Instead of waking me up when September ends, can you please tell me where September went? I feel like I took one deep and healing breath and BOOM, it’s October. Perhaps it was my short East Coast vacation (more to come on that) or just my serious anticipation for the BER months (Fall, Halloween, sweater weather, my BIRTHDAY, soups galore!) that made this month whiz by faster than a witch on a broomstick (see what I did there?).
We threw a Labor Day Party (in 116 degree weather), saw a ton of people I hadn’t seen in a while, and took actual time off (like, more than one or two days… I know, shocking). It was a revolving door of plans after plans and boy am I pooped. My heart is full but my body needs several naps. Good thing it’s about to get darker earlier.
This month, I only got to 3 books. I really thought I’d get to 4 but a book I took with me on the vacation ended up being a bit of a dud (and joined the DNF club) so my 7+ hour flight home was filled with all the movies Delta could offer me. Maybe next month will be more inspired.
TENDER IS THE FLESH BY AGUSTINA BAZTERRICA
I could not get away from this book. It was everywhere. All over my TikTok fyp (for those of you who have not downloaded TikTok in a bid to save your soul – fyp stands for For You Page). I caved and bought the book. It’s barely over 200 pages so why not.
This was a book that was so beautifully written that I could not tear my eyes away from it, even as the author described CANNIBALISM. Yup. That is what this book is about. If you think “There is not a single book in the world that could ever make me really uncomfortable” then BOY do I have a book for you. I am still trying to figure out if I liked it. On one hand, the way it was written drew me in immediately and kept me there. I wasn’t going anywhere. I needed to know more (such as: how the fuck did we get to CANNIBALISM as a society??). The narrator drew me in. Got me to trust him. Made me think that there are good people out there… Anyway. The other hand is just how it ends and I’ll leave it at that and this was a “throw across the room when you’re done” book.
TW: this book does include about sexual abuse
THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE BY ALAN BRADLEY
I googled what books were like Nancy Drew but for grown ups. This one came up and it is absolutely Nancy Drew for grown ups. In fact, the main character reminds me a bit of Enola Holmes (10/10 movie, go watch it). I love persnickety, intelligent, young girls who envelop themselves in a mystery and solve it long before the bumbling sheriff! Not to toot my own horn, but I typically figure this stuff out. I almost always know who the killer is before the big reveal where our heroine has to fight for her life!!!! But they got me here. Absolutely did not see this coming. Touche, Mr. Bradley. That made me excited to read more in the series.
CONFESS BY COLLEEN HOOVER
I know, another Colleen Hoover book. People like to shit on her because she’s sooooooo easy to read. I’ve read 2 of her books in 1 sitting (and I’ve only read 3 of hers). But that’s what I LOVE about her. If you’re in a reading rut, pick up one of her books. There’s nothing worse than a book that’s taking you longer than a week to finish (when you read like I do at least). This will push you back into reading, trust me.
That being said, this one might have been my favorite so far. I know that everyone is obsessed with This Ends With Us (and it’s great) even though I preferred Verity. Confess was different than both of those, in a way. Our main guy is a GOOD GUY! And we get to see from his perspective too (it goes back and forth, very similar to Punk 57 that I read last month but WAY better). I liked being able to see different situations from different views and in different brains. Our main female, Auburn, annoyed me sometimes because I wanted her to be more of a badass. Our main male, Owen, is an artist who gets inspirations from other people’s anonymous confessions (a pretty cool concept). This was a good, light hearted book for me to end September on.
Have you read any of these books? Have I convinced you (or not) to read any of these? What was your favorite book to read in September?
Writes with Wolves 