August 2018 - Paperback Patronus

I’m having a hard time believing it’s already August. There’s less than a month until I’m back at work!! I saw an image on Instagram this morning by @letterfolk with a quote that said:

“How is it already August…
Tomorrow is basically September.
It’s already 2019.
Happy New Year.”

That pretty much sums up how I’m feeling. Time flies! I had a fantastic reading month in July, and I’m hoping to do the same this month, before work gets going again and I start my Master’s.

So, without further ado, here’s my August TBR.

A Court of Mist and Fury – Sarah J. Maas
How They Met – David Levithan
A Man Called Ove – Fredrik Backman
The Sky is Everywhere – Jandy Nelson
The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo – Amy Schumer
Fierce Kingdom – Gin Phillips
The Boat People – Sharon Bala
Precious Cargo – Craig Davidson
Tarzan of the Apes – Edgar Rice Burroughs
A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini
Hollow City – Ransom Riggs (I accidentally put Library of Souls, book 3, in the photo, but I haven’t read book 2 yet)
Lion – Saroo Brierley
P.S. I Still Love You – Jenny Han
The Fledgling – Jane Langton (The Hall Family Chronicles #4)
The Fragile Flag – Jane Langton (The Hall Family Chronicles #5)
The Time Bike – Jane Langton (The Hall Family Chronicles #6)
A Dance with Dragons – George R. R. Martin

How I chose

I decided to go for a huge stack so that I could mood read from it this month. Mood reading worked really well for me last month, even though I didn’t officially choose a TBR. I also wanted to diversify my list a bit more and read some Canadian Literature (CanLit).

Where I’m at, and what I’m looking forward to!

I started reading The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo on the last day of July, and I’m almost done. Andrew and I are heading to Seattle to see the Jays-Mariners series today, so I don’t know how much reading I’ll get done, but we’ll see!

I think I’m most excited to read the CanLit (The Boat People, Precious Cargo) and the diverse reads (A Thousand Splendid Suns, Lion) on this list.

My classic choice for the month

Since March, I’ve attempted to read one classic per month. This month I’ve chosen Tarzan of the Apes! Should be fun!

Even though it’s a purposely big TBR for mood reading…

I still think I have a pretty good chance of finishing these because I’m still off work for summer!

Time to finish my packing and choose my weekend book list!

Happy reading, book badgers!

– Paperback Patronus

This July, I had my second best reading month of 2018 (and probably ever). In January, my best reading month, I read 23 books. This month, I read 21 hard copy books, and 1 audiobook!

Goodreads tells me that I’ve read 86 books so far this year. That’s 78% of my total target of 110 books for the year. Last year, my target was 100 books and I read 105, which is why I set my target at 110 this year. It’s looking like I’m going to smash everything out of the park! However, I am starting grad school in September so I have literally zero expectations for the last four months of this year.

So, here it is, my July Wrap-Up!

The 21 physical books I read. The audiobook was *Crazy Rich Asians*.

Crossroads and the Dominion of Four – C. Toni Graham ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Vile Village – Lemony Snicket ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Marrow Thieves – Cherie Dimaline ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Hostile Hospital – Lemony Snicket ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Carnivorous Carnival – Lemony Snicket ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Slippery Slope – Lemony Snicket ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Grim Grotto – Lemony Snicket ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Penultimate Peril – Lemony Snicket ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The End – Lemony Snicket ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The End of Oz – Danielle Paige ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Legendary – Stephanie Garber ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Stars Above – Marissa Meyer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Traitor to the Throne – Alwyn Hamilton ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ten Thousand Skies Above You – Claudia Gray ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
All the Bright Places – Jennifer Niven ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Diamond in the Window – Jane Langton ⭐⭐⭐
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Hero at the Fall – Alwyn Hamilton ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Crazy Rich Asians (audiobook) – Kevin Kwan ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Swing in the Summerhouse – Jane Langton ⭐⭐⭐
The Woman in Cabin 10 – Ruth Ware ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Astonishing Stereoscope – Jane Langton ⭐⭐⭐

Again, that’s a total of 22 books!

Did I Meet My TBR Expectations?

I actually didn’t set a TBR this month. From March – June this year I really slumped, so I decided just to mood read for July. I have to say, it went pretty well for me! But I’m definitely getting back on the TBR train for August. That will be my next post!

The Unread Shelf Project 2018 July Challenge

Over at theunreadshelf, the July challenge was called “Finish That Series.” I have a ton of unfinished series on my unread shelf, so I took that challenge to heart. The result was that only three books that I read this month were not a part of a series!

Notable Reads This Month

Overall, my favourite books of this month were Hero at the Fall, Legendary, and The Marrow Thieves. Shoutout to The Marrow Thieves for being awesome CanLit. I met Cherie Dimaline because she did an author talk at my work, and she’s rad. Plus, shoutout to Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children for being really unique and creative, because I loved reading about Riggs’ project with the found photos that inspired the story.

As for ratings, this month was quite high!

What’s Next?

I’m off work for August just like I was for July, so I’m setting myself an ambitious TBR. I’m also planning to continue catching up on reviews, so look out for those on here!

Happy reading!