five things Friday: September TBR edition

Summer reading season is on its way out perhaps, but reading is year-round event for me... so time to share my September reading list!

 

So I'm admittedly not all that into Agatha Christie, but I realized that I have three books on my shelf/Kindle inspired by her and thought I might as well theme my reading month a bit: Daisy Darker is a recent BOTM pick that is inspired by And Then There Were None [ack, spoiler alert - just finished while composing this post, and I thought it was a major slog and the big reveal at the end not worth sticking around for... sorry to say]; The Agathas is YA mystery where the characters draw on Christie's works to solve a mystery in their own town; and Dead and Gondola was sent to me by Netgalley and seems to be a cozy mystery set in a bookstore in which the co-owner sisters "channel their inner Miss Marple", so we'll see how that one goes for me (not usually a cozy mystery reader) - but kind of fun to discover these three books with similar inspiration on my shelves, but all in different genres.

To round out the month, since I might need something a little more hefty to sink my teeth into after the above, a couple of more literary picks that have been on my list for a while: Olive, Again (after reading and loving the newest Elizabeth Strout book last month, inspired to get to this Olive Kitteridge sequel finally!) and a feminist Greek mythology retelling, Ariadne (here's hoping I love it as much as Circe!).

 

And now a recap of my August list - which I rather enjoyed!

• The Lies I Tell: a satisfying entry into what I call the "thriller lite" category. There's great twists and turns but nothing too bonkers or icky (think recent books like The Last Thing He Told Me or The Love of My Life). This story about a con-woman going for her final long game and the reporter who is trying to expose her has just the right amount of twists and surprise, along with enough character development/backstory to understand where they’re both coming from, in why they would act this way with their lies and tricks - and to make you wonder just who is actually getting conned here, and what is the line between revenge and justice. Good girl power vibes too!. It reminded me of Janelle Brown's Pretty Things, with the exploration of how the con artist and the target actually end up in a friendship (?) and the reader has to wonder who, if anyone, is a villain here. Also reminded me of Joshilyn Jackson's Never Have I Ever.  ★★★★
• Tokyo Dreaming: the sequel to Tokyo Ever After, a YA book I loved - almost a cross between Princess Diaries and Crazy Rich Asians with a protagonist who is just a regular teen with middling grades in California who learns that her dad is the crown prince of Japan (and it also has the bodyguard romance element that I loved in American Royals). Great narrative voice, and just a YA delight in general. This follow-up continues the story and includes a love triangle, a bit of college application angst, and more of getting to know the royal family's relationships and history. All in all, pretty fun again even if it didn't have quite the novelty and tension (of the good rom-com variety) of the first. Definitely read it if you enjoyed Tokyo Dreaming though. ★★★.5
• Well Matched: another (loose) series continuation. This is a bit more open-door romance than I've been enjoying in general lately, but because I already know the characters and setting from Well Met and Well Played, I picked it up (they don't need to be read in order, but I think I did enjoy it more for knowing the characters already, since it does follow chronologically from the others). The character who gets a turn at romance in this one is single mom April, who has never really tried to connect to the community as she always planned to move away as soon as her daughter graduated. But when she enters into a fake dating scheme with local gym teacher Mitch, giving him a date for a family event in exchange for his help fixing up her house to sell, she of course starts to find herself falling for him and also more connected to the community than she realized... I liked that April's a bit older than the other protagonists in this series, and that she's the loner/introvert/party pooper type (as someone a bit anti-social myself, I connected with this, ha). Otherwise, it's a fairly standard romance but with characters and a setting I've enjoyed, so I was inclined to like it. ★★★.5
• Hollowpox: The third book in the Nevermoor series following Morrigan Crow and her training as a member of the Wondrous Society. It brings back all of my favorite characters (and setting - the magical and quirky Hotel Deucalion where she lives with her patron, the delightful Jupiter North, is just so great and inventive), along with a really well-paced exciting plot as Morrigan learns more about her personal "knack" (magical gift) while at the same time a disease is striking down Wunnimals (animals with human characteristics) in Nevermoor, causing mass panic, quarantines, and lockdowns. That part was actually super interesting to read in middle grade fantasy after living through the covid era, of what it's like to try to avoid and tamp down this disease that we don't yet know much about... You definitely need to read this series in order, but it's worth going back through if you like middle grade fantasy of the Harry Potter, etc. variety as so far each book has been better than the last in my opinion. ★★★★
• Lucy by the Sea: okay, I didn't think I was ready for a covid pandemic novel unless it was tangential, part of the background but not the focus (like in the thriller 56 Days). But in the hands of Elizabeth Strout and her beloved character Lucy Barton? I devoured a completely character-driven story that was 100% about the experience of being in lockdown in 2020. Basically, Lucy's ex-husband William comes to her and says that this Covid thing is about to get really bad, and we should leave New York City and go to a house I rented in coastal Maine. She reluctantly agrees, thinking it'll just be for a short time (didn't we all?), and the rest of the book follows their relationship as they live together in lockdown isolation, their worry about their adult daughters, etc. It felt reflective and honest and real, and I adored the appearances of other Elizabeth Strout series characters in this one too - fun surprises. Normally character-driven isn't really for me, but a few authors can make it compulsively readable and so relatable, like Ann Patchett (maybe even Emma Straub, a bit), and most definitely Elizabeth Strout (I've loved all of the Lucy Barton books in this regard too). I will grant, though, that these are all white women writing about lifestyles that I personally can relate to, so while I find them to be illustrative of life experience and thus really illuminating through the character's reflections, this won't be the fact for everyone (and also as relates to pandemic lockdown experience - I was isolating and barely going out like Lucy in this book, but of course the experience would be so different for an essential worker, etc.). I received a free e-copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ★★★★.5

Bottom line: several books in series here that I loved getting to continue with the characters, and I recommend starting them all, if you're into YA or middle grade or contemporary romance or great character/relationship-driven fiction...  Let me know if you jump in to any of them!