August is finally over, and I can’t wait for the autumn weather to arrive. I’ve already gotten my fall scented hand soaps for the bathroom, and I am seriously looking forward to saying goodbye to summer. Sorry to all of you hot weather lovers, I need the temps to be a bit cooler before I’m happy. The good news is that mom is doing a lot better! The bad news is that I’m still struggling to stay focused on physical and ebooks, making it difficult to read as much as usual and stay on top of the reading that I need to get done. Thank goodness for audiobooks!

Here’s my August updates:

• I had a huge jump in blog followers, from 795 to 812! My next goal is 850.
• I’ve still behind on my physical ARCs, and am working through the July releases. I have one NetGalley ARC left for August to finish reading, and then have to work on a bunch from September.
• Of the 21 books I read in August, only 1 was nonfiction. It was about science and medicine.
• I read one of the books that I own this month.
• As far as diverse voices, I read 4 books by Black authors, 2 by Jewish authors, 5 by LGBTQIA+ authors, 4 by Asian/Pacific Islander authors, and 1 by a Latine author.
• I’m still trying to read genres outside of my comfort zone, and in August I read 1 sci-fi and 1 book about science/nature.
• I read none of my 12 in 12 challenge books or PopSugar reading challenge books.

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

August Totals:

• Books read: 21
• Books DNF’d: 0
• Pages read: 4,202
• Hours listened: 5 days, 17 hours, 15 minutes
• Average pages: 466.9
• Average hours listened: 11 hours, 26 minutes

Cumulative Averages:

• Days per book: 3.57
• Pages read per day: 154.42
• Books read per month: 31.75
• DNF’d books per month: 1.67

Genres Read in August:

• Fantasy: 10
• General Fiction: 1
• Historical Fiction: 1
• Mystery/Suspense: 4
• Romance/Erotica: 3
• Sci-Fi: 1
• Science/Nature: 1

Backlist vs. New Releases:

• Backlist books: 7
• 2023 releases: 14

Fiction Vs. Nonfiction:

• Fiction: 20
• Nonfiction: 1

Format Read:

• Print: 5
• Digital: 4
• Audio: 12

Age Range:

• Adult: 16
• YA: 5

My favorite book of the month was The Combat Codes by Alexander Darwin.

Here’s what I read in August:

• The Combat Codes by Alexander Darwin (The Combat Codes Saga #1) (Publisher ARC)
• Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree (Legends & Lattes #1)
• He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan (The Radiant Emperor #2) (NG ARC)
• Forgive Me Not by Jennifer Baker (Publisher ARC)

• After That Night by Karin Slaughter (Will Trent #11) (NG ARC)

• Sing Me to Sleep by Gabi Burton (YABC ARC)
• Where the Dead Sleep by Joshua Moehling (Ben Packard #2) (NG ARC)
• Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree (Legends & Lattes #0) (NG ARC)
• Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood (ALC)
• Gods of the Wyrdwood by R.J. Barker (Forsaken #1) (Publisher ARC)
• The Phoenix King by Aparna Verma (The Ravence Trilogy #2) (Publisher ARC)

• Famine by Laura Thalassa (The Four Horsemen #3) (NG ARC)

• Death by Laura Thalassa (The Four Horsemen #4) (NG ARC)
• Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy 
• In the Woods by Tana French (Dublin Murder Squad #1)

• Shadow Drive by Nolan Cubero (ALC)

• Ladies of the Lake by Cathy Gohlke (ALC)

• Belladonna by Adalyn Grace (Belladonna #1) — reread
• The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu (Edinburgh Nights #1) — reread
• Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments by T.L. Huchu (Edinburgh Nights #2) — reread
• She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan (The Radiant Emperor #1) — reread

How did your August reading go? Anything interesting happen to you during the month?