 Oh god, oh no, it's the bookstores. I legitimately forgot that I read this. Or dread it, whichever. How far does this go? I wouldn't be me if I didn't have a chance at this. In September, I read a substantial number of books and I did finish one of my vlog projects so I can tell you about those books. I did read some books for other vlog projects that I did not finish so they cannot be in my wrap-up. I'm just telling you, I did read even more than this. This is not a little bit and the stack will fall very shortly. So I need to put it on the table before that happens. Oh god, oh no. First book that I read in September, no, August. Did I say September in the beginning of this video? I feel like I did. So just ignore that. The first book that I read in August was Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Seven. And if I'm perfectly honest, I forgot that I read this until I saw it in my stack. That never bodes well. I often say like books, you know. I usually film reviews for books that I give one star or that I give five stars to. Love me or hate me but don't ignore me. Three-star books, I'm like, oh yeah, I read that, I guess. I don't remember. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow was fine. I think I gave it three stars. It's a Book of the Month Club book. It was getting kind of a lot of hype and it kind of interested me. And I was like, okay, yeah, I'll get that. And it wasn't that. I just feel like I'm not the audience for it because it's to do with game developers and I'm not a gamer. So it's not written in a way where it's inaccessible, where you like cannot understand it if you're not a gamer. Like I know enough about gaming by osmosis and just like it's not that inaccessible. So I could follow it for sure. But I just like, I don't, that world doesn't appeal to me. So like if all of the characters are sort of like devoting their lives to this and expressing huge interest in this, I'm like, I just don't care about that. So I don't really care about you caring about it, if that makes sense. I guess I could see a book because I do read books about people who are interested in things that I'm not interested in. But then being interested in it can in and of itself be interesting. So I guess I'm giving this like a benefit of the doubt that I'm like, oh, I'm not into gaming. That's why I'm not into this book. But I guess really it's just not that good a book. Like it's not bad. And if I liked gaming, I probably would like it more. But if it was good enough, I wouldn't need to like gaming to like the book. So there were parts of it that I found interesting parts of it that I liked. The characterization was decent, but it was so forgettable. I literally really forgot that I read this. So do with that information what you will. Got through a bunch of book of the month books, by the way. So the first four, including that one, all book of the month. So the next one that I read was A Million Junes by Emily Henry. And so far the only Emily Henry book that I actually liked is Beatriz. I got all of her books after reading Beatriz and I haven't really liked any of them. I didn't hate this. I did basically hate the one I read last month, when the sky fell on Splendor. This I liked better than that, but both the sky fell on Splendor and this one, they have speculative elements. And I knew that about when the sky fell on Splendor because it's got like sci-fi on the cover and it's compared to Stranger Things. So look, I knew that about it. I did not realize at all that A Million Junes, that might be on me. It probably says it in the blurb. And I just missed it. But I guess I just assumed because Beatriz was the first book of hers that I read that she just kind of writes lit thick romance type of stuff. And then if it's YA, it's just like the YA version of that. But this has a heavy speculative element to it. And I'm finding that I really don't like it when she writes speculative stuff. Because this book would have worked. I mean, it would be really hard to write this without the speculative element. It's pretty integral to the plot, but that's the part of it that was the weakest for me. And it completely fell apart for me when it was about that. I don't think she's good at that. It's very, very soft and not well thought out and not well developed. And it's very, it's not even Deus Ex Machina, but it does feel very like author insert of messaging via magic. You know that makes any sense? I don't know that I've experienced that before or that that's a phenomenon. That's what it feels like and I don't like it. So I didn't like this very much. I think it worked for me better and I was more invested into characters and I was like into it more than when the sky fell in splendor. But I thought this was pretty weak. The next book of the month, the book that I read was The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewel. And this was not what I expected. I mean, it's a thriller and it is a thriller. So in that sense, it's what I expected. But I thought it would all take place in a house and either The Family Upstairs is something that like used to be there or is currently there now and that that's where that would all be taking place. But it's like actually about two different timelines and The Family Upstairs is part of one of those timelines but they basically just, yeah, from the title I had a very different image in my mind of what type of book this would be. So it was pretty good, pretty good. It was kind of strange. And it went, yeah. It definitely went places that I was not expecting. But overall I'd say it was pretty well written and the twists and turns were pretty good and it did keep me guessing. And it's quite dark and I don't know. Disturbing feels like too much, but I guess disturbing. It's pretty harrowing. The stuff that is depicted in this book, yeah. It's just, it's very much not what I expected. So there's kind of a lot going on and the type of situation that is dark is just, again, it's not the type of darkness that I was expecting. I don't wanna say too much because it is somewhat of a surprise what happens. So I don't wanna explain what I mean by that. But if you like me based on this title would be like, oh yeah, it's like about a house and it's all taking place in that house and we're gonna be like haunted by or spooked by or threatened by a family upstairs or the history of a family upstairs. Like technically I guess that does describe this book but like not at all in the way that I was imagining. But this was pretty good. And it definitely makes me want, this is my first Lisa Jewel book and it makes me wanna read more from her. Next is a very old book of the month book. Like I got this ages ago. This might have been my very first book of the month and I never read it. I mean, I have now. Now it's Necessary People by Anna Betoniak and Better Late Than Never, I really enjoyed this. And in fact, reading this, I think I was in the middle of my dark academia vlog project and whatever I had read most recently that was about toxic, where I think I was reading this around the same time that I read about heroines and which I'll get to but if you've seen my dark academia vlog you know how I felt about that. And I think reading this, I was like, yeah, that's how you do toxic female friendship and make it interesting. This, this is much more like it. So this kept me guessing and the way that it ends, I think is very classy. And in general, I think this book, like the way it's handled, it has quite a few sort of like tropy, thriller-y type things that you would kind of expect to find. But then in the way that it executes it and the way that it handles characterization and the way that it does or does not court the favor of the reader, I think it's handled quite well. So I was pleasantly surprised by this book after all this time. It kind of was like sitting on my shelf haunting me this book that I haven't and haven't and haven't read. So I was like, okay, I'll find me read it. And I was like, dang, this was actually really good. I should have read this sooner. But like I said, thoroughly than ever. So I wouldn't say this was like a five star book but I was quite impressed with this. And I didn't read them all back to back but I just put it in my stack when I'd finished the third one. But I read the first three volumes of Sandman because of the show. I should by now already have my video out reviewing Sandman the show which I thought was terrible. But yeah, this was a reread for me. I read the first three volumes when they first released the Audible adaptation of it. So now I reread it without audio, just physically read it in anticipation of the show. And I had a great time rereading it. I very much enjoyed that. So I'm glad I had a reason to do so with the show. Was terrible. So yeah, if you haven't seen it I'll leave that video link down below as well. Next up I read Speaking Bones by Ken Lee, the fourth and final book in the Dandelion Dynasty. My patrons and I were buddy reading the series. We are now done. We haven't had our chat yet as of the filming of this video. We are probably having the chat the morning that this is going, this video is going up. I don't think I will have posted yet but I have filmed a video about the series as a whole. So look forward to that or dread it, whichever. But yeah, I really, really enjoy the Dandelion Dynasty. So spoilers for that video. It's mostly a positive video. It's quite a dense series. These books are, I mean, dense in terms of like page and word count as well as the content is quite dense but they are quite a masterful and impressive achievement. Again, in the video I go into more detail so I don't really feel like saying too much here because you can watch that video if you care about it. And if you don't care to watch that video you probably don't want to hear me talking about it too much here either. So anyway, I did, I give this four stars, not five. So I didn't like it as much as some of the other installments in the series but overall still a pretty good conclusion to this series. And I am very glad that I read the series. So the next book I read I do not have a physical copy of because I just happened to be able to snag a Skip the Line copy from the library of I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy. And that book I also have filmed a review for but I don't think it will be up yet by the time this wrap up's going up. I really, really liked that book. I feel like it does deserve hype. It's quite a harrowing read but I actually was talking to my mom about it and I compared it to Angela's Ashes. You do extremely different from Angela's Ashes in style and tone. But in the way that Frank McCourt is talking, it's a memoir about his very difficult childhood. So he's talking about really tragic and horrifying things that he lived through but his writing style is very witty and sardonic. And so it's fun to read while you're also very depressed and horrified by what he's describing. So in a similar sense, like she has a very different style, very different narrative voice, very different life experience she's describing but it's similarly Jeanette McCurdy talking about her life. She's talking about dark things in a very witty sardonic manner that makes it amusing while you're also horrified and saddened by what she's talking about. So I would recommend that book but trigger warnings abound. That is a tough one to get through. Next up is a book that I buddy read with Ellen Jesse and that is Book of Gothel by Mary McMine. I think Elle liked this better than I did. I didn't outright hate this but this is another instance of a fantasy book feeling just too modern in the way that it's told and not just in the prose. The prose is also too modern, the dialogue's too modern but also the sensibilities of the characters are too modern. It's not the most egregious example of that. I've read far worse. I would be much harsher about it if it was worse but it's still too much for me to really like this or to buy into believing that this is this sort of like historical medieval fairy tale like the world that inspired the fairy tale kind of thing. And I also think that if you hadn't seen this cover and you were reading this book you would have no idea that this is based on the character from Rapunzel and the way in which the story like eventually is like, oh yeah, this was supposed to be a villain origin story slash retelling of Rapunzel. It's kind of like, I don't feel like that's what this book was ever trying to be. And I feel like you just stuck that in there because you're like, all right, that's what this was supposed to be. There's also a very unnecessary framing device that I did a feeling was anointed uselessness. So I'm being quite negative. I think I gave this three stars because like for being all this sort of thing like it's decent, it's not awful but I didn't really care about the main character that much, she's very passive. It doesn't really feel historical or fairy tale-esque and for being a origin story for the Mother Gothel character from Rapunzel, it isn't really. In fact, it went out of its way. Like I hate when, especially villain origin stories because this has to be the villainous character, right? But then how are you gonna root for them? Oh, I know, they will not be the villain in this story. There's someone else that needs to be villainous so that we can root for them. So there is basically like an actual Mother Gothel character in this story so that our main character, who is the Mother Gothel thing that we're following is having to deal with. So now we need a backstory for the actual so many villainous character like in this story. You know what I mean? Like it's like one removed. You're like, so you chickened out of actually have a villain origin story. You just like pass the buck onto like a new villain. Instead of it actually being a villain origin story you're saying, oh, the real story is that she wasn't a villain because there was actually a different villain that was the villain. So it's like, so do we get an origin for them? No, like how far does this go? So yeah, I don't think this was that good and it was pretty forgettable. Next up is the book that my patrons chose for me to read and blog for them, which I did. And that is The Road by Cormac McCarthy. This was my second Cormac McCarthy book. Years ago I read Blood Meridian and I think it's very talented writer. I did have some problems with The Road. I mean, I elaborated on those problems obviously in the vlog for my patrons. Over, I mean, I gave it four stars. I think it's a quality book but it had some issues with it. I wouldn't be me if I didn't have issues with it. Next and kind of last, I read Naked Empire by Terry Goodkind just in time for the live show for it, for the Sword of Truth read-along. This book was terrible. This is the last book that I read when I first read Sword of Truth books and I was like, yeah, this is why I stopped. I was like, I don't really remember why I stopped. I think I just, you know, just kind of did. And I read this is like, yeah, no, this is why I stopped. This is bad. And everyone tells me that the next books are much better, that this is the low point. So I really hope that's true because me and Bethany, we were basically ranted about this book for the entire live show. So that was fun. You know, it was quite cathartic to rant about it. This is really bad. Every bad thing that people say about Terry Goodkind, it's true in this book. I defend him all the time. But no, it's everything that, I don't think the people who ranted about him ever got this far. But if they did, that's where they're ranting fair play because he's at his worst. Every bad thing that he has a reputation for, it's in Naked Empire. To the max, it was awful. I will never read this book again. And then I didn't read them all back to back in the end of the month, but here they all are. My Dark Academia Vlog Project books that I can have in my wrap-up stack. The Dark Academia Vlog is available to you where I go in-depth for each of these books. But they were briefly Bunny by Mona Awad, These Violent Delights by Micah. I think I said in the vlog, never ever, but it's actually never ever. Playing Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth, Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pesl, Ghost of Harvard by Francesca Saratella, Catherine House by Elizabeth Thomas, and The Divines by Ellie Eaton. And those are all the books that I read in August. Let me know in the comments down below your thoughts and feelings about my thoughts and feelings, whatever you want to let me know. I have us videos on Saturdays, other random housework on Saturdays, so like and subscribe. Join my Patreon if you feel so inclined, and I'll see you when I see you.