September was such a great reading month for me. I rediscovered my love for audiobooks and found myself listening to audiobooks every day at a ridiculous speed. I read a total of 10 books and I went from reading one book a day to not reading for a few days. In this post, I’ll be sharing mini reviews of the 10 books I read in September.
Crying in H Mart {4✨}
I was a bit excited to read this after reading a review of it. It just seemed like the type of nonfiction book I’ll enjoy. I mean, I love a good memoir! Michelle details her life before and after she lost her mother to cancer. She tells us how she navigates grief and being Korean American. I loved how she talked about food. You can tell food is a big part of her relationship with her mother and just her culture in general. I definitely recommend. (Everyone said they cried while reading this but I didn’t cry and I’m not sure if something is wrong with me) You can read my review of this book here.
Dial A for aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto {4.5✨}
I listened to the audiobook on scribd and I loved it. It was hilarious and although the crime mystery part of it was so unrealistic, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The book focused on Meddlin Chan who ended up mistakenly killing her blind date and had to call on her 4 nosy aunties to help her out. If you’re looking for a good laugh-out-loud book, this might be for you. I’d also recommend listening to the audiobook.
The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey {4✨}
Another audiobook I loved. It’s a really short book about a mermaid who was found by a local fisherman in a fictional town, Black Conch. He takes her into his house and she turns into a real human woman. It alternates between both their POV and journal entries. We got to know Aycayia, the mermaid before she became one. Themes explored in this book were love, family, sexuality, colonialism & fatherhood. The narrator did a fantastic job as well.
Before I go to sleep by S. J. Watson {4.5✨}
This was a wild one for me. It follows the life of a woman who has amnesia and wakes up every morning not knowing who she is right beside a man who is supposedly her husband. He patiently explains her condition to her and the cycle continues. It got a bit repetitive and progressed slowly but it is absolutely worth it because I didn’t see the plot twist coming and it had me acting a mess on Instagram.
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw {4✨}
This was probably the best audiobook I listened to in September. The narrator did such a fantastic job that I had to google her and find her on Instagram. This book can be finished in one sitting as it’s a collection of short stories focused on Christian women who are struggling and trying to suppress parts of themselves to fit narratives created by flawed individuals. It exposes the hypocrisy in the church so if you’re not ready for that conversation, you might want to skip this one. If you’ve watched Greenleaf (the tv series), then you’ll like this.
Seven Days In June by Tia Williams {5✨}
This was definitely my favorite book of the month. It gave everything it was supposed to give. I absolutely loved the story and it’s funny how it’s supposed to be a love story but there’s a lot more going on. There should be a ton of trigger warnings but the author didn’t make it unbearable to read. The characters were great and it was well written. You can tell a lot of effort was put into it and the end result is amazing. I read the ebook but I’ll definitely be getting the hardcover.
Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney {4✨}
This was on my anticipated September releases and I was so glad to see the audiobook on scribd. If you’re familiar with Alice Feeney, then you don’t need me to tell you how amazing her books are. She has mastered the art of giving us psychological thrillers that’ll have us questioning what we’ve just read. This didn’t live up to my expectations but it was still good. My main problem with it is how confusing it was for me as a reader. I was about 50% in and still wasn’t sure what was going on.
Pride, Prejudice, and other flavors by Sonali Dev {3.5✨}
The rating says it all (or not). It was definitely one of the low rated books in September. I listened to the audiobook and to be honest it just felt unnecessarily long and dragged on for too long. I wanted to read her recent release when I realized it was part of a series and I decided to start from Book 1 but now I kinda wished I went straight to Book 3. It’s not that it’s not good but it just didn’t hold my attention and there were a lot of annoying characters.
Altar of Tradition by Lynda Rubi {3✨}
The author of this book reached out to me on Instagram to ask if she could send her book and I typically just direct authors to my review policy page on the blog so as to avoid confusion. I think she went through it because she went straight to the point and it seemed like she really wanted me to read it. I wasn’t planning on reading it as I already set out some books I wanted to finish in September but the size made me pick it up. It’s a collection of 10 short stories and you know I love a good collection! Fortunately, the first two stories had my full attention and I really enjoyed reading them but as I progressed, I started to lose interest but I’m glad I didn’t give up because the last couple of stories were really good. I’d definitely recommend this if you like books written by African women.
Until it Fades by K.A. Tucker {4.5✨}
This was such a nice book to end the month with. The audiobook narrators were mid but it didn’t stop me from loving every bit of it. I was craving a good romance novel and it did just that. If you liked Fifty Shades of Grey but with less smut, this is for you. It was so sweet and I found myself smiling at random times in random places. Definitely worth the 12 hours I dedicated to it.
I can’t believe I read 10 books in September. From the ratings, you can tell I mostly read amazing books and I hope I’m able to keep this energy in Q4. I posted an IGTV sharing the books I hope to read in the last quarter of the year.
How was September for you book-wise ?
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