Reading in September

05 October 2020

 

September is my favorite month, and I spent most of my month just trying to soak up this time of year. This is the first autumn I haven't been too overwhelmed with school deadlines and sitting in long lectures, and I am loving every second! It's a beautiful time of transition and change as the harsh heat of summer shifts to the cool relief of fall. It's a time for long, crisp walks in the evening, pulling sweaters out of storage, and rewatching old favorite movies. It's also a perfect time for reading! 


My reading was a little slower this month, but that's only because I've been getting into reading long books again. I've been allowing myself to take my time, to get immersed in dense worlds with large casts of characters and complex, interweaving plots. So even though I barely completed four books, I have absolutely no regrets, and I hope this trend continues with my reading for the rest of the year!


11/22/63 - Stephen King

Read my full review


If you read the full review for this book I posted several weeks ago, you probably already know how much I loved it! As my first Stephen King novel, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it completely blew me away! A time travel story focused on preventing the assassination of President Kennedy, this is a book that is as close to perfect as it can possibly be in my eyes. It has everything I love: a well thought out plot, rich character and relationship development, an explosive climax, and engaging narration. It's a long book that could intimidate a lot of readers, but it reads so fast and hooks you from the beginning. You barely notice the pages turning. I am desperate for more Stephen King in my life, and I cannot begin to recommend this book enough if it intrigues you at all!

Rating: ★


Sylvia's Lovers - Elizabeth Gaskell


This was one of the first books I added to my Goodreads TBR 8 years ago. It was a book I was genuinely excited for, and it seemed like it would be something that would interest me. It deals with a complex love triangle situation, set in an English coast-side town in the 1790's. However, the reading experience for this book turned out to be incredibly tedious. I wanted to love it so badly, but, unfortunately, I couldn't. The characters were two dimensional at best, and boring, annoyingly naive, and downright stupid at the worst. I felt no connection to anyone and what they were going through. The plot and pacing were also all over the place. The overall writing and atmosphere of the seaside town was beautiful, and I do want to give Elizabeth Gaskell another chance, but there is a reason why Sylvia's Lovers is not one of her well known works.

Rating: ★


Seabiscuit: An American Legend - Laura Hillenbrand

Read my full review


This was a nice, easy going non fiction read to round out my month. Another book that has been on my TBR for a long time, this tells the true account of the famous racehorse, Seabiscuit, and those whose lives he touched. This is an interesting story that provides an intimate look at the racing culture of the 1930's. While horse racing just isn't my thing, I was enthralled through most of the book anyway due to Hillenbrand's masterful storytelling and all the interesting details she went in depth on. I definitely think this a great book for anyone to read, especially if you don't typically like non fiction. It's told in a narrative way that's very different to anything else I've ever read.

Rating: ★


The Great Hunt - Robert Jordan


I just barely finished this book on the last day of September, and I'm so happy I get to talk about it! I began my journey into the world of The Wheel of Time back in May when I picked up The Eye of the World for the first time. While the first book was good and I really enjoyed it, it played into a lot of the classic fantasy tropes you see all the time. With this second installment, however, the series has really started to go down a path that is so different than any other fantasy story I've ever read! The characters and their motivations are more fleshed out since we get so many new character perspectives. The magic system and world building are intricate and fascinating, and the plot has brought the story to a whole other level! It's been so long since I've wanted to binge a series, but my copy of the third book is coming in the mail today, and it's going to take everything in me not to pick it up immediately!

Rating: ★

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What did you read in September?

2 comments

  1. I started to read Sylvia's Lovers, but gave it up in disgust, I found it to be all the things you describe. Elizabeth Gaskell often portrays working class people as almost animal-like, only moved by passions with little thought, she has that paternalistic mindset. Besides being insulting, it makes for very boring characters. I loved North and South, but the lower class characters are portrayed more sympathetically in the miniseries.

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    1. I'm so glad you get where I'm coming from! I love the North and South mini series, so I definitely want to try more of Elizabeth Gaskell's work. But yeah, Sylvia's Lovers was just not it... The dialogue was also super weird and hard to read and did not help me understand the characters any better. I would not recommend it.

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