Taylor Swift was right: August DID slip away like a moment in time.
I’m starting to feel like a broken record with these wrap-ups, because August was really just…another month. A month of waiting, of alternating between numb to everything that’s happening and getting so angry I want to scream, a month of wondering if we’ll ever get through this. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to go through this 2020 Issues carrd and find out ways to help. And to anyone in the US, I beg you to make sure you and your loved ones are all registered to vote.
At the end of July, I mentioned that I was going to try posting less often to see if that would bring back some of my blogging motivation. It…hasn’t really. I’ll probably still be posting less than twice a week for the time being, though I don’t know exactly what my plan is. Everything in my life right now is basically one big ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Anyways…in August, I read 11 books, with an average rating of 3.6 stars. Much better than July in terms of number of books, though worse in terms of quality. Hmm. Hopefully, September (how is it already September??) will change that, since I’ve checked out approximately 5 million books from my library and have a lot of reading to do!
Books I read
The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell ⭐️⭐️/5
Genuinely disappointed that I disliked this book, which I fully expected to love. I’ll have a mini review up eventually, but basically: it was slow, I didn’t really care about any of the characters, and I didn’t understand the magic??
Avatar: the Last Airbender – The Promise by Gene Luen Yang ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Mini review here. My first foray in the Avatar comics weren’t quite as satisfying as I’d hoped…but I still plan to read more of them. (Also, there are so many more than I thought there were!)
The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Mini review here. This YA urban fantasy with elements of Chinese folklore was fun and imaginative, though sometimes a little too ~quirky~ for my taste.
Technically, You Started It by Lana Wood Johnson ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
Mini review here. A sweet romance told all through text messages! I had a good time reading this, even if it did leave me wanting a little more.
Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
Mini review here. A lovely, ghostly story with #ownvoices ace and Lipan Apache representation! I enjoyed the characters and the story, even if the writing left something to be desired.
Always Human by Ari North ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
I read this sci-fi romance as a webcomic back in the day when it was still being released, so it’s very exciting to get to read it as a physical book! You can go read it on Webtoon starting here, but the book is also beautiful — and if you do read it, you should also listen to the music alongside it!
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Learn more about the US justice system, they said. It won’t make you want to tear your hair out, they said. Even though I learned a lot about the prison system and the death penalty in college, it’s still interesting to read about real world cases and learn more about the ongoing fight for justice. Although everything about it is incredibly infuriating and exhausting.
Wonder by R.J. Palacio ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Mini review here. I feel like this middle grade book is already a modern classic, and I’m very glad to have finally read it. My heart is so full!
The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Mini review here. A beautiful book in verse about growing up and identity that made me feel all the feels. I recommend this one on audiobook!
Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
I did it, I read the book everyone was telling me to read! And it was beautiful and heartbreaking, just like you all promised. I can’t wait to read the sequel! Mini review to come.
Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert (Brown Sisters #2) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
The sequel to Get a Life, Chloe Brown was freaking adorable and Talia Hibbert is officially one of my favorite romance authors. I would protect Zafir Ansari with my life. Mini review to come!
Other things
Hmm, I’m struggling to think of what even happened this month. August wasn’t the most interesting time in my life, that’s for sure. I worked a lot. I read a lot, obviously.
I still have folklore by Taylor Swift on repeat. Since my family decided to keep our Disney+ account for another month, I watched Hamilton for…the fourth time, I think? I also watched the musical Newsies (the 2017 stage version), which I knew almost nothing about going in, and I came to the conclusion that Jeremy Jordan is a gift to humanity.
A couple days ago at work was Independent Bookstore Day, which was delayed from April. The store where I work is able to have in-store shoppers, and even though it certainly wasn’t up to the level of last year, it was still a fun and busy day! One of the things I miss most right now is having, you know, events and things to look forward to, so it was nice to have that little bit of almost normal for a moment.
Oh! I won a giveaway! I’ve never won a giveaway before. Not only that, but it was from one of my favorite authors, Shannon Hale who now follows me on Twitter it’s fine I’m chill. Eight-year-old Margaret, who built her entire identity around loving The Goose Girl, would be freaking out (let’s be real, twenty-three-year-old Margaret is freaking out). So now I have two new books that I’m very excited to read: Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko and The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton!
The unfortunate news is that I have officially run out of space on my bookshelves and I have no idea what to do.
August blog posts
I posted much less than usual in August, but in case you missed anything…
Recently Read Books 🍉 Recommendations: books that feel like a hug 🍉 ARC Review: Kind of a Big Deal by Shannon Hale 🍉 Never Have I Ever Writing Tag 🍉 more Recently Read Books
And sadly, I didn’t do as much blog hopping as I would have liked, though I still did find some wonderful posts around the blogosphere that you should check out if you haven’t already!
🍉 Rhi @ Marshmallow Harmonies recommended books based on mood, which is a fantastic and underrated way of recommending books in my opinion.
🍉 Kay @ Hammock of Books talked about being a biracial reviewer and what #ownvoices means in relation to that — a wonderfully written and thought-provoking discussion!
🍉 Chana @ Paper Procrastinators listed all the books she’d die in, which I found incredibly relatable because I too would not make it in a fantasy world.
🍉 Abby @ Beyond the Read celebrated Women’s Equality Day by recommending books by female BIPOC authors, including some books that I also loved and others that are on my TBR!
🍉 The Orangutan Librarian ranked the “worst” fantasy tropes from great to the actual worst, which was very entertaining.
🍉 Fatma @ The Book Place recommended backlist books by Black authors, none of which I’ve read yet but all of which I want to now!
🍉 Marie @ drizzleandhurricanebooks talked about fake engagement in blogging, why she doesn’t like it, and tips for building genuine connections.
🍉 Caitlin @ Caitlin Althea wrote a brilliant intro to book blogging, which I want to make everyone read to appreciate what we bloggers do!
Since I’ve been not great about reading blog posts lately, please comment with any post(s) from August that you’re proud of, and I’ll do my best to check them out! ❤
September TBR
- The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow (eARC; release: Oct. 13)
- Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
- Almost Like Being in Love by Steve Kluger
- The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi (eARC; release: Sept. 22)
- Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth (eARC; release: Oct. 20)
- The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life by Dani Jansen (eARC; release: Sept. 22)
- Ana on the Edge by A.J. Sass (eARC; release: Oct. 20)
- Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
Wow, the color scheme of the books I’m reading are even kinda fall-themed. That’s pretty cool.
How was your month? What did you read in August? What blog posts from the past month should I check out?
x Margaret
goodreads | twitter | bookshop
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Weird Zeal 
Ahhh thanks so much for mentioning my post, Margaret! ❤️ And hey, watching Hamilton for the fourth time — me too, it’s fine, I’m not obsessed at all, nope! And Jeremy Jordan was indeed spectacular in Newsies. ☺️ I hope you have a beautiful September with lots and lots of good books!
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You’re so welcome! Ahaha rewatching Hamilton over and over is always a great choice 😉 Thanks so much, I hope you have a lovely September too! ❤
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So glad that you liked Darius the Great, Wonder, Just Mercy, and Elatsoe! Raybearer is on my TBR too, I can’t wait to hear your thoughts 🙂
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Thanks so much! 😀 Ahh I’m excited to read Raybearer – I hope we both enjoy it!
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NEWSIES. I’m so happy you’ve seen it because it is so underrated! Jeremy Jordan and Ben Frankenhauser and their voices are iconic honestly.
I feel like I’ve seen quite a few people mention Wonder recently and I really want to reread it. Maybe one to add to the September tbr because I really enjoyed it first (and second) time around. Felix Ever After is also on my tbr and I’m excited to get to that one! It’s not available as an ebook at the moment which is a shame so I’m not sure how long it will take for me to get to it though.
Loved reading this post and hope September is a great month for you! (I initially wrote hope October is great for you and also put August tbr instead of September so I honestly don’t know what’s happening to time this year haha).
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Newsies was wonderful! 😀 And I hope you enjoy your Wonder reread if you decide to pick it up again soon. Ahh hopefully you’ll be able to get ahold of Felix Ever After before too long – I can’t wait to read it!
HAH I relate to your month confusion 😅 How is it September?? At any rate, I hope it’s a lovely month for you too ❤
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your September tbr looks soooooo good, I am excited for so many of those books!! I really hope you enjoy Felix Ever After, it’s so good 😭 also I still can’t get over that The Shannon Hale follows you 😱 and because of Twitter’s weird algorithm she might see my tweets too 😱😱😱😱 absolutely wild
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Me rting/liking your tweets from now on: for Shannon 😘
I have some seriously amazing books to read in September and I cannot wait 😱
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So bummed about The Last Magician! Sorry you did not enjoy it. I’ve heard lots of great things about it, so I’ll make sure and head into it knowing it might be a bit slow. Happy reading this next month!
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I was so sad about The Last Magician too! If you do end up picking it up, I hope you end up liking it more than I did. Happy September to you too!
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Congrats on winning the giveaway!! I’ve never won one either, but here’s hoping one day I finally will!! 😂I’ve only watched Hamilton all the way through once, but def need to go and do a rewatch because ugh perfecton *chefs kiss*. I absolutely adored Felix Ever After, I hope you really like it when you get to it this month! ♥
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Thanks so much, ahhh it was such a lovely surprise! Fingers crossed that you’ll win one someday too 🤞 Rewatching Hamilton sounds like a great plan. And I can’t wait to get to Felix Ever After!!
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Such an amazing post, I loved the post mentioned above, I already checked out some of them! 🙂 11 books sounds amazing, and you had a bit of everything.
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Hooray, so glad to hear it! Thanks, it was a pretty good reading month 😊 Happy September!
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I know exactly what you mean about August just being another month. September really has come around fast.
I’m so excited to see that you loved Take a Hint, Dani Brown because I really want to read that soon. I have heard nothing but great things so far. I also really want to read Darius the Great is Not Okay so I’m glad you enjoyed that too!
Congratulations on winning a giveaway too! That must have been very exciting! I have heard amazing things about Raybearer in particular, so I hope you love it 🙂
I’m hoping to read Felix Ever After this month too – I’m excited to see what you think!
I hope you have a spectacular September Margaret!!
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I’m truly astonished that it’s already September. How did that happen??
Ahh I hope you love Dani Brown too!! And Darius the Great! Both are such wonderful books ❤
Winning that giveaway was such a lovely surprise, and I can't wait to read Raybearer 😀 I hope we both enjoy Felix Ever After this month!
Happy September to you too ❤
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That opening!!! August sounds like a great reading month for you, I hope September will be better since you have quite the titles there 🙂 Congratulations on winning the giveaway!
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Taylor Swift knows all 😉 Thanks so much, I’m really hoping for some great books in September! Hope it’s a wonderful month for you too 😊
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You had a good reading month! I want to read Darius the Great Is Not Okay next month. And Elatsoe sounds so unique!
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Thanks so much! 😊 I hope you enjoy Darius the Great when you pick it up!
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Taylor Swift was definitely right, haha!! I didn’t read as much as I wanted to in August, but I’m hoping to get back on track in September. You’ve got me interested in the audiobook for The Black Flamingo; I’m going to check it out!
Also Newsies is great! Jeremy Jordan really is a gift 😀
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Taylor Swift is ALWAYS right. I hope you’re able to find lots of great books in September! And hooray, I’m glad I could get you interested in the audiobook of The Black Flamingo 😀 Yesss, Jeremy Jordan is indeed a gift ❤
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Ahhhh, I hope you love Felix Ever After! It was definitely my favorite contemporary so far this year, and the news that it’s getting adapted into a show is just literally everything that I wanted in life? In fact, I recently posted about how I wanted it to be a show instead of a movie, and I feel like I predicted the future? Everything is great, it’s going to be amazing, 2021 HERE WE COME.
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I’m SO excited for Felix Ever After ❤ And YES what perfect timing that the adaptation was announced just as I put it on my TBR and you posted about it! 2021 better be the BEST YEAR EVER (please)
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i’m so so happy you loved Darius the Great!!! one of my favorite books and it deserves so much more popularity in general ❤ I think about Darius everyday of my life, what an amazing character and story, i'm getting overwhelmed all over again sdkjf
amazing post!!!
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I’m so glad too! Ahh that’s wonderful that it means so much to you 😊 Truly an incredible book!
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ahhh love this post SO MUCH!
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Thanks so much! 😊
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Ok building your childhood identity on loving Goose Girl is a mood lol
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Ahaha we were obviously the coolest kids 😉
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thanks so much for including my post, margaret!! and i really feel you about genie lo. it was trying so hard to be quirky and funny that it got so annoying and i grew tired of genie and quentin’s antics 😭 and i relate so much to what you said in the beginning. every month in 2020 is just hell all over again :(( i think we’re all excited for 2021, but i’m honestly losing hope that it’s gonna be a better year bc most of us are not handling this pandemic well at all, and something bad is happening every month 🙃
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You’re so welcome! 😊
Ahh yep that was really what bothered me most about Genie Lo. And yes, 2020 just keeps disappointing us over and over, huh? I would love to be optimistic about 2021, but at this point?? Seems unlikely. Nevertheless, fingers crossed.
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I cannot wait to get round to the black flamingo but still not sure whether to buy it so I can have my own pwetty cover or just get it out the library (the classic bookworm conundrum) 😬
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I hope you enjoy it!! And yes, I can completely relate to that dilemma 😅
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August was truly so weird, I had no concept of time this month 😂
Happy to see that you liked Technically, You Started It! It was such a fun, quick read for me as well! I was also disappointed by The Last Magician, I had such an interesting premise but I didn’t care about anything at all 😰
Good luck with your September TBR! I hope you like Felix Ever After, it’s a fantastic book 🥰 I’ll also be reading The Silvered Serpents! I haven’t managed to start it yet, as I’m a bit afraid of what’ll happen to the characters 😱
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Right? 😂 Ah yes, I’m so disappointed that The Last Magician wasn’t more of a success 😭
Thanks so much, I’m so excited for many of the books on my September tbr! I just started Felix Ever After and loving it so far 😄 And yesss I’m very excited but also nervous for The Silvered Serpents 😱
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