Happy Hump Day to a wonderfully short week. August was filled with so many good perfectly summery books! Ones that took me back to Panem, Nantucket, and the reimagining of a beloved fanfic.
Grab your afternoon bevvy and let’s talk books.
Everything I read in August
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins | Dystopia | Loved!
As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.
It feels innately strange to say how much I loved this book, but there you have it. Being reunited with Panem—after the underwhelming experience of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes—felt like coming home. Haymitch’s story was as much harrowing as it was gratifying to understand his piece of the puzzle. Hunger Game fans will be delighted with this tale and how it weaves together storylines that were left out in the original trilogy. And with of filming already underway, I for one, can’t wait to see this played out on the big screen.
It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan | RomCom | Enjoyed
A former adolescent TV punchline left her awkwardness in the rearview mirror, until she tells a lie that sets her on a crash-course with her past, spending a week in Long Island with the last man she thinks might make her believe in love.
Monaghan has done it again. This is a wonderful summer romance that will have you wanting to bottle up the feelings and save them for later. Jane is many of us—faking it until she makes it—and dealing with unresolved feelings from her past with the backdrop of a coastal Long Island town. It has themes of found-family, finding oneself, and Dan is an ideal book boyfriend. Cozying up with this one before summer has finally gone, or book mark it for your next warm weather vacation!
Back After This by Linda Holmes | RomCom | Liked okay
A podcast producer agrees to host a new series about modern dating—but will the show jeopardize her chance at finding real love?
Not quite my cup of tea but still enjoying and a great listen on Audio. If you’ve ever been interested in the mechanics of podcasting or are just a podcast lover, than this one will pique your interest. The concept was great: it’s essentially like The Bachelor via podcasting. But sadly, I didn’t find myself connecting to our FMC and for that I didn’t find myself absorbed in the story.
Rose in Chains by Julie Soto | Romantasy | Loved!
Captured as her castle is overrun by the enemy, Briony Rosewood knows that the world as she knows it is changed forever. The dark forces of Bomard have won and her people, the Eversuns, face imminent servitude, imprisonment or death.
Dramione fans buckle up. Rose in Chains is one of three Dramione (Draco + Hermione) fanfics being traditionally published this year. Admittedly this is the one I had been looking forward to reading the most as I loooved The Auctions storyline—if you read the OG fanfic you will appreciate how close it stayed to the source material. But fret not if fanfic isn’t your thing. This story is built with a unique magic system, tension, a war torn country, and of course, a brooding leading MC. It has the potential to be your next favorite Romantasy read of the fall!
Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand | Fiction | Really enjoyed
Chief of Police Ed Kapenash is about to retire. Blond Sharon is going through a divorce. But when a 22-million-dollar summer home is purchased by the mysterious Richardsons—how did they make their money, exactly? It throws the island up in arms.
This felt like the perfect end of summer book and when I saw it at my local library, I snatched it up. I finished it over Labor Day Weekend on my deck basking in the sunshine. Hilderbrand has a unique way of making you feel like an insider among Nantucket’s elite society taking us behind the curtain. After reading you feel like you’ve been summering on Nantucket your whole life, eating at Cru and dancing at the Chicken Box. I thought this was a great end to her Nantucket series as well as, Hilderbrand’s, own Swan Song.
What was your favorite book you read in August?
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Until next time,
MacKenzie
My favorite August book was James. What an incredible writer & reimagining the Huckleberry Finn storyline.
Loved Sunrise on the Reaping and can't wait for the film too!