Every season of reading is great, isn’t it? Summer reading reminds me of reading on the beach in the sun, where fall reading reminds me of reading inside with a cup of coffee as the leaves change. September is the transition between these two reading seasons, with the first half more like summer and the second half more like fall (at least in Chicago, where I’m from). Maybe that explains why this month’s books were so all over the place. It’s a bizarre mix of genres, but hopefully that means you’ll find a recommendation in a genre you enjoy or something that interests you outside of your normal reading habits. Either way, I hope you enjoy my quick summaries and mini reviews of all the books I read this month.
PS: All of my mini reviews are spoiler-free, so no worries if you have any of these books on your TBR and don’t want to be spoiled!
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
A bookish millennial discovers she has a huge extended family after her biological father whom she has never met leaves her a gift in his will. We follow Nina, who loves her quiet and precisely-scheduled life, as she grapples with this new discovery and maybe even possibly pencils some dating into her agenda!
I listened to this one on audio, which worked really well for me. If I was reading a traditional book form of this, I might have struggled with it a bit as it really is just a character study/slice of life with our protagonist. So many constant reader types will absolutely identify with Nina, which makes this even better. If you’re looking for a cozy contemporary with a slice of romance and you like character studies, pick this up. This book really stuck with me and is one of my favorite romanic comedy type books I’ve read all year. As someone who is a planner-obsessed, constant-reader, anxiety-ridden (yes, this book has some generalized anxiety disorder rep) millennial, reading this book made me feel less alone and also like I want Nina to join my trivia team!
Note: While the audio narrator is awesome, you will miss out on some things if you choose audio over the paper copy. Each chapter starts out with an actual page of out Nina’s planner. The author reads these aloud, but it would have been fun to see the actual pages. Also, the author uses capitalization to make a point about the sheer millennialism of Nina, which you’ll obviously miss in an audio version.
Normal People by Sally Rooney
A coming-of-age and love story about class difference, social status, and misunderstandings. We follow Marianne and Connell from high school all the way through college and see how each character’s social positioning changes how they view themselves and each other. It’s hard to give this one a summary – just know it’s a beautifully written, literary fiction that is absolutely worth your time.
You’ve probably heard the hype about Sally Rooney, and it is so well deserved. The reason this book is so great is that it is unbelievably raw and paints a picture of fully developed characters and the complexities of platonic, romantic, and sexual relationships within that web.
Sleeping Giants by Sylvian Neuvel
A story told through interviews from an unnamed interviewer about a secret, pseudo-governmental search for giant pieces that can only be remnants of an alien invention.
This is my second attempt at a science fiction in this format and I didn’t love it. My first attempt was Illuminae by Jay Kristoff, which I really did not like. Sleeping Giants is way better, in my opinion, but not my favorite read. I love the “big dumb object” trope and I liked the characters, but the overall plot development didn’t completely hook me. I listened to this on audiobook, which I don’t think did me any favors. The audibook has a full cast, which is a definite bonus, but I think I might have preferred to read this in text format.
End of the Rope by Jan Redford
A memoir from Jan Redford who tells the reader about her experience as a female mountain climber and the complex range of experiences and emotions that come along with it.
I’m obsessed with books about climbing mountains. Don’t ask me why; I have no clue. I don’t climb mountains myself (nor do I think I actually could because I’m chronically anxious and convinced that a rockslide, avalanche, or just a slip of the foot will kill me at any second). This isn’t one of my favorite books about mountain climbing, but I liked Jan and was rooting for her the entire time, which has to amount to something. If you enjoy domestic stories with a hint of mountain climbing, you might enjoy this more than I did. Jan experiences some pretty toxic relationships, one of which lasts a very long time and is particularly traumatic. While this experience is real and her own, I struggled to read through it at times.
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
An alternative version of the United States (called United Isles of America) where magicians called rithmatists draw figures in chalk that have magical abilities. We follow Joel, a young man obsessed with rithmatists but not granted that special ability, and Melody, a rithmatist who seems hopeless at the fundamentals, uncover the mystery of several missing students at their school.
This book totally took me by surprise! The magic system is so unique, and I wasn’t sure it was going to work, but I should never doubt Sanderson because it totally did. I absolutely loved our lead characters and their friendship. A platonic friendship in a YA fantasy? Cheers to that! I also thought that the relationship that the kids had with adults was very well done. One of my pet peeves in a middle grade fantasy is when kids are given unreasonable responsibility in the fantasy world (yes, I know that is a major trope of the genre but there are ways to construct a story so it is somewhat reasonable), but Sanderson balanced that dynamic really well . The world building was solid, with information being slowly revealed, and a sequel would totally round out the information that we began to receive in this book (Sanderson said he’d like to write a sequel for this one sometime soon, but he doesn’t have it on his schedule at the moment). If you enjoy middle grade, young adult, or even adult fantasy, you’ve gotta give this one at try.
Paper Towns by John Green
A shy and responsible senior named Quentin has a wild night with his impossibly cool neighbor, Margot, and spends the final part of his senior year searching for her in one of her infamous antics.
I know I’m late to the John Greene train. The only other book I’ve read by him was Turtles All the Way Down, and I haven’t seen any of the movie adaptations. In all honesty, I downloaded this to my Kindle because it was available at my library and I needed something that would hook me in right away and be an easy read for my flight. This did just the trick. The main plot of Quentin following Margot’s clues wasn’t my favorite. What I really loved was the trio of friends surrounding Quentin and their friendship. The three boys were each unique without wandering into sickeningly quirky and their friendship was portrayed as positive but also realistic. Additionally, I thought that John Greene did an excellent job with unpacking the “manic pixie dream girl,” and (mild spoiler) I love that he actually kept her as shallow and unlikeable instead of redeeming her in the end. Overall, this is a well-written story that follows great characters who made me want to keep reading in order to continue following them on their adventure.
Dare to Lead by Brene Brown
Another Brene Brown book about living whole heartedly. This one focuses on what it looks like and how to do so in leadership positions, specifically at work.
This is another hard one for me to review. I listened to this on audio in between other audio books I was listening to or during times when I couldn’t give me 100% attention to what I was listening to. I’ll read anything Brene Brown publishes, but her latest books are really just variations on one another with slightly different themes. This isn’t a criticism as I believe that is exactly what she’s trying to do, but it does taint my experience a bit as the books are starting to become repetitive and I’m not gaining as much out of them as I did in the beginning. I highly recommend the audio version of this as Brene reads it herself, which I think adds to the experience.
Keeper of the Lost Cities – Exile and Everblaze by Shannon Messenger
A middle grade fantasy series that takes place in the elvin world and follows Sophie Foster, a 13 year old who is especially powerful and raised in the human world
In my opinion, this is not a middle grade fantasy that adults will enjoy in the same way that some other middle grade fantasies can transcend age. I have a soft spot for middle grade fantasy because I find that the genre lends itself well to telling beautiful stories that convey fundamental themes like courage and grace really well. Unfortunately, I think that the Keeper of the Lost Cities should stay in the hands of the children it was written for. I enjoyed the first book because the world was so whimsical and the characters were quite endearing. Books 2 and 3 (and also 4, yes I kept reading even though I had given all books after the first one 2 stars) spend a lot of time on fan service and actually have some themes that I find somewhat problematic. I get why this series is insanely popular with children, but if you’re an adult looking for a whimsical middle grade, you can do better.
Have you read any of these books? What did you think? What was your favorite book you read in September? Let me know in the comments below!