Despite the fact that this week is giving the hottest weather my area has seen in months, we are finally entering autumn! At least that’s what my brain tells me the second the calendar flips to September. I had my first pumpkin spice latte the other day (sure, it was iced because it’s literally a hundred degrees outside, but it still counts). I got a couple new cozy games to play on my switch. And I just finished a rewatch of Gilmore Girls, which always puts me in the mood for fall. But before we get into all of the autumnal and spooky things I have planned for this blog, we have to talk about what I read in August.

I also want to mention that for the first time since I have started this blog, I did not publish this wrap up on the last day of the month. Which I have been telling myself for years is a dumb thing to do. So I have finally switched over to the side of logic, and will probably be posting these on the first posting day after the month ends. But let me know if you’d like to see anything different. Do you want to see my monthly TBR posts first? Or combined? We’re changing things up here, and I’d love your feedback!

But, for now, let’s talk about August! I finished a total of nine books this month, the majority of which are new releases, which is kind of cool. I think there’s a good mix of authors I’m familiar with and those that are new to me. I’ve got a couple five-star reads here, and nothing I rated under three-stars, so I’m really happy with my reading this month overall.

What I Read

Hide by Kiersten White

I have been kind of following Kiersten White for years. This is the fifth book of hers I have purchased. And the first I have read. Yes, that’s right, I bought (with my own money) five book by the same author before ever reading any of them. We’re revealing bookish bad habits in this post, apparently. But I did finally read one of her books! And I have to say, I was a little hesitant going into this one in particular.

This is a horror/thriller novel set in an abandoned theme park. Which just sounded so fun. But it hasn’t been getting the best reviews. I’ve been in the mood for a thriller lately, but nothing I’ve picked up has been exactly what I was looking for, so I gave this one a go. Hide captured my attention quickly, and I flew through it. It might not have been my favorite thriller of all time, but it was exactly what I was in the mood for. Solid three stars – I had a lot of fun reading it.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Two of my favorite things are octopuses and curmudgeonly characters in books. This book combined both to give us Marcellus, the grumpy old octopus. And I love him so much. Seriously, if you love A Man Called Ove as much as I do, you need to read this book. Same vibes, just with an octopus and an older woman (who is not the cranky one in this duo). I honestly already want to read it again. Easily one of my favorite books of the year so far. I wish this wasn’t a debut novel, because I need more to read. (Though it being a debut is seriously impressive.) Loved.

The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid

I really enjoyed Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West when I read it a few years ago, and I’ve been meaning to read more of his work. So when The Last White Man was released earlier this month, I immediately picked up a copy. It’s about a man who one day wakes up and finds that his skin has become darker. The premise of the book reminded me a lot of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, so I was pretty excited to read this one. (I love the weirdness that is Kafka.) And I don’t know what it was, but I just couldn’t quite get into this one.

The author reads the audiobook himself, so I chose that route since I remembered enjoying his narration of Exit West. And while I didn’t particularly love it, I really didn’t have any problem with it. I think it might have been that, while I liked the idea behind this book, it didn’t lend itself to making the characters particularly likeable. A white man having a hard time no longer being white just isn’t the type of character I want to empathize with. Yes, there is more to the story than that. But since that’s how it starts, we didn’t get off on the best foot.

The Maid by Nita Prose

This was another new release that was on my radar and then kind of fell off when the not-amazing reviews started coming in. But it got picked for my book club, so I ended up reading it anyway. And I’m glad I did, because I really enjoyed this book! Not the most unpredictable mystery, but it was fun nonetheless. Everyone in my book club also enjoyed it.

(Note: I’ve seen some reviews that are critical of how the main character was portrayed. While it’s not outright stated, she is clearly on the autism spectrum. Some reviews suggest that this might not be a great portrayal. Personally, I didn’t see anything wrong with it, and actually quite enjoyed it, but I have not been diagnosed with autism, so my opinion doesn’t really matter here. So if you have anything to contribute here, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this book!)

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

At this point, I think it’s safe to say that I’m a fan of Jon Krakauer. This is the third book of his that I’ve read, and I’ve enjoyed them all. Under the Banner of Heaven wasn’t my favorite, but I still really liked it. It’s possible I wasn’t as invested since I’d recently watched a documentary on the murders discussed in this book. But it was still incredibly interesting (and sad). If you haven’t heard of the Lafferty brothers and the murders they committed on behalf of the FLDS church, this is a great place to start. Or even a great place to get some more context if you do have some knowledge of those crimes. Really interesting read.

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

You all know I had to read this book. I’ve been talking about it for months, and I finally picked it up. This book takes place during and after the Mass Dragoning of 1955, in which hundreds of thousands of women turned into dragons and flew away. The reasons I immediately picked this book up should be obvious. Feminist fantasy with dragons is my jam.

I ended up really enjoying this book. It wasn’t quite the five-star read I thought it might be, but it was still really great. I loved the idea behind it. (If given the option, I would 100% go full dragon, just for the record.) And while the characters drove me crazy for a lot of the book, I did really like them as well. Overall, a solid four-star read. It didn’t quite live up to my expectations (which to be fair, were pretty high), but it was still great.

Portrait Before Dark by Liana Sakelliou, translated by Aliki Barnstone

I discovered this book while putting together my most recent post about books by women in translation. It immediately caught my attention, and I since it was short, I thought it was the perfect option to actually fit in a book for Women in Translation Month. This is a book of poetry written as fictional letters from a patron of the arts to a ballerina. Both characters mentioned in this book were real, though the book itself is fictional.

And I don’t really even know how to describe this book. Honestly, I didn’t quite get the whole premise of it with the text as a whole. Just didn’t click for me. But it was so incredibly beautiful, I kind of didn’t care. I’m not sure if I’d recommend this, exactly, but I still gave it four stars. I might try and read it again at some point, just to delve more into it. I don’t have a lot of experience with poetry at all, so it might be worth me taking a bit more time with this book.

“Galatea” by Madeline Miller

The other day, I kind of went on an ebook binge at my library and checked out three books. This being one of them. It’s the only Madeline Miller I hadn’t read, it’s very short, and I am behind on my reading goal for the year, so it was perfect. Since this is only like fifty pages, I won’t say too much about it, but it is amazing. A little weird, very dark, and oh, so good. Five stars. I know this is a short story (though it was published alone), but it is just as good as her full-length novels. Maybe even better…

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

I was a little too old to watch iCarly when it aired, so I was never really a fan of Jennette McCurdy. (At least until now.) I probably could have recognized her from the show (I wasn’t living under a rock), but I never watched it. And I didn’t really know if I should read this book without having that background. But, I just couldn’t resist since everyone is reading this book and I was feeling a little left out. Also, I have a horrible relationship with my abusive mother, so I was very intrigued to read a book with this title.

And I really, really liked this memoir. I thought it was well-written and interesting. And even as someone with zero prior knowledge of Jennette, who was never a fan, I had zero issues connecting with this book. I know she no longer wants to act, but I’m curious to see if she writes anything else, because this was good. I gave it five stars.

What I’m Currently Reading

Obit by Victoria Chang

I don’t know what I’m going through right now, but it has something to do with poetry and mothers. Because this is a memoir by a poet who is examining memory after the death of her mother. She looks into grief and family. And it’s written in such a unique way. It’s not the easiest read because of the subject matter, but I’m very much enjoying it so far.

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

Add this to the long list of books I picked up or added to my TBR solely because of the title. I couldn’t just leave this one sitting on the (digital) library shelf. It’s about a town that has a beloved statue of their founder. Unfortuntatlely, the letters on the statue are falling off, one by one. As they do, the townspeople stop using that letter… and so does the author. This just sounds really fun and interesting and I had to grab it.

What I Watched

Under the Banner of Heaven

I don’t have too much to say about this one except I watched it because I read the book. And it was pretty good. I don’t think it was all that true to the book, but the acting was fantastic. So there’s that.

Luck

I don’t know how they did it, but Apple TV made this movie for me. It’s about an extremely unlucky girl named Sam and a polydactyl black cat named Bob who go on an adventure into the Land of Luck. Now, I am extremely unlucky. Like, the walking example of Murphy’s law. My initials are SAM. And I have a polydactyl black cat. (His name is not Bob.) I mean, come on. For real, though, this was really cute. I’ve already watched it twice because my brain is so fried from my new job that I can only handle children’s movies right now.

Blog Highlights

20 Books by Women in Translation You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

August was Women in Translation Month, so I put together this list of possibly underrated translated books written by women. And added basically all of them to my own TBR in the process (some of them were already on my list). I read one this month and another will be arriving at my house today and is going on my September reading list. So if you’re looking for some interesting books you maybe haven’t heard of, check out this post.

What I Think About Netflix’s Persuasion

The new Persuasion adaptation spurred quite a bit of controversy on the internet. So, like any good blogger, I had to throw my opinion in the mix. Not really. But I’m definitely in the minority on this one, so I thought I’d share anyway. It was a fun post to put together.

And that’s a wrap for August! I hope you enjoyed this post and that you all had a great reading month. What was the best book you read in August?

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