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October 2026 TBR

Hello, reader!

My favorite month is over (boooo) but my second favorite month is just beginning (yaaay)! It’s the first day of October, we’re settling into Fall, and it’s, officially, spooky season! I do love this time of year, when the air gets crisp and I can break out the hoodies again. This is the perfect time to delve into my darker, creepier reads, so I’m leaning into that as I pick the books I hope to read this month.

Now let me share my October TBR!

The Book Club Reads

Always Fully Booked (AFB) Book Club
- Nightshade by Autumn Woods
- Funnily enough, this book just jumped on my radar during the Magical Readathon last month because the host, G @ Book Roast, was reading it. It seemed like she had a good time with it so I was intrigued! But I have recently mentioned that dark romantasy novels haven’t been doing it for me. So… we’ll see how I feel about this one 😅
Literally Dead Book Club
- Something Followed Us Home edited by Cynthia Pelayo
- I’m excited about giving this short story anthology a try! Perhaps it will treat me as well as my last anthology did or, fingers crossed, even better. It’s a collection of horror shorts focusing on Latiné horror. I didn’t know it existed before it was picked for the book club, but it does look like something I could love. It certainly fits the vibes I’m looking for this month!
Weirdo Book Club
- The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
- Ya know, I’ve never felt the urge to read the source material for The Exorcist movie. Probably because I’ve never seen The Exorcist movie, haha. However, this is a classic of the horror genre, it’s October, and it’s on Kindle Unlimited. So why not?

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August 2026 Wrap Up

Featured kerrimcbooknerd1 Comment

Hello, reader!

It’s the best month ever, but that doesn’t mean we can leave August in the dust just yet. I still need to do my August Wrap Up after all! And I’m doing it before we’re halfway through the month! Please clap 😂 August was an odd reading month in that my focus for anything other than audiobooks was completely shot… but I still had a good time!

Before I keep rambling, let’s get to the wrap up!

August Reading Stats

In August 2026, I read 9 books for 3,451 pages. Definitely less than the past two months, but I’m still not mad at it! I think I burned myself out a teeny bit with how much I read in June and July, haha. I will say I also tackled thicker physical books in August (that I still haven’t finished…) so perhaps that contributed to my books read being a little less.

Kind of love that LGBTQIA+ lit is sitting pretty at the top of my genres for August! I’m also surprised that YA is number two because A) IT’S NOT A GENRE and B) I don’t read a ton of YA these days. Other than that, I feel like this mix is a bit of the usual. I like what I like, what can I say?

Remember last month when I was so happy that physical books made a comeback at got to 50% of the chart? How I wanted to keep that trend going? Yeeeeeaaaah… 😅 Audiobooks didn’t give any other format a chance in August at a whopping 78% of the books I read! I was just in a mood to consume all my books through my ears, apparently. And, hey, I loved the experience! We’ll try and give physical books more of a chance in September, heh.

Somehow I beat my average rating from last month! I had an average star rating of 4.33 stars in August! So clearly the audiobooks were working, haha. I had three 5 star reads! One of which was a re-read that I bumped up from 4.5 to 5 stars. That’s the most I’ve had in a month all year. So maybe I didn’t read as many books in August, but I certainly enjoyed then a hell of a lot!

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July 2026 Wrap Up

August 13, 2026 kerrimcbooknerd3 Comments

Hello, reader!

We’ve gotten to mid-August, so I figured it was about time I did my July Wrap Up! July has to be one of my best reading months when it comes to star ratings because I was reading banger after banger. I also read the most books out of any month so far! It was a good, freakin’ time.

Now, let’s get into the wrap up!

July Reading Stats

In July 2026, I read 12 books for 4,152 pages and I had one DNF. That two months in a row with a DNF! It really gets easier and easier the more you do it 😂 The book deserved it, though, because it had the nerve to be boring and have a plot twist that pissed me off! One or the other, I’m not dealing with both.

Once again fantasy has come out on top! Are we at all surprised? It’s my favorite genre after all. I did read a lot more romance than usual, though. I did say I was in a romance mood and I leaned into it. Maybe that’s why I read so many books in July… I actually followed my mood for what I wanted to read! Still, I have a pretty good spread of genres from last month which makes me happy.

Ohhhh, we have an upset in the format section! Physical books were 50% of my reads in July. And audiobooks are at the lowest since the start of the year. I even read two e-books… that’s unheard of for me! This is the most I’ve diversified my reading, I think, but I’m kind of happy I read so many physical books. I’ve been neglecting them a bit because I’ve been so into audiobooks lately. Perhaps we can keep this going for the rest of the year.

My average star rating in July was a whooping 4.21! I told y’all I had the best reading month of the year (so far) in July! I read so many books that I thoroughly enjoyed and even came out of the month with another five star. I did unfortunately DNF Swept Away by Beth O’Leary because I could not get past the third act drama of it. Not to mention I was bored which is a feat when they are quite literally fighting for their lives out on the ocean. Still, at least it was balanced out by all the amazing books I got to read!

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June 2026 Wrap Up

July 16, 2026 kerrimcbooknerd1 Comment

Hello, reader!

We’re well into July which means it’s about time that I do my June Wrap Up! I have to say, my summer reading so far is really popping off and June was the beginning of that. I read the most out of any month this year and I even read another five star!

That said, let’s jump into the wrap up.

June Reading Stats

In June 2026, I read 11 books for 4,354 pages. I had one DNF, as well. I have to say, for someone who has been very reluctant to DNF before this year, I’ve been getting better at dropping books when they just aren’t doing anything for me. This is good! There are far too many books in the world that I want to try to suffer through books I’m not liking.

I had quite a spread of genres in June! Fantasy has taken the top spot again, but I read quite a few other genres, as well. Though I’m not sure I would count “middle grade” as a genre 😂 I say the same thing we “young adult” is used to describes a book’s genre! It is an *age range* which can contain many genres. But enough of that rant… I do love a month where I shake it up when it comes to my reading and June was a strong mix!

Audiobooks have taken the top spot again! It is closer to 50% this time, but my preference for audio is clearly not going anywhere. I did manage to sneak in an e-book, as well, though it’s still not my preferred method of reading. I am happy that my reading of physical books picked back up. I love and appreciate both audiobooks and e-books, but holding a physical book still holds a special place in my heart.

My rating rose from last month, so yay! I had an average rating of 3.95 and didn’t read anything under a 3 star. Well… besides my one DNF, All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham. I was just bored with that one and I didn’t see it getting any better. Other than that, though, my reads in June kept me entertained and I was even lucky enough to read another 5 star! It was definitely a strong reading month.

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May 2026 Wrap Up

June 4, 2026 kerrimcbooknerd3 Comments

Hello, reader!

Now that I’ve talked about what I’m going to be reading in June, I figured I should wrap up my reading in May! It was an interesting reading month in May… mostly because I could not seem to focus on any of my physical reads. My attention span for physical reads has been absolutely shot, lately. I’m hoping that goes away soon because I have a lot of physical books to read 😂

But back to May’s reads! Let’s jump right in.

May Reading Stats

In May 2026, I read 7 books for 2,383 pages. One book less than April, but right around my average per month! I’m not mad about it, especially since Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream stole quite a bit of my reading time last month, haha. The game is freakin’ addicting! Still, I’m happy I got a good amount of reading in despite being glued to my Switch.

Though fantasy is still up there, thriller/mystery claimed the top spot in May. They weren’t my favorite reads of the month, but they were the majority of my reading! Maybe I just read too many thrillers back-to-back and that’s why I wasn’t loving them as much? Who knows, but I know I definitely need a tiny break after I finish the current thriller I’m reading! My genre spread isn’t as varied this month, so maybe I’ll work on that in June.

Annnnd audiobooks have edged ahead of my physical reads! I think this is the first time I listened to more audiobooks than read physical books this year. Like I said, my physical reads were just not holding my attention in May, but audiobooks had their hooks in me! Even the audiobooks that had terrible narration! (Looking at you, Not Quite Dead Yet…) Though I’m loving my audio reads, I would like to bring this pie chart back to more of a 50/50.

The 5 star trend continues! That’s two months in a row where I had a 5 star read! My overall star rating, however, wasn’t as high as last month because my ratings were a little more spread out. Still, an overall rating of 3.79 stars is pretty great! I’ve noticed I tend to give out 4 star ratings quite liberally, but if a book entertains me and leaves me with good vibes, I feel like it deserves a 4! If it was fine, it gets around a 3. You have to really annoy me to get less than a 3 star from me quite honestly. So my ratings tend higher and I’m okay with that!

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April 2026 Wrap Up

May 7, 2026June 4, 2026 kerrimcbooknerd1 Comment

Hello, reader!

I figured I’d follow up my May TBR with how my reading went in April! Honestly, the fact that we’re already in the fifth month of the year is kind of blowing my mind. The first couple of months of this year crawled by and now we’re flying! Or maybe it just feels like that when the weather starts to get warmer, haha. Anyways, April was a pretty great reading month, so I’m excited to share what I read with y’all!

April Reading Stats

In April 2026, I read 8 books for 2,464 pages and had one DNF. I read a lot of shorties in April, haha. My attention span was not spanning, so short books and audiobooks were my saving grace. I didn’t read as many of the books on my Magical Readathon TBR as I would have liked to, but I still got through quite a bit! Now, let’s take a look at the stats.

Look at fantasy making a comeback! She’s back on top, baby, and it feels good! I also read a lot more non-fiction than I usually do. 2026 is really the year of non-fictions for me! Which… I’m not 100% sure why because the world is on fire and I usually gravitate towards fiction when that happens. I mean, I did say I had a goal to read at least one non-fiction a month, but, as you will see later in this post, I’m not great at actually sticking to my reading goals 😅😂 I’m pretty please with the mix we have going on in April!

Well, look at that! We’re perfectly split down the middle between physical (print) books and audiobooks. Audiobooks literally took over my reading life in April and I’m super okay with that. They are just so immersive and easier for me to digest when my mind is stressed. It’s soothing to have these talented narrators whispering in my ear, I dunno! E-books got completely pushed to the side last month, heh.

We finally got another 5 star, y’all 😁 I also didn’t rate anything under 4 stars! Well… if we don’t count my one DNF. That was The Vermilion Emporium by Jamie Pacton and I ended up rating it 2.5 stars 😬 I read over 70% of it, I figure I can give it a star rating. I was sad about that one, though, because I was really hoping I would like this one! I’ve enjoyed previous books from Jamie Pacton, but this one was just a miss for me. The other books I read in April really saved my reading mood, though!

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March 2026 Wrap Up

April 9, 2026 kerrimcbooknerd5 Comments

Hello, reader!

How is it already April?! How was March longer than February but felt like it went infinitely faster? March may have flown by, but it was also a pretty great reading month. I don’t think I read anything below 3 stars! Was it a good month for my reading challenges/projects? Well… perhaps we should just get to the wrap up 😅😂

March Reading Stats

In March 2026, I read 8 books for 3,130 pages. That’s way more pages than both January and February and I’m not 100% sure why… none of the books I read were really chonkers. Then again, I only read one novella in March whereas I read several during the first two months of the year. I need to get back to novellas. They are excellent pallet cleansers between bigger books!

I was apparently into horror in March because it took the top spot along with historical. Again, I think this is because I read a lot of books that were a blend of genres. I’m quickly learning that books that blend multiple genres are kinda my thing. I need to explore that more, I think. I’m surprised that literary muscled its way up there… I’m not sure I would consider anything I read literary. But the Storygraph community has spoken 😂

Oooo, audiobooks are taking over my reading life! That works well with one of my reading challenges and, honestly, my life right now. I feel like I’ve become so busy lately and my ability to focus is suffering. But I have no issue focusing on an audiobook. My frazzled mind wouldn’t let me focus on physical books for too long in March, so thank goodness audiobooks were there to carry me through.

I had another month with no five stars. Still, an average of 4.06 stars is nothing to sneeze at! I thoroughly enjoyed my reading in March, but it would be nice to find another five star in April. I am hoping to read a couple of favorite authors this month, so maybe they’ll get me there!

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February 2026 Wrap Up

March 5, 2026April 9, 2026 kerrimcbooknerd3 Comments

Hello, reader!

We’ve entered a new month which means I need to wrap up my reading for the last one! First of all, I know February is the shortest month of the year, but it feels like it absolutely flew by. How is it already March?! Still… the faster we get to Spring, the better, so let’s freakin’ go.

February wasn’t quite as good a reading month as January, but I still had a good time. So now let me share what I read!

February Reading Stats

In February 2026, I read 7 books for 2,435 pages. Funnily enough, that’s 5 more pages than last month even though I read two less books! No DNFs this month, though there was one that I kind of wish I did… Curse my need to finish book club books.

Look at mystery/thrillers knocking fantasy out of the top spot! My genre list is a lot more colorful this month and I think that’s because I read quite a few books that could fit into multiple genres. I do love a novel that subverts expectations, so I love a genre-bender!

I love that my physical reads and my audio reads are neck-and-neck this month. I only read one digital book, which doesn’t feel great, but I’m hoping to improve that number in March. Especially since most of my Netgalley books are gonna be read via e-book (if I don’t already own it… I know, kind of defeats the point😅). But I’m hoping to keep up the good work with the audiobooks! I’m really loving them this year.

I flew too close to the sun last month with two five stars… I didn’t have a single one in February! Most of the books I read were 3.5 stars this month and that feels… okay? At least they all weren’t two stars! Still, here’s hoping January hasn’t cursed me and those five stars from last month are my only two of 2026… 😬

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January 2026 Wrap Up

February 5, 2026February 7, 2026 kerrimcbooknerd3 Comments

Hello, reader!

One month of 2026 is done and dusted. That means it’s time to wrap up my reading from January! We’ll start with stats from the ever wonderful Storygraph, then we’ll see how I’m doing with my multiple challenges/projects for 2026. Spoiler alert: January really kicked off my reading year with a bang!

Let’s jump right into it 😁

January Reading Stats

In January 2026, I ended up reading 9 books (for 2,430 pages) and DNFing one. I’m not mad about that! Last January, I read seven books, so I’m already off to a good start to meet my 2026 Goodreads reading challenge.

My most read genre should come as no surprise: fantasy! It’s my favorite genre, after all, so I’m not surprised to see it up at the top. I think this is the first time the essays genre has appeared on one of my wrap ups, though, haha. I really need to stop being such a hater when it comes to non-fiction.

I’m happy to see the digital format making a comeback on my pie chart! Print will always be number one, I think, but I’ve been avoiding my e-books like the plague and it’s time to rectify that. I mean… it’s why I’m so far behind on my Netgalley reads 😅 Audio is holding strong, as it typically does. I won’t be surprised if that number jumps up more throughout the year.

My average star rating for January was 3.89 stars. I told y’all I had a good reading month! I had two five stars in the month, which hasn’t happened in forever. I did end up DNFing Supermarket by Bobby Hall, so that doesn’t have a rating. If it did, there would probably be a 1.5 star on this chart… 😬It was just not for me and that’s fine! I’m trying to be better about dropping books that just aren’t working for me.

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April 2023 Wrap Up

May 30, 2023 kerrimcbooknerd2 Comments

Hello, reader!

Here I am, keeping up my new routine of waiting until a month is almost over to go over my reads from the month prior 😂 Look, life has been especially hectic in the McBookNerd household lately and my blogging has reflected that! Still, I want to talk about my reading in April because, honestly, it was a fantastic reading month. It was the Orilium Spring Equinox, which always is a ton of fun. I managed to read everything I needed to move my character along on the path to becoming the greatest Beast Master of all time! And I participated in an ARC reading challenge that got me to finally read one of the oldest books on my Netgalley shelf. On top of that, I just really enjoyed pretty much all of the books I read in April. All in all, it’s gonna be a tough month to beat!

That being said, let me share what I read in the month of April.

Books Reads

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill: I had so much fun with this middle grade fantasy! It was the March pick for Middle Grade Marvels and I’m so glad that pushed me into finally reading it. It’s been on my radar for awhile, but I just never picked it up. Now I’m firmly on the hype train because this was such a great read! It was whimsical, magical, and had me crying in public at a McDonald’s 😅 It made me want to read more from this author! ★★★★
Dark Eyes: White Lies by M.R. Noble: This is the sequel to a book I read for a tour hosted by The Write Reads, so when I saw it was going on tour with them, as well, I jumped on board! I enjoyed the first book in this series and this one was equally as enticing. The action picks right up from where it ends in the first novel, but things get a lot more intense very quickly. I enjoyed this read and the ending left me eager to continue this paranormal series! You can read my full review here. ★★★★
Zora Books Her Happy Ever After by Taj McCoy: I read this book for a blog tour hosted by Hear Our Voices Tours. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this contemporary adult romance, but I had a great time reading it! The fact that it featured Black characters and book nerds just made my heart happy. And the steam was definitely on point! You can read my full review here. ★★★★
Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah: I spent a lot of April trying to catch up with Netgalley books and this was one that had been on my TBR for a minute. This YA horror ended up being an atmospheric, compelling read that hits on some dark topics in an interesting way. I thought the story was compulsively readable though the characters felt a little all over the place. In the end, though, I overall had a good time with this book. You can read my full review here. ★★★

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