These are the books I plan to read in August 2026. We all know I will do something else entirely as some book cover, book title or book blurb entices me. That’s what happened to June reading pile, y’know.

July Reading Pile Status

It was so NOT what I had planned.

1. M.C. Beaton’s Hot to Trot (Agatha Raisin #31). Physical copy, reducing screentime and all that. I started reading this June last week and finished it in July, so counts as July read.
2. M.C. Beaton’s Death of a Village (Hamish  Macbeth #19). Physical copy.
3. (Wildcard entry) Rainbow Rowell’s Kindered Spirits. Physical copy.
4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck (Wimpy Kid #8) because we love Greg Heffley. I might also pick the next one because that’s how my mind works. I have first 13 ebooks of this series on my iPad. Ebook.
5. J. K Rowling’s Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone: Physical book.
6. Nemrah Ahmed’s Mushaf: Physical copy.
7. Roald Dahl’s Matilda: Physical copy.
8. Arabella Weir’s Does My Bum Look Big in This? Physical copy. Random pick, no regard of planned TBR/reading pile. July was crazy.

August Reading Pile

At least that’s the plan…

1. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Because I’ve started reading the book twice. I have travel plans and have loaded my Kindle app with 20 public domain books, this one being the first. Already started, 4% in.
2. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: The second July-2026 carry-over. I already started reading this in July, a few pages at a time, the book I have has tiny font and takes forever to read a page. Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy are interesting people to know. I started reading Gutenberg version, then wikisource and then Kindle-compatible epub on my Kindle app and then finally I have a physical copy. I’d still be reading it on Kindle app, thanks to the aforementioned travel plans.

These books I’d start only after coming back home. I have serious doubts about this. If I don’t come back in August, this will be pushed to September.

1. Danielle Steel’s Coming Out: My first Danielle Steel. I recently picked up a small haul of her books, so this feels like the perfect place to begin. Do check out the book haul post.
2. Maeve Binchy’s Evening Class: My first Maeve Binchy. People have been recommending her warm, character-driven stories for ages, so I’m curious to see what the fuss is about. Well… Technically I started one of her books This Year It Will Be Different but parked aside for reasons I don’t remember. This time, we power through.
3. Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic & Sister: Because Kinsella’s heroines are chaos in human form, and apparently I enjoy watching fictional people make questionable life decisions. I’ve read books from the series in random order… Some are reviewed on Goodreads and some here.
   • Book Review |  Shopaholic on Honeymoon | Sophie Kinsella

But I think I should read one physical version, too. Side note: I have stupidly bought a book that I’ve already read: The Undomestic Goddess. I read it in April 2019 and I guess seven years is a long time to have forgotten all about it. Feeling stupid? Very.

I’m back to reading digital copies, will try to read one physical books once I come back from Pune.

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Shabana Mukhtar