Monthly Wrap-Up – August 2021

Hello everyone,

The end of summer here in the UK has almost arrived and although the warmth may be lingering into September, gone are the days where it remains light beyond 8pm. That may be an unwelcome by-product of the changing seasons, but then again there is nothing you cannot love about the arrival of the autumnal vibes.

We have all of that to look forward to, but this post is all about what happened in August! For me it was an extremely busy month and a very enjoyable one, as I read a handful of magnificent books and went on some wonderful days out which I look back on with the utmost fondness.

One of those was on my birthday. I spent the day in my local seaside town, taking walks along the beach and treating myself to a very nice lunch. I received two books on the day, and throughout August I added a total of nine books to my collection, which is a much more sizeable haul than normal – I just could not resist!

As for the books I actually read in August, there were five of them and they included my first five-star reads for six months, so it was a long time coming. Here they all are…

Guilt ⭐⭐⭐.5
Daisy Jones And The Six ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lies Like Wildfire ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Kill Joy ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
That Night ⭐⭐⭐.5

Despite all the rave reviews, I had been slightly reluctant to pick up a book by Taylor Jenkins Reid, but finally I picked up my copy of Daisy Jones And The Six and ended up being totally enraptured by it. In what has been a slightly disjointed year for me in terms of reading, it helped me fall back in love with it again.

Then I picked up Kill Joy, which is a gem of a prequel to A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder. I was honestly smiling all the way through as I read it; for me it was absolute perfection! There were two blog tours, and I was especially chuffed by how Lies Like Wildfire exceeded my expectations with a gripping, fascinating plot.

As for September, I have a very exciting array of books lined up. It has begun with a buddy read of Mrs England by Stacey Halls which has been truly wonderful, and I recently started Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager, my first book by an author who seems synonymous with thrillers. I also have buddy reads coming up for Mexican Gothic and Luck Of The Titanic, as well as a couple more on the monthly TBR which I am yet to decide upon.

This month I am hoping to find a new routine for myself which will help me become more organised and use my time more efficiently. I already get through a lot – especially considering the fact I work full-time and live independently – but there are definitely ways to improve my productivity, so wish me luck!

Speaking of work, I shall finally be returning to the office next week, for one day initially before coming back on a slightly more regular basis at the start of the university term. It has been a long time coming as I much prefer being on campus to working from home – I started my current job back in March and still have not met any of my colleagues in person.

As I mentioned earlier I was lucky to have some exciting days out in August. The first of them was to see an extraordinary art installation of the planet Mars, then on the day before my birthday I went to the nearby town of Clevedon, where I took a nice walk along the coast and did some book shopping.

At the end of the month I went to Chester to stay with my Grandma for a week. It was the first time I had visited for so long because of the pandemic, and it felt amazing to back there, in an area that is very close to my heart. My destination on the final day of August was Liverpool, where I attended the art gallery and the iconic Albert Dock.

In terms of other media, my favourite band are The Killers and they released a new album on my birthday which was a nice present! It was slightly different to their normal fare and is almost like a documentary in musical form, but while some songs are slow burners there are others which in my opinion rank among their very best. Meanwhile, the main television highlight was the second and final series of Baptiste; ceaselessly gripping with magnificent performances from the two lead actors.

I usually finish my monthly wrap-ups with a list of my favourite blog posts from the month, but because I have not been able to keep track of them as well as I would like, I cannot do that this time so I apologise. I promise to be back on my game in September! Instead, I would like to give a massive shout out to two of my fellow book bloggers who both have some exciting things on the go.

Firstly to my friend Pauliina @ The Bookaholic Dreamer, who is conducting a research study into reading habits as part of her PhD. She is currently recruiting participants, so if you might be interested you can visit the website for more information and how to take part. You get an infographic at the end about the way you read, which sounds both fun and interesting too!

Also to Zoe, who released her first novel, Ouija, last week – so exciting! The blog tour has recently been taking place and the reviews have been great. I find her very inspiring!

I hope you all have a wonderful September!

Happy reading 🙂