September Book Roundup

Hey hey! It's somehow already time for my September Book Roundup. Reading might just get THAT much better in the fall, with all of the cozy things listed in the graphic above!

September was a really, really good reading month for me. I had 2 meh books, but the rest were stellar. It was a month where I was reading to escape, so I think I leaned towards the lighter or happier books...that I used to stay far, far away from, but I have been so pleasantly surprised by some of them recently! With so many of the books I read in September being so good, I flew right through a few of them and got a lot of reading done this month!

Give me all the homey feelings while reading for these next few months of fall. I love it! Let's get to it...

The Family Remains (The Family Upstairs #2) by Lisa Jewell- ⭐⭐⭐

I started out the month with the worst one of the month...meh, I didn't like this one. I think giving it 3 stars was generous from me. I typically love Lisa Jewell's latest books, but I will say that I did not enjoy The Family Upstairs, and this was the sequel to that book. 

I wanted to like this one, but it was just so far fetched. I barely remembered anything from the first book, so it was hard for me to connect to (or care about) the characters in this one. One of the narrators totally annoyed me, there were too many characters and too much to keep track of, I preferred one of the story lines over the others. It just didn't do it for me! Like I said, I typically love her other recent books and I probably would have appreciated a sequel to any of her other ones...but not this grouping of books. It was a letdown for me! (PS- when I noticed my water cup matched this cover perfectly, I just had to snap a pic of them together!)

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

(First of all, this is a random pic of this book, but that's The Pentagon in the background that we were driving by!) 

Ohhh, Taylor Jenkins Reid. When I was reading this one, it didn't live up to Evelyn Hugo, and I was going back and forth between 4 stars and 5, but once I finished it, it left me with that 5 star feeling for sure. It starts out very similar to the movie King Richard (which is such a great movie!) and there's definitely lots and lots of tennis details. I had to make peace with that and be in the mood for it. TJR does a great job of making the sports talk and tennis details easy to understand. 

The character is very unlikable, but I did still cheer for her and want her to succeed. I also wanted to just keep on reading this book whenever I could! I couldn't help thinking of all the GOATs and those famous athletes who come out of retirement; it was definitely thought-provoking to consider their perspective. This book respectfully brought up double standards, had characters that seemed so realistic, and although I'm extra critical of this author because she has done so many books so well...this just continued to keep increasing in its rating as I kept reading. I could have done more of the 90s era and the end felt a little rushed, but it's definitely a memorable book and one that made me tear up at the end.

Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney- ⭐⭐⭐🌟

I love a gothic, gloomy book or any book that takes place in a classic, old, creepy house. This one is definitely good for fall and even better for Halloweentime. It reminded me of a spooky ghost story you would tell around the campfire as kids; it almost had that feel of a kids' spooky book, although it almost felt like it was trying too hard with that feeling. It had very Ruth Ware type vibes. It also had a lot of similarities to the board game Clue or And Then There Were None. I didn't like this author's first few books, but her most recent few have blown me away...this one, not so much.

It was a good read for when I was tired and for late at night. I got sucked into it late one night and was up reading way later than usual. It was somewhat predictable, but I did wonder which way it would go. I did just want to scream at the characters to tell them to stop leaving people alone! It was one of those where they made terrible choice that obviously led to terrible consequences. Maybe this one is good for Halloween but out of all of the books I read for the month, this one definitely wasn't a highlight!

Nora Goes off Script by Annabel Monaghan- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cashy felt the same way about this book that I did. WHAT a surprise! These little happiness-inducing, lighter books are growing on me majorly recently...BUT they have to be extremely well written and witty. This one had such rave reviews, so I decided to go for it. It reminded me a little bit of that Class Mom humor, which I'm all for. It was so witty with that tongue-in-cheek humor. This one was just soooo cute.

I flew right through this book. It was definitely deep and thought provoking enough. It had enough meat and wasn't all just fluff. I loved the mom's routines and everyday mom life. I would say this one is more contemporary/women's lit than romance, and I loved how it was like so many other books lately that poked fun at that romance and Hallmark movie genre. My only complaint? The actor that is one of the main characters seemed immature and I almost thought of him as one of her kids instead of them having a relationship...

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Yikes, this is another one I've heard of for years and years, and have even previously checked out a time or two, but I never got around to reading it. I'm so glad I finally did! This one reminded me a lot Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and The Invisible Husband of Frick Island. Again, I used to not be able to handle lighter books like this...but it's so much meatier and deeper than I anticipated. 

At the same time, it has that clever dialogue and wit. It's timely, funny, and a little bit quirky. Quirky books just seem to go with fall. I loved the Maine setting and the great, extremely lovable characters. This one is cozy! I appreciated so much about it. Bonus points that I saw the author is a DC girl...like me now 😉 If I had to pick between this one and Nora Goes Off Script, I would definitely go with Nora...but this one is still a really good one!

Dreamland by Nicholas Sparks- ⭐⭐⭐

Oh, Nicky Sparks. I've been a fan since I read A Walk to Remember in junior high. He always is very old-school and old-fashioned with his characters, dialogue, and writing...but someone clearly told him to try to make this one trendy and recent with an addition of some influencer talk. I flew right through this one, as I always do with his books, but it wasn't my favorite and it wasn't anything stellar. I love his love stories that aren't your typical romance books. I love the simplicity. I usually love the setting and descriptions. This one seemed to be lacking a lot of that. It didn't feel fully developed, and the end was pretty rushed. He's been hit or miss the past few years, and this one was sadly a miss (at least for me!).

(How about this background of the dog park matching the cover so well though?!)

Well, that's a wrap on my September books. A lot of good, good ones! My favorite of the month? I think I'd have to go with Carrie Soto or Nora. I'll leave you with some quotes that are just so spot on for me...you too? Happy Reading in the cozy, spooky month of October! What else do I need to add to my TBR?