All The Right Reads

Hi, friends. 

Tabatha, one of our founders and our most prolific review poster, regularly updates her reading stats over on her personal blog. Or, at least, she has in previous years. This year we thought it might be fun to move her content HERE so you can all see her reading stats. 

What do you need to know?

1. She reads A LOT. She typically takes on 2-3 reviews or ARCS for us each month but that’s only a fraction of what she reads. 
2. She reads EVERYTHING. Seriously. There are genres she’ll flock to more easily when left to her own devices (thrillers) but she’ll read anything! 
3. She reviews everything she reads. You may have noticed that. 
4. She doesn’t think reading is a competition, she just likes statistics and likes looking at what she’s read. This isn’t intended to make you feel bad, it’s just for your information!
5. If you see something you’re curious about, ASK. Someone will dig into the stats and see if we can find you an answer. 

So, with that all out of the way, let’s dig into August. 

Here are the books Tab read during the month of August.

• 17 total books
• 5,149 total pages
• 23% independently published

She knows this is what she read because she tracks each one in a little journal. We’ll throw those pages at the end of this post, just for fun!

What genres are those?

Mystery/Thriller continues to dominate 2026 although Horror decided it didn’t want to be left out. 

What age categories?

Surprising no one, including Tab, adult books continue to be at the top of the list. 

Where does she get all her books?

We love a good free book around here and we are HUGE fans of the library. So it makes total sense that the library keeps taking such a large portion of Tab’s graph for this question. Again, the library comes out on top. 

We can break this down even further for you. All of the blue section was borrowed from the library, instead of from another human. The red section includes 1 ARC copy from the publisher and Netgalley as well as 2 review copies from the authors (submitted through our website). The yellow section is entirely books Tab purchased directly from the author at Fan Fusion this year.

What format does she read?

Everything. This pie chart fluctuates a lot from month to month. This month the audiobook usage fell back below 50%, which is nice. Tab’s been asked before why it’s so high. She claims she uses audiobooks when she’s cooking, driving, or working out. 

STAR RATINGS:

• 0 1-star books. That makes sense because this is RARE for us. At alltherightreads we say a book has to be one we cannot recommend to get this rating. 
• 1 2-star books. These are books that were problematic, for some reason. The full reviews would lay out why. We usually say something about these had to rub us the wrong way. 
• 7 3-star books. This is probably our most common rating. For us, these books are GOOD but they’re NICHE for some reason. Before we could recommend them to you, we’d have to find out if you’re in that niche. Sometimes it’s because of content warnings, sometimes it’s because they’re just for a really specific reader. If you happen to be in this niche, however, these could be your absolute favorite books!
• 8 4-star books. These are books that we’d recommend just based on the fact that you say you read this genre. They’re just GREAT examples of their genre. For Tab this month those were:
  • Judge Stone is a great mystery/thriller that includes a fair amount of legal drama. 
  • Incidents Around the House is a horror that recently got a movie! Terrifying and creepy in the best way. 
  • Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret is a fun short mystery that will keep you guessing until the end. Tab also gave Everyone in This Bank is a Thief four stars! This series is always fun, never predictable, and definitely worth a read for mystery fans. 
  • The Ending Writes Itself is another mystery/thriller but this one is a locked room style mystery with a great cast. 
  • Rebellious is the next in the paranormal series Tab has been reading and enjoying. She’d recommend starting with the first one, Reluctant.
  • Trad Wife is a horror book coming in September. Told with a shocking twist and an excellent ending, this one may keep you up at night. 
  • Carrie is a classic horror that’s worth reading if you haven’t had the pleasure yet!
• 1 5-star book. These books are ones that CROSS GENRES. We’d recommend them to almost any reader but definitely to readers of at least 2 genres. Crossing genres can be difficult for any author because you have to do both well. For Tab in August that one was:
  • Kill Your Darlings by Peter Swanson. This brilliant mystery/thriller is told in reverse, bringing a whole new level of anticipation for the reader. It will appeal to thriller fans but it will also work well for contemporary fans who like strong, character driven narratives. 

As promised, here are her crazy journal pages. 

TLDR: Tab read a staggering 17 books in August.