft, slightly-dark humour and magical world-building. In fact, I'd say these are two of my favourite reads ever! They have the most wonderful (and wonderfully weird) characters, and they're just so funny and cosy.

The Cerulean Chronicles is about a man called Linus who is sent to a secluded island to investigate an orphanage where six dangerous magical children reside with their master. One of them is the Anti-Christ in the body of a six-year-old boy, there's a sort of sea-slug/ octopus hybrid who longs to be a bellhop (he's my favourite!), and a female gnome who likes to threaten to lamp people with her spade and then dig their graves. But are they really as dangerous as Linus has been led to believe by Extremely Upper Management? Or are they just like any other children? Linus vows to find out by remaining impartial and following the rules he loves so much, but as he gets to know the gaggle of remarkable kids, and the man who cares for them, he begins to see everything in a whole new light. He not only needs to decide if the children should remain at the orphanage, but where his place in the world is, too. Is it behind a desk where everything is black and white and well-ordered, or is it somewhere filled with colour and chaos? Who knows, but I promise you'll have the most enjoyable time finding out! This book was so much fun, and I was addicted to it within a few pages. It's one of the best things I've ever read!

Somewhere Beyond the Sea was just as fun, heartwarming, and hilarious as The House in the Cerulean Sea, just with more threats, and a couple of villains- one who could rival Umbridge for most loathsome character ever written. God, I hated her so much! The orphans are also joined by a new child- a theatrical yeti, who loves to act and scare people for fun. He joins the troop at the worst time, though, as the orphanage's future once again comes under threat from the government following the fallout of Linus' report. When a prejudiced new caseworker is sent to investigate them, Arthur and Linus learn just what they will do to keep the children safe- but the kids have their own tricks up their sleeves, and aren't about to let anybody split their family up, either. It was such a great sequel that made me laugh out loud, and bawl like a baby, while teaching the true meaning of family, and how important it is to keep challenging other people's prejudice. I can't wait until the author writes another book in the series. I'm having withdrawals!

Favourite Listens: The best audiobooks I listened to last month were A Soul of Ash and Blood (Graphic Audio Part Two) by Jennifer L. Armentrout, and Shield of Sparrows (Graphic Audio Parts One and Two) by Devney Penney.

I'd been waiting for the final instalment of A Soul of Ash and Blood for ages, and even though I've read the story before, it was so good to hear the story as a Graphic Audio- especially the part when somebody shifted for the first time, and wanted to eat Emil. It was hilarious! And there were plenty of emotional moments that made me cry again, too.

Shield of Sparrows was a new one for me, and another enjoyable romantasy Graphic Audio with brilliant enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity storylines. I can't remember everything that happened, so I definitely need to read the book in print at some point, but I loved the relationship between the two main characters, and couldn't get enough of them.

Least Favourites: My least favourite was definitely the Graphic Audio version of a fantasy book called Avalon Tower by C. N. Crawford and Alex Rivers. I enjoyed the first hour or two, but then came characters with the most irritating exaggerated posh English accents, and I just couldn't take it seriously after that. It only grew worse with they kept repeating British swear words for the fun of it, and were pronouncing the word twat in haughty voices so it sounded like twhat. I sense the narrator hasn't met a real English person in their life. I had to DNF it after that- and I rarely DNF books! It's been a few years since I last gave up on a book! That's how bad it was. I'm not against trying it in print in the future, but I wouldn't listen to it again if you paid me.

Well, that's what I read in June...

Have you read any good books lately?

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Tuesday, 30 June 2026

What I Read in May 2026

May was another great reading month for me. I finished nine books and started another, discovered some great new reads, revisited When the Moon Hatched, and completed my Throne of Glass reread.

It wasn't one of my best months in terms of books completed because several of the books were big beasts over 700 pages or 30 hours long, but I actually read more than I usually get through, so I'm happy with my progress.

Let's have a look at how I got on in May, and then I'll talk about some of my favourite (and least favourite) reads lately.

May Reading Stats:

📖 9 books completed, 1 started.
📖 5 hardbacks.
🎧 4 audiobooks
📖 1987 pages (4903 pages including audiobooks).
🎧 101.33 hours listened at 1.1x or 1.2x speed.
📖 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads!
📖 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads!
📖 Average rating: 4.53 stars.
📖 Average book length: 544 pages.
📖 Average time to finish: 8 days.

Less books than some months, but it was my best for hours listened, and second best for pages read so far this year. I also rated all but one four stars and above, so it was a great month for vibes, too.

I Read:

📖Dire Bound by Sable Sorensen. 4⭐
📖Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher. 4⭐
📖Thistlemarsh by Moorea Corrigan. 5⭐
📖Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett. 5⭐
📖The Midnight Train by Matt Haig. 3.75⭐
🎧Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas. 5⭐ (Reread).
🎧Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas. 5⭐ (Reread).
🎧Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas. 5⭐ (Reread).
🎧When the Moon Hatched by Sarah A. Parker. 4⭐ (5 star in print. Reread).

And I Started:
📖Divergent by Suzanne Collins. (Reread).

Favourite Reads: I thought Dire Bound was going to be my favourite new read in May, but then I read Thistlemarsh and Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter, and it quickly got demoted. They were both so cute, cosy, whimsical, and fantastical.

Thistlemarsh is easily one of my favourite reads of the year so far. I found myself addicted to this enchanting Faerie fantasy tale, and the blend of magic, adventure, and history that added so much wonder and whimsy to every page. Think Emily Wilde crossed with a little bit of the magic, betrayal, and Faerie trickery of The Folk of the Air. It's about a young woman who is forced to make a deal with a Faerie to help fix up her family's crumbling estate to meet the terms of her inheritance and be able to continue caring for her sick brother, or the house will pass to the man who she despises more than anything. And she can't have that. Of course, nothing quite goes to plan, and there's plenty of surprising twists and turns, exciting adventures, betrayals, and threat to life along the way- as well as some slow-burn romance, found family vibes, and forced proximity. I particularly enjoyed the relationship between Mouse and Thornwood as they progressed from reluctant allies to something more complicated, and learned to work together to repair Thistlemarsh, navigating unexpected hurdles and unseen foes along the way. Their enemy era was endlessly entertaining. Also, it has the cutest dragon/ dog sidekick, and a detestable villain who was so fun to hate. I really couldn't recommend this book to you more! I loved it so much, I'm dying for a sequel.

I decided to try Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter after enjoying the author's Emily Wilde trilogy, and loved it more than those three books combined. It was a charming cosy fantasy about a struggling cat-shelter owner who accidentally ends up co-habiting with Montreal's most-wanted dark wizard with a feline allergy after her original rescue centre is destroyed during a magical attack on the city. Agnes just wants to take care of her cats, but as the police grow suspicious that illegal magic is at play in her shelters, she gets swept into a world of magic and crime, and caught in the middle of a feud between two of the world's most powerful sorcerers. But the more time she spends with Havelock, the more Agnes realises that perhaps he isn't the monster that the world makes him out to be. And maybe he's not as irritating as she first thought, either... I wasn't sure if this book was going to be for me, half-expecting it to be another dull copy-and-paste contemporary romance, but it was so charming, comical, and imaginative that I loved it almost immediately, and couldn't put it down. It was such a fun read, and I laughed my way through it- especially at the snarky back-and-forth between Agnes and Havelock while in close quarters. I also got lost in the whimsicalness of the magic, loved all the cute cats, wanted to eat all the pastries from the magical oven, and found the French Canadian setting interesting. I don't think I've ever read anything that touched on that side of Canada's culture before. If you love cosy fantasy, cats, magic, and slow-burn romance, you need to read this book at once!

Favourite Listens: My favourite audio reads were, naturally, the last three books in the Throne of Glass series- Empire of Storms, Tower of Dawn, and Kingdom of Ash. It's my favourite series, and even though it was my third read of the books in as many years, I had the best month listening to the final three audiobooks. Even if the reread emotionally annihilated me fifty times over all over again. You can find my original reviews of the books here.

Least Favourites: I didn't hate anything that I read in May, but something has to be last, so I'm going to say The Midnight Train by Matt Haig. I enjoyed the story and the interesting perspective it gave on the choices we make in life- how one bad decision can lead to a chain of bad choices that negatively shape our entire lives, until we die miserable and alone, like Wilbur did. How we shouldn't let our dreams cloud what's really important in life, and to appreciate what we already have in front of us. However, as thought-provoking as it was, the reason that I didn't rate it higher was that it also had its flaws. The writing style was very simplistic, the characters felt a little too stereotypical, and I found some of the dialogue irritatingly cheesy at times. It wasn't perfect, but it was a good read overall, and one that got me thinking more about my own life choices. If you liked The Midnight Library, or love a good cautionary tale, you should definitely give it a try.

Well, that's what I read in May...

Have you read any good books lately?

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Sunday, 31 May 2026

What I Read in April 2026

April ended with ten books read and another two in progress, which was surprising as I had a terrible month of migraines and pain flares, and lost count of how many times I fell asleep reading after just a page or two. It took me ten days to read a three hundred and fifty page book, which was super frustrating, and I only finished four print books all month, but luckily audiobooks were tolerable, and that helped me make up the numbers. I read some fantastic books, though; enjoyed lots of cosy fantasies; started a Throne of Glass reread; and rated nine out of ten four stars or above! Not such a bad month, after all!

Here's how I got on:


April Reading Stats:

📖10 books completed, 2 started.
📖 4 hardbacks.
🎧 6 audiobooks
📖 1392 pages (4341 pages including audiobooks).
🎧 90.32 hours listened at 1.1x or 1.2x speed.
📖 7 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads!
📖 2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ reads!
📖 Average rating: 4.68 stars.
📖 Average book length: 429 pages.
📖 Average time to finish: 6 days.

I did so much better than I thought I did, and there wasn't a bad book in the bunch.

I Read:

📖Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. 3.75⭐
📖Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales. 4⭐
📖The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst. 4⭐
📖A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping. 5⭐
🎧House of Flame and Shadow (Graphic Audio Part Two) by Sarah J. Maas. 5⭐ (Reread).
🎧Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. 5⭐ (Reread).
🎧Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas. 5⭐ (Reread).
🎧The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas. 5⭐ (Reread).
🎧Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas. 5 ⭐ (Reread).
🎧Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas. 5 ⭐ (Reread).

And I Started:
🎧Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas. (Reread).
📖Dire Bound by Sable Sorensen.

Favourite Reads:

My favourite new read of the month had to be A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping. It was a charming cosy fantasy bursting with wonder and whimsy, loveable characters, marvellous magic, slow-burn romance, and delightfully daft humour. The story captured my heart from the start with quirky little details, like the resurrection of a dead aunt and her pet rooster; a witch cursed to live as a fox; and, for some reason, there being a sweet but melodramatic knight living in Sera's delightfully magical inn. My interest only grew as the world-building and characters' stories developed, opening up a world with a witch trying to reclaim her lost magic from a prejudiced witches guild in order to defeat her powerful ex-mentor, all while living in a ramshackle inn in Lancashire with a diverse bunch of previously-unloved and slightly-deranged misfits. I fell in love with the magic, the found family vibes, the romance between the main characters, and how wonderfully diverse the characters were. In a genre over-saturated with straight, white teenagers, it was so refreshing to read a book with a non-stereotypical thirty-something British-Indian main character; to have side characters from various walks of life (POC, British Indian, Icelandic, Scottish, and more); and see disabled, autistic, introverted, gay and lesbian, and young and old characters celebrated for exactly who they were. While it does touch on some difficult subjects at times, like depression and suicidal thoughts, overall, it was such a lovely, relaxing read, and if you're looking for a book that will make you smile and laugh throughout, I couldn't recommend it to you more.

I also really enjoyed The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst. The author's adult fantasy novels, The Spellshop and The Enchanted Greenhouse are two of my all-time favourites, so I was curious about how her YA writing compared, and preordered this one as soon as I heard about it. It's about a teenaged girl called Calisa who goes to stay at her great aunt's flailing inn in Vermont for the summer to help her get it back on its feet, and escape a bad break-up. Only, when she gets there, she learns that her aunt doesn't want her there at all, and is only permitted to stay for three days. Calisa sets out to prove herself by setting the inn to rights and helping meet the strange requests of the unusual guests, and soon discovers that the inn is a retreat for people from across the realms. When her aunt then disappears, she has to travel across worlds to find her with the cute groundskeeper's son, while keeping the inn afloat, and the guests happy before it all falls apart. It was so cute, cosy, and chaotic! I got lost in the magic and whimsicalness of the story, and particularly loved exploring the different worlds; Steve, the adorable miniature dragon; and the over-dramatic- and somewhat sarcastic- sentient mirror. It reminded me of the kind of fantasy adventure stories that I loved when I was a kid, like The Magic Faraway Tree books. I don't think it was as good as her Spellshop books, though- but only because I had little interest in the modern world outside of the inn, or Calisa's teenaged angst. If the main characters had been adults and it was entirely set in a fantasy world, I would've likely given it five stars because I otherwise loved it.

Favourite Listens: I had a wonderful month continuing my Maasverse reread, finishing Crescent City and moving on to Throne of Glass, and loved all the audiobooks I listened to- especially Queen of Shadows, Heir of Fire, and House of Flame and Shadow (part two). This was my third read- second in audiobook form- and the books just keep on getting better and better the more I read them. If you want fantasy with epic world-building, a three-universe cross-over, and fantastic characters, the three Sarah J. Maas series are well worth reading. You can find my original Throne of Glass reviews here and here.

Least Favourites: If I had to choose one, I would pick Shatter Me, but only because something has to be last. I loved everything I read in April, and was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I'd put off reading it for years, expecting it to just be over-hyped Tik-Tok drivel, but for a YA dystopian, the writing was actually beautiful, and even poetic at times. I was hooked from the start, but I did begin to lose interest in the middle once the parameters changed, and what I thought was going to be a five star read, ended up a 3.75. The cliff-hanger ending was intriguing, though, so I'm hopeful the series will pick up again for me in book two.

Well, that's what I read in April...

Have you read any good books lately?

I'll be back with my May reads really soon!

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