Where did August go?! Seriously. The month flew by, but at least I can say I got a lot done. I had tons of doctor’s appointments this month. Those aren’t really ever fun, but at least I can now confirm I’m still free of any metastatic disease (AKA no signs of cancer recurrence)! I also got quite a bit done around the house, bought a new dryer that I love and makes laundry go so much faster, and helped my in-laws haul off my wife’s old clunker of a car that has been sitting in our garage for a year. So, I’d say that’s a pretty great month. With all the activity, I haven’t been in the mood to blog as much, but I’m going to try to do better in September. Without further ado, let’s jump to what I’m sure you all came here for – my reading progress!!

Books I’ve Read

I was super successful with my reading this month! I completed all the common challenge and fantasy challenges for Trope-ical Read-a-thon, along with reading one of the fantasy team books. This was the first time I’ve had a clean sweep of all the challenges and the team book. I guess my third time participating was the charm! I always enjoy this read-a-thon and recommend it to anyone looking to participate in a team-based read-a-thon. The next round will be in March 2023. Let’s take a look at what I read and the corresponding prompts (ratings link to my reviews when available):

• Absent/Dead Parents – Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare (4⭐)
• Love Triangle – The Dragon’s Promise by Elizabeth Lim (4⭐)
• The New Kid in Town – High Times in the Low Parliament by Kelly Robson (3⭐)
• A Borrowed Book – Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim (5⭐)
• Takes Place in Another Country – Longshadow by Olivia Atwater (4⭐)
• Blast from the Past – The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (4⭐)
• An Audiobook or Ebook – The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez (5⭐)
• A Comfort Read – This Is Why They Hate Us by Aaron H. Aceves (5⭐)
• A Book in a Series – Second Spear by Kerstin Hall (3⭐)
• Celebrity – Husband Material by Alexis Hall (5⭐)
• Multiple POV – The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri (5⭐)
• Bookish Themes – Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (4⭐)
• Book with TV Show Adaptation – Storm Front by Jim Butcher (4⭐)
• Book with Pre-modern-inspired Setting – The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones (4⭐)
• Dwindling Magic – Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke (4⭐)
• Team Book – Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger (4⭐)

I also participated in the Autumn Equinox session of the Magical Read-a-thon in August. In case you need a refresher on my read-a-thon character Padwin, you can find it here. In the spring, Padwin started his studies to become a Dream Walker. He completed all of his coursework in preparation for the exams this term. This session he needed to complete eight classes (read eight books) to achieve the scores necessary for his chosen profession. Padwin successfully earned those grades:

O in Alchemy
Q in Art of Illusion
O in Spells & Incantations
D in Psionics & Divination
O in Lore

Most of the books used to earn the grades overlapped with the books read for the Trope-ical Read-a-thon. There was only one book that did not:

Time Theory I – This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtab & Max Gladstone (4⭐)

In addition to the read-a-thons, I set out to read quite a few other books this month. I wasn’t quite as successful with this set as I was with the ones I picked for the Magical Read-a-thon, but I was able to use some of them for the Trope-ical Read-a-thon. So, many of them rolled over into my September TBR or will be in other TBRs before the end of the year (hopefully). The only book I read from this set that wasn’t included in one of the read-a-thons is listed below:

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland (5⭐)

Progress On My 2022 Reading Goals

Goodreads Challenge

I’ve surpassed my goal of 100 books for the year! I read 18 books in August, which brings my total so far for the year up to 123! I don’t plan to set a new goal. Instead, I’m just going to keep reading as much as possible to see how high I can get the number before the end of the year.

NetGalley Progress

I wanted to end the year with at least 50 reviews completed for NetGalley and a feedback ratio of at least 80%. I met my goal of 50 total NetGalley reviews back in April. So, that one is done! In August, I completed another 7 reviews for NetGalley. My ratio inched up to 76% despite getting approved for some new books too. My pending request shelf was actually EMPTY for approximately a week during August, which hasn’t happened since I started my account. Hopefully, I can continue to be a bit more discerning about what I request…

Read More Nonfiction

There was no nonfiction in my reading in August. I’ve technically already met my goal for the year since I’ve already read more than two nonfiction books, but I’d like to squeeze in at least one more before 2022 is over.

Read More Comics

I’ve set the goal of reading all the comics I buy during the week I buy them. So…this still hasn’t been happening. As predicted, I didn’t get to read any comics in August at all. 😦 I was focused on spending all my free time on completing my read-a-thon goals. Hopefully I’ll have the time to work on getting caught up in September.

#BeatTheBacklog

I’m trying to focus on having a majority of the books I read this year be books I bought, borrowed, or received prior to January 1, 2022. In August, only 22% of the books I read were bought, borrowed, or received prior to 2022. That is an improvement over recent months, but it is still pretty abysmal. Most of my reading has been focused on ARCs or new releases, and it definitely shows in these stats.

Finish Some Series

I plan to finish or catch up on the following 5 series by the end of this year:

·  The Broken Earth by N.K. Jemisin

·  Arthurian Saga by Mary Stewart

·  The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune

·  Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling

·  A shit ton of different Shadowhunters books by Cassandra Clare

I finished Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare in August. So, that’s one down and a ridiculous amount left to go.

Final Thoughts

I’ve decided not to include a list of blog posts because they are all available in the archives, which are conveniently sorted by month. I didn’t really do many blog posts other than book reviews and WWW Wednesday because I haven’t really been in the mood lately to sit down and do a ton of writing.

Overall, this has been a great month of reading. Most of the books were 4- or 5-star reads, which was awesome. I enjoyed participating in both of these read-a-thons, and I’ve done really well on some of my goals while continuing to flounder on a couple others.

Thank you to everyone who has visited the blog and engaged with comments and/or likes! I appreciate all of you and always enjoy reading your input in the comments. I hope everyone has a great September!