**The short days, where the sun goes to sleep sooner and the birds stop chirping earlier, are the hardest. I trek back home with a small sliver of sunlight as my guide, wishing for just another hour of light. I make my way back home and put the kettle on the stove, preparing a nice cup of tea that will become all I’ll drink in just about a month’s time. I settle on the sofa and pull the blanket tight around me, though it is still warm without it, and pick up my book to read.**

Hello and welcome back. I am determined to stick to a more consistent posting schedule now that I have changed my upload days. So, to start we need to go back to August and look at my wrap-up. I read five books this month and had one DNF.

• Run On Red by Noelle W. Ihli

The first book I finished this month was Run On Red. This follows two girls going to a party who run into some trouble on the way there in the form of two guys following them. They eventually have no choice but to run on foot through the woods. I didn’t love this one. I read it on a recommendation and it wasn’t for me, probably because I don’t read thrillers much now. I just wasn’t entertained and I felt like the plot twist was kind of weird and came out of nowhere. Something about this one just didn’t work for me.

• Besties: Work it Out by Kayla Miller

I’m not much of a graphic novel person, but I try to read a few each year just to get invested in the genre. However, I actually really enjoyed this one and it is one of my favorites. It follows two young girls trying to make money and get a job house/dog sitting. Unfortunately, something ends up broken and they have to do odd jobs to get the money to replace it. This one had such a great story. I loved the entrepreneur aspect and the fact that these two girls were working to fix their mistake. They don’t always make the best choices, but I like that since it felt more realistic. The art was also really well done. I’m very picky about art styles but really enjoyed this one.

• Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

I finally read it! I have been recommended this book for the past year by someone and I finally did it. It follows a boy named Jesse who wants to be the fastest runner in fifth grade but gets beat by the new girl, Leslie. The two strike up a friendship but a tragedy occurs. I actually liked this one. It had a great friendship and I loved watching Jesse and Leslie go on their adventures and become friends.

• Loveless by Alice Oseman

This was actually my DNF. It’s basically a college story, but I just couldn’t get into it. I didn’t like the writing style and felt like it was a slow-paced book with not much happening. I also don’t like a lot of page breaks, and I remember this one having a few. It was just not for me so I gave up about a hundred or so pages in.

• Along For the Ride by Sarah Dessen

This book follows a girl who spends the summer with her dad, stepmom, and new half-sister. It’s there that she meets a boy who has insomnia like her so together they explore the beach town at night. I honestly didn’t really like this one. The plot didn’t feel strong enough for four or five hundred pages which led to its repetitive nature. I also feel like Eli wasn’t in it as much as I would have thought. It seemed like a book more focused on the family relationships and Auden’s changing views. I wasn’t a big fan of Auden either since she tended to be judgmental. This was just not for me, but I had wanted to read it for a while so I am glad I finally did.

• Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

This is a fantasy where the main character Elisabeth lives in one of the great libraries. One day, one of the libraries is under attack and she is committed of having something to do with it. She meets Nathaniel Thorn who is a sorcerer, something the library doesn’t like, and they work together to save the kingdom. I felt absolutely nothing for this book. I didn’t like it but I didn’t not like it. I don’t know if it was the book or if I’m in a reading slump. I just didn’t really have any connection to this one. The book was well written with a lyrical type writing at times, and Thorn was a fun character with his sarcastic wit. However, I just didn’t have that emotional attachment. I was also hoping for more of an explanation to certain things that just didn’t fully get resolved.

I was really hoping to get to one more book by the end of the month, but I’ll just have to finish in September instead. I’m looking forward to a lot of good books this month.

xoxo,

Just another reader