August Wrap-Up! 📕

Hi book friends! I hope you’re all doing well today.

How are we already at the end of August? I swear, I feel like this year is just flying by, and I’m not ready for the summer to end; but alas, that is just how life goes.

We’re already experiencing some pre-fall weather, as the days are starting to cool down and the sun is beginning to set earlier; and then before you can blink, we’ll be cheering in the new year and wondering what happened.

Anyways! You guys know the drill by now, but if this is the first post of mine you’re seeing, welcome! Every month, I do a wrap-up of all the books that I read; and for August, we certainly had some good (and not so-good) choices!

As per usual, let’s start with the physical book highlights, and then we’ll move onto the ones from Kindle Unlimited!

🌼 I read The Ballad of Never After, the second book in the Once Upon a Broken Heart series, which I can only describe as a spin-off to the Caraval series by Stephanie Garber. This lush filled fantasy romance is perfect for fans of the original trilogy, with twists and turns that you won’t see coming, but a couple you’ll be rooting for till the end!

🌼 I also read the last two books in The Friend Zone series; The Happy Ever After Playlist and Life’s Too Short, by Abby Jimenez. You guys, if you haven’t picked up her books yet, please do but her writing is just astounding! Her characters will make you swoon, but cry as well.

🌼 I finally read Bad Reputation by Krista and Becca Ritchie, which is part of the Addicted/Calloway Sisters series! I read this whole series last year after hearing so much hype about these characters, and this one follows two characters who appear throughout the books! I’m super glad I finally got to read this one, and I’m debating if I want to read the Like Us series. Any thoughts on that?

🌼 Out of all the physical books I read this month, I would say the one I was disappointed with the most was Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld. I don’t think this is a bad book by any means; however, I just wasn’t a huge fan of the main character, and I couldn’t get past the fact the book was set during the height of the pandemic. I would still consider checking this one out if you’re looking for a different kind of romance, but not a favorite of mine.

🌼 On the flip side however, I would say the one physical book I enjoyed the most was The Sunset Crowd by Karin Tanabe! I bought this one randomly on a trip to Barnes and Noble, and the story definitely caught me by surprise. I liked the 1970s Los Angeles backdrop, and I felt that the writing was superb. Highly recommend!

🌼 A book that took me completely by surprise was American Mermaid by Julie Langbein! The writing was clever, the story was complex, and the interweaving of the story and the book that the novel was based on, came together and made a fantastic read for me this month!

🌼 Frances Haugen and George Michael were two people I learned a lot about this month through Frances’s memoir and George’s autobiography written by James Gavin! Both of these books were written amazingly, and I very much enjoyed getting to know these two amazing people!

🌼 Finally, the Farewell Tour by Stephanie Clifford was a book that reminded me of Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, but made me feel everything. We follow a woman who rose to fame entirely on her own, only to be set back by the one thing that made her career. I’d recommend this if you’re looking for literary fiction!

Now that we’ve covered those, let’s move onto Kindle! This was the month of starting and continuing series!

🪷 One series I started was the Good Ol’ Boys by @Mj Hendrix beginning with Falling for Temptation! We got the reverse grumpy sunshine trope going on, and I was rooting for this couple the whole time. Her writing is incredible, and I’m excited to jump back into this series!

🪷 I also started the Rebel Blue Ranch series, beginning with Done and Dusted by Lyla Sage! Let me tell you guys something: if you like the Chestnut Springs series and boys with perfect Western charm, I’d recommend reading this book. I was loving this one all the way through!

🪷 I did something crazy, and quite possibly odd, this month and read a book that has the book community quite divided: Lightlark by Alex Aster. Now, there’s been a lot of controversy surrounding this author, as well as having people critique by how people didn’t enjoy this. However, I will say I liked this one. I can see where people took issue with this book, and I agree that there were things that could’ve been done differently. But, I was surprised by how quickly I flew through this book. If you’ve read this one, what are you thoughts on Lightlark?

🪷 Two books I didn’t like this month were Another Now by Yanis Varoufakis and A Familiar Stranger by A.R. Torre. Both of these books had good synopsis’ that lacked in execution of plot, which is something I usually say about books. However, I gave both of these books two stars, and I don’t plan on reading these authors again (sorry!)

🪷 I was missing out on having something by Devney Perry to read, so I decided to check out her Calamity Montana series, and ya’ll I’m very happy I did. The Bribe was quite the thrill ride for me, but also containing that good old romance that she does very well. I’d recommend this one for all my Western romance friends out there!

🪷 I seem to love torture, because I read Charm, the fifth book in Crave series by Tracy Wolff. Now I didn’t realize going into the first book that this series would be young adult, and by the time I got to this book, I clearly was too late. While I think this series is very Twilight coded, I’m not a huge fan of these books.! I do plan on reading the last one however, so we’ll see what happens next month!

🪷 Okay quick! Let’s do a round up of all my favorite series this month. Ready? Let’s go: Honeywood, The Players, Cloverleigh Farms, Cottonwood Cove, The Plated Prisoner, Gold Rush Ranch, and Wyncote Wolves (etc?)

🪷 Finally! Let’s finish out this wrap up with a bang, and talk about reading another somewhat controversial and potentially earth-shattering book that has the book community divided: Pucking Around by Emily Rath! Now, I didn’t know what I was walking into when I opened this book on my Kindle, but I certainly wasn’t expecting this. I don’t want to spoil too much of this book, in case anyone out there wants to check this out for themselves. But in that case, I didn’t love this but I’ll read the second one!

And that’s all we got folks! Stay tuned for next month!

What are some books you guys read this month? Any good or bad recommendations for me? As always on here, feel free to let me know your thoughts down below!

Thank you for stopping by and happy reading! 📚

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