I always think of August as a funny month. A boring month. A long month. Nothing happens in August. At work, August is the month that most people have off. It is a long month to stretch a paycheck through. I have been lucky that this August has been quite warm, coming from the UK I am used to a wet summer but I have been lucky/or unlucky in that we’ve had a lot of warm weather. Some of it I have classified as death heat! But really we just aren’t prepared for the weather to get warm. Building don’t come with aircon here. The building I work in is an old saw mill, meaning that the building is made from wood. In the heat, the wood becomes unbearably hot and it just so happens that my office is in the hottest part of this wood hell. I don’t even have a fan. No room for a fan. No plug for a fan. I have always been more of winter girl. I take jumpers and layers over sweating and dehydration.

Anyway, this month has been slow on the reading front. Compared to the months before where I have read 13 to 16 books, I only managed to read 9 this month. I was struggling with a lot of stress and anxiety, battling my OCD and trying to stay afloat. I didn’t sleep particularly well for the last three weeks of August, getting around five hours – because my brain is a chaotic mess that enjoys inflicting insomnia on me.

I kept staring at the MASSIVE amount of tbr books I have and still not finding anything to read. I took a break from reading and it helped massively. I spent most of August focusing on my mental health and how to combat that moving into the rest of the year. When I returned to book reading, it was with a lighter heart and a mind that was more ready to delve into the pages of a story.

Of the books I did read this month, the one I loved the most was ‘Girl in the Ice’ by Robert Bryndza. It was a detective book that I really got into and very much enjoyed the plot of. I’m always looking out for good detective stories, I like ones that are gritty and dark and ones where the culprit is hard to guess. I’ve had a run of success on getting detective stories on Kindle, I find when I buy them in store, I’m usually disappointed.

My least favourite book of August was ‘The Land of Roar’ by Jenny Maclachlan. I so wanted to enjoy this book and I know that it was a great book, I just didn’t enjoy reading it. I couldn’t connect with the characters nor immerse myself in the world. For whatever reason, something didn’t click with me and it severely limited my enjoyment of the book.

Under the entry of ‘absolutely ridiculous and completely mind boggling and confusing’, I have the book ‘Just One Damned Thing After Another’ by Jodi Taylor. I have no other way of describing this book, it was almost as chaotic as my mind is prone to be! I did love it though, for all its switching and confusion, there was a great story nestled within the pages and I loved reading.

Review 1 – The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza – ★★★★★

Review 2 – Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend – ★★★★★

Review 3 – Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend – ★★★★★

Review 4 – Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven by Bella Forrest – ★★★★

Review 5 – The Boy in the Photo by Nicole Trope – ★★★★

Review 6 – The Monster Who Wasn’t by T.C. Shelley – ★★★★★

Review 7 – The Land of Roar by Jenny Maclachlan – ★★★

Review 8 – Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor – ★★★★★

Review 9 – The Diamond of Drury Lane by Julia Golding – ★★★★★