Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: August 2023

Back again for another fun month of book suggestions? Here are the things Kristin and I have been reading since the last wrap-up. Be sure to tell us if you see any of your favorite reads, something on the never-ending To-Be-Read list, or if you know of a comparable title we might enjoy. Thanks again for reading! Write on.

Kamryn:

Shockingly, I actually read a lot in the month of August. Two of the books I read were newer releases, while some were me continuing my ongoing quest to revisit some really good books I’ve read before. Since I went through quite a few books, I’ll list them out with a brief description to cover them as simply as possible.

1. The Stolen Heir by Holly Black

The Stolen Heir is a follow-up to Holly Black’s The Folk of the Air series, both of which I read at Kristin’s suggestion. I’m not really sure if these count as YA or New Adult, but think somewhere in there. Whereas the original series was more of a court drama filled with politics, spies, and romantic entanglements, Stolen Heir was a bit more of a traditional quest fantasy, which as I talked about previously I tend to like more plot-wise. Don’t get me wrong, all these books are very good fantasy novels and Holly Black is a master of plot twists. This follow-up novel primarily follows Suren and Oak (both of whom we’ve seen as children in the original series) several years later, and I liked that you got to see pieces of the story that weren’t revealed previously. I thought it was a good expansion of the story and am eager for the next one.

1. The Isles of the Gods by Amie Kaufman

This YA book was honestly one of my favorite reads of the year, which is a little bit funny since I didn’t really know about it before seeing it in the bookstore. At this point, I’ve read and enjoyed a lot of books Amie Kaufman has co-written, but this was the first book I’d read of hers that she’d written alone. I figured it was a pretty safe bet to buy on a whim- and also the cover is absolutely gorgeous and good covers can always sway me in the end.

If you saw my last blog, you’ll know I went into a long spiel about the interesting writing technique this book had, but beyond technique, I think it had a lot of my favorite story elements. Vibe-wise, it had a degree of elemental magic like, say, an Avatar: The Last Airbender, while also balancing humor and a swashbuckling mystical adventure like maybe a Pirates of the Caribbean might. It wasn’t really pirate-y in the same sense, but think of a sea adventure full of hilarious humor but also dark, treacherous twists in the same vein. I loved the technique, the characters, and the elements of the story. I desperately want the next book. This one’s going to be hard to beat!

1. The Ascendance Series by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Okay, so this was the revisit series for me. I had originally read the first three books several years ago, thinking they were a trilogy and that I wanted to read them again after enjoying them the first time. Apparently now though, there are at least two more books, so it was one of those things we’re I’d already been planning to go back to them, but then really wanted to once I discovered the story hadn’t actually finished.

Of the five books in this series I currently know about, I read the first three (The False Prince, The Runaway King, and The Shadow Throne) and am currently a little past midway through the fourth book, The Captive Kingdom. That sounds like a lot, but all these books are relatively short comparatively. I’m going to play it safe and call them YA, though you don’t have to worry about too much other than violence (war, interrogations, stuff like that). I can’t really get into the plot too much without spoiling things, but the first book follows a scheme to pass off an orphan as the long lost prince after the remainder of the royal family was murdered. Kind of an Anastasia-vibe, if you will, which is another type of trope I also tend to favor. These books are fast-paced, relatively short, and full of extremely hilarious sass- great if you’re looking for a fantasy story that’s an easy read.

In my previous blog, The Isles of the Gods book I mentioned above is a great story for playing off reader’s assumptions, but The Ascendance Series is an excellent example as well- I wanted to include it, but didn’t think I could without revealing too much of the plot. Once I finish Book 4, I’m planning to head to 5, which is called The Shattered Castle.

Kristin:

This month, I only have one book but boy is a good one. I read Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. It sat on my bookshelf for many months but finally I decided to read it. Honestly, this book is going on my list of top books I’ve read, ever. It is a retelling of Greek mythology so you know it’s not going to be a happy tale. It’s such a well-written and tragic love story, which is right up my alley.

If you want to read a story that has excellent writing technique this should definitely be on your list. The pacing is fantastic, the prose is lovely without being overly-complicated, and has a small cast of characters. Patroclus isn’t a very heroic character and honestly, he’s far more passive than usual protagonists but it doesn’t drag the story.

That’s all I have for this month. I did have a book that I started but it was a do-not-finish (DNF) for me. I don’t like talking negatively about books, especially one with as much as it has, but not every book is meant to be liked by everyone and we want to keep this blog as positive of an environment as possible. That being said, I spent way too much money at the bookstore while on vacation, and I am super excited about next month's books!