Happy weekend! And whew, I need it.
Books acquired this week
I told myself I was really going to try not to get any more books before my birthday, but I’d forgotten that I’d preordered Dinosaur Sanctuary volume eight, and then one of my (brand-new) fillings broke and I had to head back to the dentist. And I really liked the first volume of this danmei…
Volume two of After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine took a little finding (in the end I ordered it from Travelling Man, of all places, thanks to my wife spotting that they actually had it in stock) but it arrived yesterday, woooo. I might even read it this weekend!
Posts from this week
As ever lately, it’s been a busy week on the blog, so good thing I’m going to do a roundup! Here goes, starting with the reviews:
- Non-fiction: William Tyndale and the English Language, by David Crystal (2/5 stars, “it was okay”)
- Poetry: First Rain in Paradise, by Gwyneth Lewis (1/5 stars, “didn’t like it”)
- Manga: Our Not-So-Lonely Planet Travel Guide, vol 1, by Mone Sorai (3/5 stars, “liked it”)
- Fantasy: Brigands & Breadknives, by Travis Baldree (4/5 stars, “really liked it”)
- Non-fiction: Life Changing: How Humans at Altering Life on Earth, by Helen Pilcher (3/5 stars, “liked it”)
- Horror: The Sea Hides Its Dead, by Megan Bontrager (2/5 stars, “it was okay”)
- Non-fiction: A History of the World in 50 Pieces, by Tom Service (3/5 stars, “it was okay”)
As ever, most of these are not recent reads, except for The Sea Hides Its Dead, because of the way I spread out my reviews to avoid spamming everyone with sixty million manga reviews at once! I have tons of reviews pre-written and all ready to go, when the right moment comes.
Aaand of course, here are the non-review posts now:
- Fantasy with Friends: Witches in Fantasy
- Top Ten Tuesday: Books I HAD to Have…
- What Are You Reading Wednesday
- Book Blogger Hop: One Single Genre
What I’m reading
First up, the little preview of books I intend to review soon, having finished them this week! I had a good weekend for reading, but tailed off once we hit the work-week — it was busy, and also the dentist stuff… Anyway, here they are!
Earlier in the week I had very specific reading plans, but I’ve decided to abandon them — they stopped sparking joy! Now my main plan is just to try to clear the deck a little bit so I have space for books for my birthday: we have a specific day planned out for me to buy plenty, so I’d better make space!
So chances are I’ll read After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine vol 2 this weekend, and dive into some of the other books that’re waiting for me, like John Wiswell’s The Dragon Has Some Complaints.
As ever, though, it’ll ultimately be whatever I feel like.
Linking up with Reading Reality’s Stacking the Shelves, Caffeinated Reviewer’s The Sunday Post, the Sunday Salon over at Readerbuzz, and It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? at The Book Date.
Good luck finishing off some books, your birthday must be coming up soon!
20th August! So there’s time, but less and less of it, ahaha.
Ugh that stinks about your filling..I am terrified of the dentist lol.
I hope you have a lovely birthday and enjoy all of the books you plan on reading 🙂
Ashley Kittrell recently posted…Stacking the Shelves – August 1st, 2026
Yes, me too! And my excellent kind dentist who was working on my phobia retired… sigh. Still, I’ve got this filling sorted and out of the way now.
Wife for the win! I love that she was able to track down the book for you. <3
Kristin recently posted…Typhoons & TBRs
I hadn’t even thought of looking on that site, so it was an excellent find!
So many interesting titles, though out of my usual stream! And, not in the library here, so I’d need to get Kindle running again or buy.
Sometimes it can be fun to explore further afield, hehe.
I also write reviews as I finish stuff but don’t necessarily post them right away. This has always been true for movies and TV shows. But right now, I seem to be hitting the end of my pre-writes. So I’m not quite sure what that will mean going forward.
I definitely had a couple of years where I barely had anything to post and everything was a book I’d just finished, but I have such a backlog now because I read way more than I post. I’ve been trying lately to calibrate my number of posts to my reading speed so there’s always some content each week, without running out.
Enjoy making space for your new books. I try to cut down and then when I like the look of something I say get it for my birthday (which is May) or Christmas we have recently put up some new shelves which have housed quite a few books. Still need to find more space though
Have a great weekend!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2026/08/01/stacking-the-shelves-161/
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog recently posted…Netgalley Book Review – Murder Like Magic by Trisha Blanchet (AD PR PRODUCT)
Technically we still have shelf space left here and there, but I also have some self-imposed limits to help keep my TBR fresh, haha.
That sounds like a very fun birthday in the works!
So many in-progress books as well! Not that I can judge – I make *significant* use of Storygraph’s ‘paused’ function so that I don’t end up overwhelming myself with my current reads list xD
Keira @Keira’s Bookmark recently posted…July 2026 Wrap Up
I have 34 books paused at the moment, oops. But only three actually on-the-go now!
It sounds like you have a fun birthday book-shopping day planned, and I completely understand abandoning a reading plan when it’s no longer bringing you joy. Happy Reading!
Kat -Forever Book Lover recently posted…Sunday Recap #5 – Summer Walks, Campfires & New Discoveries
Hehe, yeah, we’re going to some of my favourite bookshops as part of a longer trip, so I’ll need pleeeeenty of space on-deck.
Making room for books sounds like the perfect way to approach an upcoming birthday!
Getting new ones is inevitable, after all, ahaha.
looks like you read some interesting books!
I did, thanks!
I am a firm believer in abandoning books when they aren’t working! Why slog through something if you are not enjoying it?
I rarely totally abandon books, because I always have that little itch of curiosity… but putting them on hold or skimming them is totally on the cards, haha.
Yikes on the broken filling, I hope it’s not too painful. When reading, you need to follow what makes you happy. Sounds like awesome birthday plans!
Olivia recently posted…Weekly Reading Update 8-1-2026
It was actually fixed in an emergency appointment within a couple days, since I’ve been having so much trouble with my fillings this year.
Dang, looks like I need to add Dinosaur Sanctuary to the list of mangas I eventually need to tackle. I love anything dinosaur related!
I looove Dinosaur Sanctuary, definitely recommended!
A Short History of the World in 50 Lies sounds intriguing! I need to look that one up…
I didn’t love it, I felt it was very light and basic, and there were some silly errors, sadly. I love that type of format for non-fiction though.
Awesome plan to read what you like and not follow a plan!
Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
I always do best when I let the mood reading win, haha.
I would feel discouraged if I read that many books and no 5-stars ratings among them. I am in the middle of thee really LONG dominating books and am feeling the urge to get on with things. I like Novellas in November the challenge that feeds my need to shift quickly to a new book not drag on reading for months on end. Sigh.
Anne@HeadFullofBooks recently posted…Sunday Salon: HOPE
I give a five star rating pretty rarely, for the absolute standouts; it doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the books I read! Four stars is “really liked it”, in my rating scheme — it seems weird to feel like that’s discouraging! Plus, as I mention in the post, the books weren’t all read at the same time; I spread out my pre-written reviews for a mix of genres.
I had to get a filling last week. Blech, the dentist is not my favorite.
I’ve put Twelve Caesars and 50 Lies on hold at the library!
I have pretty heavy dental phobia, not helped by the way I’ve been in and out of there this year!
I didn’t love A Short History of the World in 50 Lies and wouldn’t super recommend it — it’s very light and the author makes a few amateur errors — but I did like Twelve Caesars.
I’m sorry that several of your books you reviewed this week were disappointing. I don’t finish books anymore if they are disappointing. I feel like I don’t have that many years of reading left. lol
Deb Nance at Readerbuzz recently posted…The Sunday Salon: Three Five-Star Books Completed
I find that the ending of books is very important, even if I was enjoying them earlier in the story, with fiction anyway. With non-fiction, I generally have an idea early on, but sometimes it’s still worth it to keep reading and see what actually happens. Sometimes a non-fiction writer will really pull it out of the hat once they’re done setting the scene, even if I found that part boring.
Hope you have a good week!
Bree recently posted…Review: Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman
Thanks, you too!
Happy birthday! Mine was yesterday. I don’t have any book-buying plans. I’m trying to read down the stack I already have. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
Haha, I definitely have plenty already, but I do like to bring in fresh books every so often — as a mood reader, otherwise I get fidgety!
Happy reading!
Shelleyrae @ Book’d Out recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Book Covers With a Sunset or Sunrise
Thank you!
Sounds like a great plan. Happy reading!
Anne – Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
Thanks! It was a good weekend.