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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