Hello everyone! Today I’m back with some sort of TBR. We all know that I’m some mood reader and I just can’t stick to a TBR, but as I’m in some kind of reading slump I just have to force myself to read. So there’s no better remedy than a TBR, right? To determine which books I’m going to read in August or at least attempt to read in August, I’m going to set my Goodreads TBR Shelf on random and will choose some books based on that list. Other books mentioned in this post will also be ARC‘s that I’ll have to read and review this month.

And now, without further ado, let’s start!

1. Books that I’ve bought myself or will buy

📚 – #1 – Demain les chats by Bernard Werber | Science Fiction, French Literature | September 28th, 2016 | Paperback | Goodreads

I will not add the synopsis for this one, as it hasn’t been translated into another language right now. I started the book on July 31st, and one of the things I can say is that I’ve never read anything like this before. However, I’m still not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.

In this book we follow a female cat named Bastet who is our protagonist and talks about how humans are determined to kill each other. Pythagore (cat of the neighbor) and Bastet want to take over the world to save humanity, but it might be too late for that.

This is like the only thing I know right now, and the book is honestly so weird. I guess that I will at least try to finish it as I already have book two as well and maybe weird “as heck” is just what my brain needs right now. I’ll keep you updated whether I’ll manage to finish this one in August.

The New York Times bestselling series that inspired the international hit video game: The Witcher.
For over a century, humans, dwarves, gnomes, and elves have lived together in relative peace. But times have changed, the uneasy peace is over, and now the races are fighting once again. The only good elf, it seems, is a dead elf.

Geralt of Rivia, the cunning assassin known as The Witcher, has been waiting for the birth of a prophesied child. This child has the power to change the world – for good, or for evil.

As the threat of war hangs over the land and the child is hunted for her extraordinary powers, it will become Geralt’s responsibility to protect them all – and the Witcher never accepts defeat.

The Witcher returns in this sequel to The Last Wish, as the inhabitants of his world become embroiled in a state of total war.

📚 – #2 – Das Erbe der Elfen (The Witcher #1) by Andrzej Sapkowski | Fantasy, Polish Literature, German Translation | January 1st, 1994 | Paperback | Goodreads

So this might be a tad bit too overambitious as I already gave this a try, but the first chapter was just way too long. Being in a reading slump might actually not help to manage this book. BUT I will try (no promises here). Besides, I’m already way too late to the party.

Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.

📚 – #3 – Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch | Urban Fantasy, Mystery | January 10th, 2011 | Paperback Goodreads

This is one series I wanted to start reading years ago and yet in 2022 I still haven’t managed to read the first book in the series. Shame on me! Maybe now will be the time?

2. ARC’s or Gifted books

Once upon a time, Alliana believed in dreams and fairy tales as sweet as spun-sugar clouds. Alliana wished on shooting stars, sure that someday she and her grandmother would be able to travel to the capital city to see the queen. Then her grandmother passed away—and those dreams disappeared in a disenchanted puff.

Now Alliana’s forced to attend to the whims of her wicked stepmother—with long days of cleaning her stepfamily’s inn as her skin burns raw or staying up until the crack of dawn to embroider her stepsister’s ball gowns. Until she meets two beings who change her life forever—the first is a young nightdragon who Alliana discovers she can magically talk to. And the second is Nela, a young witch.

Nela needs Alliana’s help navigating the mysterious abyss, filled with dangerous beasts, a place Alliana knows by heart. Alliana sees Nela’s request as a chance to break free of her stepmother’s shadow and to seize a chance at a life she’s barely dared to hope for—but there’s a risk. If caught, Alliana will be stuck working for her stepmother for the rest of her life. Can Alliana truly make wisps of dreams into her own, better-than-a-fairy-tale happily ever after?

Inspired by the Japanese Cinderella story and set in the same world as the Eva Evergreen series, this story can be read as a standalone.

📚 – #4 – Alliana, Girl of Dragons by Julie Abe | Fantasy, Retelling, Middle Grade, Asian Literature | August 2nd, 2022 | e-ARC* | Goodreads | Tour Spot on August 5th

So this is technically a book I’m nearly done with because I’m part of its Tour being hosted by TBR and Beyond. There are only a few pages missing, and I really like the book. I’m still unsure of my rating, though. Guess that you’ll have to find it out on Friday.

The Haunting of Hill House meets Knives Out in a bid for an inheritance that will leave Helen Vaughan either rich…or dead.

Helen Vaughan doesn’t know why she and her mother left their ancestral home at Harrowstone Hall, called Harrow, or why they haven’t spoken to their extended family since. So when her grandfather dies, she’s shocked to learn that he has left everything—the house, the grounds, and the money—to her. The inheritance comes with one condition: she must stay on the grounds of Harrow for one full year, or she’ll be left with nothing.

There is more at stake than money. For as long as she can remember, Harrow has haunted Helen’s dreams—and now those dreams have become a waking nightmare. Helen knows that if she is going to survive the year, she needs to uncover the secrets of Harrow. Why is the house built like a labyrinth? What is digging the holes that appear in the woods each night?And why does the house itself seem to be making her sick?

With each twisted revelation, Helen questions what she knows about Harrow, her family, and even herself. She no longer wonders if she wants to leave…but if she can.

📚 – #5 – These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall | Fantasy, Horror, Young Adult, LGBTQ+ Representation | August 9th, 2022 | e-ARC* | Goodreads | Tour Spot on August 10th

I’m nearly done with this one as well and oh boy there are goosebumps all over my arms. I can’t wait to share my thoughts with you on this book!

A dark and enthralling story about a young woman who makes a deal with a spirit to try and gain her independence—and the twisted price she has to pay for it

Ella is a 17-year-old weaver whose entire livelihood depends on her loom. She dreams of opening her own shop, but when her father died in debtor’s prison, she had to support herself by taking whatever clients she could get. In order to buy her supplies she goes into debt of her own, and when her loom breaks, Ella realizes she needs more help than a repairperson can give her. She, like everyone, has heard about the old washerwoman spirit called the Bean-Nighe who will grant any one wish—for a price.

But Ella is desperate, so she asks the Bean-Nighe to fix her loom. And it works. The loom is fixed, and she’s creating beautiful pieces she could have never imagined before. All she has to do is feed the loom a drop of blood each time she weaves—a small price to pay for such magnificent silks. And when she brings two bolts to a rich client, she meets a mysterious young man named Callum and bargains for an invitation to his exclusive party. At that party, he’s so mesmerized by her talent, he offers Ella a place to live and patronage for her art. It seems like Ella’s fortune is finally turning for the better . . . until she begins to notice the loom taking more from her than she offered.

As she becomes entangled in the lives of the city’s rich, swept into Callum’s allure, and trapped by the Bean-Nighe’s magic, Ella must figure out a way to secure her future while she still has a future at all.

📚 – #6 – Beguiled by Cyla Panin | Fantasy, Retelling, Young Adult | August 23rd, 2022 | e-ARC* | Goodreads | Tour Spot on August 23rd, 2022

I haven’t started it yet, but I can’t wait to do so. It does sound really intriguing!

One magical inn, two kids with supernatural powers, and an ancient Celtic creature trying to destroy their world by Halloween night…

Halloweentown meets Supernatural in this spooky middle-grade series from the acclaimed author of the Storm Crow duology! 

Thirteen-year-old Annabella Ballinkay has never been normal, even by her psychic family’s standards. Every generation uses their abilities to help run the Ravenfall Inn, a sprawling, magical B&B at the crossroads of the human world and the Otherworld. But it’s hard to contribute when your only power is foreseeing death.

So when fourteen-year-old Colin Pierce arrives at Ravenfall searching for his missing older brother and the supernatural creature who killed their parents, Anna jumps at the chance to help. But the mysteries tied to Colin go much deeper than either of them expects. . . .

As the two team up to find answers, they unearth Colin’s family’s secret past and discover that Colin has powers beyond his imagination. And now the supernatural creature, one with eerie origins in Celtic mythology, is coming after him. If Anna and Colin can’t stop the creature by Halloween night, the veil to the Otherworld could be ripped open—which would spell destruction for their world as they know it.

📚- #7 – Ravenfall by Kalyn Josephson | Urban Fantasy, Middle Grade | August 30th, 2022 | e-ARC* | Goodreads | Tour Spot on August 30th, 2022

I’m so excited for “Ravenfall” and when I saw TBR and Beyond’s Post I just had to hit that request button. Which is why I am so happy that I got a spot in the Book Tour. I love Josephson’s writing style, and I’m sure that “Ravenfall” will be as great as her other books.

Ravenfall is also being mentioned in my anticipated releases post.

And that is some ambitious TBR! Obviously, my ARC’s will be on the top priority list as I’m participating in the respective Tours. For the other books, I can’t guarantee that I will stick to these. I might switch some books depending on the mood.

What about your August TBR? Please let me know in the comments below.

*A review copy has been sent to me in exchange for an honest review.