August 2025 Reading Recap

Fall is only 19 days away, and already the air is starting to turn crisp in the mornings and leaves are beginning to brown. I'm loving this cozy reading weather, how about you? 

Thanks to a few books I started in July but finished in August, as well as a couple audiobooks, I was able to read 11 books last month, beating my goal of 10 by one book! In addition, my church's book club has started back up, so the Book Club category is back. Huzzah!

All covers are linked to Goodreads.

Book Club

Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom, by Ilyon Woo

★★★★

Genre: Narrative Nonfiction

"The remarkable true story of Ellen and William Craft, who escaped slavery through daring, determination, and disguise, with Ellen passing as a wealthy, disabled White man and William posing as 'his' slave." (From Goodreads)

I appreciate how well-researched and sensitive to the topic this book was. I had never heard of the Crafts, and I loved learning about their lives as well as how their amazing story fit into the context of the U.S. at that time.

Fantasy/Sci-Fi Reading Challenge: A Dystopian Book

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

★★★★.5

Genre: YA Dystopian

"Winning means fame and fortune. Losing means certain death. The Hunger Games have begun ... In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love." (From Goodreads)

I think it's a testament to how good this book is that even though I already knew a bunch of the major plot points (including the berries), this book still hooked me from the very beginning and didn't let go until the very last page. Actually, not even then, because I immediately put Catching Fire on hold at the library. Katniss is such a great character and I really enjoyed living in her ruthlessly practical head.

Mood Reads

Aftertaste, by Daria Lavelle 

★★★★★

Genre: Fantasy

"What if you could have one last meal with someone you’ve loved, someone you’ve lost? Combining the magic of Under the Whispering Door with the high-stakes culinary world of Sweetbitter, Aftertaste is an epic love story, a dark comedy, and a synesthetic adventure through food and grief." (From Goodreads)

Okay, not only was the premise of this book fantastic, but the execution was incredible as well. I loved the sensorily rich writing, the complicated characters, and the ENDING–oh my goodness, it was exactly the kind of bittersweet ending I would try to write if I had more talent, and it just fit so perfectly with the rest of the book. Highly recommend! (I was a little confused about the timing of the aftertastes, though; like, is Kostya just cooking really fast? Or do they not fade as quickly as it seems like they did at first?) Also, I added this to my Cover Lovers Reading Challenge under the prompt "a spooky scene" even though it's not really a scene, but I just love the cover so much that I had to fit it into one of the prompts.

Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver

★★★★

Genre: Literary Fiction

"Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, this is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. In a plot that never pauses for breath, relayed in his own unsparing voice, he braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities." (From Goodreads)

First of all, I am in awe of Barbara Kingsolver as a writer. She somehow manages to craft an entirely distinct voice for each of her books (that I've read, anyway), and Demon was no exception. Funny story: I started listening to David Copperfield shortly after I began Demon Copperhead, not realizing that Demon Copperhead is a retelling of David Copperfield, and it took me way too long to figure it out. I think reading them at the same time gave me a deeper appreciation for both works–Kingsolver did an amazing job of translating Dickens' classic into modern terms so that we can appreciate the social mess he was deploring (and which is still an issue today). Reading them together is like reading a dialogue between two great writers in two different time periods.

First Love, Second Draft, by Becca Kinzer

★★★★

Genre: Christian Romance

"She’s a romance writer burned out on love. He’s her famous baseball star ex-husband. The last man she wants to be forced to work with is the one who broke her heart." (From Goodreads)

Becca Kinzer has done it again! I loved this, although I did find myself enjoying the unfolding of Matt and Rachel's relationship more than Noah and Gracie's second chance romance. Matt and Rachel were just more ... fun. I really enjoyed the ending of Noah and Gracie's story, though.

The Hemlock Queen, by Hannah F. Whitten

★★★

Genre: Fantasy

"In the second installment of New York Times bestselling author Hannah Whitten's lush, romantic epic fantasy series, a young woman who can raise the dead must navigate the dangerous and glamorous world of the Sainted King's royal court." (From Goodreads)

Not sure how I feel about this tbh. The writing style was starting to get on my nerves by the end.

National Month: Back to School

I Am Not Jessica Chen, by Ann Liang

★★★★

Genre: YA Romance

"After getting rejected by every single Ivy League she applied to and falling short of all her Asian immigrant parents’ expectations, seventeen-year-old Jenna Chen makes a wish to become her smarter, infinitely more successful Harvard-bound cousin, Jessica Chen—only for her wish to come true. Literally. Now trapped inside Jessica’s body, with access to Jessica’s most private journals and secrets, Jenna soon discovers that being the top student at the elite, highly competitive Havenwood Private Academy isn’t quite what she imagined. Worse, as everyone—including her own parents—start having trouble remembering who Jenna Chen is, or if she ever even existed, Jenna must decide if playing the role of the perfect daughter and student is worth losing her true self forever." (From Goodreads)

The most impressive thing about this book was that Jenna should have been insufferably annoying, with her constant self-pity and her stubborn refusal to learn her lesson until the very end. But she wasn't. Perhaps because she was so relatable; I've never actually wanted to be someone else, but I understand her restlessness, always wanting something else, something more. I loved how Jenna's artistic side came through in her descriptions of things, especially how she would just throw out really random colors, like "ocher" and "roseate". I really enjoyed this quick, engaging little read!

Nonfiction

1000 Words: A Writer's Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round, by Jami Attenberg

★★★★

Genre: Nonfiction

"Inspired by Jami Attenberg’s wildly popular literary movement #1000WordsofSummer, this writer’s guide features encouraging essays on creativity, productivity, and writing from acclaimed authors including Roxane Gay, Lauren Groff, Celeste Ng, Meg Wolitzer, and Carmen Maria Machado." (From Goodreads)

This book made me glad and proud and inspired to be a writer. I underlined so many sentences and I'm sure I'll come back to reread them again and again to remind myself why I love writing so much.

The Natural Pregnancy Book: Your Complete Guide to a Safe, Organic Pregnancy and Childbirth with Herbs, Nutrition, and Other Holistic Choices, by Aviva Romm

★★★★

Genre: Nonfiction

I'm not going to even put a blurb here because I feel like the title is self-explanatory. I really enjoyed this! Pregnancy is fascinating to me, and this book offered a pretty thorough overview of what to expect in pregnancy as well as how to care for yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually. (Disclaimer: I am NOT pregnant.)

Paper TBR

David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens (Audiobook)

★★★

Genre: Classic

"David Copperfield is the quintessential novel by England's most beloved novelist. Based in part on Dickens's own life, it is the story of a young man's journey from an unhappy and impoverished childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a successful novelist. Among its gloriously vivid cast of characters, he encounters his tyrannical stepfather, Mr. Murdstone; his formidable aunt, Betsey Trotwood; the eternally humble yet treacherous Uriah Heep; the frivolous, enchanting Dora; and one of literature's great comic creations, the magnificently impecunious Mr. Micawber-a character resembling Dickens's own father. In David Copperfield - the novel he described as his 'favorite child' - Dickens drew revealingly on his own experiences to create one of his most exuberant and enduringly popular works, filled with tragedy and comedy in equal measure." (From Goodreads)

Charles Dickens still isn't my favorite. For me, this ranked somewhere below A Tale of Two Cities and somewhere above Great Expectations (and WAY above Oliver Twist). I did enjoy parts of it, but why take five paragraphs to say something that should have taken a couple sentences?! (Just kidding, I was listening to this so I couldn't tell exactly how many paragraphs were used, but it felt like a lot.) Reading Demon Copperhead (which is a modern retelling of David Copperfield) at the same time helped me appreciate the story more. I will say that Charles Dickens describes characters really well, and the narrator did a fantastic job of reflecting that in his voices.

Such a Fun Age, by Kiley Reid (Audiobook)

★★★.5

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

"A striking and surprising debut novel from an exhilarating new voice, Such a Fun Age is a page-turning and big-hearted story about race and privilege, set around a young black babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a surprising connection that threatens to undo them both." (From Goodreads)

I appreciated the way this book explored two different types of insidious racism. It was definitely thought-provoking, but I wanted more closure. The book didn't end in a satisfying spot for me–but that's life, I guess.

Reading Challenge Updates

Organized challenges I'm participating in:

2025 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge - 4 books

Fantasy/Sci-Fi Reading Challenge - 1 book

2025 New Release Challenge - 3 books

Personal challenges:

Books I Didn't Get to Last Year - 1 book

National Month - 1 book

Middle Grade - 0 books

How was your August, reading-wise or just in general? Do you have any plans–reading-wise or just in general–for September? And are you excited for fall?! 🍂