September 2024 Wrap-Up and October TBR

Plus our next Booker of the Month pick and October releases on my radar

Hi, book friends.

What a month September was! Mine was dominated by National Book Award reading, of course. (ICYMI, I did a fun carousel of starter pack memes for all the Fiction finalists on Instagram.) We asked, and Lauren Groff & co listened — this year’s fiction longlist was the strongest one in years.

Outside reading, parental leave continues to be a Groundhog-Day fog of cuteness and exhaustion, but I’ve now been on two fall hikes, and I’m planning to (gently) start running again next week. In short, life is good.

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What I Read in September

After having read just four books in July and five in August, my September reading rocked and I read 13. (Big shout out to the baby for letting us sleep at night so my brain could recover…somewhat.) And it gave not only quantity, but quality too — I read some really, really incredible books this month. I liked or loved every single one.

Nice to have: I’m now essentially back on track for 100 books this year. The StoryGraph has gone from telling me I was six books behind to only one book behind. Woohoo!

Relatedly, I hardcore marathoned eight of the NBA nominees to finish the list before the finalists were announced, so I haven’t written full reviews for them yet. That’s going to take me a bit longer than I wanted to wait to send this newsletter, so check back on my blog or keep your eyes on my Instagram feed for them over the next couple of weeks. Other books’ reviews are linked below.

Loved

• There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak*† 📖🎧: Holy guacamole I loved this. Truly written just for me. An epic, heartbreaking story for the ages.

• Intermezzo by Sally Rooney* 📖: I agree with the many folks who have called this her best yet (even though admittedly, I have not read all of her books yet). I could have spent another 100 pages with these characters!

Liked a lot

• The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko* 📖🎧

• Small Rain by Garth Greenwell*† 🎧

• Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte* 📖🎧

• Yr Dead by Sam Sax 📖

• My Friends by Hisham Matar* 📖

• All Fours by Miranda July† 📖🎧

• Ghostroots by Pemi Aguda 📖

Liked

• The Gods Below (The Hollow Covenant, #1) by Andrea Stewart* 📖🎧

• The Most by Jessica Anthony 📖

• Catalina by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio† 🎧

• Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner† 📖🎧

*print copy gifted to me by the publisher
†audiobook gifted to me by the publisher

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October TBR

In October, I’m having a hard time deciding whether I want to focus on finishing the Booker Prize shortlist ahead of the winner ceremony next month (I only have three left!), rebounding from all the literary fiction of September by diving into fantasy, or finally getting back to reading more nonfiction like I’ve meant to all year.

Good news: There are no rules and so I don’t have to choose! But here’s what I’m thinking, broadly. I probably won’t get to all of them so this is more of a possibility pile, but we’ll see!

Fantasy escapes

• Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky, #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse: Time for me to finally start my reread so I can finish the trilogy!

• A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft*†: This sounds SO good and SO fun. Sapphic romantasy that takes place at sea, say less.

• The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman†: I’ve been itching to pick this one up for months. It’s chonky. October feels like the right time.

Nonfiction staring me down

• The Message by Ta-Nahesi Coates†: If he writes it we will come. It was published this week!

• Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders by Vanessa Angélica Villarreal†: Everyone and their brother is talking about this one, which was longlisted for the NBA’s nonfiction category. I have FOMO!

• The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer*†: NEW RWK. I repeat. NEW RWK. It will be published November 9th!

• Entangled Life: How Fungi Make our Worlds, Change our Minds, and Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake†: I’m always in the mood for nature nonfiction in October/November (probably because I first read Braiding Sweetgrass in October).

  Alyssa aka Nerdy Nurse Reads
  talked about this one in her Substack last weekend, and it’s been on my TBR forever, so here we are!

• Unrooted: Botany, Motherhood, and the Fight to Save an Old Science by Erin Zimmerman: I’ve been suspending my library hold on this book for…I don’t want to tell you how long. Why not pair it with RWK and a book about fungi??

Booker shortlisters

• Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood

• The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden*†

• Held by Anne Michaels

Miscellaneous because I just really wanna read it ASAP

• The Mighty Red by Lousie Erdrich: This came out on Tuesday and it will soon be in my hands!

*print copy gifted to me by the publisher
†audiobook gifted to me by the publisher

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October Booker of the Month

ICYMI, I run a book club called Booker of the Month, where we read one book from the Booker Prize longlist each month. There are 13, so we double up just once, and by the time next year’s longlist is announced, we’ll have read them all.

Our October selection is Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner. Join us!!

• Get yourself a print copy or the audiobook

• Find it on The StoryGraph or Goodreads

• Sign up for our Zoom discussion on Monday, October 28 at 8 PM ET.

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October hot releases

I keep a running list of new releases I’m excited for on my Bookshop storefront, plus a list of recent releases I love or expect to love.

Aside from those mentioned in my wrap-up and TBR above, some of the books that I have my eye on in October include:

• Heir (Heir Duology, #1) — I already read this and now you need to, too!! It came out this week.

• Blood of the Old Kings by Sung-Il Kim, translated by Anton Hur (Translator)

• Model Home by Rivers Solomon

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As always, thanks for sharing your corner of the internet with me! It would mean a lot if you were to take a second to like this post. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, too.

Finally, if you like this newsletter, please send a few friends my way.

See you on Instagram!

— Deedi (she/her)