September Reads
I'm definitely still in my reading era. 📚
I’m going to keep this introduction to this month’s reading short ‘n sweet: this month’s fiction list is full of great suspense/mystery reads as well as a variety of nonfiction — some history, memoir, and a delightful collection of essays. Plus, I’ve added some Substack posts I enjoyed — maybe you will too.
Oh, if you’re keeping count along with me…
I have now hit a grand total of 70 books (🤯🙀) this year. WILD.
Alrightythen, let’s dive in!
FICTION
KILL SHOW, by Daniel Sweren-Becker
This is billed as a “true crime novel” but it’s important to distinguish that it’s a piece of fiction before you dive into this one. The plot? Fantastic. We learn there’s a teenager who goes missing, eventually found dead, and the story of what happened unravels as if you’re watching a “kill show” — a reality documentary series like we see on all our streaming platforms today. The execution of the story? Meh. It’s laid out in an interview format, where the pieces of the story come from several people who were interviewed around the investigation and reality show. It’s good, don’t get me wrong, but I was not a huge fan of the format. It’s still a decent story and if you’re cool with that type of story layout, you’ll like it.
EVERYBODY KNOWS, by Jordan Harper
I bought this one earlier in the year and it has sat on the shelf for far too long (mainly because my Libby holds keep hitting at record pace). I’m so mad I waited to read this one!! We follow two mains (and former lovers), Mae (PR maven) and Chris (former detective-turned-contractor), who dig into the real reason Mae’s boss was murdered in cold blood in front of the Beverly Hills Hotel. The layers they peel back along the way are insane and the subplots are expertly woven into the main story, making it all the more compelling. Its pacing and suspense is fantastic, you won’t want to stop turning the pages on this one. Looking forward to reading more of Harper’s work in the future!
WE LOVE TO ENTERTAIN, by Sarah Strohmeyer
Apparently I’m on a reality TV thriller theme this month, with this being my second story revolving around a show. This time, it’s about a couple who buy a property in Vermont at a tax stale for a literal steal and they go on a home improvement competition show during their renovations. The couple gets married on camera and decides to take a last-minute honeymoon without telling production, leaving the assistant to deal with the fallout. The story mainly follows the couple’s assistant, Erika, and her mother, Kim, and there are some weird things happening around the couple’s disappearance. This was a decent story and suspenseful enough to make me want to know how it ended.
WE USED TO LIVE HERE, by Marcus Kliewer
My bestie (hi, D!) recommended this one and when it finally hit my Libby app, I was thrilled. And whew. This was chilling. Creepy. Stunning. It was written gorgeously, despite the psychological horror happening. It was littered with little Easter eggs, like morse code and a couple of paragraphs that could use translation (if you’re using an e-Reader, definitely define those) to give a little oomph to the overarching story. Eve and her partner, Charlie, buy an old house in a sparsely-populated area of the Pacific Northwest and while they are moving in, a family shows up at their door claiming they used to live there. Eve lets them in, against her better judgement, and I promise you… what you think would happen next is nothing like what you’ll read on these pages. I was dying for more at the end. Definitely a great read as you head into spooky season!
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, by Shari Lapena
I have never met a Lapena novel I didn’t enjoy. This was no exception! A teenager is found murdered in a Northern Vermont farmer’s field and the small, tight-knit community is reeling with a murderer on the loose. We follow the story from various sides — the young girl’s boyfriend and best friends, potential suspects, her teachers, her mother… and even her ghost. I couldn’t stop turning the pages because I had to know how it ended. Solid suspense/mystery, you’ll be glad you added to your stack if you’re into this sort of thing.
THE WIFE UPSTAIRS, by Rachel Hawkins
Billed as a “delicious twist on a Gothic classic,” this novel delivered. I couldn’t put it down. Jane has escaped a dark past and is now walking dogs in a rich neighborhood on the other side of the country when she meets Eddie, a rich widower. Eddie’s wife went missing (declared dead) when her best friend was murdered. Jane and Eddie begin dating, she moves in quickly, they get engaged… life seems great! But as we all know, our pasts come back to haunt us, and this story is no exception to that. This one kept me guessing and intrigued through the last page.
SHE STARTED IT, by Sian Gilbert
Who accepts an all-expenses paid trip to an isolated island from the person you bullied in school? Idiots, that’s who. A group of four women are surprised to get invited to a hen (bachelorette for us in the States) party from the girl they bullied ten years prior. They arrive to the island to find Poppy completely different than the girl they used to know. As the story unfolds, we find out just how mean the foursome were to this girl… but also, dark secrets about each of the women start to surface. Delicious drama, very fun to read.
NONFICTION
CHALLENGER, by Adam Higginbotham
Because I read Higginbotham’s Midnight at Chernobyl earlier this year, it was a no-brainer to add this new release to my list. Most of us remember The Challenger Disaster and were traumatized by it. I was barely two years old when it happened, and I almost say “I can’t imagine watching something like this happen on live television” but stop short because, 9/11. Anyway — this was so well constructed and a comprehensive look into the space shuttle programs that led up to Challenger’s mission, what went wrong, how it was investigated, and why it was so utterly devastating. I highly recommend this one, and if you go the audiobook route, know ahead of time it’s roughly a 17-hour listen, but it’s time well spent.
THE FRIDAY AFTERNOON CLUB, by Griffin Dunne
I was so excited to see this one hit my shelf this month, after waiting what seems forever for it. This audiobook clocks in at twelve hours and was a great listen, start to finish. The Dunne family feels like an Hollywood dynasty to me as Griffin tells the story of his life and that of the family who surrounds him. It was moving, it was intriguing, and it was entertaining. From anecdotes like his blossoming friendship with Carrie Fisher in their adolescence and Sean Connery saving him from drowning when he was a child, to the horrifically untimely death of his sister Dominique, this memoir had everything I wanted from a celebrity memoir.
LITTLE WEIRDS, by Jenny Slate
Rounding out the month with a short but sweet (read: a four hour listen) memoir, I picked up Jenny Slate’s collection of essays after realizing I’ve had it on my TBR for a long time and it was suddenly available through my local library. What a delightfully weird book! Slate is very creative and these essays were exactly that, captured with gorgeous prose. I flew through it and enjoyed every moment.
See what else I’ve read this year by clicking here.
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All the (non-affiliate) links for the books reviewed go to Bookshop.org, a wonderful site where you can purchase your books and support your local independent bookstore(s). 📚