I had such a great reading month last month – not only did I read a lot, but I felt like it was a good mix of genres, and a lot of the books were just really good, too. It’s hard to pick favorites, but Katabasis definitely lived up to my expectations, and What Hunger completely took me by surprise, in the best way! But those weren’t the only books I liked – read on to see everything I read in August.
The Phoenix Pencil Company by Allison King
(Thanks to Libro.fm for my copy!) This is a generational story about a family who has the ability to “reforge” pencils, and reveal the stories (and secrets) that had been written with them. During WWII, Yun and her cousin learn this secret of their family, and then are forced to become spies as the government also learns of their family’s ability. Years later, Yun’s granddaughter Monica lives a life largely online, where she works on a program meant to connect people through journals they write online. When Monica goes to live with Yun as her memory starts to fade, she also tries to use her software to connect Yun with her long-lost cousin, and the two stories unravel together. I loved that it was a story about stories – and who our stories belong to. It felt maybe a bit long, but it was really beautiful and meaningful.
Bookshop.org | Libro.fm | Amazon
Maggie; Or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar by Katie Yee
I really loved this short and sad but funny book! A woman goes out to dinner with her husband thinking all is well, only to learn he’s been cheating on her and is leaving her for a woman named Maggie. Days later, she learns she has breast cancer, and decides to give the tumor the same name. The rest of the story unfolds as she adjusts to her new life and goes through treatment, cycling through all the emotions with her best friend by her side. It’s hard for me to “explain” this book as it’s kind of a slice-of-life, but most of all it felt hopeful, which is maybe unexpected for a story that’s so seemingly about loss. And I really always love a story that highlights how powerful female friendships are, which this one definitely did.
Bookshop.org | Libro.fm | Amazon
Tart by Slutty Cheff
(Thanks to Libro.fm for my copy!) This was, unfortunately, probably my least favorite book of the month. I didn’t realize that this author runs an anonymous blog, and this book is a spin-off of that. Basically, this book chronicled her life working in restaurants, and her dating and sex life at the same time. It was fine, but just felt like it had no real narrative arc… the author felt like she was at the same mental and emotional place at the end of the book that she was in the beginning. It just wasn’t for me!
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The Sirens by Emilia Hart
I loved this author’s first book, Weyward, and was really looking forward to her next one! It didn’t quite have the same magic of the first for me, but I still really enjoyed it. It has three different timelines, following different women – the 1800s, where two sisters are on a convict ship bound for Australia, the late 90s, where Jess feels like she doesn’t belong and isn’t understood until her art teacher believes in her talent, and 2019, when Lucy has just had an explicit picture of her shared without her consent. Each of the women have been wronged by a man in different ways, and their stories are all tied together in a way that’s not immediately clear. It took a bit for me to feel invested in the story (and I had a sense what the “twist” was going to be), but I always am up for a story about women getting revenge on men who have wronged them.
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What Hunger by Catherine Dang
(Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for my copy!) This book! Such a weird little book, but so compulsive and incredible – once it got going, I absolutely could not put it down, and never knew what was going to happen next. Ronny and Tommy are sister and brother, the only children of their immigrant parents, who never really talk about their life in Vietnam. Tommy is the golden child, but has recently started pushing back at his parents and their ways of thinking, and Ronny largely feels unseen and unheard. When something horrible happens, Ronny doesn’t know how to cope with her new normal, and finds herself striking out in an extremely unexpected way. This is also a book about female rage, but also about generational trauma and family history. I don’t want to give more away, but if you’re into weird books, definitely read this one.
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All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
I’m about a year late to this book, but it’s a really powerful litfic mixed with mystery, and I get why so many people were talking about it last summer! In the late 70s in a small town in Missouri, Saint and Patch are best friends. One day, Patch bravely saves a girl from being kidnapped, and this act changes his life for years to come, in ways he never could’ve imagined. Saint and Patch both grow up, but their lives continue to intersect, both indelibly changed by that one day of their childhood. I kind of felt like this meandered a bit at times, but that’s kind of like Saint’s and Patch’s lives… and just like the two of them, it always found it’s way back. Don’t expect a fast-paced mystery, but the payoff is worth it.
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You Wanna Be on Top? by Sarah Hartshorne
I loved this memoir from one of the contestants of America’s Next Top Model about her time on the show (and before and after, too). I wasn’t an ANTM megafan, but as someone who was a teen when the show was at it’s peak, it was inescapable, and I watched at least a few of the seasons! I’m not sure if I watched Sarah’s or not, but regardless, it was so interesting to hear about the behind-the-scenes of her time on the show… and especially her time after, once she was eliminated but before the show ended. If you’re at all a fan of the show (or interested in the behind-the-scenes of reality TV), definitely read this!
Bookshop.org | Libro.fm | Amazon
The Will of the Many by James Islington
It’s been a while since I’ve been into a high fantasy, but when my friend Sophia recommends something, I trust her! This is set in a version of the Roman Empire, kind of, and Vis has been orphaned after his family was killed when the Hierarchy took over his family’s lands. He has been in hiding, living under a secret identity, until someone discovers who he really is and forces him to work as a spy, sending Vis to the Academy to be trained while also discovering the Hierarchy’s secrets. There’s a lot of world building at the beginning – it’s definitely set up for a larger series – but worth it! I was fully invested by the end and can’t wait for the next book.
The Ascent by Allison Buccola
(Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for my copy!) I love a thriller that involves a cult! Lee was the sole survivor of a cult disappearance as a child, and has spent the rest of her life trying to hide and distance herself from her past. She’s now married with a newborn daughter, but her husband doesn’t have any idea about her childhood secrets. One day, someone claiming to be her sister shows up, and Lee can’t believe that she’s been right for so many years – that her family wasn’t dead, but just in hiding. Some things, though, really are too good to be true – is this one of them? There were some parts of this that were a little too unbelievable for me (you wouldn’t even try to make sure it’s really your sister???), but overall, it was a fun ride!
Bookshop.org | Libro.fm | Amazon
Bog Queen by Anna North
(Thanks to Libro.fm for my early copy – this will be out October 14, 2025.) I wasn’t totally sure if I was going to be into this story when I realized one of the POVs was actually the bog itself, but I ended up really enjoying it. There are two main POVs – one is a Druid woman at the very beginning of the Roman empire, and the other is Agnes, a forensic anthropologist who is called to uncover the mystery of the body in the bog – with occasional interjections from the bog, too. I loved the stories of both women, coming into their own in different ways. Their stories complemented each other and didn’t compete, which was great, and I enjoyed them both equally.
Bookshop.org | Libro.fm | Amazon
Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
I was so excited for Katabasis, and it totally lived up to the hype for me! It’s a dark academia fantasy book set in Cambridge in the 1980s, where two students – Alice and Peter, once friends but now graduate student rivals – decide they must journey to Hell to bring back their Professor (and dissertation advisor). As someone who worked in academia for years, the misogyny that’s so inherent in academia rang extremely true! This definitely isn’t a light read – there’s a lot of philosophy – but I think it’s up to you how deeply you want to think about each of the proofs and/or paradoxes. You can still easily follow the story without going down any Wikipedia rabbit holes! I really loved this.
