August 2026 Reading Update
Time for an August reading re-cap! I finished only four books after 11 books last month. I started three more, put one back on hold for the second time, and returned one on libby after two pages Here is everything, including the one I am going to warn you about.
What I Finished in August
The Calamity Club
Kathryn Stockett · Historical fiction · 656 pages
★★★★★Loved it!
It took me a good ten hours to get into this one and I came close to setting it down. Then it turned, and it really turned. Stockett has been quiet for a long time since The Help, and this is a worthy second act: 1933 Oxford, Mississippi, the Depression closing in, and three women who decide they are finished waiting around to be rescued. I did not see the second half coming and the the way everything wrapped up at the end was satisfying.
This book was almost 30 hour and it feels like it should have count as 2-3 books.
Read this if you loved: The Help, The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, Where the Crawdads Sing
Anatomy of an Alibi
Ashley Elston · Thriller · 368 pages
★★★★☆Liked it!
Two women in Louisiana trade places for twelve hours, and by the next morning there is a body and both of their stories have holes in them. The twists are good, I didn’t see the ending coming.
Read this if you loved: First Lie Wins, The Last Thing He Told Me, The Guest List
The Subtle Knife
Philip Pullman · His Dark Materials, Book 2 · Fantasy · 288 pages
Book two of His Dark Materials, and we finished it in August after getting through The Golden Compass in July. My kids and I listened to this on a road trip and, while it wasn’t quite as captivating as the first one, it made the long hours in the car go by much faster.
Read this if you loved: The Golden Compass, A Wrinkle in Time, the Narnia books
The Arcane Arts
S. D. Coverly · Dark academia fantasy romance · 400 pages
Almost did not list this one on here because I don’t think I want a public record of having read this one 😛 I have no idea who recommended this or why it ended up on my library holds. I started it thinking it was something else and did skip through a few scenes. I thought the relationship dynamic was interesting with getting the story from the professor and the student’s point of view (what people do when they’re hurt/ how it comes across).
If open-door romance is what you are looking for, you might like this (idk, I don’t have a lot of experience here). If it is not, consider this the heads up I did not get.
What I’m Reading Right Now
Boundaries
Henry Cloud & John Townsend · Nonfiction · Reread · 320 pages
In progress
A reread from many years ago that I’m slowly making my way through. My library loan ran out before I could finish. I’ll get back to it. Whether you struggle to set boundaries in friendships, family relationships, or school/church communities, this is a good one (it does have a religious lens on it).
Read this if you loved: The Untethered Soul
Tiny Experiments
Anne-Laure Le Cunff · Nonfiction · 288 pages
In progress
Just started this one. The argument is that the tidy linear goal, where you pick the outcome and work backward and execute, is a bad fit for how most of us actually live, and that running small reversible experiments works better. We’ll see!
Read this if you loved: Atomic Habits, Building a Second Brain, Four Thousand Weeks
The Midnight Train
Matt Haig · The Midnight World, Book 2 · Fiction · 320 pages
In progress
Also just started. Haig going back to the world of The Midnight Library, which I read a long time ago and remember liking a lot.
Read this if you loved: The Midnight Library, The Measure, Remarkably Bright Creatures
On Hold (Again)
Salt: A World History
Mark Kurlansky · Nonfiction · 484 pages
On hold
This one is so interesting but also not necessarily something you “get into.” I find it requires a little more brain power to focus but I love a history of the world told through a specific lens (in this case, salt). I had no idea salt has been so instrumental in shaping so much of human history.
One I Set Aside
The Good Mother Myth
Nancy Reddy · Nonfiction · 272 pages
Not for me
I set this one down after a couple of pages. The premise, as I understood it, is that the happy mother is a myth we have all been sold. I get that motherhood is hard but while I’m in a season of sacrifice, diapers, and lots of big feelings… I would rather read something encouraging.
Up next: Enders Game
Have you read anything good lately?