Best Books of September
As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she read that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better about doing this.
So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.
These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from September.
In the Woods (Tana French): It was my first Tana French, and I know it’s not my last because I’ve already started The Likeness. This book is solid. And meaty. It takes a long time to digest. But the best part is the relationship between the two main characters: Rob and Cassie. They feel so real.
The Husbands (Chandler Baker): Think of it as Stepford Husbands… without the feeling of panic that accompanies Ira Levin’s book. (I really felt panicked reading Stepford Wives the first time.) And not really making commentary different from his book; just saying his thesis in a different way. It’s an enjoyable, quick read. You will not be surprised by anything, but not all books need a big reveal.
Bellweather Rhapsody (Kate Racculia): Kids snowed in at a creepy hotel that is hosting a statewide music festival. It’s quirky. And a little disjointed. And sometimes moves slowly. But it is also great writing and the characters grew on me. Plus, I loved encountering the memory of Fruitopia.
For Your Own Good (Samantha Downing): I wanted to read this book, and I grabbed it as soon as it was available at the library because I hated the cover and didn’t want to have to keep looking at it on my TBR. But it was such. a. good. book. Maybe the best example of don’t judge a book by its cover. It is creepy and wonderful.
The Great Godden (Meg Rosoff): This book feels like summer captured on paper. The writing is gorgeous, the characters walk off the page, the plot moves quickly, and I felt like I was part of their family for a summer. Such a beautiful and sad coming of age story.
A Slow Fire Burning (Paula Hawkins): This is the problem with book hype: decent books seem worse than they actually are when you’re told by every list that it’s the most amazing book ever. This book slips just onto this side of including it. I didn’t like any character, therefore, I didn’t care about the outcome for any character. But it’s an interesting story, and it moves quickly. I’m glad I finished it, but this is the second “big book of fall” that has not lived up to its hype.
What did you read last month?
4 comments
I read “It’s Always the Husband” and really enjoyed it. Also, I did not predict most of what happened. It was twisty right to the last page. I also read “In Five Years.” I did not enjoy this book BUT it is a book that was well written and I would recommend – however, it was so sad. And the description I read did not bill it that way. I do not want to read sad books right now. But I get it – an accurate description would have given too much away. If you are up for a sad (in parts) story, this was a good one.
I really enjoyed Into the Woods, too; can’t believe I waited so long to read it! (I literally had a physical copy sitting on my shelf for 9+ years.) I just started Faithful Place, which is French’s third book in the Dublin Murder Squad series.
I have been on the fence about reading A Slow Fire Burning. I liked The Girl on the Train a lot but recently read Into the Water and didn’t enjoy it as much. I will have to mull it over, considering your review.
I read some books I really liked/loved in September, including Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (not exactly what I was expecting but so well done), Triptych by Karin Slaughter (I had read every other book in these series but had somehow missed this one, which was the first book by the author introducing the character Will Trent; it was great), and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (amazing and so different from Transcendent Kingdom, which was published after this book but I read first).
I’ve read some excellent books already this month, too, but I will wait for your October books post to share those. 🙂
I have a couple of these on my wish list, thanks for the reviews!
I read four books in September, all reviewed on my blog & on Goodreads:
* “Emily Climbs” by L.M. Montgomer — the second book in the “Emily” trilogy, My LMM Readathon Facebook group is going through this book right now, chapter by chapter, and I will count it as as a re-read when we finish, in mid-December.
* “Still Glides the Stream” by D.E. Stevenson — just finished a chapter-by-chapter group read with my DES online fan group. This is a post-WWII novel in which grief and loss are focal points.
* “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens. Finally got around to reading this (Gateway Women/NoMo book club pick). It was very slow going, especially at first, but the writing was beautiful and drew me in.
* “The Foundling” by Paul Joseph Fronczak & Alex Tresniowski. I read this one in advance of watching a CNN documentary called “The Lost Sons” which featured the same story… amazing true story about a baby stolen from a Chicago hospital in 1964, an abandoned toddler found in New Jersey two years later, and what happened when that toddler (Fronczak) grew up and started trying to find out the truth of his origins.
I loved “Into the Woods” and have been hoping my library would get more Tana French books, but I might just have to suck it up and buy them! lol
I actually had a good September for reading! Thanks to Loribeth, I read My Mess is a bit of a Life by Georgia Pritchett and loved it.
I also enjoyed Scrublands, by Chris Hammer, which was one of those global library reads. It is set in Australia, and just oozes “Aus”-iness. You can feel the heat and the dryness and see the landscape. He’s written two more and I’m keen to read those two.
My five-star read was Wake, by a wonderful New Zealand author Elizabeth Knox. It’s a bit sci-fi/alternative reality about an area where a population effectively goes mad and dies, and no-one can get in or out. There is a small band of survivors, and it is their story, and the story of how and why this happens.
I also finished the audiobook of Kindred, by Octavia E. Butler. It was a fascinating idea and I loved it.