What I Read In August 2025
My reading slowed down in July after quite a few big reading months, which is okay! Often when I share what I read in a single month, folks are floored and ask how I do it or say they could never find that much time. But the thing about reading is it ebbs and flows. There are entire months I won’t finish a book, and then there are months where I’ll read 10. That’s the beautiful thing about reading - it’s there when you need it.
In addition to falling down the Summer I Turned Pretty rabbit hole, I managed to read 5 books last month and make it over halfway through another one before my library got rid of all it’s copies. While I marked Bonesmith by Nicki Pau Preto, I have full plans of finishing it once I get a copy.
Keep reading below for my thoughts on the rest of the books I read!
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Now I want to know why we weren’t reading this book in school for a coming of age story in English class? I thought this was phenomenally written, a captivating story and overall I really enjoyed it. The story follows a young boy, Sandy Rogers, and his family in Kansas in the 1930s. From family deaths to scandals and racism, you follow along as Sandy attempts to make sense of his world.
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I ended up enjoying this book much more than I thought I would. Carrie Soto is an extremely unlikeable and abrasive character, but I still found myself rooting for her as she grappled with aging in an industry that only cheers for you when you are performing the way they want you to. This ended up being one of my favorite TJR books, falling under Atmosphere and then Daisy Jones.
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And just like that, she is finished with the TJR Universe. Malibu Rising was my last book of hers to read and it was a fun one to finish it all off with. Malibu Rising was interesting and I enjoyed listening to it on audio, but it didn’t blow me away. I did love the connection between this book and Carrie Soto Is Back - I’d recommend reading this one first before picking up Carrie Soto just so you’re reading along chronologically.
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This is the second book in the Flesh and False Gods series by Chloe Gong. I ended up enjoying this one even more than the first one, Immortal Longings. It was a great continuation of the series and left me wanting more with a good cliff hanger at the end. We’ll see how book 3 is next year!
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I had no idea what to expect from this book as I started it. Olivie Blake experiments a bit with the way the story is told and the timeline of events, which made for an interesting read and it added to the story in a lot of ways. The book follows Reagan, a bipolar woman with a criminal history and impulse control issues. She meets Aldo, an awkward, brilliant professor who relies heavily on routine and spends his days considering impossible problems.
Need other recommendations? Ask me for some ideas!