You guys, I can’t believe that summer is OVER. September is here and we are officially in the back to school mode. (sniff, sniff) Don’t get me wrong…I love September. I’m pretty sure that once I retire from the school system, it’ll be my favorite month. The weather is perfect and fall is in the air. I don’t need to wear circulation-strangling shorts anymore, nor do I need to worry about the humidity making me look like a chia pet. The one thing that’s great about summer (besides the beach) is that I can read so much. Once the school year starts up, my reading time is next to nothing. So imagine my distress when I got word that almost ALL the books I had on hold for this summer came in at once…the weekend before school started. It goes without saying that my books to read in September list will include all of those books.
Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner
From Jennifer Weiner, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Who Do You Love and In Her Shoes, comes a smart, thoughtful, and timely exploration of two sisters’ lives from the 1950s to the present as they struggle to find their places—and be true to themselves—in a rapidly evolving world. Mrs. Everything is an ambitious, richly textured journey through history—and herstory—as these two sisters navigate a changing America over the course of their lives.
In her most ambitious novel yet, Jennifer Weiner tells a story of two sisters who, with their different dreams and different paths, offer answers to the question: How should a woman be in the world?
So this book has been on my library holds list for well over three months. In fact, when I looked the other day, I was somewhere like 45th on this list, so I figured I wasn’t going to be getting this book for awhile. Imagine my shock when I went in to pick up my other hold books to discover this one was on the “7 Day” shelf. Yup, instead of doling this book out to the people on the wait list, they had it on the 7 Day shelf.
Since Weiner’s style is perfect for my books to read in September list, I snatched it up. Before I realized I had FOUR other books on hold that were available at the same time. And the rest are only two week books. Thus my ambitious books to read in September list. Oh the issues a bibliophile must endure!
Get it HERE
Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris
2 CHILDREN FOR SALE
The scrawled sign, peddling young siblings on a farmhouse porch, captures the desperation sweeping the country in 1931. It’s an era of breadlines, bank runs, and impossible choices.
For struggling reporter Ellis Reed, the gut-wrenching scene evokes memories of his family’s dark past. He snaps a photograph of the children, not meant for publication. But when the image leads to his big break, the consequences are devastating in ways he never imagined.
This book was inspired by a real newspaper photograph during the Depression. Quite honestly, I’m not sure how this book got on my library hold list. I guess I saw so many people were reading it and I must have added it to my TBR pile without reading the blurb.
It sounds depressing and gut wrenching. It’s certainly not the type of book I would normally put on my books to be read in September list. (Since I’m usually crazy busy in September, I tend to gravitate toward light reads or mysteries in September…a break from reality.) Still, the book came in and it’s due in two weeks. Read it I must. Who knows, I may enjoy it.
Get it HERE
Educated by Tara Westover
Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her “head-for-the-hills bag”. In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father’s junkyard.
Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began to educate herself. She taught herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she studied history, learning for the first time about important world events like the Holocaust and the civil rights movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she’d traveled too far, if there was still a way home.
Now this novel is perfect for my books to read in September list. Okay, maybe the subject matter is a little heavy and it’s based on a true story, but helloooooo….it’s about education. Or something like that. I know this book has a lot of polarizing reviews, so I’m interested to see if I am in the camp of lovers or haters.
Get it HERE
The Invited by Jennifer McMahon
A chilling ghost story with a twist: the New York Timesbestselling author of The Winter People returns to the woods of Vermont to tell the story of a husband and wife who don’t simply move into a haunted house, they start building one from scratch, without knowing it, until it’s too late . . .
The best laid plans don’t always work out. I put this book on my library holds list last week, hoping that due to McMahon’s popularity, it wouldn’t come in till October…the perfect time for ghost stories. I seriously miscalculated because it was available within a day. But, I’m not complaining!
Of all the books on my books to read in September list, this is the one I am looking forward to the most. I can’t wait to finish the 7 Day book and move into this one. I love McMahon’s creepy style. She somehow manages to evoke the supernatural in her novels without going over the top. I’m sure that this new novel will be no exception.
Get it HERE
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighborhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he hit big, Bri’s got big shoes to fill. But now that her mom has unexpectedly lost her job, food banks and shutoff notices are as much a part of Bri’s life as beats and rhymes. With bills piling up and homelessness staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has to make it.
A co-worker recommended this book to me back in May or June. I have been reading a lot of YA novels (see my review of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and Books to Read in May), but none have really been as serious as this one sounds. I’ve put if off for quite sometime and lo and behold…it’s available now. Of course it is.
Get it HERE
Will I make it through my books to read in September list before they’re due back at the library? Tune in to find out.