Hello readers! We are finally in September. I only finished one book in July, so I decided to just put both months together in one post. I also finished two books in August, so I think my reading month went really well. I almost finished three, but I had to roll the last one over.
I think I’m getting the habit of reading back in a way I haven’t in a long time, but I still don’t know what I’m in the mood for when I want to read. I’m not afraid to DNF books quickly if they aren’t keeping my attention, which has been helping a lot.
JULY
In July, I picked up A Heart So Cold and Wicked by Rebecca Kenney. This is the 2nd book in the Mythic Holidays series.
This one follows a woman who was kidnapped at a young age by a serial killer. She sort of role-plays as his sister, and he also has other women there to play his wife and other roles.
She accidentally summons Krampus, who promptly kills the man. And she is left stranded as she doesn’t remember anything about her life before being kidnapped.
Usually, I love Rebecca Kenney books. I think I’ve just changed as a reader. I usually don’t really care one way or the other if a romance book is low or high spice. But this one being so spice-forward was putting me off it.
I was enjoying the characters and other things going on in the book, but other than that, I was getting a bit annoyed by how overtly sexual this book was. Which surprised me because all of her books are like this.
I’ll be taking a long break from this type of spicy book to see if it’s just the mood I’m in or if I just don’t prefer it anymore.
AUGUST
Slewfoot is absolutely the best book I’ve read in 2026. I loved everything about this book. If you are looking for something very atmospheric and witchy to read this fall, this book is perfect.
Slewfoot follows Abitha in 1600s Connecticut. She lives in this extremely religious society with her husband. On their farm, a giant hole forms where a creature named Slewfoot lives, and she befriends him throughout the book. Slewfoot helps her navigate this society, which condemns her quite often for her outspoken attitude and medicinal practices.
I just found this book so reminiscent of other amazing witch books and movies. It reminded me a lot of The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson. But it was also very unique in the way that we get to follow this creature that is perceived as satanic.
The trial elements were very frustrating to read, knowing that these things really happened to women. The book does get a bit gory, but I didn’t find it too much for me. I usually only get really bothered by extensive body horror, which this book doesn’t have. My copy is coming in the mail tomorrow, and I’m so excited to own it!
Hour of the Pumpkin Queen is the second book in the Pumpkin Queen series. This one follows Sally when Halloweentown gets lost in time, and she has to save it with a few other friends.
This one was unique compared to the first one in the way that she has a group she is traveling with, whereas she was pretty much solo through book one.
I like a lot about this series. I love that we are focusing on Sally. I love that we get to meet other ragdoll characters. I’d love to see a side character in this one called Luna get a book of her own.
I love that we get to see a lot more worlds that exist, including the ones we know about but didn’t see in the movie. The first book really adds to the original story in that way.
I don’t love the logic of which worlds exist. For example, Fourth of July world. All of the holiday worlds are America-centered. I’d love to see something else in the future. There are also non-holiday worlds, which I do really like.
I am going to continue this series. I have the next one on hold at the moment. There is so much I’d like to see from the series going forward.
Happy blogging and bookish adventures! 📚🦒✨
This post was created by Allison Wolfe for www.allithebookgiraffe.com and is not permitted to be posted anywhere else.
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