Taylor Swift knew exactly what she was talking about when she sang “August slipped away like a moment in time,” because wow, did August absolutely fly away. Anyway, here we are to talk about the 25 books I read in August and my September hopefuls.

A Visual Representation of the Books I Read in August

5 Stars

4.5 Stars

4 Stars

3.5 Stars

3 Stars

Musings on August

Favorites:

Knockout by Sarah MacLean because a) Tommy and Imogen were everything and b) that epilogue was EVERYTHING. I cannot wait for the next book in the series.

The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren was an absolute delight. I loved every second of reading it. I can’t even clearly describe what exactly I loved about it. The characters were so compelling.

The Blonde Identity by Ally Carter was SO MUCH FUN. I loved reading Gallagher Girls as a teenager and having Ally Carter write something for adults with a similar vibe was the most excellent reading experience!

And finally, The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave was a surprise hit for me. I found the writing so engrossing and it sucked me in so quickly. I was really glad I picked it up on a whim.

General Thoughts:

I think I learned this month that I can love the writing in a book and if I don’t feel like I understand the characters or have gotten to know them, it will still not manage to become a new favorite. Our Wives Under the Sea and Family Lore are probably the two most stunningly written books I read in August, but something about them kept me feeling apart from the book itself. I still don’t know how to explain that, but I think if you are a person who loves beautiful writing, you should pick them both up.

I started my re-read of Hidden Legacy in August and despite always giving Burn for Me five stars historically, this time through it didn’t feel like the strongest book. I’m not sure why (my impatience to get to all my favorite parts, probably), but I decided I would reflect how I felt about this particular read through here and leave my Goodreads rating at 5 because, let’s be honest, it still is in my heart.

I did successfully complete my Magical Readathon TBR! So that is very exciting. I love that readathon so much.

Following Steamy Lit, a challenge was put forth by some authors to read and review 23 books by BIPOC authors in 2023. I’ve already read, but maybe not reviewed 23 books by BIPOC authors this year, but I’m still not achieving what I would ideally like to be diversity wise. Generally speaking, I want at least a third of my reads to be from BIPOC authors and I’m not delivering on that at all. My mood reading has had me reaching again and again for either comfort rereads or small town romance on KU, preferably with a romantic suspense element involved. So, if you’re aware of any small town romances with a suspense element by BIPOC authors, I would be so grateful for those recommendations.

On Blogging

Somehow the implosion of Twitter has made blogging feel even more like talking to the void than it did before and I don’t love that. But, at the same time, I started this blog because I like having somewhere to talk about books and that is what this outlet provides. So I need to suck it up and get back to posting regardless of whether or not anyone reads my words. (But it’s a lot of work to do for something that’s just for you, you know?) Anyway, setting aside my conflicted feelings, here’s what I posted in August:

• I Fell Down a Single Dad Romance Rabbit Hole and Here’s What I Thought
• Most Anticipated Books of Fall
• July Wrap Up and August TBR

Posts from Around the Internet

• Marriage in Trouble Romance Recs from Jessica at peacelovesbooksxo
• The Sapphic September Bingo board, plus they’ve been making some recommendation posts, including this one for Plus Size Sapphic Main Characters.
• Charlotte started a series on Epilogues and Endings in Queer Love Stories that is a must read.
• Chula from Chula.is.reading.romance posted about Latina Indie Romance Authors You Need to be Reading and I found a whole list of new to me authors so I’m excited to try out some of them! And similarly, LatinasReadRomance posted about 23 in 23 and specifically Latinx Romance recs.
• Qui Reads also did an Indie Romance Authors recommendations post for 23 in 23 that was split into Part One and Part Two.
• Then we have a post for Native and Indigenous romance authors post from th3_bi_bookworm.
• B.andherbooks has kept up these really great Five Things Fridays posts so you should absolutely check out her instagram if you haven’t already, but I’m specifically going to share the Back to School post she shared for some reasons you may or may not have seen yet…
• That reason is that I shared the 2023 #FallInLoveBingo board on Twitter, still need to share it on Instagram, set up a Storygraph Challenge, and also write up my normal announcement and TBR. You know, no big deal. Just some more content coming your way!
• And speaking of more content coming youw way, I’m participating in the Bookish Swiftie Club Readathon and photo challenge in September, whcih means my own instagram is going to be more active than it usually is AND that leads us nicely into my September TBR.

September TBR

Team I Think He Knows

September ARCs and New Releases

And there we have it! What were your favorite reads of August and what are you hoping to read in September? I can’t wait to hear!

xx