Which books are worth the read and which should you skip? Find out what books I’ve been reading lately and whether I recommend them.
If you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been on a bit of a fantasy kick lately. Which isn’t an easy task to do with books ranging from 500-1000 pages each.
After binge reading the last four books of the fantasy series Green Rider by Kristen Britain, I decided that I desperately needed to tackle the stack of new releases on my nightstand.
Returning to reality after a massive fantasy series can be hard, but I had the worst luck with books this month. I must have picked up the two worst books from my TBR pile because I’ve been bored to tears with my selections.
I’m hoping to press on with my new releases. They can’t get any worse than the ones I already read, right? If they are also mind-numbingly dull, a rereading of the Harry Potter series is calling my name. My oldest daughter finally got way into the books and we’ve been slowly going through the movies.
Scroll down to see my reviews, and, as always, be sure to let me know what you’ve been reading lately in the comments!
September 2024 Reading List
Middle of the Night
Riley Sager
When he was ten years old, Ethan camped out in his backyard with his best friend Billy only to awaken in the morning to find their tent slashed open and Billy gone. Thirty years later, Ethan returns to his childhood home. Odd happenings force Ethan to reexamine what happened and lead him to the nearby forest where a clandestine group was studying at a mysterious mansion.
And the winner for the most dull thriller I’ve read this year goes to Middle of the Night. On its surface, the premise of Sager’s latest release seems like an atmospheric slow burn mystery. Instead, Middle of the Night was just slow. Sager veered into the paranormal but forgot to add any creepiness or excitement. I was just bored to tears and am rather surprised I even finished the book.
My Rating:
Publication Date: 18 June 2024
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books
The Life Impossible
Matt Haig
Retired math teacher Grace Winters is shocked when she inherits a run-down house on a Mediterranean island from a long-lost friend. With a one-way ticket in hand, Grace arrives in Ibiza and searches for answers on how her friend lived and died. But what Grace uncovers seems impossible, forcing her to confront her own past in a novel by the author of The Midnight Library.
I usually can find literary merit in most of the books I read and I rarely give out anything less than three stars. But when you sit and stare at a blank wall over reading another sentence of a book, you know you have a one-star read in hand. Haig wants to revel in the awe of the universe in every single moment of every single page. Three pages on orange juice. Three pages on the degrees of infinity. Three pages contemplating this and three pages contemplating that. The Life Impossible was all the wrong combination of boring and odd and I would vehemently suggest you skip this one.
My Rating:
Publication Date: 3 September 2024
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books
From the Backlist
Lilac Girls
Martha Hall Kelly
Martha Hall Kelly’s debut novel follows three different women as their lives are set on a collision course. Caroline Ferriday is an American socialite working at the French consulate in New York when Germany invades Poland and sets its sights on France. Polish teenager Kasia Kuzmerick is terrified one wrong move will spell her doom as she works with the resistance movement. Ambitious young German doctor Herta Oberheuser is thrilled to get a new job at the Ravensbrück concentration camp for women and is eager to prove her worth.
Kelly’s WWII novelization of the story of the Ravensbrück Rabbits, a group of Polish women horribly experimented on during the war was educational if not exactly emotional. Since Caroline and Herta were real individuals, Lilac Girls you don’t get the satisfying wrap up you could if the novel was completely fictional. Instead, you just learn another horrible thing that happened during WWII which, while interesting, doesn’t captivate the attention since Kelly doesn’t play on your emotions.
My Rating:
Publication Date: 5 April 2016
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books
One Day in December
Josie Silver
It’s love at first sight for Laurie when she sees a man at a bus stop one snowy day in December. Having missed their chance, Laurie searches for him for a year before finally meeting him – as her best friend’s new boyfriend. Josie Silver’s novels give you a nuanced approach to how complicated love is for realistically flawed people.
After reading so many lame new releases, I just wanted an audiobook that would capture my attention while I was working out. Looking at the books available on my Libby app, I settled for a reread of this nuanced love story. I devoured this holiday romance in a day, and I can’t recommend it enough.
My Rating:
Publication Date: 16 October 2018
Amazon | Goodreads | More Info
Blackveil
Kristen Britain
In the fourth book of the Green Rider series, With the return of Mornhavon the Black threatened, the Eletians decide to mount an expedition into the cursed Blackveil Forest to seek the ancient city of Argynthyne. Karigan G’ladheon and her fellow green riders embark on a treacherous journey unaware that the evil Grandmother is also seeking to awaken the Sleepers of Argenthyne. Meanwhile in Sacoridia, an assassination attempt on King Zachary’s life leaves deep divisions among those left behind.
If the fact I read this series in just 3 weeks isn’t evidence enough, I’ll just say out loud that I absolutely love this series. Blackveil takes on a darker tone than the earlier books. Karigan is starting to chafe under the pressure of an impossible romantic situation and always being selected for dangerous tasks. In this extremely long story, Britain throws in plenty of good twists, side stories to advance the later books, and a cliffhanger ending.
My Rating:
Publication Date: 1 February 2011
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books
Mirror Sight
Kristen Britain
After breaking a looking mask, Karigan G’ladheon finds herself thrust 200 years into the future in the controversial fifth book of the Green Rider series. According to history, King Zachary and Sacoridia were destroyed and a new Emperor has ruled in his place for hundreds of years. Now Karigan must learn how to prevent Sacoridia’s downfall and find a way home before she is stuck in the future forever.
Fans of the Green Rider series generally agree that Mirror Sight is their least favorite book. I felt the same way when I first read it as it’s rather jarring to have a series stripped of all but one of the characters. Yet I didn’t mind as much on this second reading. I especially like how Mirror Sight allows Karigan to mature and creates character development she couldn’t have gotten otherwise.
My Rating:
Publication Date: 6 May 2014
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books
Firebrand
Kristen Britain
As Karigan G’ladheon struggles to adjust after her trip to the future, she sent on a new assignment in the sixth book of the Green Rider series. Seeking the out the legendary p’hedrose to renew an ancient alliance, Karigan travels north with her best friend Estral and a half-human Eletian guide. But Grandmother and the Second Empire have established an encampment in the north with evil designs on King Zachary.
In Firebrand, Kristen Britain balances the story between Karigan’s latest Green Rider adventure and the political intrigue back at the Capital. Although the novel takes a grimmer tone than early books, it also does the most to advance the relationship between King Zachary and Karigan. While the supernatural elements are a bit overdone, I still really enjoy the series as a whole.
My Rating:
Publication Date: 7 March 2017
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books
Winterlight
Kristen Britain
In the 7th book in the Green Rider series, Sir Karigan G’ladheon is making her way back to Sacor City after her eventful mission to the North. Although plagued by nightmares and self-doubt after being tortured, Karigan must continue to risk all for king and country as the Second Empire makes a final bid to attack the kingdom.
Winterlight is the penultimate book in the Green Rider series, and I have to admit that I am just as hooked now as I was when I started. In Winterlight, fans of the series will be pleased as Britain keeps up a constant stream of action while diving into the psychological toll of Karigan’s many adventures. While the loose threads from the other books are mentioned, the focus is on Karigan and King Zachary taking on the Second Empire.
My Rating:
Publication Date: 14 September 2021
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books
Currently Reading
I always seem to have multiple books going at once. Here’s a peek at what I’m currently reading.
My To-Read List
What’s up next for me? Before I let you go, here are a few of the titles I’m hoping to get through this upcoming month.
Be sure to come back next month to see which ones I read.
Which Books Did You Read in September?
What books did you love this month? Which books can you not wait to read? As always, let me know in the comments!
More Book Lists to Enjoy:
Anonymous says
Wow you have some fantastic books ahead of you!
Jean D says
Thanks for the reviews! I was wondering about Matt Haig’s book, although I haven’t really liked his previous novels. I’m listening to Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell and it’s okay. I’m reading Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. My first fantasy book that I’m loving. Maybe I’ll check out The Green Rider series when I’m done.
How is Heaven & Earth Grocery Store?
Next up for me is Frozen River and The God of the Woods.
Ann says
Crazy! I just found an older BOTM copy of One Day In December in a Little Free Library in my area! I was not familiar with the book, so I am happy to see you like it. I trust your judgement.
I have only ever read Midnight Library by Matt Haig and it was okay, but I felt it was very overhyped.
And speaking of overhyped: I finally read Verity by Colleen Hoover. I’ll give it kudos for being an easy page-turner on a long flight. And the scary bits were good. But that was about it.
Currently reading Olympus, Texas for book club. It is okay. Also started Elizabeth Strout’s Tell Me Everything (Oprah’s current selection).
There is something to be said for writers who just pull you right in. Strout is one of those. And I really needed the familiarity of her characters right now as I get through a bout of Covid. Got home and thought it was jet lag. Turns out it was both.
Rachel E. says
Bummer! When you are an avid reader, you are bound to come across some you don’t enjoy. As a dedicated reader of your blog, I appreciate you sticking it out so you can give us an honest review! I had a streak of very mediocre reads this summer…but September was a great reading month for me! Two books and two audiobooks I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend – Books: A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins; Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty. Audiobooks: Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid; Make Your Bed by William H. McRaven. Happy Reading!
Lori Call says
I read a few I really enjoyed this month. One I haven’t heard mentioned before is Bladestay by Jackie Johnson. A different type of read for me but I really loved it. A bit violent in a few spots but kept my interest.
Also Fawkes by Nadine Brandes, The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn, and A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham were great reads.
Patricia Anne Bryan says
A bit harsh on Riley,I thought.Though thinking back the suspense DID come from waiting for something to happen.I must have been in a lazy mood and just went with it..and went with..and ..well..