The Bookish Books Reading Challenge: August Book Ideas and Link-Up for Reviews

 

I'm late with this post once again. Some months it's just impossible for me to get them done in time. I'm probably the only one who notices, but I still feel like a slacker. Sorry! 

Anyway, July was a great month for me as far as bookish books go. I read these five:

Homecoming by Kate Morton—Funny enough, I can't remember why I marked this novel as bookish. My aging memory makes it tough to remember things sometimes! Ha ha. 

The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry by Anna Rose Johnson—When Lucy's caregiver dies, she is taken in by a kind family of lighthouse keepers who lives on a remote island in the middle of Lake Superior. The orphaned, grief-stricken child must adjust to a very different sort of life than she's known before. One of her saving graces is reading. She eagerly anticipates the arrival of a sort of floating library that delivers books to island inhabitants every month. So cool!

The Improbable Tales of Baskerville Hall by Ali Standish—The first in a middle-grade mystery series, this book features a young Arthur Conan Doyle. He's recruited to attend a secret school for extraordinary students. There, he meets a colorful group of children, has many adventures, and—at the very end—is introduced to the famous detective who will be his mentor, Sherlock Holmes.

Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney—Books aren't a huge theme in this mystery/thriller, but one of the main characters is a librarian in a women's prison. She talks about the power of reading in her life and in the lives of the inmates. 

Library Girl by Polly Horvath (available September 10, 2024)—This middle-grade story is about a girl who is left in a library as an infant and raised at the library in secret by a group of librarians. As much as I loved the premise, the book fell flat for me. It's far-fetched (naturally), but it's also dull and old-fashioned. It does make some lovely statements about books and reading, though. 

I also read this one that seemed like it would be bookish but really wasn't:

The Secret Library by Kekla Magoon—Another middle-grade novel, this one is about a girl who finds a mysterious map left for her by her beloved grandfather, who has just died. It leads her to a library full of objects that look like books, but are actually stored secrets. So, the title refers to a library full of secrets instead of a book library that no one knows about. Disappointing! 

Library Girl and The Secret Library were pretty meh reads for me, but I enjoyed the others.

What bookish books am I planning to read in August? This one looks really cute, although I might save it for later in the year:

Recommended for You by Laura Silverman—This YA rom-com is about two teenagers who work at an Atlanta bookstore. When their boss announces a contest giving a large cash prize to the employee who sells the most books over the holidays, they become bitter rivals in an escalating game. Naturally, they fall for each other while competing for the big prize.

How about you? What bookish books have you been reading? Which are you planning to dive into this month?

If you are participating in the 2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge, please use the widget below to link-up your August reviews. If you're not signed up for the challenge yet, what are you waiting for? Click here to join the party.