September Reading Wrap-Up

This has been an intense reading month! The theme and pattern this month has been new releases, with most of these titles having release dates from August to October. It’s been ARC city for me since finding and devoting a lot of energy to Netgalley.

Note to new bloggers- when you start looking up books on Netgalley it might be tempting to just hit “Request!” on every interesting-looking title but always keep in mind how many books you can read each month. Or really, how much energy you can devote to reading them in a timely manner. My experience has been that while not all requests are fulfilled, a large and surprising number are.

But anyway this should have been reserved for an ARC and Netgalley-devoted post, lol, but without further ado here are the books I’ve read this month and brief, updated thoughts on them.

---

1.) No Judgments by Meg Cabot

Review Here. This is one of the few romances / chick lit type of novels I tackled this month. Was very hyped for this one since the cover is cute, the heroine has pink hair, and I’ve been meaning to read Meg Cabot for decades. (Basically since I was 8-9 years old and The Princess Diaries was a big deal.) No Judgments was a fun read that has a nice setting- an island town with quirky locals.

---

2.) The Swift by Ricky Dragoni

Review Here. I listened to the audiobook of this title. It’s quite well narrated. The story follows a guy and his student as they struggle to survive an outbreak of creatures called swifts, they’re sort of like zombies. A short but fun read- I dug the ending.

---

3.) Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky

Review Here. While my review may come off as critical- and there is definitely a lot to be critical of in regards to this book- this is my second favorite title of the month. I am definitely going to add a hard copy of this book to my collection, hopefully the nearly 800 page tome doesn’t fall on my face if/when re-reading.

---

4.) Crown of Coral and Pearl by Mara Rutherford

Review Here. This was my favorite title of the month, tied with one other. What a dark horse this book was. I went into it expecting to just like it, while multiple other titles you’ll see on here I was expecting would be 10/10 greatest-of-all-time shoo-ins. The only thing I would change about it are some latter events involving a certain evil villain. Long story short, I wish he was a little less evil (maybe 20% less evil? still evil though.) I would happily watch him pine over the heroine for 5+ more books to be honest. Something about villains getting a crush on a protag, and the protag living their best life and ignoring them. Pretty sure that’s my aesthetic. If anyone knows of any books like that be sure to let me know, lol.

---

5.) The Babysitter’s Coven by Kate Williams

Review Here. This is a book I won in a Goodreads giveaway. Am still shocked to have won, the last GR giveaway book I won was half a decade ago. It’s been 84 years, basically. The cover is one of my favorites. This book was a mixed bag though had some charm to it.

---

6. The Miracles of Namiya General Store by Keigo Higashino

Review Here. I was so happy to have been selected to review this one on Netgalley, and it didn’t disappoint. This title is tied with Crown of Coral and Pearl as my favorite September read. Definitely an easy recommendation for anyone who wants to try out an approachable Japanese novel.

---

7. House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

Review Here. This is the book I was ultra hyped for ever since first hearing of it. I liked it very much, though not to the point of utter love. Still very curious to check out Craig’s future work, as she has a knack for really great aesthetic. If I could snap my fingers and a high budget film adaptation of any books on this list would emerge, would definitely pick this one.

---

8. The Exploding Book by Mike Russell

Review Here. An experimental, surreal fiction with a unique narrative voice and bizarre imagery that is up to interpretation. A unique read, very big chance of pace from a lot of other titles on this list. But really, this reading month has been dizzyingly varied in general.

---

9. Juliet Takes A Breath by Gabby Rivera

Review Here. When choosing between YA sub-genres, I normally don’t put contemporary too high on that list. Which is funny because many contemporary YA I’ve read lately have been some of the best ever, and this title definitely takes a piece of that cake.

---

10. Beyond The Moon by Catherine Taylor

Review Here. A mix of time travel, romance, historic fiction and modern fiction. If you’re at all interested in WW1 I recommend checking this title out.

---

11. The Good Kill by Kurt Brindley

Review Here. This was a fun one. Has the feel of a gritty drama/dark adult fiction mixed with an action flick’s pace and scene-setting. One of the lengthier books on this list but in a good way.

---

12. A Lush And Seething Hell by John Hornor Jacobs

Review Here. Love horror, especially psychological horror. These novellas are firmly in that category. I really liked the first one.

---

13. Resurrection Girls by Ava Morgyn

Review Here. The last book of the month. A super brisk, fast read. More focused around contemporary and coming-of-age than the spooky cover might have you believe. It’s a good one, and this will be an author to watch for in the future.

and two graphic novels-

---

14.) Manga Classics – Jane Eyre

Review Here. Has me pumped to read Jane Eyre in the somewhat near future. As per usual for Manga Classics, this is a lengthy and detail-oriented retelling.

---

15.) Bakemonogatari v.1

Review Here. Love the art style. Shounen (basically, guy-oriented) romance with a bit of action and high quirkiness.

---

15 titles total. Almost 5,000 pages. Beat my previous July record of heavy and committed reading. Not sure what October will hold, but I’m glad to have read such a varied selection and found some great new 5-star worthy reads in September.

Have you read any of these titles or want to? Always curious about your thoughts, and thanks for reading this month’s wrap-up post. ~ Kitty