Blimey – this was a big month! I didn’t actually realise that I have finished 6 books this month, 7 if you count the fact that I finished the last one on the 1st of August. But because this month is so long already, I’m not counting it, and I’ll get on my rant about that book next month. There’s also one in this month’s pile that I think might be my read of the year.
Let’s take a look at what did count this month. Followed by my daily August gratitude answer too.
Monthly Summary Stats
Guess who wasn’t paying attention when selecting books this month? This girl! I can confirm my books were 100% eBooks, all found on Kindle Unlimited. There were no audio or print books this month.
I had a look back through the month to see why I dropped off from the 16-18th, and that’s when we were in Melbourne. I thought I had been reading, so I either forgot to update the app, or maybe I just allowed myself a break. Either way, it felt like a pretty solid and consistent month.
I was also pretty stunned that I finished a book within a day, on the 7th! But then I realised that was just after my friends had flown back to the US, and I had two days off work still. So yep, smashed that out pretty hard while I was chilling at home. (Gosh, I love having my planner and being able to look back at what things I did each day – it really comes in handy!)
Book Reviews
This is going to hurt – Adam Kay
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Link: amazon.com
Format: Kindle
Oh. My. Goodness. Book of the month for me. Possibly year. Big call, but I said what I said.
The book is a series of journal entries from a junior doctor working 97 hours a week in the NHS system in the UK.
His sense of humour is right up my alley – it’s dark, because sometimes if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry. And his book delivers it all. I laughed (hard), I cried, I gasped, and my heart was broken. I’m not being dramatic. You are brought into his world, and you feel everything he feels.
He wrote this book as a way of drawing attention to what doctors deal with on a daily basis. And the challenges they face, these same people that we demand perfection from when they’re routinely performing surgery in life or death situations.
I could not rave about this book any harder. If you have a strong stomach and love non-fiction, this book is for you. I’ve already sent it to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, who both work in varying degrees in the medical and science industries, and I’m recommending it here. Well worth a read.
The Devil Wears Scrubs and The Devil You Know – Freida McFadden
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Link: (The Devil Wears Scrubs and The Devil You Know)
Format: Kindle
I’ve joined these ones together because they’re part of a series, and it felt odd writing about it one after another.
I must’ve been on a bit of a medical kick at the start of the month. This was again a junior doctor, but this time it was fiction. It’s mostly about her personal life, with a little bit of working life thrown in.
Jane is a new doctor, dealing with a horrible, overbearing boss, trying to remember everything she learned in medical school, lack of sleep, and a poor wage. Then, the sexy surgeon steps in to save the day.
The books are good, easy reading. I smashed these out pretty quickly, and the best way to explain them would be a good “plane novel”, i.e. fast to read, enjoyable, you get a little bit invested, but they can be put down too. I read one after another because I wanted to find out what happened, but they weren’t a 5-star for me.
The good thing is that the storyline wasn’t super predictable. And you grow to love every character in each of the books.
Enjoyable but easy read.
In The Likely Event – Rebecca Yarros
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Link: amazon.com
Format: Kindle
Full disclosure – ever since I read Fourth Wing I’ve been a Rebecca Yarros fan. But for the fantasy readers, you should know that this is not a fantasy book.
This was another book that I smashed out pretty quickly, although this time I was back at work, so it was reserved for nighttime reading.
Izzy is afraid of flying. Her seat neighbour is gorgeous. Then the plane crashes into a river. He gets them both out, checks her into the hospital pretending to be her husband, and disappears. A chance meeting later, and they find each other again – but he’s in the armed forces, and this is anything but a standard love story.
Really well written, gripping, and enough that when I got to the end, I was struggling to put it down each night. Literally, I think I dropped my Kindle once because I fell asleep while reading.
A Lot to Unpack – Portia Macintosh
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (and a half)
Link: amazon.com
Format: Kindle
And now we get to the more disappointing end of the scale for the month. Spoiler alert – both this one and the next one didn’t rank high for me.
They’re fine enough to read, but I need romance books to have at least some sense of reality. Even when I’m reading sports romance ones, and it’s the big superstar falls for the everyday person, I need to believe it.
This one just skimmed over too much. Girl meets boss, they have interactions, fall in love, happily ever after. Sorry, I ruined it for you.
There’s one small twist in there that gives you a bit of a facepalm moment for the main character, but it just wasn’t enough to save it for me. Read it if you need something easy, or a brain cleanser between heavy books.
For the Cameras – Meghan Quinn
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (and a half)
Link: amazon.com
Format: Kindle
This one could possibly jump to a 4-star for me, I think I’m just wearing my cranky undies now.
Storyline-wise, this is better than the last one and slightly more believable. But it’s just the speed at which things change after the main characters get together. I like to think that love has an effect on people, but I dunno. And sometimes I just get put off by the whole “man must provide for woman” thing. My inner feminist comes out then, where I just get cranky on behalf of the female main character and what she should or shouldn’t put up with (thankfully, she does put her foot down at some point and speak up).
Another easy read, another one to use as a palette cleanser. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t go out of my way for this one.
Daily Gratitude
As I mentioned in my last post, each day I’m going to be blogging something that I’m grateful for. To avoid spamming everyone, I’ll drop these in at the bottom of other posts if I’m already writing something that day.
(If you’re new, Elisabeth from The Optimistic Muse is hosting a month of daily gratitude prompts, and I’ve chosen to blog them.)
Today’s prompt is:
One thing I love about this current season (weather or life!) is…
It’s winter in Australia right now, and I’m cold.
I’ll just pause for a moment while you laugh, because my “cold” is anything under 20 degrees Celsius, or 68 degrees Fahrenheit. I’ve never been to the snow, and I daresay I’d resemble something like the guys from Cool Runnings the first time I visit.
I have been running the heater a lot. My office doesn’t get the sun so it never warms up, and circulation problems with my feet mean they’re always cold. Hands too. When I go to bed at night, I hug a heat pack.
So, when it comes to this season, what do I love?
Snuggling up in warm clothes, with a heated blanket over my legs.
I normally cuddle up with my husband while we watch something on the telly, and just chill out. And it’s so calming.
Bonus second answer – how warm it can be in the sun. Where I am in Australia, we still get beautifully warm sun, so during the day I like to go outside to defrost a bit. If you haven’t heard it before, Australia is pretty terrible for houses and insulation, so it’s usually warmer outside than it is inside.
Also, guess what I’ve just decided we’re doing tonight? Family movie night, with my blanket! Heck yeahhhh!
What season is it where you are right now? What do you love most about the winter season?
