So it’s a little bit late, but I’m here with my Weekly Wrap-Up for last week!
Posting was okay last week, but it could’ve been better. Stuff happened during the second half of the week though, and I ended up getting a little busy. It’s also why I didn’t end up being able to read more than I did.
Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!
Wednesday 9/17: Can’t-Wait Wednesday
Last Wednesday, I did another Can’t-Wait Wednesday. Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings. It focuses on books you’re looking forward to reading, usually new releases.
On Saturday, I posted my Monthly Reading Wrap-Up for August 2025. And it was posted at a reasonable time of the month this time! For those who don’t know, monthly wrap-ups are when I go over the books I read over the past month, as well as my stats over on The StoryGraph.
So yeah, last week was okay, but it could’ve been better. I still read and posted though, and with how things were going before, I’ll take that as a win. I hope this coming week will be better, though.
I’ve got A Study in Charlotte and The Ashfire King on my more immediate TBR, so here’s hoping I’ll get through those this week. After that, I think there’s a good chance I might get back into reading the Dresden Files. I read the first seven books a few years ago – like six months or so before I started posting on this blog, actually – but then I took a break. Because even though I loved the series, I read those seven books all within a month, and I wanted to read other stuff for a bit. So I’ve been meaning to get back to them for a while. Maybe I’ll make it an October thing, since it starts next week anyway. I don’t know.
Not too much went on last week, with life outside the blog. It was cleaning week last week, and my spouse and I are still trying to be healthier, but that’s mostly it.
Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night! As well as a much better week than I’ve been having!
It’s later than I wanted to, but I’m finally posting my reading wrap-up from last month. Things were unfortunately a bit busy during the beginning of this month, so everything has been pushed back a little bit. Anyway, here it is: my reading wrap-up for August 2025!
So August’s reading was kind of terrible, similar to several months of this year preceding it. I don’t think it was the worst of the year, but it was definitely bad.
Anyway, let’s just start talking about my StoryGraph statistics from last month!
August Reading 2025
I read 1 book and 810 pages
😐 MOODS: I had three Moods in August, which is the same as the month before. The Moods from this past month were also the same as the month before: Adventurous, Lighthearted and Funny.
👢 PACE: The book I read last month was medium-paced.
🔢 PAGE NUMBER: The graphic novel I read last month was 656 pages.
📖 FICTION/NONFICTION: It was once again all fiction. As usual.
🎭 GENRES: There were two Genres on the graph this month. They were Fantasy and Manga.
📄 FORMAT: This pie chart was once again correct. Five months in a row. Yay.
⭐ RATING: My median star rating for last month was 4.0, which makes sense as I only read one book and that was the rating I gave it.
📉 PAGES READ DAILY: My reading during August, as I’ve mentioned before, was not great. I read a little bit earlier in the month on the 9th and the 10th, but I really got my reading done closer to the end of the month, on the 21st, 22nd she 23rd.
The Books I Read in August
☆ • did not finish • ☆
★★★★☆
Wrapping Up the Wrap-Up
So yeah, my reading once again sucked last month. Ugh, this year annoys me so much, in regards to reading novels and stuff. It’s also the worst slump I’ve ever had, by far, as it’s lasted several months. I just want it to end and to get back into books again. I guess hoping that September turns out better is all I can really hope for. Oh well.
For this current month, I’m definitely gonna finish the One Piece arc that I started last month. Primarily because it’s short – it’s only two volumes and I’ve already read one of them. I’m also hoping to read at least a couple of other books as well. We’ll see what happens.
Anyway, as always, thank you for joining me in checking out my StoryGraph stats for my August reading in 2025. Thank you also for reading, and I hope you have a great day/night!
Finally, it’s a new week. I can start fresh! Not that last week went all that badly. But still.
Once again, I did three blog posts this past week. Just like the week before. Yay. I didn’t get to reading any books, though, which really sucked. Ugh. Please, please, please let this week be better.
Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the weekly wrap-up!
Tuesday 8/12: Top Ten Tuesday
Last Tuesday, I participated in Top Ten Tuesday for the first time in almost three months. It feels great to be doing it again!
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. The prompt for last week was Books I’d Like to Re-Read.
On Wednesday, I did another Can’t-Wait Wednesday for a second week in a row. Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings. It focuses on books you’re looking forward to reading, usually new releases.
This past Sunday, I participated in Birthstone Book Covers. Birthstone Book Covers is a fun little post created and hosted by Leslie @ Books Are the New Black.
Each month, for the post, you feature book covers that are either the same color of the month’s birthstone or include the color in the title. This month was August, and its birthstone is peridot. So the color of the month was green.
So yeah, last week was pretty okay for the most part. I hope to do better this week, but as always… we’ll see.
In regards to blog posts this week, I want to participate in a few of the usual memes, as well as a post from one of my original blogging series. I’m not holding out hope I’ll read a book in time for a review though – not when I’m still considering reading the next One Piece arc this week.
For reading this week… well, I just mentioned getting back into One Piece, so hopefully that happens. I’ve also recently gotten back into watching BookTube a little bit, so that’s also kind of gotten me back in the mood for reading books. Fingers crossed for reading some books this week. 🍀🤞
I also touched up a few of my featured image/thumbnail graphics for one of the series I participated in. What can I say, I was in the mood after making completely new graphics for Can’t-Wait Wednesday and First Line Fridays (though I haven’t posted the latter yet, because it’s been a few weeks since I’ve participated in that one).
For stuff outside of books and blogging, my spouse and I are still trying to be more active and productive, as well watching what we eat. Other than that though, not much else has been happening.
Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!
It’s that time of the month again! Time for one of my favorite posts.
Leslie @ Books Are the New Black created a fun monthly post called Birthstone Book Covers. Each month, she features book covers that are either the same color of that month’s birthstone or include the gemstone in the title.
August has one birthstone – Peridot.
Rules: 📚 Mention the creator (Leslie @ Books Are The New Black ) and link back to her so she can check out your post. 📚 Pick 5+ book covers that match the current month’s Birthstone. 📚 HAVE FUN! 📚 Nominate people if you want!
Beautiful Redemption by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Weyward by Emilia Hart
The Inquisition by Taran Matharu
The Girl With No Reflection by Keshe Chow
A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
What are your favorite books with green book covers? If you participated in Birthstone Books, which books did you choose this August?
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have the most amazing day/night!
It’s slightly late, but something came up later in the day yesterday, so I didn’t have time to finish this up. Oh well. At least last week went pretty well – I’m actually pretty satisfied with what I was able to do.
I did three blog posts this past week. Three in one week – that’s the first time in a while. Which is simultaneously both unfortunate that it’s been a few weeks since it last happened, but also fantastic that it happened again. I really hope that this is a sign of good posting to come for me. Oh, and I did read (part of) a book last week as well, so there’s progress on that front, too.
Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the weekly wrap-up!
Tuesday 8/5: The Most Interesting Looking New Books of August 2025
Last Tuesday, I posted a list of the books that I’m looking forward to this month. Or, at least the ones that I think look the most interesting. It was the Most Interesting Looking New Books of August 2025. As always, it’s basically only fantasy and science fiction, as those are the two genres I primarily read. This time I had four books on my list.
This past Wednesday, I did another Can’t-Wait Wednesday for the first time in two weeks. I also made a new graphic for the featured image!
Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings. It focuses on books you’re looking forward to reading, usually new releases.
On Sunday, I posted my Monthly Reading Wrap-Up for July 2025. And it was posted at a reasonable time of the month this time! For those who don’t know, monthly wrap-ups are when I go over the books I read over the past month, as well as my stats over on The StoryGraph.
So yeah, last week was a big improvement in regards to my blog activity, and I at the very least, read something. And with how the summer has been so far… I’m counting that as a win. I’m hoping that I can keep this up.
For blog posts this week, I’m planning on doing a couple of the usual ones that I participate in sometimes. In particular, one that I haven’t done at all for the last couple of months. I also might do another post that is one of my originals, though I’m not sure yet.
Regarding reading books, I ended up DNF-ing the one I tried to read last week. I just couldn’t get into it, though I did like the writing. For this week, I’m gonna finally get back into buddy-ret One Piece with my spouse. It’s been ten months since we left off at the time skip (which was the perfect spot to pause, honestly), but it’s definitely been too long I think, and we’re eager to get back into it. I don’t know if I’ll read anything else this week, so there probably won’t be a review since I dropped the novel I read this past week as well. We’ll see.
Concerning stuff outside of books and blogging… Nothing has really changed, honestly. We’re still trying to eat better and be more active, but that’s kind of all. I guess my spouse and I finally finished Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 last weekend, but other than that we haven’t done much besides hanging out and watching YouTube.
I guess we also both read/are currently reading Aurora: Volume #1, so I guess we’re technically buddy-reading that, but that’s involved with books. I’m gonna try to talk to them about figuring out something more specific to watch next, other than stuff on YouTube because we can’t just watch that all the time, so hopefully that’ll pan out.
Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!
Hey there everybody! Another month, another bunch of new books that are coming out! Yep, it’s The Most Intriguing New Books of August 2025.
This used to be a quarterly post, but I’ve recently decided to do it monthly instead. Also, even though this post is about new releases, it’s primarily focused on fantasy and science fiction, as those are the genres I tend to prefer to read. (Not to say other genres won’t ever appear on these lists – it just isn’t super likely; it’s likely to be a very rare occurrence if it happens at all.)
If you’ve seen this post by me before, you know the drill; I’m only interested in these books – there’s no guarantee that I’m gonna read all of them. There’s not even a guarantee that I’m gonna read even half of them. We shall see. Anyway, let’s get going! This month there are once again four books that have caught my eye.
RELEASING: August 5th
A group of hauntingly beautiful girls have been bound together by a cruel curse—and one of them will go to any lengths to save them from their violent dance. A breathtakingly gorgeous gothic fantasy about love and control that will never let you go. This spellbinding debut is perfect for fans of Stephanie Garber!
In the legendary ballet theatre of New Kora, the girls on stage enchant the audience each night with their grace and divine beauty. Before Emberlyn became the show’s star, it was her dream to become one of the ballerinas… until she learned the price of their living nightmare.
A curse has bound the girls to the show’s mastermind, Malcolm, so they must obey his every command. They are controlled by the magic’s invisible strings that has the power to wield their limbs like marionette dolls. Only the commands don’t stop when the curtain comes down, and the girls live a life of fear from Malcolm’s wickedness and the twisted truth that each dancer is destined to turn to dust when the curse finally consumes her.
When the troupe is invited to perform in the glitzy city of Parlizia, Emberlyn knows this could be her best chance to save them all. She meets an elusive boy made of shadows with a magical connection to the girls. Together, they work to unravel the haunting truth about their creation and fight for their survival. But the cost of freedom might be too high, and as she dances closer to the edge of darkness she realizes she might break the curse… or break her own heart forever.
RELEASING: August 19th
From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes Hemlock & Silver, a dark reimagining of “Snow White” steeped in poison, intrigue, and treason of the most magical kind
Healer Anja knows little of politics but much of poisons. When she is summoned to treat the mysterious illness afflicting the king’s daughter, she finds herself against the clock, desperate to track down the source of the poison killing Princess Snow. But the chance discovery of a strange alternate world inside a magic mirror leads Anja to darker discoveries, including what really happened to Snow’s dead sister, Rose, and why their mother seemingly went mad and cut out her heart.
Aided by a taciturn bodyguard, a narcissistic cat, and a late Renaissance understanding of the scientific method, Anja must navigate the mysteries of the mirror world before the dark queen that dwells within rises to threaten them all.
RELEASING: August 26th
Dante’s Inferno meets Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi in this all-new dark academia fantasy from R. F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel and Yellowface, in which two graduate students must put aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul—perhaps at the cost of their own.
Katabasis, noun, Ancient Greek:
The story of a hero’s descent to the underworld
Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality: her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world.
That is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.
Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams….
Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the very same conclusion.
With nothing but the tales of Orpheus and Dante to guide them, enough chalk to draw the Pentagrams necessary for their spells, and the burning desire to make all the academic trauma mean anything, they set off across Hell to save a man they don’t even like.
But Hell is not like the storybooks say, Magick isn’t always the answer, and there’s something in Alice and Peter’s past that could forge them into the perfect allies… or lead to their doom.
RELEASING: August 26th
Heartstopper meets Buffy in this queer paranormal rom-com where a college sophomore must navigate suddenly becoming a vampire, the underground society he’s now part of, and the cute boy who discovers his secret.
It’s only natural nineteen-year-old Brennan’s life would be upended by something as ridiculous and unexpected as turning into a vampire. But if there’s one thing Brennan can do, it’s pretend everything’s fine when he’s close to losing his mind. Brennan has just clawed his way back to Sturbridge University after recovering from a suicide attempt, and this is not the new life he was hoping for.
Brennan’s newly bloodthirsty existence gets way more complicated when Cole, the super cute librarian and everyone’s campus crush, stumbles on Brennan drinking from a stolen blood bag. Luckily, adorable Cole is happy to keep Brennan’s secret, and even seems to maybe like him? Navigating a new relationship is hard enough without the added struggles of vampire puberty, an eclectic clan of self-proclaimed “good” vampires, and growing feelings for the one person who makes Brennan feel normal. With swirling rumors of a missing student and a rise in strange “animal attacks” near campus, Brennan must uncover the secrets of the clan and figure out how to balance vampirism and humanity, or risk losing the first real friends he’s ever had.
Filled with humor and heart, The Good Vampire’s Guide to Blood & Boyfriends has a gentle bite.
So yeah, these are all of the books releasing in the in August 2025 that I’m at least a little interested in. What books are coming out soon that you’re looking forward to? Do we share some of the same ones?
As always, thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you have a great day/night!
