August for me meant wrapping up (almost) my annual Big Book Summer Challenge, which officially ends on Monday, September 6. And, since I saved my BIGGEST book of the summer (Anna Karenina) for August, that meant I only had time last month for a few other books ... but they were good ones! You can watch my August Reading Wrap-Up video to hear a quick recap of each book and why I enjoyed it. Here's what I finished reading last month:
The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin (ME) - adult fiction
After the Flood by Kassandra Montag (Canada, Caribbean, Arctic) - adult fiction on audio
The Accidental Further Adventures of the 100-Year-Old Man by Jonas Jonasson (Indonesia, Sweden, North Korea, Denmark, Kenya, Tanzania, NY) - adult fiction on audio
The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag (Canada) - middle-grade/teen graphic novel
So, yes, that's just four books finished in August because I was buried in Anna Karenina most of the month! It was an all-fiction month for me, with one graphic novel and two listened to on audio. Three of them were adult fiction and the graphic novel was for middle-grade/teens. I enjoyed all of these--it was a nice mix of types and genres--but my favorite was The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin, a beautiful, moving novel set in the North Woods of Maine ... and very different from his famous sci fi/horror/thriller trilogy, The Passage. It also takes the prize for being on my TBR shelves for 7 years!
Progress in 2021 Reading Challenges:
You can see all of the reading challenges I am participating in and full
lists of the books read for each at the challenges link above. I have some
fun ones going this year!
Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2021 - Two of my books came off my own shelves (and the audios had been in my backlog for a while, too, but I only count the ones that take up physical space!). That's a total of 24 so far ... but my goal for 2021 is 48!
2021 Monthly Motif Reading Challenge - August was Bag of Tricks, featuring magic/powers, so The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag fit well.
Back to the Classics 2021 - No classics finished in August, but there's a whopper coming up next month!
2021 AtoZ Reading Challenge - Most of my spots are already filled (19 of 26), so none of these counted, and I didn't get the mini challenge, either.
PopSugar Reading Challenge 2021 - this is a unique one, with 50 quirky categories. My list is getting pretty full now, but I added another 2 categories to my list this month. That brings me up to 29:
- Book by an author who shares your Zodiac sign: The Accidental Further Adventures of the 100-Year-Old Man by Jonas Jonasson
- The book on your TBR with the prettiest cover: The Summer Guest by Justin Cronin
2021 Nonfiction Reader Challenge - No nonfiction again in August. Just 5 so far this year, but I'm saving it up for November!
Diversity Reading Challenge 2021 - Only one of my books (The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag) was diverse last month (22 so far this year).
Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge - I traveled all over the world in my books last month! Both of my audio books featured global travels to multiple countries.
2021 Literary Escapes Challenge - I added Maine! I am up to 18 of 50 states, so I'm kind of lagging behind.
2021 Big Book Summer Challenge
- I added 2 more Big Books in August, for a total of 9 so far!! I will finish up 3 more (in print and on audio and a graphic novel) this weekend.
And finally, Bookish Bingo hosted by Chapter Break - not really a challenge per se, but a fun game that I play each month! Stop by to print out this month's Bingo card and play along. In August, I filled 18 spaces on my bingo card - not bad for only 4 books!
Spaces Filled:
The Summer Guest: favorite author, death/dying, shelf love, book club read, lawyer
The Girl from the Sea: read a physical book, free book, not in a series, diverse characters, insta-love
After the Flood - audio book, ocean, family tragedy, trigger warnings
Accidental Further Adventures of the 100-Year-Old Man: debut novel, over 400 pages, in a series
Free Space
What was YOUR favorite book read in August?
What an impressive set of books you've been reading! Anna Karenina is definitely a big read, but you got so much else read too! I really want to read The Girl From the Sea, since I enjoyed Ostertag's The Witch Boy trilogy very much. And I didn't forget about the Big Book Summer Challenge—in the nick of time, I posted another review and met my challenge goal! I really appreciate you hosting—I would not have gotten these books read without a challenge! Thanks so much for the great post!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Glad you enjoyed Big Book Summer!
DeleteI enjoyed seeing all the challenges you've accepted for 2021. The only challenges I do are Goodreads and debut author challenges. I try to read as many debuts as I can, but don't have a set goal as sometimes getting copies of debut books can be more difficult. I hope your September has been going well!
ReplyDeleteI'm not necessarily choosing what to read based on my challenges but more using the challenges to keep track of what I read, if that makes sense - no pressure! Ironically, the Goodreads challenge is one of the only ones I DON'T do because I feel like a numerical goal might dissuade me from reading bigger books - I try to focus more on quality than quantity. Reading debut authors sounds like a great one!
Delete