TBR Stack August 2021

Why a TBR Stack?

I’ve never done a post like this before, and I think it’d be fun to go over what’s currently in my reading stack for the month. I know I’m most likely not going to get to every single book on the list.

I’m not sure how it’ll look in future posts, but I really wanted to talk a smidge about all the books I’m looking forward to trying this month.

Reading is something that’s become enjoyable to me again in the past year or so, and because I’m feeling passionate about it, I figured why not share?

Library Run

These are the books I plan on grabbing from the library this month.

• Dear Martin by Nic Stone – This one is for the Diversify Your Reading Challenge for the “Contemporary Fiction” prompt I didn’t get to last month.
• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik – This fills in a prompt (Standalone) for the Creating & Co. Summer Reading Challenge.
• Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse – “Multiple POVs” prompt for the Creating & Co. Summer Reading Challenge. I’m also just trying to read more diverse authors within genres I like, and Native voices is one that is lacking.
• Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron – Another one for the Creating & Co. Summer Reading Challenge—this time the prompt is “Published in May/June/July”. Cinderella is Dead was published July 7, 2020 and has been on my overall TBR for a while, so I figured why not.
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson – I’ve been wanting to read more horror since re-discovering it, and the Diversify Your Reading Challenge had a prompt for reading a “Thriller” for August. I have this on hold as an audio book.
• Darling by K. Ancrum – A queer retelling of Peter Pan for the unofficial Second Star Challenge (Peter Pan Retellings Challenge).
• Peter Darling by Austin Chant – Another queer retelling of Peter Pan for the Second Star Challenge by a queer trans writer.
• Namesake by Adrienne Young – I read the first one (Fable) for another reading challenge and enjoyed it enough that I wanted to finish up the duology. Not related to any challenge prompts.
• Scarlet by Marissa Meyer – I listened to the first one (Cinder) on audio book and enjoyed it enough that I figured I’d work my way through the Lunar Chronicles on audio book until they don’t hold my interest anymore.

Shop My Shelves

I may not have as many physical books as I once did, but I have a pretty extensive Kindle library, and I’d like to whittle it down.

• 3 Months to No. 1 by Will Coombe – Suggested to me by a model help guru/adult content creator to help build SEO on my website.
• Don’t Keep Your Day Job by Cathy Heller – I picked this one up on a whim last year to start, and then I didn’t feel in a good place to continue with it. So I’m picking it back up this year.
• Dune by Frank Herbert – I grew up watching the movie and sci-fi tv-movies a bunch with my Dad, but I never read the book in full. I wanted to do that this year since the fandom calls to me. It also fits April’s “Classics” prompt in the Diversify Your Reading Challenge.
• The Great Passage by Shion Miura – Another for the Diversify Your Reading Challenge—”Translated Text” bonus prompt. I’m bad at reading books in the month the challenges are sometimes, so I have a lot of books from past prompts on my TBR.
• One Witch Too Few by Judith Berens – This was the first book I ever put on my Goodreads TBR (thus fulfilling a prompt for yet another reading challenge), and I’d like to finally get it off my TBR!
• Air Awakens by Elise Kova – Speaking of a book from a past prompt… Air Awakens fulfills the “Related to Weather” prompt in the Creating & Co. Spring Reading Challenge.
• 90 Days and Paid by Amberly Rothfield – Amberly is a sex worker and model help guru that just wants to see other sex workers succeed. So I had to pick this one up when she released it! Of course I’m not getting to it until now, though.
• Daughter of the Deep by Lina C. Amarego – Yet another book from a past prompt/challenge that I do still want to read.
• Shipped by Angie Hockman – Not my typical read, but it’s a group read for the Creating & Co. Summer Reading Challenge so I’m going to give it a try.
• Shadow Fall by Erin Kellison – I have had this book on my shelf since like, 2010. But my ex didn’t like me reading romance… so I’m reading it now. It’s also a prompt for one of the challenges, though which escapes me.
• King of Fools by Amanda Foody – I loved the first one, so I had to pick up the other two. Now I just have to read them!
• The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice – So… I have mixed feelings about this one. If you know me, you know I’m a sex-positive person. But this book… I have thoughts for the bit I’ve read of it. I picked it as a part of the Diversify bonus challenge to read a “Banned Book”. But I want to finish it and see if I can put together a book review on what I thought on my other blog.

New Purchases

I’m trying not to purchase as many books, especially since I do have so many unread books on my shelves (both digital and otherwise), but sometimes the library just doesn’t have things available.

• Lost Boi by Sassafras Lowrey – A queer retelling of Peter Pan for the unofficial Second Star Challenge. (Do you sense a theme, here?)
• Blood in the Water by M.A. Kersh – A Captain Hook backstory retelling for the unofficial Second Star Challenge. The series is called “Scary Faerie Tales”, so I figured why not give it a try?

So, what are y’all reading this month?

This is post 3/31 for Blaugust You can find out more and sign up over at Belghast’s post!