🏵 What I Read in August 2026

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Not as many books finished this month, although I did finish House of Earth and Blood after starting it in July and totally read House of Sky and Breath, both of which are around 1000 pages. 

Also, I found one of my top reads of 2026. Because I Killed Him was a book I had discovered via BookTok, and had added it to my TBR to be read at some stage. It sounded like it was right up my alley, and I was curious, but didn't dive in until this month for my book club pick. So glad I did, as it's amazing. 

I unfortunately had a DNF, but it's one that I will go back to eventually; I just wasn't in the right headspace for it this month. 

Crescent City Trilogy - House of Earth & Blood, House of Sky & Breath and House of Flame & Shadow - Written By Sarah J Maas

My Ratings:

House of Earth & Blood: 💜 💜 💜 💜 💜

House of Sky & Breath: 💜 💜 💜 💜

House of Flame & Shadow: will finish and post my review in September

I started reading this series in July when I got a bundle of all three books in Libby. I read the first book in the trilogy, House of Earth and Blood, around two years ago and always intended to go back and read the remaining two, but didn't. Now that ACOTAR 6 is coming out on 27th October 2026, I have been told I need to read Crescent City before the release, since they are all part of the same universe and will apparently be referenced in the book. 

Altogether, it's 2866 pages, which is wild, but I like a challenge. As I read it through Libby, I was also on a time crunch as people were waiting. I hate waiting for a book I have on hold to become available, so I don't like keeping people waiting if I can help it. 

I am reading these books immersively by reading the ebooks while listening to the dramatised audiobook. I can't recommend this enough. It's like a movie in your ears while you are reading the book. There is a full cast of actors reading each character, with music and sound effects in the background. So good. 

House of Earth and Blood was absolutely amazing. It starts out a bit slowly, but once it kicks up the energy, it doesn't let up. I absolutely adore Bryce Quinlan, and Hunt is a fabulous MMC. Many side characters really help bring this world to life, but my favourite is Lahabah, the fire sprite who lives at Bryce's workplace. 

I love that the world they live in feels like a modern city, but with magic, fae, werewolves, and fire sprites.

House of Sky and Breath is the weakest book of the first two in the series for me. Hopefully it's a wonderful set-up for the next and final book in the series, House of Flame and Shadow.

Because I Killed Him, Written By Edith Birde

My Rating: 🩵 🩵 🩵 🩵 🩵 🩵

This was my Chapter 25 Chapter a Day Readalong for August. Because I Killed Him ended up being 2 chapters a day, but I'm not complaining. 

This book was a very easy 6 🩵 for me. I had heard wonderful things about it on Instagram and other socials, and it sounded right up my alley. 

In this book, we are in a dystopian world with a whole lot of 1920s vibes. There are low citizens and high citizens, and no one is safe. Mistakes are paid for with public executions. We meet Loredana, who lives with her parents and two sisters in relative wealth, even as low citizens. Her father is a respected member of the government. A few years before the events in the book, she killed a high citizen in self defence during an attack, and she was forced to give up fencing, which she was highly skilled at, so that her part in the death would be hidden. 

She has been accepted to Grandmaster University. When her father crosses the high citizens, she becomes a target. The only way for her to get through school with her life is to find a high citizen to protect her and bring her into their entourage. She decides to choose Edmund Prew, a man her father warned her about, but she believes he's her best option. He agrees, but as they become closer, their world is turned upside down when secrets come out that may end their relationship and her life. 

Loredana is a wonderful FMC who you can't help but love and root for. The members of Edmund's entourage are amazing characters, and talk as though they are living in the 1920s and the flapper life even though they are university age kids. 

The drama builds and builds throughout the book, right up until the devastating finale. Even though I was reading this book a chapter a day, I finished it before the end of the month, and I regret absolutely nothing. I couldn't put the book down for the last few chapters. 

This book is a total page-turner, and such a fantastic read. The story is beautifully paced and laid out, and the characters are well written and easy to love, or hate. So delighted that this book is the first of a series. Roll on book 2. 

I can't recommend this book enough. 

 

Ordinary Saints, Written By Niamh Ni Mhaoileoin

My Rating: dnf

This was my local Chapter 25 Book Club book of the month. I got a few chapters into it, but decided not to finish it. This is nothing against the book, but I just wasn't in the right head space to finish it. It's quite an intense and involved book, so I will definitely go back to it at some stage. 

So I finished three books in August, and one dnf. Not a bad month, although not quite as good as I had hoped. Feel a little better about it since the two Crescent City books are both huge. 

Hoping to add more books to my finished book list in September.