What I Read in September

Oh man, I'm about to say the thing I always say, but seriously - where did September go? We're about to jump into one of my favorite months of the year (June, July and October, if you were wondering), but I still feel like this month went by at warp-speed. Work has been really busy and that'll speed things up for me, so I know where the time went. I'm just still trying to figure out after all these years how to slow down the right moments.

Anyway! I did read some books this month. Finished up one I've been working on slowwwwly for a few months now, and sped through some others. And in other news - warning that I'm about to toot my own horn - I'm on book 30 of my goal to read 12 books this year. So, toot-toot.

Bummer. Probably the last book in the sand picture of 2019. 

1 || Too Much is Not Enough: A Memoir of Fumbling Towards Adulthood - Andrew Rannells
Non-Fiction

I should start by telling you I had a goal to drop some more non-fiction into my book list and with a title that resonated with me, I figured this would be a nice start. Andrew Rannells kicks off by moving to NYC after graduating high school with a dream of becoming a performer, which is a little cliche, but it's a true story, so whatever. There's lots of drinking, mistakes in love and career, and the general floundering that accompanies the basic human experience of growing up. It's a good read and if you're older than 30, it'll remind you to be grateful.

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2 || The Language of Secrets - Dianne Dixon
Fiction/audio

This book was traumatic for me. But it was engaging and so I couldn't stop. This isn't a spoiler and anyway, I could have used a warning, so I'll just tell you. A mother becomes separated from her 3-year old son. The web is intriguing, if not tightly woven, but as a mother of a 3-year old, I could not read this without hurting. It stayed in my head for weeks after finishing it.

More concisely: it's good if you can separate reality from fiction. It's unbelievably heart wrenching if you cannot.
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3 || Maggie Now - Betty Smith
Fiction

Betty Smith's magnum opus is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, and while Maggie Now doesn't quite live up to that standard, it is a delightful return to Brooklyn at the turn of the century. And that is a world that Betty Smith was just magnificent at recreating on paper.
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4 || Queen of the Underworld - Gail Godwin
Fiction/audio

This started as something I kept thinking would 10000% be my favorite book of the month, but as someone said in an Amazon review, I kept waiting and waiting for a plot. Emma is a recent college graduate who moves to Miami to work at a local newspaper right around the time that Castro is setting up shop in Cuba. It should have been wonderful - it had so much and the beginning is engaging. But then...nothing happens and still the writer keeps writing. I'd skip it if I were you.
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5 || They Ask, You Answer - Marcus Sheridan
Non-Fiction

So this book took me a while to read through, but it's really a good and informative book. I read this for work and worked through it by reading it for 15 minutes each day. Slowly but surely, I got through it and with lots of notes. And a new habit for reading each morning as soon as I sit at my desk. I grabbed another book from our work library just to keep the momentum going.

It's centered on content marketing and becoming a thought leader in your industry. If that's your thing, its got a lot of good information.
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6 || The School of Essential Ingredients - Erica Bauermeister
Fiction

I read this book in college for a class and wasn't really in love with it then, but it's been a handful of years and I figured I'd give it a second try. In the interim, this book has become so popular, it's now part of a series.

I'll say honestly that I didn't hate it and maybe it's with life experience that has more in common with the characters that has helped, but I still didn't care for the overly flowery language. It just doesn't feel authentic when every character thinks and speaks so poetically.

If you can look over that flaw, it is a deliciously fun, easy, beach style read, especially for foodies. It's a novel, but feels very short story-like as it follows a cooking class, with each chapter dedicated to a student in the class as they weave in and out of each other's lives. Claire is a new mom who has lost herself in motherhood. Tom recently lost his wife. Isabelle is losing her memories.

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For October, I have big plans to re-read the Harry Potter series and I am THIS excited. It's been years since I've read the books, so let's just see how many books I can blast through in 31 days.