August 2021 TBR

So this is probably a mistake…. I struggled with my reading in July. Partly because of burnout and partly cause I was just super busy (I was away for over a week and did NO reading, oops?). And yet here I am with a MASSIVE tbr for August. I’m totally expecting to crash and burn with this, but at least I’ll have a lot of options to mood read from!

You might’ve seen my post about August readathons earlier in July (click here if you wanna refresh your memory) so you should already be prepped for the HUGE tbr I’m about to drop on you!

First things first we have Kingdom of the Wicked by Derek Landy for the Dead Famous Readalong which is a reread for me. I’ve been going through the Skulduggery books again this year and really enjoying the process!

For Kayla from Booksandlala’s Buzzwordathon the prompt is “time of day” for August. One of the books on my tbr already has “clock” in the title, and honestly I think I’m just running with that.

Then we have the Mary Shelley-A-Thon hosted by Caitlyn from Mad Cheshire Rabbit. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte is my main book for this readathon which covers a lot of prompts, which are “an author born in 1818/1831”, “a book I keep saying I’ll get to”, “and set in the late 1700s/early 1800s”, but I’d also like to get around to Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare which is for the prompt “set in a country the author isn’t from”.

Next up is the Royal Readathon: Sidekicks which is what I’ve based the foundation of my tbr on. Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho is for a book featuring a dragon and a book with death, This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab for a book about music, Clockwork Angel again! This time for a cheesy book. The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan for a middle grade book, a book on mythology, and a colourful cover. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchet is my pick for a humourous book, a book with greed, and one under 300 pages.

And last but never least is All the World’s a Page which is Olivia Savannah’s readathon in August! There are SO MANY prompts for this readathon that Olivia says herself that you don’t need to aim for them all! I’m basically just fitting in the other books into these prompts so I won’t go through these again.

And then FOR SOME REASON I also want to read my chapters of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, as well as Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, No Place to Hide by Glenn Greenwald, and also Smiler’s Fair by Rebecca Levene. For some reason I’ve added these onto an already huge tbr so other than War and Peace these will be riiiiiight at the bottom of the list! And last, but by no means least. I started and didn’t finish Prodigy by Marie Lu last month. So now I need to read that as well…. god damn it. I’ve not even pulled my tbr jar pick yet!!!

What do you want to read this month? Is your tbr as stupidly big as mine? Let me know!!

Mid July Check In!

We’re halfway through the month now, and hopefully halfway through our tbr piles! But let’s be honest… that ain’t the case! So lets see what I’ve managed to read so far.

First up was Lady Susan by Jane Austen, a collection of letters which chronicle Lady Susan’s intent to settle herself down in life and rid herself of her daughter whilst landing a high placement. She’s not a very likeable woman. I enjoyed these, although I felt the ending was rather rushed.

Next was my few short stories from Armageddon Outta Here by Derek Landy which I’m reading the short stories in chronological order. So that I don’t spoil anyone I won’t go into details, but as always these were really fun.

Then we have The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis which I forgot to put on my July tbr to fulfil the prompt for the Buzzwordathon “Last”. This is a reread for me, but it also brought quite a few things to light. I hadn’t read these since childhood so there were definitely issues with racism, sexism, and the portrayal of religion.

I’m making my way through Labyrinth by Kate Mosse and should finish this before the end of the month if all goes to plan! I’m making my way slowly through this so that I don’t freak myself out by trying to read all 700 pages at once.

And lastly is War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, as always me and Olivia are making our way through the book. There have been some time jumps in these later chapters which I have found interesting, as well as the way that Tolstoy chooses to portray events.

Left on my tbr pile are:

Death Bringer by Derek Landy, Checkmate by Malorie Blackman, The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown by Vaseem Khan, Pompeii by Mary Beard, Prodigy by Marie Lu, Persuasion by Jane Austen, and The End of the World by Derek Landy.

That is a BIG tbr left for the second half of the month. I should be fine for the Skulduggery and for Persuasion as it’s split into a few chapters a day. I’m not sure about the rest though so wish me luck!!

How much do you have left on your tbr so far this month?