My stretch reading goal for 2026 is currently 100 books. I am at 98 for the end of August, so I will need to set a new stretch goal for the year soon.
August was a success. I completed all my Tier One reads.
- The Measure by Nikki Erlick
This speculative fiction choice was my in-person fantasy book club’s pick for August. The Measure is story about eight people who get the opportunity to find out how long they have to live. It is literary fiction, and I was not certain I was going to like it. Some literary fiction isn’t my cup of tea. As it happens, I finished the book and I really enjoyed it. There’s a lot going on theme-wise. What do you do if you find out you don’t have long? What does society do when a large number of people find out they don’t have long? There’s a lot of food for thought. I decided if I got the box that would tell me, I wouldn’t open it. And it reinforces to me that humans are very good at finding ways to treat others badly for reasons that aren’t under their control. It was a fascinating ride.
- Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett
In this grumpy sunshine cozy fantasy romance, a woman who runs a cat shelter in 1920’s Montreal finds out that her magician landlord is using the shelter as a front for his disreputable magic shop. I actually started this book as a mood read back in April, and I am glad I finished it this month. It was a fun read and definitely a no spice choice.
- Morlave’s School of Magic by Courtney Denelsbeck
I picked this fantasy up last fall at the book event I attended. I had a chance to meet the author. The story is about a young man who is invited to a magical academy, though he struggles with basic magic. Things quickly get out of hand as Morlave learns more about the magic that he has. This book is on my 26 in 2026 list, so I am glad I wrapped it up this month. I liked it a lot. As I also write YA fantasy with a young male protagonist, it was refreshing to find another one with a teen boy as main character. There’s not a lot of them these days.
- All Systems Red by Martha Wells
This is a science fiction novel about an android security guard with self awareness, a fascinating main character choice. The bot has to navigate fitting in with the crew and all of the chaos that erupts. It met a couple of reading prompts for me, and science fiction is higher on my radar now, given that it was my dad’s favorite genre. I really liked this book. It was unique and different, while still being a fast paced read. I can’t wait to find time for book number two in the series.
- The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
This cozy mystery is set in a retirement village, where four friends meet to investigate unsolved murders. As you’d expect for a cozy, a murder happens and they’re in the thick of solving their first real case. Cozy mystery isn’t my genre, but it fits some reading prompts for me. This one is a bit different in format, but it held my interest and I liked it. I hear there’s a TV series, so that might be fun to watch too.
Here’s the Tier One Graphic.
For Tier Two, I had four books, and I made a dent in the list.
- The Claiming by JA Nielsen
I had wanted to read this book earlier this year, but I ran out of time when my father was so ill. The Claiming is a YA fantasy that I picked up after meeting the author at the Chanticleer Authors Conference. I love grabbing books there because I enjoy supporting fellow authors whom I’ve met and because many of the books are award winners, including this one. The Claiming has won first place in both the Dante Rossetti YA fiction awards and the Ozma fantasy fiction awards. A friend has also highly recommended it. It’s about an apprentice mage (one of my favorite character types!) and a faerie princess. The two end up bonded due to a botched spell and only a quest will save them. I am part way through this book and hope to finish it up in mid-September. It’s a very cute book and I am having a lot of fun. The main reason I didn’t get further is that I have the physical copy and I just broke the elbow on my dominant arm. It’s a little harder to hold a paper book open and turn pages than to read an e-book right now.
- The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White
My reading journal is King Arthur/Holy Grail themed, so I have been trying to fit in a few retellings. That’s why I settled on this one. Obviously, the focus here is on Guinevere in a magical Camelot setting. The twist is, that the character is not really Guinevere. She’s a magic user who has taken her place to protect Arthur in all the intrigue of his court. I enjoyed it. It was a unique take on Camelot and I recommend it. It is the first in the series.
- Sing Me Forgotten by Jessica S. Olson
Here we are to my only official “did not finish” for the month (as in I am not planning to finish as opposed to I just need a little more time). This is a fantasy about a girl with the power to manipulate memories when people sing. She finds refuge with the owner of an opera house, but when she meets a boy with a unique voice, she sees a possible route to freedom through his memories. The book is a Phantom of the Opera retelling in the YA fantasy realm. As such, I thought it was exactly what might appeal to me. I did like the original book and I love the musical. What I didn’t pay close enough attention to was that it was billed as a “dark” YA fantasy. It is dark, and the main character, as the “phantom” in the story, is morally gray. I had expected a spin with a happy ending. It is not that. That was a mismatch on my expectations for it, so I took a soft DNF for now. I generally like a “noble” main character. If I do read a morally gray character, I need to prepare my mind for it to be more of a thought provoking analysis read and not as much of a fun read. I think it could be interesting to re-read the original Phantom of the Opera and finish this one at the same time. But that’s for another year. For now, this was not for me.
- Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
This was a reread for me, and I did finish it. It meets a couple of challenge prompts, and I haven’t read it since I was about 15. Since I am reading more science fiction and hitting throwbacks like Dune, this looked like a good classic to revisit. Having also recently finished Fourth Wing, I was eager to compare how the dragons are used in the two societies. In Fourth Wing, the dragons are used for battles against a neighboring country. In Dragonflight, they destroy the threatening thread. In both cases the dragons are telepathic with their riders. I was surprised how similar it worked for both books. My dad loved this series, so it was sentimental for me also. It was interesting to see what I had forgotten and what I had remembered. A couple small points didn’t age well, but in general, Anne was pretty forward thinking.
Here’s the Tier Two graphic.
Next is my Miscellaneous Tier. I expected to read at least part of each of these, and I did. There are a couple I finished.
- Cats of the World by Hannah Shaw and Andrew Martilla
Hannah Shaw is better known as Kitten Lady. Andrew Martilla is widely known as The Cat Photographer. In this book they travel and document cat rescue around the world. It works very differently in other countries. Hannah explains it all for each stop. Andrew photographs all the wonderful cats they meet. I got to see them on their book tour, and I have a signed copy. I finished it mid-month. I enjoyed reading about all the different places they visited and I loved the spectacular photography.
Ancient Aliens is my favorite 21st century TV series. I have seen all the shows multiple times. I’ve had this companion book for a long time and have sampled it in the past. I read it cover to cover and had a great time. I love this show because the idea of ancient aliens is a captivating premise and it is hard to prove a negative.
- The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
This book is a classic. For years it has helped creatives root out problem areas that restrict creative flow. It’s the source of the advice to write morning pages. My writing group sometimes picks a book we think could inform or improve our creativity or writing craft and we study it chapter by chapter each week. This month we added this one. We have only read the introduction so far as a group, and I have read into the first couple of chapters on my own. I’ll read bits of this one over the next several months as we discuss it in our weekly group meeting. I may not finish it in 2026 because we take it pretty slow.
- Writing Archetypal Character Arcs by KM Weiland
I love KM Weiland’s books on writing craft, particularly when she focuses on character arc. I didn’t truly understand plot until I read her book on character arcs. Now she has a new book on archetypal character arcs. I read the first section, and will pick away at the subsequent ones in the coming months. As always, she has great insights into story and character. This will be a great reference book for years to come.
- Social Media for Writers by Tee Morris and Pip Ballantine
I tried to pick this one up earlier in the year and didn’t have time for it. Given that my book release is much closer, I had hoped to absorb some social media tips that will be useful for launch. I read about half of it. I found a lot of the material in this book was information I already knew. There were some good pointers, and it is great for newbies.
- Ten Tales by Edgar Allan Poe
I’ve been saying for months I need to read some Poe because I’d picked up a Poe related YA novella and a Poe related middle grade. There are ten Poe short stories here. I reread The Raven and The Cask of Amontillado, as planned. I counted it for my poetry pick this month. The Raven is a classic. I wasn’t intending to read the entire thing in August, but I hope to get through more of the short stories as Halloween approaches. It’s got the perfect fall vibe.
- Classic Cooking with Coca Cola by Elizabeth Candler Graham
Every month I am picking up a recipe book on my shelves to either unhaul or use, ideally to find healthy recipes to try. This was a gift from my mom (mostly because I have collected Coca Cola memorabilia off and on over the years) and I have always been meaning to find the time for it. I enjoyed looking through the recipes and I found a few to try. It was interesting that you don’t only get the Coca Cola flavor – there are recipes with Sprite too. I will probably keep the book for a while, and then donate it for other Coca Cola enthusiasts.
Here’s the Miscellaneous Tier graphic.
It’s been a great month, with a lot of great reads. What did you read in August? If you have a favorite read to recommend, or a favorite book challenge for 2026, be sure to comment!
Thanks for reading!
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