What did you read in September?

[ufcasey]

Share what you read in the month of September! Bonus points for ratings/recommendations/reviews.

[rootbeerfloat]

Winterkeep (Graceling Realm #4) by Kristin Cashore - 3.5*
Any Way the Wind Blows (Simon Snow #3) by Rainbow Rowell - 3*
Beach Read by Emily Henry - 3*
A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum - 3*

[travella]

Survive the Night by Riley Sager,1*
The Drowning Kind by Jennifer MacMahon, 2*
The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, 2*
The Last Night in London by Karen White,2*
The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny, 3*
When Harry Met Minnie by Martha Teichner, 3*

It wasn't a very good month. My go to authors (Sager and Penny) disappointed me. Sager's book was just awful. Penny's wasn't as bad; it just didn't live up to expectations.

[ufcasey]

From best to worst:

Memories of Evil by Peter Kubicek (WWII Holocaust Memoir) - 5*
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett - 4.5*
You Got Anything Stronger? by Gabrielle Union - 4*
A Fate of Wrath & Flame by K.A. Tucker - 3.5*
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty - 3*
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado - 3*
Worth It by S.M. Shade - 3*
Follow by Tessa Bailey - 3*
Portrait of a Scotsman by Evie Dunmore - 3*

[tacokick]

It was a slow month for me! I had a few books that took a long time for me to read for no real reason. I tried to make up for it this last week and read eight books 😳

Whistle in the Dark by Emma Healy (it was fine)

The Brittanys by Brittany Ackerman (not great)

When All the Girls are Sleeping by Emily Arsenault (always like her books)

Seek You: A Journey Through American Loneliness by Kristen Radtke (okay was hoping for more)

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell (fun mystery idea but not great in actuality)

41-Love by Scarlett Thomas (major issues with eating and so much tennis. So so much tennis)

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty (I liked it! I’m wondering if the next new trend is mysteries where maybe there wasn’t actually a crime, the new Sally Hepworth is also like that)

The Stranger in the Mirror by Liv Constantine (complete waste of time, possibly one of the worst books I’ve read in years)

The Night We Burned by S.F. Kosa (cliche)

Nice Girls by Catherine Dang (the writing was very childlike)

My Sweet Girl by Amanda Jayatissa (I liked the idea but the end was really bad)

White Smoke by Tiffany D. Jackson (very good but ended so abruptly I thought it didn’t download properly)

Surviving Dirty John by Debra Newell (filled in some blanks from the podcast)

Forever Young by Hayley Mills (highly recommend for anyone interest in that era of Hollywood or the film scene in England)

Burnt Toast and Other Disasters by Cal Peternell (essays and recipes, I loved his last book but this one was bad, I didn’t believe he’d actually make some of this food-something his kid points out at one point)

Agatha of Little Neon by Claire Luchette (nun drama)

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll (blah)

Fault Lines by Emily Itami (interesting!)

[meowmaps]

Velvet Was the Night 2.5-3*
The Woman in the Purple Skirt 4*
The Traveling Cat Chronicles 4*
Migrations 5* (one of my favorites of the year)
Nine Perfect Strangers 3.5* (better than the TV show which I quit about halfway through)
The Beauty of Living Twice 3*
Intimacies 5* (another favorite of the year)
Man Enough: Undefining My Masculinity 3-3.5*

[meowmaps]

tacokick I'm glad you liked Apples Never Fall. I was really looking forward to it but it just didn't grab me. I quit about 20% in.

[charlatti]

The Madness of Crowds by Louise Penny 5* — probably 4* for the mystery, though
Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson 5*
The Shimmering State by Meredith Westgate 4* (interesting concept)
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (4*) and A Closed and Common Orbit (5*), both by Becky Chambers — looking forward to reading the next one in the series
Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin 5* - this was an odd little book but I really liked it.
For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten 3* — I liked it. I’ll probably read the next one.

[tacokick]

Oct 1, 2021 15:29:33 GMT -5 meowmaps said:

tacokick I'm glad you liked Apples Never Fall. I was really looking forward to it but it just didn't grab me. I quit about 20% in.

It was LONG! I don’t quite know why she felt like she needed to include so many details about everyone down to the neighbors but I like a big messy family book.

[mie]

The Heart Principle (The Kiss Quotient #3) by Helen Hoang 4*
How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams 3.5*
Out of Character by Annabeth Albert 3*
I Wish You all the Best by Mason Deaver 3*
The Perfect Match (Blue Heron #2) by Kristan Higgins 3*
The Bookshop of Second Chance by Jackie Fraser 3*
If you Only Knew by Kristan Higgins 3*
Sleepless in Manhattan (From Manhattan with Love #1) by Sarah Morgan 3*
Miracle on 5th Avenue (From Manhattan with Love #3) by Sarah Morgan 3*
New York Actually (From Manhattan with Love #4) by Sarah Morgan 3*
A sweet Mess by Jacy Lee 3*
Sunset in Central Park (From Manhattan with Love #2) by Sarah Morgan 2.5*
The Dating Dare (A Sweet Mess #2) by Jacy Lee 2.5*
The Best Man (Blue Heron #1) by Kristan Higgins 2*
My One and Only by Kristan Higgins 2*
Incense and Sensibility (The Rajes #3) by Sonali Dev 2*
The Sweet Gum Tree by Kathrine Allred 2*
The Unwanted Wife by Natash Anders 1*
Waiting on You (Blue Heron #3) by Kristan Higgins 1*

The Heart Principle wasn't what I was expecting, but I did enjoy it, though I wish the story focused on Quan a little more.

[Vespasia]

I had some duds this month. Bolded the two I would recommend. 


Glass Houses by Louise Penny - apparently I gave this 5 stars but I already have forgotten most of it

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig - interesting premise, too close to a self help book

Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian - struggled to get through this but there was nothing really wrong with it

Constance by Matthew FitzSimmons - enjoyable if unremarkable Sci-Fi. Not bad for a Kindle First

Survive the Night by Riley Sager - not good, twists that were both terrible and predictable

Ariadne by Jennifer Saint - by far the best book I read this month, highly recommend 

Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - dull and disappointing. I had hoped that others who gave it poor reviews just didn't enjoy noir but that wasn't it.

A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet - short but haunting

[estrellita]

Fire Keeper's Daughter 4/5⭐ - I liked it, particularly reading about Native American culture and places I've been (UP Michigan). There were some details I didn't like and it was hard to remember all the minor characters though.

Velvet Was The Night 3/5⭐ - It was ok. I was expecting more though. I wasn't overly excited about anything going on and I felt underwhelmed by the conclusion.

The Sweetest Remedy 3/5⭐ - Another one that disappointed me. I LOVED her first book (Ties That Tether) and this one didn't measure up. I liked the family dynamic but there were a lot of things in the story that were hard to believe, or didn't make sense. The whole concept of the book was kinda weird too.

[mrspez07]

Late to add my list this month:

Read:
The book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate 3*
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson 4*
Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon 5*
Come Sundown by Nora Robert’s 4*

Audio:
The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson 3* (slow start, interesting story, crazy what people obsess about)
The Once and Future Witches by Alix E Harrow 5*

[litskispeciality]

Pretty good month for me. I read:

Surprise Me 3*'s (glad I stuck to the end)
The Perfect Ruin 3.5*'s (major @@@@ trigger warning)

I also started a couple of books that I'll/ve finished this month. 17(almost 18)/24 for the year.

[meganiv]

Only one book unfortunately, was kinda busy this months. Monk who sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma.