What did you read in September?

[ufcasey]

Can you believe it's already October?! What did you read in September? Which book was the best, which was the worst?

[abs]

Decent reading month for me.

Good Luck with That by Kristan Higgins--3.5*
Tailspin by Sandra Brown--3*
China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan--3.5*
Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan--3*

Nothing was really great but they were all enjoyable enough fast reads.

[minzy]

Before We Were Yours - Lisa Wingate - 4.5 stars
Amity and Prosperity - One Family and the Fracturing of America - Eliza Griswold - 4 stars
Now That You Mention It - Kristan Higgins - 3.5 stars
Grit - The Power of Passion and Persuasion - Angela Duckworth - 4.5 stars
Educated - A Memoir - Tara Westover - 5 stars
When - The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing - Daniel Pink - 4 stars

62 books read so far this year. I’d most recommend based on the stars, so Educated for sure.

[travella]

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan, 3.5*
Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan,4*
The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks, 2*
Still house Lake by Rachel Caine, 3*
The Girl You Lost by Katherine Croft, 3*

The best books I read were the Crazy Rich Asians series- light, soap opera-esque books. Great if you want an escape from reality. The worst book I read was The Wife Between Us. This book was disappointing. I figured out the book early on so it was rather boring.

[ufcasey]

As far as quality goes, it wasn't a great reading month. Lots of just 'average' (or lower) reads.

2 Stars:
Stormswept by Deborah Martin <- worst book
The Night Masquerade (Binti, #3) by Nnedi Okorafor
Reignite (Extinguish, #2) by J.M. Darhower

2.5 Stars:
Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3) by Jim Butcher

3 Stars:
Phoenix Unbound by Grace Draven
Shadow Wings (Darkest Drae, #2) by Raye Wagner
Extinguish (Extinguish, #1) by J.M. Darhower

3.5 Stars:
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
An Earl Like You by Caroline Linden
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Dangerous by Minerva Spencer
Angels of Chaos (Imp, #6) by Debra Dunbar
Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas

4 Stars:
The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth, #2) by N.K. Jemisin <--Best book
Blood Oath (Darkest Drae, #1) by Raye Wagner (the second book in the series was much weaker)

[rainbowchip]

The Drawing of The Three (The Dark Tower #2) by Stephen King 4*
Fifty Shades Freed (Fifty Shades #3) by E.L. James 3*
Any Man by Amber Tamblyn 4*
All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover 3*

All of the books I read last month should have trigger warnings so I wouldn't recommend any of them willy nilly. They were all good not great.

[tacokick]

His Favorites Kate Walbert (instantly forgettable)

Blood Sisters Jane Corry (bad)

If We Had Known Elise Juska (okay but not compelling.

History of Wolves Emily Fridlund (very odd)

The Cheerleaders Kara Thomas (YA, enjoyable)

In the Heat of the Moment Viveca Sten (I always like her books)

Marriage Vacation Pauline Turner Brooks (eh, makes jokes about Eat, Pray, Love but tells basically the same story)

The Great Believers Rebecca Makkai (liked this a lot but think it should have been two separate, if related, books)


Men Explain Things to Me Rebecca Solnit (the first essay was my favorite by far)

Little Monsters Kara Thomas (YA, entertaining)

Can You Ever Forgive Me? Memoirs of a Literary Forger Lee Israel (odd, very unremorseful person)


Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty Ramona Ausubel (forgettable)

In Harm’s Way Viveca Sten (always enjoy them)

The Life We Bury Allen Eskins (so very very bad)

All Happy Families Jeanne McCulloch (boring memoir of rich people)

Real American Julie Lythcott-haims (liked this a lot, very quick to read but well-written and in-depth)

Ghosted Rosie Walsh (so bad and silly)

Forget You Know Me Jessica Strawser (not bad but not great)

Watching You Lisa Jewell (entertaining. I miss her non thriller books though!)

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 Christopher Paul Curtis (someone here mentioned it, I don’t think I finished it before. Good elementary/middle school aged book)

Swim Back to Me Ann Packer (liked the novella the best)

So, 20 books for the month,
230 for the year. I was sick all last week so now I’m trying to catch up! I have way too many library books out! I’ve started just reading the first few pages and bagging them up to go back if I am not sucked in.

Great Believers and Real American were the best ones. I had a lot of duds this month.

[pixy0stix]

The Morning Star (Imp, #10) - Debra Dunbar - 4*
Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians, #1) - Kevin Kwan - 4*
Magic Triumphs (Kate Daniels, #10) - Ilona Andrews - 3*
American Gods - Neil Gaiman - 5*
How to Dance an Undead Waltz (Beginner's Guide to Necromancy #4) - Hailey Edwards - 5*
Night and Silence (October Daye, #12) - Seanan McGuire - 2* (SO MUCH DISAPPOINTMENT!)
Justice Calling (The Twenty-Sided Sorceress, #1) - Annie Bellet - 1*
The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl - Issa Rae - 4*
Dog with a Bone (Black Dog, #1) - Hailey Edwards - 3*
Horns - Joe Hill - 4*


The worst, by far, was Justice Calling. It was little more than a badly written short story that tried to pass itself off as a book.

Tied for filling me with sad disappointment were Magic Triumphs, and Night and Silence. Both are capstone books for series that were really good that should have been ended earlier. The Morning Star, by contrast, was weaker than the previous books, but still worth the read for the end book in the series.

How to Dance an Undead Waltz is a continuation of a really good urban fantasy series. Something about it just seems so fresh as compared to all the other somewhat formulaic stuff I read.

[mx27]

Oct 1, 2018 8:37:13 GMT -5 minzy said:

Before We Were Yours - Lisa Wingate - 4.5 stars

I had to put this down...too heart wrenching for me.  That said, I could tell it was a wonderfully written story.  Too bad I couldn't power through.

[rootbeerfloat]

An American Marriage, Tayari Jones - 4*
Still Me (Me Before You #3), JoJo Moyes - 3.5*
A Reaper at the Gates (Ember in the Ashes #3), Sabaa Tahir - 3*
The Book Thief, Markus Zusak - 4.5*
Bellewether, Susanna Kearsley - 3.5*

[mrspez07]

Read:
A Stolen Marriage 3*
The Late Bloomers Club 4*
Hollywood Daughter 2*

Listened:
Call Me American 5*
The Kiss Quotient 3*

[sassy1ja]

Good As Gone, Amy Gentry***
Still Me, Jojo Moyes***
All Your Perfects, Colleen Hoover****
Dead Girl Running***
The Death of Mrs. Westaway***

[secretlyevil]

Close Enough to Touch (2*)
Fear: Trump in the White House (3*)
The Red Tent (4*)
Educated: A Memior (4*)