August was incredibly hot, but it’s a step closer to autumn, which is one of my favorite seasons! Bring on the changing leaves, pumpkin everything, cool weather, and boots and sweaters!

Last month was also super busy for me, but I still managed to read an impressive amount of books, which I’m very proud of. I am slowly working on organizing my bookshelves, but it’s a pretty big task. 

I still want to keep up with the trend of highlighting positive things each month, so here’s my positives for August:

• I finally read some books that have been on my TBR for a long time, and I was pleasantly surprised.
• I completed my readings for round 2 of BBYNA readings.
• Dietary changes are making a difference in my pain levels, which is a really big deal for me!
• I’ve transitioned my blog over to WordPress, and I really like the new platform.
• I participated in the Diversify the Shelf Readathon, and while I didn’t finish, I did read a few books from different cultures/ethnicities/identities than my own.

Here’s my breakdown of monthly/cumulative totals for August:

August Totals

• Books read: 21
• Books DNF’d: 0
• Pages read: 8,359
• Average pages: 269.65

Cumulative Averages

• Days per book: 2.37
• Pages read per day: 281.41
• Books read per month: 21.25
• DNF’d books per month: 0.63

Genres Read in August:

• Biography/Memoir: 1
• Fantasy: 13
• General Fiction: 2
• Graphic Novel: 1
• Historical Fiction: 2
• Mystery/Suspense: 
• Play/Theater: 1
• Romance/Erotica: 1

Genres Read in 2020:

• Biography/Memoir: 2
• Books About Books: 1
• Fantasy: 81
• Folklore/Fairy Tales: 8
• General Fiction: 20
• Graphic Novels: 2
• Historical Fiction: 22 
• History/War: 1
• Mystery/Suspense: 4
• Paranormal/New Age: 1
• Play/Theater: 1
• Poetry: 1
• Romance/Erotica: 9
• Sci-Fi: 15
• Self-Help/Inspiration: 1
• Social Science/Current Affairs: 1

Backlist vs. 2020 Releases

• Backlist books: 123
• 2020 releases: 47
• 2021 releases: 1

Fiction Vs. Non-Fiction

• Fiction: 163
• Nonfiction: 7

Format Read:

• Print: 87
• Digital: 83

Age Range

• Adult: 63
• YA: 103
• Middle Grade: 3
• Children: 1

My favorite books of the month were Recommended For You by Laura Silverman and We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal.

Here’s what I read in August:

• The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell (The Saxon Stories #1)
• The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty (The Daevabad Trilogy #1)
• The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
• Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim (The Blood of Stars #1)
• Recommended For You by Laura Silverman (ARC)
• We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal (Sands of Arawiya #1)
• The Forgotten Kingdom by Signe Pike (The Lost Queen Trilogy #2) ARC
• The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
• When Time Stopped by Ariana Neumann

• City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments #6)
• Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake (Three Dark Crowns #1)
• A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes #2)
• Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland (Dread Nation #2)
• There There by Tommy Orange  

• Fable by Adrienne Young (Fable #1) ARC
• The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski (The Witcher #0.5)
• Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

• Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell (Simon Snow #2)
• Harley Merlin and the Mystery Twins by Bella Forrest (Harley Merlin #2)
• Witchy by Ariel Slamet Ries

• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne (Harry Potter #8)