Hello!

Another month has come and gone and I think I keep missing it because how are we now at the end of August?? But we are coming up to my favourite month of the year!

Is it because it’s back to school time and I always associate this time of year with new pencil cases and fresh starts? Yes.

Is it also because it’s the start of the ‘ber’ months and the trees will start turning and it’ll get colder and I can get cosy in my blankets? Also yes.

Is it also because all the kids go back to school and it gets quieter and traffic isn’t so bad? Also yes.

Is it because it’s my birthday month? Mainly, yeah.

And with that in mind, I actually have a shorter TBR! It wasn’t completely intentional but when it ended up this way I grabbed the opportunity with both hands cos I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed with how many books are on my TBR cart as my kind of ‘on the radar TBR’ and I’m hoping to be able to catch up on a few!

But let’s start with the usual monthly categories:

The Wedding Library

Harry’s Game – Gerald Seymour

I had absolutely no recollection of what this book was, but it appears to be a crime thriller book that was a whole franchise in the 70s/80s! The blurb doesn’t give much away but it’s relatively short and whilst I don’t read a lot of crime, I do like a mystery thriller so hopefully it’ll be somewhat along those lines. Sometimes books that were published in this era take me longer to read than I anticipate but I’m going in with an open mind!

New Release

The Impossible Fortune – Richard Osman

It was only when I was putting together this TBR that I realised the next instalment in The Thursday Murder Club series doesn’t come out until September 25th so I’ll only have 5 days to listen to it before the end of the month, but that’ll probably be fine. If I don’t finish it, that’s also fine. No pressure (as she reminds herself that reading is meant to be a fun, relaxing hobby).

25 in 2025

The Dragon’s Eye – Dugald A. Steer

I couldn’t even tell you how long I’ve had this book in my collection, but considering it’s a middle grade/YA fantasy book with a 12 year old protagonist, I’d wager that it’s been at least a decade. So here’s the time to find out if I actually like it enough to keep it in my collection!

It’s short, it’s got pretty large font and illustrations so whilst I’m looking forward to the story and a fun dragon adventure, I’m also looking forward to an easy read and hopefully a quick win.

The Boy At The Top of The Mountain – John Boyne

Sticking with a theme of middle grade/YA short books, we have a historical book about a boy taken under the wing of the cause of World War 2…

I picked this up for £3 in a Waterstones damaged sale thing and it’s one of those that I took a bit of a risk on because it was only £3, what can I say! I’m anticipating that it’ll be a heavier read, much like The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas was, but I keep forgetting that I do like historical stories so it’ll be nice to remind myself of that.

Continue a Series but it’s also a New Release

Fearful – Lauren Roberts

Considering how disappointed I was in Fearless, I probably shouldn’t have bothered with this one but I think it focuses on a character that was suggested to be a big deal and I have no recollection of so I kind of want some context on her.

I’m hoping this is the end of the Powerless series because it would be very easy for Lauren Roberts to write in this universe forever, but I’d like to see what she can do when she’s not writing super tropey romantasy.

THEN we get onto my TBR cart – the following books are the ones that I have lined up for if I finish my monthly TBR. The first few I chose when I was making a TikTok months and months ago using different methods to choose what book I would read after I finished the ones on my monthly TBR, then there’s a few from series I’m actively in the middle of. So let’s just take it one at a time!

Queen B – Juno Dawson

A prequel novella to the Her Majesty’s Royal Coven series that I’ve started and finished this year, so obviously I want to read this too. I don’t think it needs anymore explanation than that 😂

Faebound – Saara El-Arifi

This book came from the aforementioned TikTok – one of my methods of choosing what to read next is looking at my ‘new buys’ list for the year and reading whichever one I bought earliest that I haven’t read yet. The book in question is actually Cursebound, which is the sequel to this book… I pre-ordered both of these for the Waterstones special editions because they are s t u n n i n g but that clearly hasn’t inspired me to actually read them. So here’s my attempt to make myself do that.

Charlie, Love and Cliches – Ella Maise

The last book from that TikTok that haunts me – the book I picked from my TBR jar, so I have to read it because I have this tiny piece of paper floating around and I won’t let myself do anything with it until I read the book.

I’ve just in this moment considered that I could put the paper back in the jar… but I’m not going to.

Maximum Ride: The Final Warning – James Patterson

Then we get to the series’ I’m ‘actively’ reading – I’ve decided that the way I’m going to tackle the series’ in my collection is to have one that is my focus series, hence the ‘Continue a Series’ category in my monthly TBR. It’s just that sometimes I pre-order sequels and I don’t want to overwhelm myself so I don’t give myself too many sequels to read in a month.

Maximum Ride was my favourite series as a tween and rereading it has been the most joyful nostalgia trip and I’m so excited to dive into the 4th book in the series.

The Hunting Moon – Susan Dennard

And this is where the ‘one series’ thing doesn’t quite work – this is the second book in The Luminaries series, a book which I pulled from my TBR jar for my 25 in 2025 at the beginning of the year. So I have read The Luminaries… but I feel I can’t do anything with the little bit of paper until I have also read the sequel.

I’ve very recently decided that rather than waiting till I’ve entirely finished Maximum Ride, I’m going to to read The Final Warning then move on to The Hunting Moon. Does this mean I technically have more than one ‘active’ series? Yes, but it’s the best solution I’ve got 😂

Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) – Tahereh Mafi

This series is entirely the same as The Luminaries – Shatter Me was on my 25 in 2025 and now I’ve got a whole series that I feel obliged to read. I didn’t even really like Shatter Me that much but it gave me the reality TV vibes – it’s trashy, it’s awful, but you can’t stop watching (plus I own the five major books in the series in a box set so I might as well, right?).

So there we have it.

My 5 book TBR… and the 6 books I have waiting in the wings. I’m hoping September will be a great month for binge reading – not in the sense of rushing through books but having lots of time to spend getting through all these books I keep describing as ‘quick wins’.

I’d like to clear my TBR cart a little bit too!

I hope you’ve had a wonderful summer and are feeling ready for ‘back to school’ season. If you have absolutely nothing to do with schools, kids or parenting, enjoy the quieter weekdays and less traffic at lunchtime!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx