August Wrap-Up

 Hello Interwebs!

So here we are at the end of yet another month and I had an exceptionally good reading month this time around. I read nine books and I'm a quarter of the way into a tenth. This brings my total for the year so far up to 51! The longest book I read in August was tied between 28 Summers by Elin Hildebrand and Summer of '69 by Elin Hilderbrand, both at 432 pages. The shortest book I read was Summer of '79 by Elin Hilderbrand which was 61 pages. I read a total of 2757 pages and my average rating on goodreads was 4.4 stars. Nothing I read was bad in anyway, one was rather mediocre but really it was all pretty good. Now on to the books!

1. Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt: read from 7.31.2020-8.6.2020, 3.5 stars. This is the only book I considered to be okay rather than great. It was an interesting, unique horror story and I enjoyed it but there were also things I found not so great. 
   
   
   
   
   
2.  Florence Adler Swims Forever by Rachel Beanland; read 8.6.2020 to 8.10.2020; 4.5 stars. This is a historical fiction about a family in the aftermath of a death. I really enjoyed this. It was a time period I'm not so familiar with and a culture I'm not so familiar with. Overall highly enjoyable. 

   

   
   
3. Summer of '69 by Elin Hilderbrand; read 8.10.2020 to 8.16.2020; 5 stars. This is my first Elin Hilderbrand book and I loved it. I loved the family drama and the summer in Nantucket setting. It felt very much like summer and due to each "chapter" having a song title as the chapter title I now have a very fun summer oldies playlist. 

   

   
   
   
4. the witch doesn't burn in this one by Amanda Lovelace; read 8.10.2020 to 8.16.2020; 3.5 stars. This is a poetry book in her Women are Some Kind of Magic series. I really enjoy her poetry and the slam poetry style where all the poems fit into a single theme to tell almost a kind of story. Highly enjoyable and will definitely read the third one. 

   

   
   
   
5. Geekerella by Ashley Poston; read 8.16.2020-8.22.2020; 4.5 stars. This is the first book in Poston's Once Upon a Con series of contemporary fairy tale retellings. This one is a retelling of Cinderella where Cinderella is a girl named Ella who lives with her stepmother and stepsisters while working at a food truck called the Magic Pumpkin. She is being texted by a mysterious person who turns out to be Darien, an actor who is playing the lead role in Starfield, her favorite sci-fi show. Convention hijinks ensue and it was a super cute Cinderella story with the geeky elements I love. 

   

   
   
6. Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat; read 8.10.2020 to 8.22.2020; 4 stars. This is a short story collection and was the Reese's Book Club pick for August. I enjoyed all the stories to a great extent and I'm glad I read this book. 

   

   
   
   
7. Summer of '79 by Elin Hildebrand; read 8.22.2020; 5 stars. This is a follow up novella/short story to Summer of '69 and catches you up with the characters from the first book a decade after the book ends when they all reunite on Nantucket for the grandmother's funeral. Very enjoyable and I am hooked on her books. 

   

   
   
   
8. 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand; read 8.22.2020 to 8.26.2020; 4.5 stars. Another hit from Hilderbrand but I didn't like this one as well as Summer of '69. I was mostly annoyed by the main female character in it but overall still very enjoyable. 

   

   
   
   
9. The Comeback by Ella Berman; read 8.26.2020 to 8.31.2020; 5 stars. This book is a debut author and was one of the August picks from Read with Jenna. This is probably my favorite book of 2020 so far and one of my top ten favorite books of all time. I cannot say enough good things about this book. 

   

   
   
   

So those are all the books I read in August. If there aren't reviews up for any they will be up in the next week or so. Finally on to books I bought in August. I did better this month than I have. I bought 20 books, mostly on sale from Amazon. In no particular order here they are.

• The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue (2020); historical fiction; hardcover from Barnes & Noble. 
  
  
  
• Everything Inside by Edwidge Danticat (2019); short stories; paperback from Barnes & Noble. 
  
  
  
• The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes by Elissa R. Sloan (2020); contemporary fiction; hardcover from Book of the Month. 
  
  
  
• The Comeback by Ella Berman (2020); contemporary fiction; hardcover from Book of the Month. 
  
  
  
• The Swap by Robyn Harding (2020); thriller; paperback from Unplugged Book Box. 
  
  
  
• The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Lee and Michael Dante DiMartino (2019); book 1 of The Kyoshi Novels; YA fantasy; hardcover from Amazon. 
  
  
  
• The Shadow of Kyoshi by F.C. Lee and Michael Dante DiMartino (2020); book 2 of The Kyoshi Novels; YA fantasy; hardcover from Amazon. 
  
  
  
• Here For It by R. Eric Thomas (2020); memoir/essays; eBook from Amazon. 
  
  
  
• The Night Swim by Megan Goldin (2020); thriller; eBook from Amazon. 
  
  
  
• American Royals by Katharine McGee (2019); YA Contemporary; book 1 American Royals series; eBook from Amazon. 
  
  
  
• A People's History of the Supreme Court by Peter Irons (2006); Nonfiction history; eBook from Amazon. 
  
  
  
• The Deep by Rivers Solomon (2019); fantasy; eBook from Amazon.
  
  
  
• My Notorious Life by Kate Manning (2013); historical fiction; eBook from Amazon.
  
  
  
• The Roses of May by Dot Hutchison (2017); book 2 of The Collector series; horror/thriller; eBook from Amazon. 
  
  
  
• The Summer Children by Dot Hutchison (2018); book 3 of The Collector series; horror/thriller; eBook from Amazon.
  
  
  
• The Vanishing Season by Dot Hutchison (2019); book 4 of The Collector series; horror/thriller; eBook from Amazon. 
  
  
  
• The Babysitter's Coven by Kate Williams (2019); book 1 of The Babysitters Coven series; YA fantasy; eBook from Amazon. 
  
  
  
• Where the Lost Wander by Amy Harmon (2020); historical fiction; eBook from Amazon.
  
  
  
• Between Two Fires by Laura Esquivel (2015); memoir; eBook from Amazon.
  
  
  
• Mrs. Perivale and the Blue Fire Crystal by Dash Hoffman (2017); eBook from Amazon.
  
  
  
• Infected Waters by Alathia Paris Morgan (2016); horror; eBook from Amazon. 
  

So that's it for August, all the books I read and all the books I bought. September starts tomorrow so be on the lookout for my September preview plus a (sorta) bookish unboxing, and some more reviews. 

Happy Reading!

Richelle and Emma