My Month Is Booked: August 2025

Hi everyone + welcome to August’s My Month is Booked linkup! :] I didn’t finish too many books this month, but it’s partly because I’m in the middle of like…4 books right now, haha. They will likely appear at next month’s linkup! :]

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A Letter to the Luminous Deep, by Sylvie Cathrall – This is a book written almost entirely in letter format. It follow a reclusive “E.” after she makes a discovery outside her underwater home + contacts a renowned scholar Henerey. As they get to know each other through shared interests, they uncover a mystery and subsequently vanish. A year later, E.’s sister Sophy and Henerey’s brother Vyerin piece together their letters, sketches, and field notes to try to learn more about their sibling’s disappearance.

I may or may not have partially chosen to read this because of the gorgeous cover. *-*  Be forewarned that the pacing for this book is definitely slow and it starts to pick up pretty abruptly in the last ~25% of the book. The letter format did take some getting used to and it would’ve been cool to see more world-building (the format of the book kinda limited this), but overall I did enjoy reading it/would like to know what happens (it’s the first part of a duology!).

P.S. I Hate You, by Lauren Connolly – At her brother’s funeral, Maddie Sanderson discovers that her older brother’s dying wish is for her to scatter his ashes across 8 different states at destinations he never got to visit before he died from cancer…but with his best friend, who broke her heart years ago. A second chance “enemies to lovers” romance.

I found the main character to be kinda insufferable (or just very immature/selfish). I get that she was grieving and that there was bad history, but to hold onto it for so many years and to be that rude and unreasonable almost 24/7…it very much detracted from the book and made it difficult for the romance to be very believable. I did enjoy the different places they visited though — it fed the wanderlust + there is an interesting twist I wasn’t expecting!

How to Read a Book, by Monica Wood – A story that follows 3 intersecting lives — Violet Powell, a 22-year-old being released from prison after serving 22 months for a drunk driving crash that killed a local kindergarten teacher, Harriet Larson, a retired English teacher who volunteers as the facilitator of the prison book club, and Frank Daigle, a retired machinist who is the husband of the women Violet accidentally killed.

I’m not sure what I was expecting with this book, but I really enjoyed it! There were choices made that I didn’t agree with, but the author did a great job of exploring loss, grief, forgiveness, second chances, and found family. Kinda like how I feel everyone needs a Vera in their life, I also feel everyone needs a Harriet and a Frank too.

Water Moon, by Samantha Sotto Yambao – A pawnshop located in a backstreet of Tokyo offers those who find it the option to pawn their deepest regrets. When Hana wakes up on her first morning as the shop’s new owner, she finds the shop ransacked, her father missing, and the shop’s most valuable acquisition stolen. A stranger stumbles in the same day, and instead of offering Hana a regret, he offers his help instead.

The world-building in here was so dream-like and whimsical, but I had trouble getting swept into it because the characters didn’t feel very developed. (This could partly be because I’m generally not a fan of the insta-love trope + I also don’t feel people (especially 21yo’s) ever talk like this.) There were a lot of thought-provoking quotes and it did make me think of the choices I’ve made with my life and how different things might be if I’d chosen differently. All things considered though, it was an enjoyable read and I feel like this book would make an absolutely beautiful Studio Ghibli-esque movie or anime.

I got to participate in a couple summer reading programs at my local libraries this year, so I got a couple free books I’m looking forward to reading (Heartwood by Amity Gaige + a signed copy of Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab)!

• What did you read last month? Any new favorites?
• What’s on your TBR for next month? I’m working on Project Hail Mary (by Andy Weir) + The Enchanted Greenhouse (by Sarah Beth Durst) right now!