A detailed look at September’s reading habits: 18 books read, 2 DNF, 3 books knocked off my lengthy Up Next shelf, a compilation of the 12 books I discovered–and want to read–in September… 4 of which I’ve already purchased and 6 book reviews with the following themes: Meant to be, secrets kept from family, mother-daughter relationships and the personal impacts of U.S. politics.
Overview
| September Blog Updates | September Bookish Posts |
|---|---|
| 📖 September 21st to September 27th 📖 September 14th to September 20th 📖 September 7th to September 13th 📖 August 31st to September 6th | 📚 Book Haul Part 2: All My Kindle Reads |
Outline
September Reflection and Into October
I feel like I’m being so repetitive with each of these updates but September was another slow reading month. I’ve been prioritizing my re-watching of The Vampire Diaries and Bones instead of reading. Re-watching TV shows and re-reading books (as you can see below, I’ve re-read a few) have been a comfort to me in these still uncertain times–a lot is up in the air right now, personally.
Looking back on September, I realized I loved doing the monthly book haul that unpacks my new purchases. I also like reflecting on why I buy certain books in hardcopy vs. on Kindle vs. on Kindle Unlimited. This means that I’m instituting a monthly book haul to be posted during the middle of the month from now on. I’m also thinking of doing an author feature on Sundays. I have quite a few authors where I purchased and read pretty much all of their books, so doing a post that’s a mix of why I like their writing and book recommendations seems like it would be fun. These are a few of my plans for October–I also have a few ideas about Halloween. 🙃
*These buttons (🇨🇦 🇬🇧 🇺🇸) and the Kindle Embeds contain affiliate links. I may earn a small commission when you click on the links at no additional cost to you. You can read my full disclaimer here.
September Book Reviews
Theme of Week 4: Meant to Be
Heart Strings by Melanie Moreland
Pre-order the book: 🇨🇦
Single Sentence Review: A sweet romance, encompassing all the best parts of a swoon-worthy romance, a supportive Hero, capable Heroine and adorable meet-cute; despite the initial misunderstanding between the main characters, the family-oriented drama establishes a couple that stands by each other through everything.
Theme of Week 3: Secrets Kept From Family
Winter of the Wolf by Martha Hunt Handler
Single Sentence Review: A story of 15-year-old Bean as she tries to reconcile the apparent suicide of her brother and the spiritual journey she goes on as she attempts to piece together her brother’s last day, however, the unrealistic character behaviour and lack of Inuit characters severely detracted from the enjoyability of the novel.
Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok
Single Sentence Review: A compelling, suspenseful mystery, chronicling Amy’s search for her sister, Sylvie, that slowly reveals the secrets kept from family through its dual narration between Amy and Ma in the present and Sylvie’s perspective from the past, culminating in a cathartic yet heartbreaking ending.
Theme of Week 2: Mother-Daughter Relationships
The Secret Women by Sheila Williams
Single Sentence Review: A story of the shared grief that forms a new friendship between three women as they navigate the loss of their mothers which centres the ritual of packing and distributing the remain items of the deceased; however, as these women attempt to move on, they come across secrets kept by their mothers in their things and work to reconcile these new histories with the mothers they knew.
Family in Six Tones: A Refugee Mother, An American Daughter by Lan Cao and Harlan Margaret Van Cao
Single Sentence Review: A beautifully written dual narrated memoir (whose enjoyability decreased due to my formatting preferences) that details Lan’s (the mother) experiences growing up in war-torn Vietnam and assimilating into the US at age 13 and how Harlan’s (the daughter) childhood has been influenced by her mother’s identity as a refugee.
Theme of Week 1: Personal Impact of U.S. Politics
The Body Politic by Brian Platzer
Single Sentence Review: A character-driven novel–albeit with a frustrating heroine–that unhesitantly confronts the darker realities of dealing with the instability of America post-Trump election and the resulting memories and trauma the election accentuates.
Books I Read This Month
Key: 🔁 re-read | 🤓 reviewed on this blog | 📲 eARC
• Helpless (Steel Demons MC, #5) by Crystal Ash
• Family in Six Tones: A Refugee Mother, an American Daughter by Lan Cao and Harlan Margaret Van Cao 🤓 📲
• Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok 🤓
• Always His Girl by Lucy Darling
• Echoed Defiance (Jacky Leon, #4) by K.N. Banet
• Never Let Go by Lucy Darling
• Never Been Kissed by Lucy Darling
• Heart Strings by Melanie Moreland 🤓 📲
• 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality by Bob Joseph
• Marrying Winterborne (The Ravenels, #2) by Lisa Kleypas 🔁
• Devil in Springs (The Ravenels, #3) by Lisa Kleypas 🔁
• When She Purrs by Ruby Dixon
• Finding Hope (Seaside Wolf Pack, #6) by C.C. Masters
• Against the Rules by Ella Goode
Book Types: Most of my books read in September were from Kindle Unlimited.
Rating Distribution: Most September reads were 4-stars.
September Breakdown
Want to Read from this month
Most Favourite and Least Favourite*
*Can’t be a re-read
Longest and Shortest Books
Statistics
Most Read Genre: HEA Erotica
Most Read Author: Tied with three books for both Melanie Moreland and Lucy Darling.
15 New Reads; Three Re-reads; Two DNFs
*Person of Colour includes non-white human characters in fantasy novels
Best Performing Bookstagram Posts
Books I’m Looking Forward to in October
The Ippos King by Grace Draven
Releasing October 6, 2020
The Favor by Suzanne Wright
Releasing October 13, 2020
See my Upcoming Release page for more of the books I’m looking forward to in October!
September Book Haul
Single Sentence Summary: My original plan was to add my Kindle book haul to my August Wrap but it just made the post way too long and convoluted. So, I’ve decided to post a separate book haul dedicated to all the books I’ve purchased as ebooks, which, for me, are Kindle books.
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