I'm reading: August wrap-up and books added to the TBR pile

 

I was on a roll there blogging the past few weeks then I hit the wall lol

Figgy got sick, so that took up some time but I had started a few books that I was sure I would love and could review and then...I didn't love them. So here's a bit of a wrap-up for what I read in August and books I've gotten for review.

Read August:

By far, The Firekepper's Daughter was my favorite. You can read my review here  (source: library- audiobook)

What If  You & Me by Roni Loren was a decent read. Two people recovering from trauma and finding each other. Although it was relevant tot heir trauma and story, the sex aspect took over the story and wasn't as interesting to me. As I mentioned in my post about learning to like audiobooks - romance, in particular sex scenes, don't work well for me so that could have been part of it. 

But still a solid romance if you like a slower burn, healing, a heroine with a crime podcast and a little foodie action. (source: libro.fm ALC program - Goodreads )

How to Be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters was a DNF for me and no one could be more stunned than I. I thought this was going to be a slam dunk love it that I even bought it. I loved Remy and how the book explored so many issues specific to Remy (black and adopted to white parents, sibling, gay) and more general to teens like deciding where they want to go/do after HS but the writing didn't work for me.

Overly descriptive prose and so many pop culture references and friends to keep track of kept distracting me from the story.

But if you're looking for the rare upbeat YA, coming of age story with relatable characters this might be for you. It has MANY positive reviews and came highly recommended by readers I trust. It just wasn't for me. Goodreads

The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass I was really enjoying this one on audio at first then the story took a few (inconsistent) detours and although I still kind of enjoyed it, I have a few big issues. I'm debating whether to review it on the blog or just Goodreads because anything I have to say would be spoilery. (source: library - audiobook Goodreads

These are the ALC's (audiobook arc's) I downloaded for September from Libro.fm It's a pretty eclectic mix! I should note that I'm a mood reader and probably won't read any of these this month lol

And I got this lovely arc from Simon & Shuster! I haven't gotten an ARC in about 2 years so that's a fun surprise. 

Roxy is about drug addiction and two siblings named Roxy (oxycontin) and Addison (Adderall) written by the father, son duo of Neal and Jarrod Shusterman~ Goodreads

I loved Dry, but especially Challenger Deep written by Neal, which explored his sons mental illness in a powerful way. I'm curious about Roxy. It's already stirring up some trepidation because Adderall is used quite frequently to keep ADHD under control and can be a lifesaver. And oxy does treat pain even though both can and do cause addiction problems. So I hope it deals with that in a balanced way. We'll see. 

Nice things still happen!

I feel like there are more negative stories with authors encounters these days so I wanted to tell about two I've had recently that restored my faith and made me feel good about not giving up blogging.

One author contacted me after reading my review - both to thank me for the review itself and to reward me by sending me a signed hardcopy for having to wait so long for the library hold.

The other, was an author that had sent me their book way back in January and I just now got around to reading and reviewing it. I felt like crap but they assured me that we're living through a sort of apocalypse and to go easy on myself. Very sweet of them.

Both had been honest reviews - mostly positive but with tiny criticisms so I was kind of surprised - pleasantly - that we can still have nice things, be respectful and not always be at each other s throats. 

That's it for me! How was your August reading? What do you have planned for September?