First Lines Friday: September, 4th 2026

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? If you want to make your own post, feel free to use or edit the banner above, and follow the rules below:

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!

If you’re sharing on social media, don’t forget to use #FirstLinesFridays!

Hello, reader!

It’s time for another First Lines Friday! For today’s book, I thought I’d share with you another book I’m currently reading. It’s a non-fiction that I’m sure you’ve seen me mention a few times on the blog recently. I finally started reading it and I’m having a great time!

Now, let’s see if the first lines can grab your interest.

The Line(s):

“‘On October 8, 2016, I sat down and wrote a letter to my father, who had been dead for twelve years.”

The Build Up:

The Reveal:

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wrap up

August 2026 Wrap Up

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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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www wednesday

WWW Wednesday: September 2nd, 2026

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It’s time for another WWW Wednesday! This is a bookish meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words where bloggers answer the 3 Ws:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

If you’d like to learn more about any of these books, click on the cover to be taken to the Goodreads page.

Current Reads

What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher: Ever thought about going caving? Maybe don’t read this book because you will swiftly change your mind 😂 I’m learning that I am maybe claustrophobic (?) because the description of the tight spaces and being so deep underground have me genuinely shivering. Absolutely not, could NOT be me! Reading about other people dealing with horrors in the dark, however, is my idea of a good time. So you won’t be surprised that I am loving this book!
The Tapestry of Fate by Shannon Chakraborty: Oh it feels so good to be back in this world! I adored The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, so I was eager to read the sequel that came out earlier this year. I wanted to read it via audio again and, unfortunately, the wait at my library took ages. But it’s hear, and I’m reading, and it’s perfect 🥰 I am worried about these beloved characters, though, because the narrator has already promised that this is gonna be more on the dark side… This book is going to make me cry, isn’t it?

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monthly tbr · readathon

Magical Readathon: Orilium Autumn Equinox 2026

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Hello, reader!

Happy September, everyone! This is my favorite month of the year for multiple reasons. Namely, it’s my birth month 🥳 But, also, this month contains one-half of my favorite readathon: the Orilium Autumn Equinox! This is the second half of the Magical Readathon and I always love participating.

But, before I talk more about new adventures, what is the Magical Readathon? It is the brain child of the marvelous G @ Book Roast, who created the world of Aeldia, where Orilium dwells, and every aspect therein. It’s an incredibly creative readathon where you build a character, choose a guild, and guide your character through classes to achieve their calling. I am notoriously bad at giving all the details in a coherent way, so you should definitely watch G’s announcement video for the scoop:

My Character

✨✨✨ Name: Korrin Musgrave ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Calling: Beast Master Master ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Guild: The Order of the Crescent Moon ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Current Guild Reputation Points: 805 gp✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Conduit: Quarterstaff ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Legacy: Wolf familiar (Venandi) ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Background: Wildling ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Province: Irtheria ✨✨✨
✨✨✨ Heritage: Earthling (earth element) ✨✨✨

If you want to learn more about these various choices, you can check out the Brief History of Aeldia on the Google drive. It’s awesome what G has dreamed up!

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goodreads monday

Goodreads/TBR Monday: August 31st, 2026

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Goodreads Monday/TBR Monday is a bookish meme hosted by Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog invites you to post about what books are on your Goodreads “to read” lists or TBR lists, the progress you have made on your current books and reading challenges, and any other bookish news!

Hello, reader!

It’s the beginning of the week and it’s time for another Goodreads Monday. That means I need to pick a random book from my Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf and see if I want to keep it on my shelf. My amount of books has climbed a bit because I found myself browsing around Goodreads and… things happened 😂 So we’ll see if this random pick helps me bring the count down or not.

Let’s jump in!

Random Goodreads Pick

Book:
A Clash of Carnivores

Author:
Liselle Sambury

Publisher:
Margaret K. McElderry Books

Publication Date:
August 4th, 2026

Pages:
608

Genre:
Horror/Fantasy

Synopsis:
The thrilling sequel to A Mastery of Monsters, following the fiercely determined eighteen-year-old August Black as she infiltrates a secret society hiding the frightening reality that monsters are real, while unraveling the mystery behind her brother’s disappearance.

August risked everything to find her brother, joining a deadly secret society protecting the chilling truth that monsters are very, very real. She thought when she found him that she would leave the society behind.

Instead, she fought and bled to bond herself to a Monster for life.

Now, despite her efforts to stay unattached, her connection to her Monster partner, Virgil, continues to grow. She can’t stop replaying the memory of their forbidden kiss that Virgil wants to pretend never happened.

Their strained bond is put to the test as they prepare for the Monster’s Ball, a brutal tournament where pairs battle for the coveted title of Master. But despite the danger of the contest, August is consumed with finding her mom’s killer and getting revenge. Her vendetta leads to her accidentally form a rare second bond with Nolan, a Wild Monster who wants nothing to do with her. And if the three of them can’t work together, they’ll be kicked out of the tournament before it even begins.

But August can’t pull her focus away from revenge—even if it means becoming the worst sort of monster herself. She believes that vengeance will cure her grief, but it may just be the thing that breaks her bonds for good.

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the sunday post

The Sunday Post: August 30th, 2026

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The Sunday Post is a blog news meme created by @CaffeinatedReviewer! It gives you a chance to post a recap of your last week, whether that pertains to books or not. You can talk about however much (or however little) you would like.

Hello, reader!

The end of the week is upon us and that means it’s time for another edition of The Sunday Post! Time to share what I’ve been up to here on the blog and in life offline. I’ve been a bit busier than usual this past week, so more to talk about today!

That being said, let’s jump in!

Week in Review

Work was a blur last week, I’m not gonna lie. We had people out that lead to me having to work the bench a few days and I was going in early so I could pick my husband up from work. So I was tired and busy, haha. Still, it was a good work week because I got quite a bit done! I think working from home on Friday certainly helped with that.

Saturday, we brought our eldest back to her university to start her sophomore year 😭 I’m so proud of her work so far and I know she’s going to do wonderfully again this year! Still, I already miss her. Her new dorm situation is almost like an apartment set-up, which is nice. Her room has a living area which has a kitchen and a washer and dryer! I hope she has an amazing year.

Today, I spent my day in Boston with my bestie to check out a restaurant called the Union Oyster House. It’s a staple in Boston that has been around for years and yet neither of us had ever been there, haha. The food was delicious! After lunch, we headed to the Boston Market to stroll around. We ended up picking up some apple cider donuts and questionable mixed drinks 😂 Then we headed back to her place and watched some YouTube. It was a lovely day!

Now it’s back to the grind and getting the youngest ready for his first day of school. Then we’ll be back to our typical routine.

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book blogger hop

Book Blogger Hop: Book Hooks

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The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Crazy-For-Books and is currently being hosted by Coffee Addicted Writer. Every Friday, a new question is posted for book bloggers to answer in the coming week. The purpose of the hop is connection and community. You can discover new blogs to follow, new books to read, and you may end up with some new followers, as well!

This Week’s Prompt

What grabs you and keeps you hooked in a book?

Submitted by Billy, Coffee-Addicted Writer.

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first lines friday

First Lines Friday: August 28th, 2026

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Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!

If you’re sharing on social media, don’t forget to use #FirstLinesFridays!

Hello, reader!

Happy Friday, everyone! For this week’s First Lines Friday, I’m sharing another of my current reads. It’s a YA dark academia that feels like a spooky autumn evening. It’s definitely getting me ready for my second favorite season!

The first line certainly intrigued me, so let see if it works for you!

The Line(s):

“‘Thirteen thousand feet above sea level, you can drown in air like water.”

The Build Up:

The Reveal:

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book reviews

Book Review: Off the Reservation by Stephen Graham Jones

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Title: Off the Reservation
Series: The Only Good Indians #2
Author: Stephen Graham Jones
Publisher: S&S/Saga Press
Genre: Horror
Age Group: Adult
Format: E-book
Content/Trigger Warnings: Body horror, blood, gore, child abuse, kidnapping, death of a child, substance abuse, transphobia, deadnaming, violence
Book Links: Bookshop::B&N::Goodreads::Storygraph

A ragtag group of activists sets out to repatriate the bones of a Blackfeet boy taken to the infamous Carlisle Indian Industrial School in author Stephen Graham Jones’s return to the Blackfeet reservation of his award-winning New York Times bestsellers The Only Good Indians and The Buffalo Hunter Hunter.

Five years have passed since the massacre on the Blackfeet reservation in Stephen Graham Jones’s breakout bestseller The Only Good Indians. Nathan Yellow Tail, one of the survivors of the revenge murders, finds himself in the hospital after a terrible accident that should’ve killed him and that nearly killed his best friend, Sebby, who is hanging on to life in a room a few doors down.

Nate’s life is out of balance, so when he is given the chance to reset his life, and maybe save Sebby in the process, Nate steps up, again. This time it’s into a camper van that is almost as run down as his broken body, filled with three older Blackfeet, to find the bones of the lone Blackfeet boy who died at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School—where many Indigenous children were abused—and repatriate this boy home. The problem is, when they get the bones, something terrible has escaped with them.

By turns terrifying and deeply moving, Off the Reservation is a haunting American Indian novel of survival, reckoning, and redemption, shining light on the dark corners of this country’s history while also showing the desperate choices people make when they’re put up against a wall.

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www wednesday

WWW Wednesday: August 26th, 2026

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It’s time for another WWW Wednesday! This is a bookish meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words where bloggers answer the 3 Ws:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

If you’d like to learn more about any of these books, click on the cover to be taken to the Goodreads page.

Current Reads

Off the Reservation by Stephen Graham Jones: Okay, completely disregard what I said in my last WWW Wednesday! We weren’t switching timelines, we were just getting into the mind of a character that I thought I already knew but Stephen Graham Jones had a surprise for me. Every time I sit to read this book, I get completely engrossed! Which is saying something for me because I’m not a fan of e-book reading. Mostly because I lost my Kindle and have to read ’em on my phone 😅 This is getting even more bizarre and twisted and I’m loving it!
A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee: Audiobooks are making a comeback this month. This is evidence by the fact that I’ve been listening to this YA thriller that I’m only kind of enjoying over picking up the two physical novels that I have been loving. I’m intrigued by the mystery of this novel and I like the general witchiness of it, but literally every character is insufferable. And it’s delving into some topics that feel super tired in the year of our lord 2026. I can’t really hold that against the book, though, as it came out in 2021 and I just took forever to read it… so I’m trying to give it grace, haha.

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