My 'to be read' pile in August 2026

It's been ages since I last posted my 'to be read' pile, so I thought that I would do a quick update, and share a bit about how each book has ended up there! 

This is what the shelf looked like in February - My February 'to be read' books - and it now looks quite different. 

There is only one book still on the shelf - Into the Silence by Wade Davis. I must admit that this book has been there for a while because it's quite hard going. It's a history of the very earliest Everest expeditions, but also looks at some of the motivation in that era behind the drive to climb and explore. I've read the first part and it's an enjoyable read but there is a lot of information to take in. I think that I need to attack it with some post-its and break it down a bit because I really do want to read it.

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain is a book which I've read many times. It's actually a trilogy of three books detailing the memoirs of a young woman who was just twenty when World War I was declared. It upended her life completely, and it is an account of how she survived those years, despite devastating losses. Something else that I was reading inspired me to move it from my bookshelf so that I was reminded to read it again when I have the chance.

Powers of Persuasion by Winston Fletcher was an impulse second-hand purchase after I read a news article about expensive and memorable advertising campaigns. It looks really good, and it's a subject that I want to learn more about. London's Lost Rivers by Paul Talling was a similar impulse purchase. I love finding a book that I'm after for a reasonable second-hand price! It's about the hidden rivers of London that have been covered up and relegated to tunnels under the city, I find it fascinating. I've flipped through it but I want to give it a proper read.

Photo credit Daniela Muntyan via Unsplash

The other books are all charity shop purchases that I've picked up over the last few weeks. Three of them I've actually already read, but I spotted them and fancied a re-read - The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps by Allan and Barbara Pease. There are a couple of travel books in there for when I fancy some non-fiction - Himalaya by Michael Palin and The 8.55 to Baghdad by Andrew Eames. 

Then finally a couple of vintage books which I couldn't resist because I loved the covers. I'm not sure that I'll be getting through Paradise Lost by John Milton any time soon, but it's such a beautiful copy. I'll have more luck with Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe, in fact I've already read the first few short stories. 

There's my Kindle too of course, I loaded up with books from the Prime Reading library before we went on holiday this summer and then hardly had time to do any reading so there's plenty to keep me busy there. But I think it's a very manageable pile, and I'm looking forward to working through it!

Would you be interested in reading any of these books?