I am finally back! I had to take an unplanned hiatus for a couple weeks due to a myriad of technical issues with my blog. But it is finally up and running again (fingers crossed), and I am so excited to get back to talking about books with all of you again. If you haven’t already noticed, Adventures of a Bibliophile has a brand new look, and I’d love to hear what you all think! (If you’re reading this in the WordPress reader, click through and check it out.)

While I know this is incredibly late because August is halfway over already, I still wanted to share my monthly reading list. Full disclosure, it’s been over a week since I’ve been able to edit a single post on my blog, so I kind of need something quick before getting to work on the rest of the posts for this month. I have already read a couple of these, but still wanted to include them since they would have been on this list had I published it two weeks ago as planned. Anyway, let’s just get into the books so I can get into working on more new posts for all of you!

Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer

This will be my third Jon Krakauer book – I have previously read Missoula and Into Thin Air, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. I really like his writing, and also the range of topics he chooses to write about. I don’t read a lot of true crime, but I am addicted to true crime documentaries. (Weirdly, I haven’t been able to get into podcasts, but I want to, so if you have recommendations, let me know!) But Krakauer just does such a great job of making nonfiction really engaging.

Under the Banner of Heaven is about the murders committed by Dan and Ron Lafferty, two Fundamentalist Mormon brothers. I have actually watched a documentary on this case, and it’s kind of insane and also pretty sad. Definitely one of the crimes that has stuck with me since I found out about it. Krakauer also discusses a lot of backstory of the LDS church, which I didn’t know a ton about. I’m about halfway through the audiobook now, and finding it incredibly fascinating. It was recently adapted in to a miniseries with Andrew Garfield and Daisy Edgar-Jones on Hulu, and I will definitely be watching when I finish this book.

In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead

I’ve been kind of in a thriller mood lately, and have been searching for my next good one. Particularly one that is actually thrilling, because for some reason everything I’ve been trying lately that’s marketed as a thriller is kind of slow. But I am optimistic about this one, since the thriller queen, Kayla from Books and Lala hyped it up so much last year. It’s about a group of friends at their college reunion reliving an unsolved murder that occurred ten years earlier. Which is definitely reminding me of If We Were Villains, and I am excited.

It actually worked out perfectly that this fits into the August prompt for this year’s Buzzword Reading Challenge, which is “a book with an item/object in the title”. This challenge was created by Kayla, so it’s fitting that I’m reading one of her favorite books. Keeping my fingers crossed that this is a quick read (thrillers usually are for me). Hopefully it’ll help me catch up with my reading goal for the year. Because I am not doing great at the moment.

The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid

Around the time I had started this blog and was getting more into blogging regularly, I read Exit West. And I really loved it. It was one of those books that really got me more into expanding my reading horizons and reading more diversely. That was five years ago, so it’s been a while. And I had yet to read another Mohsin Hamid book. This one was released earlier this month, and of course I picked it up.

It’s about a while man who one day wakes up to find that his skin is dark. Suddenly the phenomenon begins happening to other people as well. And a lot of racist people have to come to terms with the fact that they are no longer white. It’s basically if Kafka had written a book about race. Which just seemed like such a great idea for a novel. I have actually already read this one but I will save my thoughts for my wrap up. It was… interesting. (It was on my list of most anticipated books for the second half of the year. But I’m terrible at actually reading those, so I’m proud of myself for actually getting around to it. And in the month it was released!)

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Another new release, this one by a debut author. It’s gotten great reviews so far, and I cannot resist a book about an octopus. I have also learned that I enjoy reading books with elderly characters, particularly if they’re a little cranky. I have quite a few years to go before I qualify for a senior discount, but I definitely identify with the the curmudgeonly characters. In this case, it’s even better because that character is the octopus. And yes, we get his perspective, which is so fun.

This is another book I have already read. (We’re halfway through the month, this list would be a little sad if I didn’t include at least some of the books I’ve already gotten to.) But it was on my original reading list that I put together. You know, before the admin side of my blog glitched and I couldn’t edit a single post for two weeks. It’s been super fun over here. But while I was waiting for a fix, I was reading books, so there’s that.

The Boy with a Bird in His Chest by Emme Lund

This is a new release that I hadn’t really heard of until very recently. But it did not take long for me to add it to my TBR. If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you already know how much I love weird books. And this book seems wonderfully weird. It’s an LGBTQ+ coming of age story about a boy named Owen who has a very unique condition. Owen has a bird living in his chest. And the chatty little bird’s name is Gail. Not gonna lie, it was that specific detail that pushed me into buying a copy of this book. I just love that the bird’s name is Gail, and I need to read all about her.

At this point in the month, I might be a little overambitious with this book (and the next one on the list). Since I’m pretty sure the rest of the month is going to be insane. For those of you not following me on Twitter – first of all, why not? – you might not know that I am starting a new job in a week! I am very excited, but also very nervous. I also don’t totally know my schedule yet, so I’m not sure what my reading/blogging time will look like. But this book is at the top of my list, and I’m excited to get around to it hopefully very soon.

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

I knew I had to pick this one up after reading the first line of the synopsis: “Learn about the Mass Dragoning of 1955 in which 300,000 women spontaneously transform into dragons… and change the world.” Doesn’t that sound so good? I obviously need to read this one. Feminist, historical, dragons… totally my kind of book.

I picked up the audiobook version, so hopefully I can get to it this month since my new commute to work is about an hour each way and that’s my primary audiobook listening time. But, again, I have no idea what the next few weeks are going to look like. And I also need to spend some time on the blog since it’s been out of commission for a couple weeks. But I’ve been doing really well with actually getting to more new releases this year, and I definitely want to fit this one in before the end of 2022.

That’s it for my reading list for August! (Or what’s left of August.) I do have a few more I want to get to, but given how much time I actually have, these are the ones I’ll be concentrating on the most. And I will also be working on some more exciting new blog posts, so stay tuned for those.

And check out my bookshop, where you can buy books and also shop my curated collections of my personal favorites AND all of the books I’ve read for my reading eperiments. Or you can just buy whatever books you want to. I get a small commission at no extra cost to you, and you get to support your choice of indie bookstores – it’s a win all around!

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