Monthly Wrap-Up – August 2024
Hello readers and welcome to this monthly wrap-up for August. I had a decent month of reading, and this post is about sharing what I read over the last month.
I had a couple of carryover’s from July, as well as a varied list for August. As usual now, I didn’t get to all the books I set for August – but I had a great time with the books I did read.
Let’s take a look!
Books Read
The Power of Habit
Picking up from last month’s monthly wrap-up post, I was 30% into The Power of Habit.
I really enjoyed this book, and I’m hoping I have some good take away knowledge from it. The book has great examples of the consequences of bad habits – personal, organisational and as a society. The key takeaway I have from the book is that you can often change a habit by making changes in a seemingly unrelated way and gradually introduce change from there.
I’m hoping this will help me build more good habits in my own life!
The Other People
In my Monthly TBR post I shared that I was nearly through this audiobook. I’d already listened to 80%, so this month I was hoping for a quick conclusion.
Mum loved and strongly recommended The Other People and having finished it, I get why. If you enjoy mysteries that keep you guessing all the way along, this is perfect. Even up until the very end I was still trying to put pieces together and work out character’s involvement in the story line.
The Other People is the third book I’ve read by C.J. Tudor, and I still have plenty to read!
The Midnight Library
For our first ever book club at work, we chose The Midnight Library by Matt Haig to read and discuss. For me it is a re-read, but I agree with some feedback from another member that it’s better second time around!
I re-read The Midnight Library very quickly. It’s only a short read – one of the reasons I recommended it to book club in the first place. At the same time, it raises plenty of discussion points; it doesn’t lack for content! Admittedly I did leave this a little last minute. I finished it the night before book club. I wasn’t the last though – Helen spent the first half hour of the meeting finishing it!
Eruption
I’ve prioritised picking up our next book club read, Eruption, as I’m sharing a physical copy with another member.
As of the end of August I was 65% into the book. I’ve started reading it again after my bout of covid (so as not to contaminate the book!) so as of drafting this monthly wrap-up I’m a little futther.
I hope to finish this soon so I can pass on to Helen ASAP.
Wolves of the Calla
A book I very briefly started, but ended up shelving temporarily, is Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the book and I fully intend to pick it up again soon. However, I started to read this right at the end of the month when I became unwell. I decided the time wasn’t ideal to pick up such a tome. When I’m back into the swing of things I’ll pick it up again.
Breathtaking
A short audiobook I enjoyed this month was Breathtaking by Rachel Clarke. Make no mistake, it’s an eye-opener.
I totally appreciate the book and subject may not be for everyone right now. However, I enjoyed listening to this perspective on the pandemic. I had no idea that care homes were so woefully under-supplied with PPE. What I also found interesting was Rachel’s (and colleagues) views of the advice being issued by the government. It is very much a view of too little and too late.
Undoctored
My last non-fiction to share with you in this monthly wrap-up is Undoctored by Adam Kay.
As of drafting this monthly wrap-up I have just finished the book this morning. You’ll get more thoughts on it in Sunday’s Sunday Summary update.
However, as a snapshot of where I was at month end, I was a couple of hours shy of completion.
Summary
I read quite a number of non-fiction books in August – more than average I’d say. However, given I was a little behind in my mid-year review on this goal, it’s a good change. I’m still slightly behind, but only by one book or so.
August was a good month of reading for subject diversity and I’m looking forward to an equally productive September. My reading list is coming out in the next day or so, so stay tuned!