Books Read in August: 21
Books Read for the Year:  166/225
Topical Books/Monthly Goal Books:
House Immortal, by Devon Monk (audio): I love Monk’s writing, but I’m on the fence about reading more of this series, because Matilda sometimes got on my very last nerve.
Instincts and Imposters, by Meghan Ciana Doidge (TBR): Solid read.
The Crooked Staircase, by Dean Koontz (TBR): Man, this had some creepy moments.
Magic on the Hunt, by Devon Monk (Re-read): Loved this!
The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi, by Kathie Lee Gifford and Jason Soble (Spiritual): I enjoyed this read. An easy-to-read style made the material accessible.
A Tarnished Canvas, by Anna Lee Huber (TBR): Still thoroughly enjoying this series.
A Tribute of Fire, by Sariah Wilson (TBR): Eh. Do not recommend.
The Letters We Keep, by Nisha Sharma (TBR): Don’t recommend this one, either.

For Review:

The Book of Guilt, by Catherine Chidgey. I can’t say I’d recommend this. It was full of some pretty dark things.

The Second Chance Bus Stop, by Ally Zetterberg. This ended up being a good but kind of sad read.

Thief of Night, by Holly Black. I’d definitely recommend reading the first book, which I did not do, but this was an intriguing world with an MC that wasn’t terribly likable (for me).

You Make It Feel like Christmas, by Sophie Sullivan. Cute romance, although their families made it quite enjoyable.

The Sisterhood, by Tasha Alexander. I hadn’t read any of this series, but that wasn’t a problem. A decent historical mystery. Would I read more? Probably not—because it felt too slow-paced.

The Guest in Room 120, by Sara Ackerman.  I loved the present-day characters. The MC in the past…not so much. She was pretty terrible.

A Dark and Deadly Journey, by Julia Kelly. I enjoyed this mystery, although I figured out the killer before the reveal. The MCs are solid, and I’m enjoying both getting to know them, and the time the series is set in.

The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake, by Rachel Linden. This was such a good read! Highly recommend it.

Charlie Quinn Let’s Go, by Jamie Varon. The family dynamics in this one were a lot. I didn’t care for the MC at first, but she grew on me.

Christmas People, by Iva-Marie Palmer. This was an okay read for me. I finished i, so there’s that, but it didn’t do much for me.

Kitty St. Clair’s Last Dance, by Kate Robb. Not sure how I ended up reading three books back-to-back that had a touch of magical realism in it, but I did. I really enjoyed this read. Loved the MC and her struggle to do the right thing, and I liked the scenes in the past, too.

Just Because:

Glorious Rivals, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. This was such a fun read! And also, I’m not smart enough to have survived the first three minutes of this contest.

Infinity Bell, by Devon Monk (Audio). Still on the fence about the MC.

Left Unfinished:

How to Break My Heart, by Kat T. Masen. I didn’t like the characters.

The Minor Fall, by Kayla M. Martell. This just wasn’t to my taste. I loved the premise, but the characters felt a bit too much like caricatures to be believable or likable. Roe had too much self-pity going on for me to like her, and Tye was such a bad-Western cowpoke (from Ireland?) that I just couldn’t deal with it. And I barely met Bryn before DNFing. Too much jumping around to add things that came out of nowhere, and it just didn’t work for me.

Moonsick, by Tom O’Donnell. I could barely read 10 pages of Heidi. There’s no way I could finish an entire book of a character that annoying.

The Sleepless, by Jen Williams. This started off strong. I loved the beginning, but when we got to Elver in the wild, well, any connection I felt was lost by my general confusion over the world and the (lack of) set-up.

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