What I’m Reading – August 2018

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Hey Hey, Happy Tuesday!! Today is my monthly “what I’m reading” post and I am ridiculously excited about it. If you followed me on Instagram then you know I traveled quite a bit this month and when I travel I read. I listened to audiobooks all the way to Ohio and back (20+ hours in the car) and read lots of books while I was there. I average ~10 books a month and this month I read 13!!

I get a lot of questions as to how I read as much as I do anyway and all I can say is audiobooks. I listen to them when I get ready for work, any time I am in the car and when I am working out. I check them out via my local library’s app and they are downloaded to that app and I just listen with my phone. It’s genius and I’m excited that I can “read” as much as I want!!

If you are keeping up, and I am, so far this year (including this month) I have read 81 books!! I had a goal/resolution to read 100 books this year after I read 88 last year and I think I’m going to crush it! So let’s see what I read this month…

ONE. Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas. I talked about this series last month and loved it! So this month I read the third (this book) and fourth books and they were so so so good!! In this book the heroin has survived deadly contests and devastating heartbreak and now she has to go on a journey to discover who she really is and learn more about herself. If you are into dystopian YA books then you have to read this series!!

“With assassinations, betrayal, love and magic, this novel has something to match everyone’s interests, without feeling cluttered. The action will carry you right to the end, leaving you eager for the next installment.” – RT Book Reviews on Crown of Midnight

TWO. Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas. The fourth book in the Throne of Glass series…just read it!!

THREE. Now You See Her by James Patterson. I don’t know about you but I love a good James Patterson book. Now You See Her is about a woman who is leading a secret life and who must choose to help one man save his own life or out herself and help even more lives. Very “on the edge of your seat” drama!!

FOUR. The Quickie by James Patterson. Like I said, I love some JP and read several of his books this month. The Quickie is about a woman who has a one night stand that has very deadly consequences for herself and everything she loves. This is a very gripping “why did you do it??” kind of book!

FIVE. The Store by James Patterson. This book sort of reminded of The Circle, which I read and watched the movie a few months ago and loved. It’s about a family who uproots their life in NYC to work for The Store. Except they aren’t just working for The Store, they are also writing an expose on it and it’s super secretive inner-workings. I’m not going to lie, I was holding my breath at the end wondering how it was going to work out. Highly recommend!!

SIX. Kill Me if You Can by James Patterson. This is a story about an ex-military art student who accidentally (??) steals millions of dollars worth of diamonds from a mobster and is now on the run. Does he get away with it? Was it really an accident?? What will he do with the diamonds???

SEVEN. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. Y’all. I still haven’t seen this movie!! What is wrong with me?! LOL!! This book really doesn’t need any explanation except to say that it is just a really good story set in Singapore and Asia in general and I learned so much about the Asian culture just by reading this series. Now I need to go see the dang movie…

EIGHT. China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan. Book two in the Crazy Rich Asians series. So so so GOOD!!

NINE. The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton. This is the first book (I hope) in a new YA series about a futuristic society in which one can change they way they look by going to visit a Belle. The Belles are a select group of girls who have the ability to change the way people look with magic they possess in their blood. At the beginning of the book the Belles are finished with training and have a showcase of their skills and are then chosen to go to work at different places based on their skill level, the best job at the palace going to the best Belle. The Favorite, and obviously that’s the most coveted job. However things aren’t always as they seem and in the end The Favorite must choose between saving herself and her sisters, resuscitating a princess and saving her kingdom or running away from it all and starting over.

“The Belles is a voluptuous, dazzling fairy tale of desire, ambition and unrelenting beauty.”―Holly Black, cocreator of New York Times best-selling series The Spiderwick Chronicles and author of Newberry Honor winner Doll Bones

TEN. One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake. My third YA series of the month, this book is the second book in the Three Dark Crowns series and is about the events that take place after The Quickening. Basically the three Queens have to kill one another until one is left standing to be called the true Queen. It’s a gripping series and one I can’t wait to read more of!

“Blake’s already pitch-dark tale shades even darker. Exquisitely restrained prose, deliberate pacing, paying off in a tumultuous climax that piles one shocking twist upon another. Achingly gorgeous and gruesomely fascinating.” -Kirkus Reviews

ELEVEN. The Cradle Will Fall by Mary Higgins Clark.  Oh how I love me some Mary Higgins Clark. She is truly a master murder mystery writer and one whose work I enjoy reading. I swear I have read The Cradle Will Fall before but I guess not! This book is about a woman who accidentally witnesses a crime and doesn’t realize it until she is investigating it as a part of her job as a county prosecutor. This book is about a mastermind doctor whose work is truly ahead of his time and a patient/prosecutor who may just end up his next victim.

TWELVE.  The Lifters by Dave Eggers. This book is by the author of The Circle which I talked about earlier in the post. He also writes YA books and this is one of them. This book is about a boy named Gran who friends a girl who can create doorways into the underground. It is in this space under the town they live in that they discover ways to save the town and essentially all the people in it. Very good read!!

“This book is a ripper, full of all the good stuff: adventure, mystery, and lots of great jokes.” – Mac Barnett, Caldecott Honor-winning author of Extra Yarn

THIRTEEN. The Curious Charms of Authur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick. This book reminds me a lot of The Bucket List. It’s about a man whose wife died and he discovers a charm bracelet tucked away in her belongings and decides to track down the history of each charm and it leads him on a fantastic journey! It’s a book of self-discovery and I am completely into those books right now. I loved this book!!!

“Phaedra Patrick understands the soul. Eccentric, charming, and wise…The Curious Charms is not just for those who are mourning over love or the past. This book will illuminate your heart.” — Nina George, New York Times bestselling author of The Little Paris Bookshop

And that, my friends, is what I’m reading in the month of August. If you want to catch up on my previous month’s book posts here are January, February, March, April, May, June and July!