Hello!

I’ve been terrible at keeping up with my bookish content plans in the last few weeks – my TikTok hasn’t seen regular videos in a while and for the first time in what actually be years, I’ve missed blog posts and not even tried to catch up. I’m running on very little energy at the moment but I’m trying to find my momentum again!

I didn’t even post my August TBR, but to be honest it doesn’t matter too much because I think I read technically 1.5 books from it? It was long and totally unreasonable and then peak Summer Socialising happened and between having plans every weekend and no time to mentally, physically or emotionally rest and recover, I wasn’t able to read more than a few pages per night on numerous occasions. So hopefully I’ll be able to wrap up what I read in August and tell you my September TBR plans in one post that isn’t as long as a dissertation 😂

~ August Wrap Up ~

Sixteen Souls – Rosie Talbot ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was one of my 24 in 2024 books that I started in July but only managed to finish in August and it was fantastic. A YA paranormal mystery/thriller with fantastic representation in disability and LGBTQ+ characters, this book is as heartwarming as it is creepy and a little bit gory (I think it’s also categorised as a horror book?). I loved this story so much I was reading it in every spare moment I had. Set in the beautiful city of York, I read it not long after visiting my sibling there and I highly recommend this read if you’re going there – it’s so atmospheric and the narrative style is easy to read, witty and weaves an incredibly clever plot!

Girl, Goddess, Queen – Bea Fitzgerald ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I felt spoilt by having two 5 star reads back to back – this one is another Greek Hades and Persephone retelling and I was a bit dubious as I’ve already finished the Scarlett St Clair HxP series ‘A Touch of Darkness’ earlier this year and I wasn’t sure if they’d be different enough for me to not get confused. My hesitation was unjustified – this book is a YA retelling but it perfectly balanced the sexuality of the Greek mythology stories with the appropriate boundaries for a book for young adults.

I loved the writing style of this book so much I immediately went out to buy Bea Fitzgerald’s new release Greek book called ‘The End Crowns All’.

Five Go Off To Camp – Enid Blyton ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The seventh book in the Famous Five series and the five did in fact go off to camp. I don’t think I have anything else to say about this story – I’m mildly impressed with how many ridiculous scenarios Enid Blyton came up with and I’m excited that I only have three of these books left.

Glint – Raven Kennedy ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read Gild, the first book in the Plated Prisoner series in July and it was a 3 star read for me but I’m hooked enough to be intrigued about the rest of the series, not enough to buy it though – I got Glint from my library as an audiobook, I didn’t quite finish it in time so I had to wait until I got it back again and then finish it off and it was much the same as book one. Another 3 star read, nothing much really happened, I don’t really understand how this lines up to the Greek stories I’m vaguely familiar with. I’m still intrigued and I have book 3 on hold from the library, but my library doesn’t have books 4 or 5 so this may be the decider.

~ September TBR ~

Nearly three weeks into the month is definitely too late to be doing a TBR post, but I have just filmed and posted a mid-month TBR check in on my TikTok so I figure this part of the post can be a bit of a combination of both of these! Here are all the books on my September TBR and whether I’ve read them or not!

Mistress of Lies – K. M. Enright | Started – 33% Audiobook

My last book from Illumicrate is the August book, which was the theme ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ and honestly, all of the Taylor Swift references are part of the reason I wanted to cancel. It’s a romantasy debut with some sort of blood working vampires? The summary was incredibly confusing and I’m trying not to go in with bad vibes but I don’t hold much hope for Illumicrate books anymore. I have actually started listening to this one as an audiobook and so far, I don’t know why Illumicrate chose it. Either way, at least I’m actually reading something from my TBR!

The Pairing – Casey McQuiston | Not started

The August Afterlight book is the newest release from the author of ‘Red, White and Royal Blue’ and considering that is one of my favourite books of all time, you’d think I’d be absolutely stoked for this book but I really didn’t enjoy this author’s other book ‘One Last Stop’ so I’m somewhat dubious about this book. The premise doesn’t particularly appeal to me and I hadn’t preordered it before I found out it was going to be the Afterlight book and I’m almost nervous about it. Really hoping for something like RWRB.

The Forest of Doom – Ian Livingstone | Played! Not really a ‘reading’ book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My husband’s monthly book club pick! This is another one from the wedding library and it’s one I’m actually not going to be counting towards my reading goal because it’s not a traditional book. It’s a Dungeons and Dragons esque choose your own adventure story and we’re making a date night out of it. I’m not counting it because even though there are 212 pages, as even when we go through the whole story I won’t have read all of those pages so I’m not counting it. I’m still not sure how I feel about this because it technically means my tbr isn’t quite as long this month, but also I’m a bit gutted cos it won’t count? I’m overanalysing now, for sure.

Five Get Into Trouble – Enid Blyton | Not started yet

Book 8. So close. I bet they get into trouble.

Daydream – Hannah Grace | Finished! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨✨✨

The latest addition to the Maple Hills series and I have been so excited for this book. I started by pre-ordering the Kindle book, then there was a pretty Waterstones edition so obviously I needed that, and then The Works did a special sprayed edge edition so I needed that as well. I now have three copies of Daydream (and spoiler: I adored it and it’s my favourite book of the year so far).

We Solve Murders – Richard Osman | Currently reading – 44% ebook

A new series from the bestselling author of ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ series! This is another one I’ve pre-ordered on my Kindle and I’m really enjoying it – I love Richard Osman’s writing style, I listened to all of the Thursday Murder Club series as audiobooks and I’m looking forward to getting to know new characters. I feel like Richard Osman is a really good entry level into crime/mystery books and I don’t know how to delve any deeper, but I’m okay with it.

Verity – Colleen Hoover | Not started

This is one of the books from my 24 in 2024 list – I’m choosing from the remaining books on my list using a spinner because I hate making decisions, but it fits in with the mystery theme that Richard Osman has set. I know Colleen Hoover is pretty controversial online, but I’ve only read a couple of her books and really liked them so I’m actually looking forward to this one. I’ve seen lots of people recommend this one and I’ve also had people tell me in real life that I should read it so I’m intrigued, but trying to manage my expectations.

The Silent Patient – Alex Michaelides | Not started

And another mystery thriller for this months tbr! Which I’m actually excited abut cos I have a plan to alternate romance and mystery/thrillers and I think it’s going to be so good. This is another one from my 24 in 2024 and I’ve also used my Audible credit on this one because I think it’ll be so much more atmospheric. I feel like this one has become a modern classic and it’s really highly acclaimed so I need to stop being so behind and actually jump on this bandwagon. Am I a bit scared of it? Yes, but I am also excited I promise!

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Making book content is really falling off my to do list at the moment because I’ve got ‘a lot’ (read: slightly more than usual) going on and I just can’t prioritise it, but I really do enjoy it! I love writing about books, I love talking about books and all of the content I make inspires me to read more of my books. As we free fall towards the end of 2024, I’m thinking a lot about how many books I’ve bought vs how many I’ve read and I really want to stop adding to my collection (I don’t mean that, I just want to manage my tbr a little better).

Who knows! But here’s my tbr for this month!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx