August and September’s Reads
Running total books/audiobooks/short stories read in 2026 by month end: 60 (August).
Running total books/audiobooks/short stories read in 2026 by month end: 69 (September).
I worked really hard to re-establish a strong reading habit, and while that has worked over the last two years, the equal and opposite reaction has been for me to struggle to put any other habits back in place. Reading is now taking precedence over content creation. I always said I would need to rebalance, and one of the things that I have done this month is try a two monthly blog, instead of a monthly wrap up.
Honestly, I hate it! It has taken a ridiculous amount of time to check my activity and reviews, and also to collect them back together when they are no longer clearly in my mind, so this experiment has definitely been a fail. I have been pulling my own reviews together for the last ten days; it never usually takes me so long to catch up with where I am. I also found I wasn’t reviewing after each book properly, so effectively, I continued the reading, but became an incredibly lazy reviewer. Epic fail!! So here is my first (and last) attempt at a bi-monthly reading wrap up…
I was mostly back on a horror list for August, after my palate cleansing July. By the time I reached the end of the month though I was already flagging again, and looking for a wider genre spread. I might need a run up to be on top horror-absorbing form for October, the Halloween month!
There was only one five-star read in August, and that was one that had been on my TBR since its release. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus absolutely is as fabulous as it is rumoured to be. The 1960s comes through loud and clear in this beautiful book, and I felt every bruise and scrape that life was leaving on Elizabeth Zott’s psyche. The writing in this novel is incredibly whimsical, and by this I absolutely do not mean cosy. For one thing, there is a talking dog, so bear that in mind. For another, this is a statement on 1960s gender dimorphism, so bear that in mind too. This author is excellent, I think the writing improved due to the author having significant life experience (Garmus was 64 years old at the time of publication in 2022), and I will watch for more work.
Visit the My Bookshelf 2026 page for more reviews of the August book list.
If more evidence were needed to prove my horror slump, it can be seen on my list of September reads, where I mostly crept back into cosy read and gentle romantasy. Some of these reads have spent significant time on my TBR, and one of them is my new all-time favourite romance read.
My first five-star review for September was Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon, which was absolutely fantastic. As both a Critical Role fan and a D&D fan and player, this is another one I had my eye on since it was announced, and it is easily the best spicy romance I have read for a very long time. The story was comforting, there was action and real investment, and the romance was red hot. The main characters were rounded, appealing, and approachable, as well as very relatable. It was also tremendous fun. This is the first thing I have read by this author, and it may just have fallen into my preference list, but I am looking forward to trying some of the other offerings.
My second and final five-star review for September was Boys Enter the House by David Nelson, equal parts ghost story, horror story, and true account. This book is eerie, creepy, and crawls insidiously into your brain with every word. One of the horrors is the way these young people did not notice the danger posed by the rattlesnake hiding in the cracks of their lives, because he simply was not important to them. I felt somehow encouraged by that, despite the widespread trauma and distress caused by Gacy. Another horror was how the nasty irrelevant insect appeared at the oddest moments to reopen wounds and cause more pain. All I can say is read it, this is a very different view on those terrible events and the lives affected by them.
Finally I would like to mention a book that is only available through Audible at the moment in the UK, but has proven very popular, with some rave reviews, in the USA. The Blue Moon Cafe & Occult Emporium by Lexie Sharabianlou is one of those reads that are like marmite; it highlights opinion differences and personal tastes. I thought I was going a little bit loopy reading this one. I was convinced the Audible and the book were each separate stories, because I found this so slow I felt like I was going backwards. The writing and characters too were all over the place, with great supporting cast but a protagonist (Tallulah) as boring as guano. Her most interesting feature was her name. I had to look round in the end for someone with a similar opinion on the book to my own, eventually finding similar concepts in a July DNFs list by Every Book a Doorway. It had definite Practical Magic vibes, which is interesting because I also think Practical Magic is an incredibly boring film! All I can say is that, if you read this very calm, very cosy Autumn/Halloween offering, let me know if it was me or the book! In the meantime, as I’m genuinely not sure, I’ve left it with an incredibly fair three star review.
Again, visit the My Bookshelf 2026 page for more reviews of the September book list.
As always, thanks for reading along!
These books were all reviewed by me on the My Bookshelf 2026 page, and wherever possible, on my GoodReads and Storygraph accounts; you can follow me and comment on these sites. I sometimes wander across rare, old, or unusual stories that are not listed on these forums, which will appear only on My Bookshelves. Please note that I include audiobooks in my reading record, and absolutely do consider oral forms of storytelling to be a legitimate and inclusive form of reading. The summary of my reading challenge for 2025 can also be found in My Bookshelf 2025 page.
