What I Read In August & September TBR
August sipped away like a bottle of wine…
I don’t normally write monthly reading wrap-ups, but I had to make an exception for August because duh, Taylor Swift.
August was a good reading month for me! Similar to July, I read a total of eight books which is VERY good for me. The biggest “trick” for me is to substitute watching TV (mainly after work) for reading. While I love my Gilmore Girls reruns, I tried to read more after work instead of watching reruns and scrolling through TikTok.
I read some great books this month and I’m excited to tell you about them!
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What I Read In August
Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
This one was a Bookstagram favorite and very recommended by everyone. A classic childhood friends to strangers to lovers story, this book features topics of grief, second chance romance, and time flashbacks to the past. I thought it was a cute summer romance set on a lake that I finished in a matter of days.
It’s Not Summer Without You By Jenny Han
I finished the second book in The Summer I Turned Pretty series on audiobook, narrated by Lola Tung (plays Belly in the series) and Gavin Casalenga (plays Jeremiah in the series). I thought it was good! A lot heavier than its light-hearted first book, but it was cute nonetheless. I think Team Jeremiah fans would like this one 👀 but that’s just me, and I am #TeamConrad. I can’t say anything else about the book because it would be a spoiler, but let’s just say … I’m excited for season two of the series that’s currently filming!
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
Guys … I did it. I read a classic book. A truly classic. And it was very good! I have not seen any of the movies set with this book, but I fully plan to this fall. I like Jane Austen’s writing; the old English was hard to follow and the loooooooong sentences were definitely hard to keep up with, but once I got into a flow, it’s like I couldn’t stop. Definitely recommend for a fall or winter read!
Daisy Darker By Alice Feeney
This one … was a doozy. I liked it, and I don’t normally read thrillers. I did read this quickly, but I think I was desperate to know whodunit throughout the entire thing. This one was … creepy? It was technically a murder mystery, but the reader was also trying to figure out what happened so many years ago in the family. I had a hunch on who Daisy Darker (our main character) really was, but I was like … um it isn’t that simple. I got this in my BOTM box and I don’t regret that decision.
The Off-Limits Rule by Sarah Adams
Switching to a light romance! This was a cute, light-hearted, closed-door romance that has one of the best romance tropes: the brother’s best friend. Lucy, a single mom who just moved to Nashville and in with her brother, meets her brother’s best friend, Cooper. Obviously adhering to bro code, Cooper tries to stay away from Lucy, but this is a classic romance and you know, you can guess what happens. This gave me butterflies through and through and I will recommend to anyone who loves romance! It is on Kindle Unlimited!
One Of Us Is Next by Karen McManus
Hear me out … I wasn’t a fan of this book. I liked the first one in this series, One Of Us Is Lying, enough and I liked the fact that she brought back most of the characters from the first book in book two without making book two about the original characters. The story follows Maeve (Bronwyn’s sister from the first book), Knox, and Phoebe. The main premise is that there’s this new gossip app/game, truth or dare, and if you pick truth, you get a secret revealed about you. (Spoiler: you should always choose the dare.) Some people didn’t respond to the text game. Overall, there was A LOT of buildup to the mystery being unfolded and solved (like 70 percent in) but it still kept me hooked.
A Hundred Other Girls by Iman Hariki-Kia
I LOVED this one. I read this after the last book on this list, and it was a nice refresher, and honestly, one of the best books I’ve read this year. It got me out of a reading slump I was in. And the book is all about media and publishing, specifically on a magazine, and the divide between print and digital. Think The Devil Wears Prada meets The Bold Type with a dash of Younger mixed in there. Truly a great read!
The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer
To wrap up August, I read The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer. This was a cute Hanukkah romance starring a Jewish 20-something girl who lives on the Upper West Side … who is obsessed with Christmas and who makes her living writing Christmas romance novels. But then she’s tasked to write a Hanukkah romance, something she struggles with. When her camp nemesis, Jacob Greenberg, arrives in town to plan his party The Matzah Ball, she tries to get a ticket. It’s a cute romance that I read the first 200 pages in about a night. Definitely recommend to read around the holidays!
September TBR
I have quite a few books on my September TBR. I went to the library last weekend and picked up a few books, and then I have a few books coming in the mail. I’m excited to read each of them! I plan to power through this TBR.
The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (the third book in The Inheritance Games series)
When the Grass is Green and the Girls Are Pretty by Lauren Weisberger