Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Book Series I Want to Catch Up On

 

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Book Series I want to Catch Up On

There are so many series I would like to catch up on. One of my many reading goals during the year is to finish a certain amount of series. My goal for this year was to finish three and I did that early in the year. So far, I have finished eight series in 2026 and hope to finish a few more during the rest of the year. 

1. The first arc of The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson- Read 3/5 books

- I will be starting Rhythm of War sometime this week and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next. 


2. The Saint of Steel series by T. Kingfisher- Read 1/4 books

- I really do not know why I haven't continued with this series since January. I adored Paladin's Grace and love T. Kingfisher's writing. It is a priority for me to finish this one very soon. 

 
 
3. Zamonien series by Walter Moers- Read 3/5 that are translated into English

- The books I have read so far in the Zamonien series are The 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear (Zamonien #1), Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures (Zamonien #3), and The City of Dreaming Books (Zamonien #4). 

- The only other two books that are translated into English from German are The Alchemaster’s Apprentice (Zamonien #5) and The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books (Zamonien #6). I'm hoping someday the other books in the series will be translated into English. 

 

4. Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery- Read 1/8 books

Anne of Green Gables was one of my favorite books I read last year and I have been wanting to pick up the rest of the series ever since. My plan is to read at least one or two of them in the fall. The first book was perfect for autumn and I think the other ones will be too. 

5. Hartbridge Christmas series by N.R. Walker- Read 4/6 books

- Definitely one of my favorite contemporary romance series. I didn't read any of the books last year and I now have two to catch up with. N.R. Walker might also be writing another one this year too.

6. Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde- Read 5/8 books

- I will be finishing this series this year. The eighth book is finally coming out in October and I decided to finish the ones I hadn't read yet to catch up for the release. 

7. Legends and Lattes series by Travis Baldree- Read 1/5 books

- I have read Legends & Lattes and would like to read the other books in this series, the short story collection, and the graphic novel of Legends & Lattes. This is such a wonderful cozy fantasy world and I look forward to getting back into it. Another series I think would be perfect to continue in the fall.


8. Jim Henson's The Storyteller series by various contributors - Read 8/9 graphic novels 

- I read through the Jim Henson's The Storyteller Series in 2022 and finished the first eight books before the ninth was published. I didn't know until a while after that it had even came out and have been meaning to read it to finish the series. 

 

9. Letters of Enchantment duology and prequel by Rebecca Ross- Read 1/3 books

- I enjoyed Divine Rivals when I read it a couple of years ago and have yet to pick up the sequel or the prequel.

10. Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe- Read 9/11 graphic novels

- Another series I will definitely be finishing this year. I have been reading this series for years now and am eagerly waiting for the final volume to come out in October. 

Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Books I Was Reading On This Day Over the Last Ten Years

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Books I Was Reading on This Day Over the Last 10 Years: August 11th

I enjoyed the prompt for Top Ten Tuesday this week. We were meant to say the books we read on August 11th for the last ten years (2025-2016). Below, I have shown those books and the ones I read around that day if I didn't read anything on the specific day for the year. It's so interesting to look back at what I was reading over the years. Looking at my reading statistics is always interesting for me. I would love to do this again for other days. There is definitely a wide variety of books here.  

2025:  Finished The Cranberry Hush by Ben Monopoli and read Don't Leave Me Alone (Unlikely Heroes #1) by Jenny Wood

2024: Finished The Search for the Red Dragon (The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica #2) by James A. Owen on August 9th. Then read some fanfiction the next few days. 

2023: A Lover's Gift: From Him to Her (A collection of poetry and music) Read by Michael Sheen

2022: Finished Echo North (Echo North #1) by Joanna Ruth Meyer and read Beetle & the Hollowbones (The Beetle Books #1) by Aliza Layne on August 10th. Then, I didn't read anything else until August 13th

2021: Continued reading Daughter of Sparta by Claire M. Andrews

2020: Finished Checkmate (Insanity #6) and read Family (Insanity #7) and Mushrooms (Insanity #8) by Cameron Jace- It's hard to believe that it has been 6 years since I last read the Insanity series


2019:  Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley

2018: Christopher Robin: The Little Book of Poohisms: With help from Piglet, Eeyore, Rabbit, Owl, and Tigger, too! by Brittany Rubiano- Such a sweet little book

2017: Read Downward Dog: Very Serious Haiku from a Very Serious Dog by Samm Hodges on August 8th then didn't read anything until August 16th 

2016: Nothing on August 11th but on August 10th I read the entire Spiderwick Chronicles series 1-5 by Holy Black and Tony DiTerlizzi

Sunday, August 9, 2026

National Book Lovers Day 📖

Happy National Book Lovers Day! 📚

I'll be reading one of my most anticipated books of the year later on today after I finish my writing session for my book. Yesterday, I got to 74,600 words written in my WIP. It is a contemporary romance book with some magical realism that I started in May. The book is part of a series of books called The Stacks which are all about a sentient bookshop. This is my favorite writing project I have ever worked on and I cannot wait until I get the draft done. Shouldn't be long now. 

The book I will be reading today is The Witch Queen (The Crimson Crown #2) by Heather Walter. I loved the first book in this duology when I read it about two years ago now and have been waiting eagerly for the conclusion. Today, is going to be the perfect day to finally pick it up. 

Friday, August 7, 2026

Witch Hat Atelier Vol 1. Review 🧙‍♀️

 Witch Hat Atelier Vol. 1

by Kamome Shirahama



My Star Rating: 5 Stars 

Page Count: 204 pages

Genre: Fantasy Manga

Date Read: August 6th

Publication Date: January 23rd, 2017

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Review: 

 I've heard a lot about Witch Hat Atelier over the years and it was just a great as everyone has said. The art style is stunning, along with the interesting story. It had me wanting to learn so much more about the world and magic system. I love the idea of how they are able to cast spells.

 
Coco is such a sweet character and I love how enthusiastic she is about learning magic. Her resourcefulness shines in this volume. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her growth in future volumes.

This is a whimsical and cozy feeling story I will be continuing with. I want to know what will happen next and see more of the beautiful illustrations. This was an absolutely wonderful read.

*Thank you to Kodansha Comics, Kamome Shirahama, and NetGalley for my review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.*

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Covers I've Used for the Buzzword Cover Challenge so Far

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Covers I've Used for the Buzzword Cover
 Challenge so Far in 2026

For the last two years, one of my reading goals has been to complete Kayla from Booksandlala's Buzzword Reading Challenge for both Titles and Covers. I did it last year and having been doing great with it so far this year. These are some of the goals I keep track of in my Quarterly Goals Posts. Here are the seven covers for the books I have read for each of the cover prompts. 

Link to Kayla's video for this year: Your *New* 2026 Reading Challenge 

1. January: Internal Body Parts  

- Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher

 

2. February: Silhouette

- Spear by Nicola Griffith 

3. March: Action/Movement

- I Hate Fairyland Vol. 9: Back on the Bull Ship by Skottie Young 

 

4. April: (Wearable) Accessories

- Galahad and the Grail (Merlin's Isle #1) by Malcolm Guite 

 

5. May: Border/Frame

- The Missing Magic of Sparrow Xia by Leia Haim 

 

6. June: Wings 

- Daggerbound (Swordheart #2) by T. Kingfisher  

 

7. July: A Metallic Element

- In These Gilded, Ghostly Hearts by Gwendolyn Kiste

My Plans for August - December Cover Challenge

Here are the five books I'm thinking of reading in the months of August- December for the Buzzword Cover challenge.  

8. August: Damage

- On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson- I have owned this book for quite some time after picking it up at a book sale. It is one of the books on my 26 books to read in 2026 list. 

9. September: Fire & Smoke

-The Woman Who Died a Lot (Thursday Next #7) by Jasper Fforde- I'm finishing the Thursday Next series this year and should be up to number seven by next month. Yesterday, I finished First Among Sequels (Thursday Next #5). I want to get through the other two books by October when the final book Dark Reading Matter (Thursday Next #8) is getting released. 

 

10. October: Doors & Keys

- The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow- This one also fits for the October Title Challenge which is parts of a house. Though, I have a couple of other choices for it. 

11. November: Reflection

- Mermaid Moon by Susann Cokal- Another book I have owned for years. I hope I enjoy this more than many of the other readers I have seen pick it up. We will see. 

12. December: Music  

- The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (The Herdmans #1) by Barbara Robinson- This fits for both the cover and title challenge (Superlatives) for December. I might pick something else for December when it gets closer.