My September bookstack is here!!! Before I jump into reviews, I wanted to say a little something about how I choose what to read next. I think it’s so interesting to hear from other readers on this, and I paid a little extra attention to my own habits this month, so I thought I would share! No matter what, I always read the pick for my Book Club, which this time was The Gifted School. In addition, I have a running list in my iPhone notes called “2019 Books,” where I list all of the books I have finished each month, along with my star ratings, plus my infinite TBR (to be read) list. At the start of each month, I list the 5-7 books I plan to read. These are usually a random amalgamation of personal recs, new releases, suggestions from Audible, celebrity book clubs, Instagram inspo, Goodreads research, Kindle deals and more!
So, I start off each month with a plan. But you know what? I almost never stick to my plan! At least not completely or strictly! I think this is partly because I never want my reading to feel like a homework assignment or chore. Reading is one of my happiest happy places and I want it to stay that way always! I need to feel the freedom, so don’t you dare stifle me, Self! Ha!
I’m also quite a “mood reader,” who simply loves to read certain books based on my mood or interest in a particular moment. For this reason, I’ve also become someone who reads more than one book at a time. In doing so, I can pick up my fast-paced thriller or poetic memoir, depending on how I feel. I do not enjoy reading two super-similar books at a time, as I’ve mentioned before—because that does get confusing—but my book taste is really diverse so it’s never before been a problem finding two (or even three!) I can love simultaneously.
Anyway, in summary, I have a loose plan, for sure, and an infinite list, but I never hesitate to pick up whatever else might come to the forefront along the way!
My September of reading was both amazing and complicated. What did I adore, what was just OK, and what did I have huge feelings about?!
Here you go, all my book babes! Without any further delay!
Momentary Spectacular Thriller
WELL, NOW! Somehow I missed this sensational, fast-paced, creep-tastic masterpiece when it came out in 2018! I absolutely love Lisa Jewell and this book did NOT disappoint! Oh my word, is it ever crazy and oh so good. While it was my personal fave of September, I would only recommend it to my fellow lovers of the darkest dark side. (I’d say it’s rated-R for disturbing content and language.) Beautiful, smart, golden girl Ellie Mack (aww, cute last name!) disappeared shockingly in 2005, leaving her family devastated and hollow. Ten years later, her mother, Laurel Mack, is slowly but surely beginning to move on with her life. Things change forever when she meets handsome Floyd in a café—and, soon after, his daughter Poppy, whose appearance sends Laurel quietly reeling. She looks exactly like Ellie. But why? Connection? Coincidence? This book is full of spine-chilling twists and simply wonderful writing. The characters are richly drawn and smartly developed. I absolutely loved the whole thing from beginning to end. I couldn’t get enough of the story and can’t wait for Lisa Jewell’s newest release next month! I will definitely be getting my hands on it! Five stars from me! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Momentary Back-to-School Soap Opera
(In a Good Way!!!)
In the spirit of back-to-school everything, we picked The Gifted School for our Book Club this month. And I am so glad we did!!! I thought this book was timely, smart, juicy, compelling, nuanced, and relatable in more ways than I’d like to admit! We are pulled seductively into the posh city of Crystal, Colorado, where the stakes are high and ambitions are higher. The plot follows an intimately (and complicatedly!) entwined group of families as they navigate their children’s futures and educations, particularly in light of a brand-new public magnet school about to open for “gifted” students. The admissions process quickly becomes a Hunger Games-level competition for the ruthless and unstoppable parents. While the adult choices at times seemed wildly desperate or crazy manipulative… they also felt uncomfortably close to home to someone who attended private schools her entire life and sends her own kids to them now—and also following the recent college admissions scandal. I became completely absorbed in these characters’ lives, lies and secrets and couldn’t wait to see how their stories ended! My only complaint is that this book has SOOOO many characters, which was occasionally kind of confusing. I joked to my Book Club bestie that I needed a flow chart, and she actually found one to help us all out! Even still, I really enjoyed this book and totally recommend it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Momentary YA Delight
I might also call this book Gossip Girl: America Retold. XOXO! Or as someone else put it: “Crazy Rich Asians meets The Crown.” Wow, it was SO much fun!!! Nonstop entertainment and endless ear candy (I did the audiobook and it was a GOOD one)! Imagine a world in which America had remained a monarchy with kings, queens, princes and princesses. Extravagant balls, provinces, palaces, our very own royal weddings. Now throw in a bunch of stunning teenagers CW-network-style and imagine it all going DOWN! The House of Washington reigns supreme in this flashy tale, in which responsible Princess Beatrice is poised to become the first queen regnant. Her more rebellious sister, Princess Samantha, brings the perfect amount of challenge and sass to the castle, along with Samantha’s twin brother, dreamy Jefferson. As these siblings and their charismatic, gorgeous, feisty band of friends pursue lasting love and fight for coveted crowns, I honestly couldn’t quit listening. The one downside? I didn’t realize that this book is NOT a standalone! It is the first in a series! I became oh-so-very invested in the story but did not get the neat-tidy ending I wanted. But you better believe I’ll be waiting on Book #2! I loved this one. It’s light and breezy and clever and cute. Are there a few pretty unbelievable plot turns? Yes. Did it bother me in the least? Nope! Four stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Momentary Investigative Masterpiece
(That I’m Struggling to Review)
Every so often, a book stops in me in my tracks, with its content, with its questions, with its candor. With the brilliance and the beauty of each sentence. With the undeniability that the author nailed it with her honesty and her artistry. BUT ALSO: Stopped me cold with its personal revelations, with its voyeuristic quality bordering on the highly uncomfortable, with its unflinching sexual details. Three Women: I have sat with you for a few whole weeks now, and I still don’t know what to say. Gritty, explicit and WHOA are three words I would use to describe it. But so are challenging, bare and impressive. Triggers abound: Sexual assault, eating disorders, adultery, suicide, emotional abuse. Ugh. So much of it hit me right in the stomach, and I occasionally wondered if this was something I should keep reading—and for that reason, I don’t recommend it outright. But the hype and the subject matter kept me coming back to the pages, as a passionate lover of words and, even more so, of women.
As a writer, I’m left in awe of Taddeo’s in-depth investigative work, involving six road trips, text records, call logs, and no doubt countless hours spent with the book’s leading ladies. For eight years, Lisa Taddeo dove deeply into the sexual, emotional and interior lives of, yes, three different women, each with a complex (and graphic!!!) story to tell. I kept wondering, “Do a lot of women walk such a journey? How many women feel this level of pain?” My heart broke; my brain exploded. In the end, Taddeo says: “I believe that their stories conjure desire as it is right now, the best of it, the glory and the brutality.” Do I agree? Well, that’s the thing. I’m not sure. I would not exactly read this book and walk away calling the subject: “desire.” I would more so say it’s about trauma, abuse, manipulation, sex, men who treat women horribly, and certain core aspects of womanhood, yes—but a manifesto for female desire? Gah, I hope not!!! This is definitely not a portrait of healthy sexuality. But I also never suffered abuse. I don’t want to discount how healing and helpful it might be for someone to read their actual story within these pages. I do enjoy reading books from a perspective vastly different from mine, but this one is just SO heavy and sad. And once again: So explicit!!! The view was not often pretty, but maybe that was the point.
Then again, while these stories are not my own, I did feel the things they were feeling through the notably powerful writing, and I paused to reflect on how I experience those things, too. Passion, vulnerability, love, insecurity, fear. And even in their weakness, I saw great strength. Women are astounding and brave. This book showed that—and at the same time, showed precisely the opposite. At the end of it, I bowed my head to say thank you, Jesus, for meeting me when I’ve needed you. For being the source of my innermost meaning and strength. I pray against sexual and emotional pain for my own daughters, and I pray it hard. I pray for the men they encounter and for all of the forces that shape them. I’m glad that I read this book, and I won’t soon forget it, but I’m not sure that you should read it. If you have, I would so love to discuss!!! Three stars from me. And it probably goes without saying that it’s rated R. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Momentary NYC Thriller
Lock Every Door started out super strong for me. Down-on-her-luck, twenty-something heroine Jules Larsen stumbles into the opportunity of a lifetime—to serve as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan’s most famous, glamourous landmarks, for a preposterous sum of cash. Quickly after taking up residence, things start getting nice and spooky. Mysterious characters, frightening sounds, and haunting nuggets from the building’s dark history. Jules soon makes a new friend, fellow apartment sitter Ingrid, encouraged to find an ally within her new digs. In seemingly no time, though, her new bestie disappears. As Jules begins searching for Ingrid and answers, skeletons come pouring out of the Bartholomew’s closets, and her quest becomes a race against one rapid ghostly detail after another. I loved this book… until the ending. Gah! The vivid Manhattan setting was so much fun and Jules captivated my interest, but the ultimate story was so bizarre and outlandish to me that I ended up feeling “meh” about the whole thing. Did it have to become so wacky?! The middle was also a little slow. I was still entertained, but if you’re looking to be creeped out in the best way possible, I’d read Then She Was Gone! Three stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
That’s all for September! What should I read in October?!
