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Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.
August 2026 Wrap Up
August went by faster than I expected. The good and fun thing is that there were a lot of summer events, and we were busy with musical fests, night markets, and other exciting local stuff. The not so good thing is that I didn’t read as much as I normally do, but I guess that’s okay.
My August 2026 TBR Intentions
Second month in a row I failed on these books! I won’t give up on them but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get to them in September either! I seem to be on a series kick and I’ve already started my next one – The Memoirs of Lady Trent.
I only really focused on the one series this month, the Bobiverse Series, but it was a really good series and I’m excited about the next one which is supposed to be coming out on September 10, 2026.
September 2026 TBR Intentions
I’ve already started reading the Lady Trent series so that’s probably going to be my focus this month, plus the sixth book in the Bobiverse series!
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan
The Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan
In The Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie Brennan
Within the Sanctuary of Wings by Marie Brennan
The Infinite Extent by Dennis E. Taylor
How was your month in August? What were your most memorable bookish moments? I hope you have a wonderful September with lots of great books!
Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it’s a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street.
Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state. He has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets. The stakes are high: no less than the first claim to entire worlds. If he declines the honor, he’ll be switched off, and they’ll try again with someone else. If he accepts, he becomes a prime target. There are at least three other countries trying to get their own probes launched first, and they play dirty.
The safest place for Bob is in space, heading away from Earth at top speed. Or so he thinks. Because the universe is full of nasties, and trespassers make them mad – very mad.
The Reason
I love space opera series and heard so many good things about this one.
The Quotes
“Point is, that’s when I really realized that I don’t think like most people. I’m fine with solitude. In fact, I get antsy when I’m around people for too long a period without respite.”
“People’s capacity for turning dogmatic stupidity into political movements never ceased to amaze me. We’ve knocked off 99.9% of the human race and somehow the crazies still manage to survive. It just defies the odds.”
“Since I doubt, I think; since I think, I exist.”
“Belly laughs are one of the best things about being sentient, and you should never miss a chance for one.”
“At one time, we thought that the way life came together was almost completely random, only needing an energy gradient to get going. But as we’ve moved into the information age, we’ve come to realize that life is more about information than energy. Fire has most of the characteristics of life. It eats, it grows, it reproduces. But fire retains no information. It doesn’t learn; it doesn’t adapt. The five millionth fire started by lightning will behave just like the first. But the five hundredth bacterial division will not be like the first one, especially if there is environmental pressure. That’s DNA. And RNA. That’s life. …”
The Narrator(s)
Ray Porter. He is just amazing!
My Thoughts
Book 1 – We Are Legion (We Are Bob) I loved how interesting it got right off the bat; I love original Bob’s character and I thought it was interesting to see him navigate through the early days with his FAITH handlers. It did get a little confusing for me later when we started getting duplicates of Bob, but I like that each of them had distinctive characteristics that made them stand out from each other. It still took me a while to figure out who was doing what, but by the end of the book, I was invested in each of the Bobs’ missions and everything that they were doing. I was particularly invested in Archimedes and the rest of the Deltans and I also like the storyline with Riker dealing with the actual Earthlings and getting them to safety. It’s a little scary to see how difficult it is dealing wih all the different leaders of Earth, especially because I’m sure they’re probably worse in real life.
Book 2 – For We Are Many Towards the end of Book 1, we see Mario discover a mysterious phenomena in a planet he was exploring and we find out more about them here. “The Others” are scary, but still not the worse threat the Bobs have to deal with in this book. I love that we see more of Archimedes and the Deltans and how they evolve, albeit with Bob’s interference, but it’s not fun to see conflicts that happen through fear and misunderstanding. The stakes are higher in this book, and we have so many things happen; some devastating, some satisfying, some bittersweet, but all so incredible to a well-written book. I wasn’t sure where the stories were going to go when I started Book 2, but I honestly love that we follow most of the missions long-term and we continue to see them through. Of course, new challenges keep popping up even as the Bobs are still handling the initial ones. I love it!
Book 3 – All These Worlds Writing this after having just finished this book, I feel like it might have originally been meant as the final book in the series. Of course, I already knew I had more books to look forward, but there was a tone to the ending of the book that made me think it was goodbye. It was so sad and bittersweet, but very apt to the overall theme of the book in a way. It explored a lot more on the afterlife and beliefs about the afterlife, how our religious and ethical beliefs shape us and our attitude towards others who don’t share the same opinions. It was very interesting to watch the characters navigate that, as well as the bigotry and prejudices that come with it. The storyline with Bridget and Howard, and Bridget’s children, was the most compelling for me, especially with how messy family matters got.
Book 4 – Heaven’s River This might be my favorite book in the series so far. So I mentioned how it felt like the previous book might have originally been meant as the final book in the series because of the tone of the ending. This book feels like it was the start of something new, a new era of ideas for the Bobiverse. Everything escalates, the plot thickens with the Bobs and the Starfleet and Skippies replicants. The main plot of this book is with finding and rescuing Bender, but I love how there’s this whole setup behind the scenes with the replicants and I’m anticipating all the issues the Bobs will have to face with them in the next books. I also love the main plot itself, I thought Bender’s rescue was very thrilling. I love how vivid the world of Heaven’s River was, and I found Bob’s adventure with living with the Quinlans, as a Quinlan, so fascinating. I’m excited for more!
Book 5 – Not Till We Are Lost What I loved about the Heaven’s River is that while there were other Bobs’ stories being told throughout the book, it felt like there was a main plot and story surrounding the Quinlan, which helped to anchor me and keep me focused. In this book we are back to a more dispersed storytelling and it was harder to stay focused. I still enjoy the series and I love how the Bobs are evolving, with the Skippies and Starfleet becoming their own “people” apart from the earlier versions of Bobs. I did enjoy the exploration of the reason for the Fermi Paradox, and in fact, I love the exploration of all the different possibilities the Bobs are presented with. I love Theresa’s storyline and how there’s a Quiniverse happening! The Bobs need more people who are different from them but who are able to work with them and give them different ideas and perspectives. The next book is supposed to be coming out next week and I’m ready!
Book 6 – The Infinite Extent Coming soon!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this series? Would you read this series? Did you like it or do you think you would like it?
Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.
Today’s topic is Books With Nationalities In The Title
This list was more difficult to curate than I expected. I apparently haven’t read a lot of books with nationalities in the title, but at least it’s given me more books to add to the TBR!
Top Ten Books With Nationalities In The Title
A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder by Shamini Flint – This is the first book out of seven of the Inspector Singh Investigates series. The other books also have nationalities in the titles but I wanted to feature different authors on the list so I decided to just go with this first one. I’m actually really excited to try this series because it looks really good and it’s by a Malaysian author.
The East Indian by Brinda Charry – Okay, I won’t lie, it’s the cover that caught my attention first because I love the look of it, but I also love historical fiction and this one sounds really good. I also think the distinction in the title that this is about “the East Indian” is important, because the word “Indian” has also been used to describe Native Americans. (I had another book with Indian in the title as a description for Native Americans but technically it’s not their nationality so I decided not to include it.)
Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker – This one sounds deliciously creepy! It’s gothic horror and split between two timelines. There’s a murder, a ghost, a portal between the two timelines maybe? I don’t know yet but I want to find out! And I also love the cover!
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang – I’ve read Lunar New Year Love Story by the author and really enjoyed it. This book also became a TV series with a serious star-studded cast like Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Daniel Wu. I am so curious about both!
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami – I’ve been so curious about Murakami’s works ever since I read What I Talk About When I Talk About Running but I haven’t gotten around to reading any of his books yet. I’m hesitant for two reasons; he has so many books I don’t know where to start, and what if I end up not liking his books!
The Last Russian Doll by Kristen Loesch – I have enjoyed Russian historical fiction and this one looks good too. This story spans three generations so I know I’m in for an epic story.
Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday – One of only two books I’ve read on this list. A lot of the books here are more on the serious side and I wanted to add some light-hearted romance to the list as well. I remember loving this book because of the banter and chemistry between the two MCs. It was fun.
The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer – I honestly don’t purposely seek them out but for some reason I am drawn to a lot of WW2 historical fiction. The reviews look really good as well and I feel like I would really love this one.
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez – This one calls to me; the MC is a girl who’s not perfect but has a sister who seems to be. Then her sister dies. I’m anticipating a story with issues on family, culture, grief, mental health, coming of age, and more.
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins – The only other book on the list I’ve read, and a nice light-hearted YA romance too. I read it more than ten years ago so I don’t remember a single thing, but I did rate it 5 stars!
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?
Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.
Today’s topic is Bookish Places I’ve Visited
I haven’t been to a lot of bookish places except the regular bookstores and libraries, so I’m just going to go with my alphabetical list today. I’ve been slow with it anyway and it’s always a good go-to when I don’t have anything for the week’s prompt. It’s interesting that most of these books beginning with “I” that have stood out to me are nonfiction. I’ve been reading more nonfiction than normal this year, and maybe that’s just where my head is at.
Top Ten Books Beginning with I
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy – I gave this book a 5-star rating because it made me feel so deeply. It’s hard to see a mother treat her own child so horribly but I’m glad the author is doing better now and I’m curious about her new book as well.
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer – This book was so well-written I couldn’t stop reading. I will never be the kind of person who would want to climb mountains but I appreciate the passionate determination of those who are. It’s a dangerous endeavor and a tragic event that happened.
IT by Stephen King – One of the King’s most popular books, I couldn’t not include it here. It’s been a while since I read it though, and I’ll need to reread it for my Stephen King reading challenge anyway.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot – This book was so fascinating and angry-making at the same time. The HeLa cells have done a lot of good for medicine but at the cost of exploiting vulnerable people. It’s an important read.
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara – I remember being afraid of every sound and shadow while I was out alone when reading this book. There’s such a dark vibe to the story, especially considering the author’s untimely death, but it’s so worth reading.
Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez – Another infuriating nonfiction about how the world is build around men and doesn’t consider the needs of women as much as they should. I’ve been wanting to get my own physical copy so I can make notes.
The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown – I’ve often heard about the Donner party but I never knew the details until I read this book. It’s pretty gruesome but I can’t look away!
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb – I read this so many years ago I don’t remember a single detail about this book. I only remember that I ugly cried and cried and cried.
Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck – This was one of my favorite books and I’ve read it a dozen times (but never to the end because the ending is a little long-winded). I love how strong and fierce the MC is, how she’s forced to navigate in a precarious situation and how she turns every challenge into an opportunity for her to better her situation. Still love it and maybe one day I’ll finally read to the end.
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff – This was an amazing read both on print and on audio! I’ve read it a few times and it’s always a fun experience. The physical book has stylistic printing that’s part of the story and the audio has an amazing full-cast production. I’d recommend it over and over on both formats!
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?
Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.
Today’s topic is Book Series I Want to Catch Up On
My TBR haunts me, it really does. And the series are the scariest because one book leads to another and another and another… Yet, they’re also the best because it’s very likely that if you like one, you’ll like the next. Sometimes I never want a series to end but alas, these are the first world reader problems I face every day. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has listed and inevitably adding a few new series to my TBR from seeing your lists! 😅
Top Ten Book Series I Want to Finish
The Memoirs of Lady Trent series by Marie Brennan – I read the first book in 2014, more than ten years ago! I remember loving it at the time but I haven’t continued the rest of the series and I don’t know why. I need to start over!
The Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien – I have the full audiobook series narrated by Andy Serkis and I was so excited to listen to them, but the first night I did, Serkis’ scary Gollum voice woke me up in the middle of the night and I haven’t dared to read it to bed since. I’ll have to try again while I’m awake in the daytime.
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King – Technically, I read the first book a long time ago and didn’t like it at the time, but I’ve changed my mind about Stephen King recently and I’m doing a personal Stephen King reading challenge, so I’m going to have to come back to this.
Poison Study series by Maria V. Snyder – This has been on my TBR forever, it’s embarrassing at this point.
Maddaddam series by Margaret Atwood – I read Oryx & Crake a couple of years ago but never got around to the rest of the series. I’ve forgotten enough that I’ll need to reread the first book again before moving on to the others.
The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells – I read and loved the first six books of The Murderbot Diaries, but two more have been released and I haven’t read those! I’ll also need to reread the first six before reading the latest two!
Bobiverse series by Dennis E. Taylor – I am currently in the middle of this series! I have just finished the first two and am on the third. Hoping to finish this one up until the latest book instead of leaving it for years and having to reread again later.
The Saint of Steel series by T. Kingfisher – I just bought the full series on audio and I am excited to dive into them right after I finish the Bobiverse! Fingers crossed!
The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater – I’m on the fence with this one. I just finished The Raven Boys a couple of months ago but I’m not sure I like it and I’m not sure if I want to finish the rest of the series…but I already bought the whole set so I feel like I should.
Spellshop series by Sarah Beth Durst – I read The Spellshop not long ago and loved it, but apparently there are already two more new books in the series already released and another one coming out next year! I need to catch up!
Have you read any of these series? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these series?
Rosa Mandolini knows in her heart that her family are the greatest painters of magical illuminations in the city. But the eccentric Studio Mandolini has fallen on hard times and the future is no longer certain.
While trying to help her family, Rosa discovers a strange magical box protected by a painted crow. But when she finds a way to open the box, she accidentally releases the Scarling, a vicious monster determined to destroy the Mandolini family at any cost.
With the aid of her former best friend and a painted crow named Payne, it’s up to Rosa to stop the Scarling before it unmakes the magical paintings that keep the city running, and hopefully save her family in the process!
For the Reading Challenge(s): N/A
The Reason
It’s T. Kingfisher!
The Quotes
“That’s one of the hardest parts of being an artist, you know—learning to be patient with yourself when you’re not as good as you want to be.”
“Being interesting seemed like a much better deal than being handsome.”
“Rosa thought she might be getting a headache. Maybe it was because she was rolling her eyes so hard.”
“In life, we are always seeking after something. Love…fame…glory…stuffed armadillos. It is the human condition.”
The Narrator(s)
Raquel Beattie. Loved it!
My Thoughts
This is marketed for middle grade so I didn’t expect to like it as much as I like the author’s adult novels, but I think I love it more than some of her adult novels! Rosa is such a character and I love Payne as well. Kingfisher has such a knack for writing the best characters and the non-human ones are some of the best ones.
One thing that infuriated me the most in this story is how her family blamed her for things that weren’t her fault, I thought it was horribly unfair and borderline abusive to immediately blame her and not even let her defend herself. However, the rest of the story is great and her family somewhat redeem themselves a little bit.
I do love the idea of the illuminations and the magical system in this book, and I love how creative and imaginative everything in this story is. Reading this book make me experience the joy and magic I used to experience as a child reading stories like these. I think we should never get too old for magical experiences and I love that this book gives me a taste of it once again.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Young Rhea is a miller’s daughter of low birth, so she is understandably surprised when a mysterious nobleman, Lord Crevan, shows up on her doorstep and proposes marriage. Since commoners don’t turn down lords—no matter how sinister they may seem—Rhea is forced to agree to the engagement.
Lord Crevan demands that Rhea visit his remote manor before their wedding. Upon arrival, she discovers that not only was her betrothed married six times before, but his previous wives are all imprisoned in his enchanted castle. Determined not to share their same fate, Rhea asserts her desire for freedom. In answer, Lord Crevan gives Rhea a series of magical tasks to complete, with the threat “Come back before dawn, or else I’ll marry you.”
With time running out and each task more dangerous and bizarre than the last, Rhea must use her resourcefulness, compassion, and bravery to rally the other wives and defeat the sorcerer before he binds her to him forever.
I love T. Kingfisher and I’m desperately trying to catch up with reading all the books she’s writing!
The Quotes
“Marriage was like death. You knew it’d happen eventually, but it wasn’t something you dwelt on.”
“The problem with crying in the woods, by the side of a white road that leads somewhere terrible, is that the reason for crying isn’t inside your head. You have a perfectly legitimate and pressing reason for crying, and it will still be there in five minutes, except that your throat will be raw and your eyes will itch and absolutely nothing else will have changed.”
“It wasn’t that she particularly wanted to be fattened up and eaten, or turned into a donkey, or forced to wear hair shirts and ashes like the children of wicked parents in fairy tales. But if your parents were wicked, you needn’t worry about pleasing them. When they were doing the best they could, you had no traction at all.”
“But he’s mad, completely mad, and he turns his wives into golems. He needs killing, not negotiation.”
The Narrator(s)
Kaylin Heath. I loved it!
My Thoughts
I love fairytale retellings and for some reason, I’m particularly fascinated with the story of Bluebeard. It’s not my favorite fairytale, mind, just one that fascinates me because of how gruesome it is. I love that this retelling leans into the gruesomeness, and I love that it also not-so-subtly calls out the predatory practices that some modern men still engage in. One of the things I notice and love about Kingfisher’s works is that a lot of the “happy-ever-afters” in her stories don’t require some kind of romance, or men saving helpless damsels in distress; it’s often women saving themselves, or women saving each other, and I think that’s the best kind of fairytale retellings for a new generation of young people to grow up with. I wish I had grown up with this, but you know it’s never too late to be your own knight in shining armor, so I’ll take what I can from it!
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
1860: As the clash between the states rolls slowly to a boil, Elizabeth Packard, housewife and mother of six, is facing her own battle. The enemy sits across the table and sleeps in the next room. Her husband of twenty-one years is plotting against her because he feels increasingly threatened – by Elizabeth’s intellect, independence, and unwillingness to stifle her own thoughts. So Theophilus makes a plan to put his wife back in her place. One summer morning, he has her committed to an insane asylum.
The horrific conditions inside the Illinois State Hospital in Jacksonville, Illinois, are overseen by Dr. Andrew McFarland, a man who will prove to be even more dangerous to Elizabeth than her traitorous husband. But most disturbing is that Elizabeth is not the only sane woman confined to the institution. There are many rational women on her ward who tell the same story: they’ve been committed not because they need medical treatment, but to keep them in line – conveniently labeled “crazy” so their voices are ignored.
No one is willing to fight for their freedom and, disenfranchised both by gender and the stigma of their supposed madness, they cannot possibly fight for themselves. But Elizabeth is about to discover that the merit of losing everything is that you then have nothing to lose…
I enjoyed The Radium Girls by the same author, and the subject matter of this one seemed really important as well.
The Quotes
“In the end, this is a book about power. Who wields it. Who owns it. And the methods they use. And above all, it’s about fighting back.”
“Unruly women are always witches, no matter what century we’re in.”
“Just think!” Elizabeth later exclaimed. “Forty men and women clubbed together to get me imprisoned just because I chose to think my own thoughts, and speak my own words!”
“We are only just beginning to appreciate exactly how a person’s powerlessness may lead to struggles with their mental health. With that understanding, statistics showing higher rates of mental illness in women, people of color, and other disenfranchised groups become translated into truth: not a biological deficiency, as doctors first thought, but a cultural creation that, if we wanted to, we could do something about.”
The Narrator(s)
The author, Kate Moore.
My Thoughts
Oh my, where do I start? I had about five to six hours left of the book when I had to go to bed, so I set a sleep timer, expecting that I would fall asleep as usual while listening to the audiobook. I ended up extending the timer several times until after 4am in the morning when I finally finished the book! It was so compelling that I couldn’t stop listening and wasn’t able to drift off to sleep.
Stories like this one are so horrifying because it’s an actual true story and men have been and continue to be, even now, abusive to women in ways that are incomprehensible to me. Elizabeth is only one out of many women who have had their husbands put them in asylums for not being obedient, submissive wives, and while I admire Elizabeth so much for her fighting spirit and unending faith, there were so many other women who did not make it through to the other side of this apparently too common experience for unsatisfactory wives.
However, this book focuses on Elizabeth’s experience, and takes details and excerpts from Elizabeth’s own notes and writings about her time at the asylum. Elizabeth’s strength and tenacity, her tirelessness, groundedness, selflessness, the way she fought not just for herself but for the other women who had been unfairly institutionalized, is so inspiring to see. She is an amazing woman and a hero.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.
Today’s topic is Books I Was Reading On This Day Over the Last Ten Years
Most of them are accurate to the day, but when there weren’t any books for this date, I chose the next closest ones. This was such a fun prompt, I had a great time searching through my books and going down memory lane. I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone else has read over the years!
Top Ten Books I Was Reading On This Day Over the Last Ten Years
2025: The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins – This is a fun one. I was reading this series on this day in 2025 and 2015! I was also reading this in 2022, 2021, 2017, 2013, and 2011, but not on this day!
2024: Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster – One of my favorite childhood books. I was feeling nostalgic. I also read Anne of Green Gables right after this book at this time in 2024.
2023: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin – I don’t remember very much about this book anymore, but I remember loving it and rating it 5 stars.
2022: I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy – This one was heartbreaking. It was so hard to read about her abuse, especially when it comes from someone who is supposed to protect you.
2021: She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan – I read this as a buddy read with a whole bunch of people and I remember loving the experience. I honestly don’t even remember much about the book itself but I did rate it 4 stars!
2020: Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson – This is the kind of book I read and then mostly forget about, and I had forgotten about it until I had to dig it up for this post. It was fun, thrilling in the moment, and my review says I enjoyed the way the story unfolded.
2019: The Breathing Method by Stephen King – Ooof! This was a short story but it gave my imagination a lot of gore to work with and it haunted me for months. Remembering it for this prompt is bringing those gory visuals to mind again!
2018: Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning – I loved this series! It’s one of my favorite series although I haven’t finished it. There are 11 books and I’ve read nine of them. I have issues finishing long-running series because I’m not always able to get all the books sequentially and in a timely manner. If I have to wait too long, I forget details and have to reread and it’s hard to reread so many books to get to the later ones.
2017: Pandemic by Yvonne Ventresca – I had forgotten about this book but apparently I liked it and gave it 4 stars! I should’ve reread it during the pandemic, but I’m also curious to read it now that we’ve been through the pandemic.
2016: Incarnate by Jodi Meadows – I don’t remember this book at all! And apparently I’ve read all three books in the trilogy! I don’t remember a single thing! Now I have to decide if they are worth rereading.
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?
Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.
Today’s topic is Cover Freebie
I’ve been seeing a lot of books and other media featuring octopodes in recent years and thought I’d feature them today. I’ve only read maybe two of the books featured and don’t know very much about the other ones, so if you’ve read them, let me know!
Top Ten Books featuring Octopodes on the Cover
The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft – I’ve heard references to Cthulhu, but I don’t think I’ve ever read a single Lovecraft story.
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt – The only one I’m sure I’ve read. It was a bookclub BOTM and I quite enjoyed it.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne – I think I’ve read this, but I don’t remember if I read the actual unabridged book or if I read some abridged children’s version because it was so long ago.
The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery – This is nonfiction and I’m quite interested in reading it. I know octopodes are a lot smarter than we realized and I’m very curious to find out more.
Kraken by China Miéville – I recently read a different Miéville book, Perdido Street Station, and it’s so good but so heavy. I’m a fan and I want to read this one too, but I’m scared!
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler – I have seen this book featured in scifi circles but wasn’t interested at the time. I looked at the description while searching for books for this prompt and now I’m intrigued!
The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden – This is a middle grade book that is more about growing up as a human than it is about an octopus but it sounds interesting!
Other Minds by Peter Godfrey-Smith – Another nonfiction about octopodes I’m curious to read!
Three Blue Hearts by Lynne Kelly – Also a middle grade book; the young MC finds an injured octopus and cares for it while it heals.
Beyond the Graves Waits Mist and Sea by Kathleen Kaufman – This one hasn’t been released yet, it’s only coming out in September 2026, but it sounds so mysterious and scary! I’m excited to read it once it’s out!
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? Would you read any of these books?
