These are all the books I would like to read this autumn season. Some are thrillers, some are horror, a few are for a read-along I am participating in, and some just have fall whimsy. Talk about a mood readers list, LOL!!!!
Have you read any of these?
Friday Book Snippets is a weekly blogging event co-hosted by Anne@HeadFullofBooks and Olivia at Bemused and Bookish. Share two snippets (a sentence or short paragraph) from the book’s beginning, and page 56 (or another page) in the book you are currently reading. No spoilers, please.
Nothing ever happens in Fairhill, Vermont. It’s a small town, surrounded by farmland, with the Green Mountains in the distance. Cornfields and hay. Covered bridges and ghost stories. Hiking and hayrides. Underage drinking in the graveyard, late at night, leaning up against the headstones. There isn’t much else for teenagers to do. Drive around in their parents’ trucks once they get their license. Make out if they’re lucky. School and sports and chores and part-time jobs…
Nothing ever happens in sleepy little Fairhill, Vermont.
Until it does.
And on page 56 in the large print edition I borrowed from my library:
Finally Riley says, “I can’t believe she’s gone. I don’t know how we’ll go on without her.”
P.S. Did I put the wrong time for this post to post? Absolutely! Better late than never.
No matter what your tastes are, a library card hits all the right notes!
Check out a classic story or hit shuffle and try something new. Find harmony at your library’s book clubs, movie nights, crafting classes, and author talks. A headphone kind of day? Find your focus in a study room or vibe out in a cozy nook. Compose your future with new skills in your library’s makerspace or check out instruments and tools in the Library of Things. No matter what rhythm you find yourself in, there’s a seat in the front row at the library for you.
This September, B sharp, and sign up for a library card!
I have had a library card since 2013, and since signing up my library says I have saved $13,460.42. That’s absolutely wild!
#LibraryCardSignUpMonth
Annabel was hosting 20 Books of Summer 26 again this year. I read a ton in the summertime, so I love participating in these types of challenges!
I read / listened to 27 books from June 1 to September 1.
Every year I say I will be participating in less challenges, and then it doesn’t happen. This year I have been sticking to the ones I really enjoy doing so it’s defintely a smaller list.
I constantly listen to audiobooks so I will definitely hit 30+ this year.
I always read backlisted books since I can’t keep up with my TBR haha!
COYER is going really well this year as well. I’ve been focusing on actually reading books I have on my Kindle and it’s working out.
Library Love is my favorite challenge and I always crush my goals!
I have been also trying to get through my NetGalley backlog (using audiobooks from the library, or actually reading the eARCs on my Kindle) and it’s going good.
Back in the day I would get emails about books that were free and I filled up my Kindle with them. Then I realistically could not read them all! I cleared some out and kept the ones I really thought I would like. Thrifty Thursday hasn’t been a focus, but I’ve read a couple this year and that’s progress to me.
I am doing pretty well on all my challenges. HRCYED 2.0 ends in a few days, and I have pretty much gave up on it to get prepared for HRCYED 3.0, lol! And for reading the books I wanted to read and then see if they fit into HRCYED prompts the challenge went way better than I was anticipating.
I also just joined the Law of Fives challenge and just backfilled my reading in from this year. I need to plan out a little bit of my books out to get more of this challenge done.
HOW ARE YOU DOING ON YOUR CHALLENGES SO FAR THIS YEAR?
In 2019, the U.S. Senate officially designated June as Great Outdoors Month. The month aims to raise awareness of the importance of outdoor recreation for physical and mental health, as well as to promote responsible outdoor behavior and conservation efforts.
This month I plan to spend as much time outside as I can. My goal is to be outside every single day of the week.
2024 marked the 100th anniversary of the first international football tournament in history with the representation of all regions, which took place on May 25, 1924, during the summer Olympic games held in Paris.
In recognition of this milestone, on May 7, 2024, the General Assembly passed Resolution A/RES/78/281 proclaiming May 25 as World Football Day.
The resolution acknowledges “the global reach of football and its impact in various spheres, including commerce, peace and diplomacy, and recognizing that football creates a space for cooperation.”
It also recognizes “the fundamental role” of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), and the important role of regional and national soccer federations, as well as relevant associations, in promoting the game of football.
The resolution encourages all countries to support football and other sports as a tool to promote peace, development and the empowerment of women and girls. And it also encourages countries to adopt policies and programs to promote football and other sports and physical activities.
It invites all member states, organizations of the UN system, international organizations, academia, civil society and the private sector to observe World Football Day in line with national priorities “and to disseminate the advantages of football for all, including through educational and public awareness-raising activities.”
“Football unites the world. I want every girl to have the opportunity to be her most determined, accomplished, joyful self.” – Marta Vieira da Silva, UN Women Goodwill Ambassador for women and girls in sport
“Football is the only sport where you put people together, it doesn’t matter if you are rich, or poor, or black, or white. It is one nation. This is the beauty of football.” – Pelé, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador
I found all of this information on UN.org
Annabel is hosting 20 Books of Summer 26 again this year. I am setting up my TBR for my summer reads, even though I am a mood reader and it normally goes out the window lol!
ARCs I have and want to read this summer (and before their pub date):
Plus some random books on my TBR:
I am also leaving some room for books I just want to randomly read when the vibe feels right…
I will be making a final post with all the books I complete once the challenge is over, so I can see my progress.
The laptop I use to post on my blog crapped the bed. I hate using my cell for blogging as I’m used to doing in on a laptop. And until I get my laptop fixed I won’t be in the blog spaces.
I have been reading a lot though so that’s a plus!!
I’ll catch up with everyone in a few days.
I thought a mid-month update might be fun to share. Just some random babbling…
I was consistently reading every single day, but also reading at a slow pace. It took me what felt like forever to finish my first book of the year. Yes, I am taking my time and not rushing through books this year… but still, lol. I have not been feeling well, and have been more stressed than usual, which is probably contributing to all of this. Then the other day I opened my Kindle and didn’t want to read the book I was into so I spent an hour looking through my virtual shelf and then browsing Libby before deciding that it was tine for bed instead (since that whole thing took way too long). I am trying to avoid a reading slump this early in the year!!!!
All of my challenges pages can be found at the top of my blog this year. I am going to try my very best to keep up with them. So far I have been so that’s a plus!
I am mostly quitting Instagram. I do not care one flying F about it anymore. No matter what I do I get almost no engagement… even when in an engagement group. Whatever I’m over it.
My yearly goal was to read/listen to 100 books in total.
I read 104 books!
Audiobooks: 60
eBooks: 31
Physical: 13
Standalones: 69
Part of a series: 35
(Books published in 2026: 3)
Books published in 2025: 42
Books published 2024 and earlier: 59
My best reading month was July and November, with 13 books for both months.
Top three genres read were Thriller, Mystery & Short Story.
The longest book I read was 554 pages (The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson)
The shortest book I read was 39 pages (Abscond by Abraham Verghese)
I spent $0.00 on books and all things book related.
My goal was to spend $0.00 for the entire year.
For This Year (not too much changed from last years goals):
I am making my yearly reading goal be 50 books. Reading is supposed to be a marathon, not a sprint. I feel like I am always rushing through books because I wanted to hit high goals and “keep up with the Jones'”. This year I want to take my time with the books I want to read, remember the plot, and enjoy the stories more.
I will continue to use Storygraph. I still have my Goodreads account open for if I need to leave a review there for ARCs, but I barely log in to the site at this point. Please add me as a friend on Storygraph, I would appreciate it so much!
I will be doing another ZERO spending year again. I love my library, and Libby and Hoopla have been life savers for books I want to read and don’t want to spend money on. I’m supporting my community by using the library! I plan to keep myself accountable on spending with my Google sheets, like the last four years.
I am not requesting or accepting any eARCs this year. No requesting on Netgalley, Edelweiss or any companies I am affiliated with, unless it’s a book I REALLLLLLLLLLLLLY want to read and know I can read it around the time I am approved. I want to make use of my library as much as humanly possible and get through my backlog of ARCs/books I have on my Kindle already.
P.S. If an ARC shows up on my doorstep as surprise mail then it is what it is.
I am pulling back a ton on Instagram. It’s too much work for no engagement, which in turn is no fun. If it’s not fun I don’t want to bother…
I am focusing on making fellow book friends through my blog instead of on Instagram, and I also want to focus on writing better content for this blog.
I want to try to read some bigger books this year. That was my plan last year and then I ended up abandoning it early on. I plan to choose a few series with thicker books and get to them this year.
My Previous Yearly Review:
Do you have any goals, big or small, that you hope to accomplish this year?
Let me know in the comments!
13th Annual Ho-Ho-Ho Readathon Rules
This year’s annual Ho-Ho-Ho Readathon began at 12:01 am on Wednesday, November 26th and will end Wednesday, December 17th at 11:59 pm in your time zone. Giving us twenty-two days to read or listen to as many holiday and winter reads as our hearts desire all while participating in fun games.
Get your holiday & winter setting books and be prepared to have fun! Audiobooks, library books, ebooks, old books or new books — we don’t care. Don’t forget the hot chocolate!
The books I read for this challenge are:
I also participated in two of the mini challenges!
Global Bible Month is an annual event in November that encourages people worldwide to celebrate the Bible through daily reading. It is promoted by groups like YouVersion and other partner organizations, who invite participants to join a 30-Day Bible Challenge. The goal is to cultivate a consistent habit of reading scripture and to experience its impact, using either a physical Bible or a digital app. [more information can be found here]
Newsflash: I am a Christian who loves to read, but fails to read my bible daily. This is something I am actively working on in my life. For this month I am setting aside time before bed to devote to reading a passage in my bible, and hoping it becomes a daily habit.
This month I am participating in Netgalley November. The only thing you need to do for this is read and review books on your Netgalley shelf. I will be including Edelweiss books in this challenge also.
This is my TBR plan:
The 11:59 Bomber (NYPD Red 8) – November 25, 2025
Friends and Liars – December 2, 2025
Such A Clever Girl – January 20, 2026
The Bone Queen – February 3, 2026
Murder At 30,000 Feet – February 17, 2026
Knowing myself, I am not holding myself to this list. If I choose other books then it is what it is. Mood reading at it’s finest!
This is going around the internet lately, so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon and share my ten books I want to read before the year is over.
I am planning on focusing on my Netgalley and Edelweiss ARCs in November, so I am hoping to get to these six before 2026 (see what I did there? LOL!)
I am apart of a Traveling Book group, and I am pretty sure both of these will make it to my house before the end of the year.
And I absolutely ignored all of my First Reads choices this year (what a fail!) so I think I am gonna try to get to two of them before the year is over.
Note: I am the moodiest mood reader so I am not holding myself to this list.
I made it a goal of mine to make a blog post every single day in the month of September. And I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!
NOW GO ENJOY YOUR FIRST BOOK OF OCTOBER!!!!!
That is all for today.
In August I knew I wanted to get to specfic ARCS before the their publication date or date I agreed to post about the book. I wrote a handwritten list with the titles and their due dates, and left it in the middle of my kitchen table (where I would see it everyday). I mostly succeeded in following that list!
So for October, I am gonna do the same thing. It’s gonna be either ARCs I want to get to, backlog of any ARCs I feel like reading, any books I want to read because it’s spooky season or library holds that come in. Here is my list…..
I want to make sure in 2026 I try to read books that I have in my possession as much as possible. I already decided to stop accepting ARCs because I just have too many books I’ve neglected. I don’t have a huge amount of physical books in my house, but I definitely have a ton of eBooks on my Kindle.
Note: I will ALWAYS use my library as my best source for getting to read books for free. That will never change!
If you’ve been around my blog long enough you know I love me an awesome spreadsheet. Randomly because I was not looking for anything book related I found a free spreadsheet through BookTube (thanks to Library Unbounded) and plan to input my entire owned books into said sheet (which I know will take me from now until the end of this year) so that when 2026 comes around I’ll be all set up and ready.
I do keep up with too many reading spreadsheets, but honestly, I love them all equally!
Today is a solemn day here in the USA. We will never forget.
Good morning fellow bloggers! I just wanted to come on here and let everyone know that I am starting a new job today. I am still a lunch lady, just with a new company in a different school district. I am excited for this new job opportunity that quite frankly fell into my lap when I least expected it!
I just hope with the stress of starting a new job my reading does not tank this month. I am sending myself good reading and motivational vibes, haha!
