LIFE'S A PEARL

September was a solid reading month for me. I read 12 books!

That brings me up to 97 books for the year. I’m 3 books away from my goal of reading 100 books!

Nearly all my books came from the library whether physically or via Libby and Hoopla. I did use an audible credit for one book so I could do a hybrid read.

While I really wanted to jump straight into my fall tbr during September, I had a bunch of summer reading holds come through at the last minute. So the month wound up being one of transition between summer and fall reading.

Appropriate for the calendar transition and the weather still feeling like summer here.

I finished six more books from my summer reading list, one serendipitous library find, and five fall reads!

By The Season and Reading Format

Last Minute Summer Holds

• The Guncle by Steven Rowley 📖
• Book Lovers by Emily Henry 🎧
• Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan 🎧
• Birds of California by Katie Cotugno 📖🎧
• A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert 📖
• Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid 📖

Serendipitous Find

• Book Love by Debbie Tung 📖

Fall Reads

• These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling 🎧
• The Dragon’s Bride by Katee Robert 📖
• For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing 🎧
• This Coven Won’t Break by Isabel Sterling 🎧
• Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn 🎧

Quick Recaps and Reviews

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

Rating: 3 stars

After his sister-in-law’s death and his brother’s rehab, Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP) finds himself sole guardian for the summer of his niece and nephew. Patrick has to seriously rework his life and home to become caretaker for Maisie and Grant. He soon has a set of “Guncle Rules” ready for any occasion and discovers that the children may teach him a thing or two about healing from grief.

The Guncle has been on my radar since it published last year. It was quite the wait to get my hands on it from the library. Unfortunately this book didn’t work well for me. Which was very disappointing after so much anticipation.

I think this was a case of not the right book at the right time with a bit of misplaced expectations. All the reviews I saw mentioned how fun and quirky this book was and how it wasn’t sad because the mom passes away before the story even begins.

That was not the tone of this book at all for me. It was funny in parts and GUP is certainly a character but that did not offset how heavy this book feels. I also found the pacing to be slow. I wasn’t really invested until the halfway point, having to force myself to pick it up. This book was all about loss and grief with little bits of humor and wisdom mixed in.

Compounding my frustration was the fact that I picked this one up right after Lessons in Chemistry – another deeply sad book I ultimately enjoyed but many reviews claimed was a light funny read with a quirky main character.

These Witches Don’t Burn and This Coven Won’t Break by Isabel Sterling

Ratings: 5 stars and 3 stars

These Witches Don’t Burn was a reread for me. I read it on audio to refresh my mind of the story before picking up the second book in this duology. Both are on my fall TBR as witchy reads to enjoy.

I loved the first book just as much as the first time so it was a quick read for me. This world with different types witches and their heritage was fascinating. I really enjoyed spending time with all the main characters once again. Plus that cover is fantastic!

Near the end, the story went in a darker direction than I remembered from my first read. That may be why I didn’t enjoy the second book nearly as much.

This Coven Won’t Break was also an audio experience for me. Without giving too much away, the whole hunter sci fi take on things was not for me.

The best thing were the secondary characters, Gemma, Cal, and Morgan. I found it to be very repetitive and the main character, Hannah, became annoyingly predictable with her terrible choices. It might have been the type of YA that just doesn’t work for me because the drama of bad decisions doesn’t work for me.

The cover is still beautiful and I love the seamless LGBTQ+ representation!

The Dragon’s Bride by Katee Robert

Rating: 4 stars

Steam Level: 4

I love Katee Robert’s Dark Olympus series and after hearing Meredith talk about this book on the Currently Reading podcast I had to check it out. Monster romance is a new one for me but seemed timely for fall reading.

When Briar Rose makes a deal with a bargain demon to get away from her abusive husband, she doesn’t expect to find herself auctioned off to a dragon named Sol. Sol has his own reasons for entering into a marriage contract with Briar but his kindness and concern for her pleasure may be what wins her over.

The Dragon’s Bride is not for the beginner romance reader. If you can go with a dragon/human hybrid hero, this book delivers all the steam with a surprisingly sweet love story.

I did find myself wishing for a little more backstory on Briar, the bargain demons, and this alternate realm. I’m curious about the mention of characters and relationships we didn’t see on page.

Overall, it was just what I was hoping to get from Katee Robert and I’m looking forward to checking out the rest of the series.

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Rating: 5 stars

Steam Level: 3

I read this book on audio. I have listened to too many books narrated by Julia Whelan in the past couple months. Luckily I loved this one!

It is by far my favorite Emily Henry book from her adult novels. I went in skeptical but hopeful since her last book, People We Meet on Vacation, didn’t work for me and the buzz around this release was insane. I’m so thankful it lived up to the hype!

I loved everything about Nora – a shark with a bleeding heart. The flip on small town love tropes was so fun and I found the checklist of activities that Libby comes up with hilarious. Some of Nora’s thoughts made me spit out my drink laughing (for those who’ve read it – specifically when she meets Charlie’s mom and realizes the family dynamics of who she’s been spending time with!)

This book falls into that romance+ genre that is becoming popular. I enjoyed the family relationships and storylines too.

The chemistry between Nora and Charlie was so hot and their exchanges were hilarious (Bigfoot Erotica 🤣). I also enjoyed the way they dealt with their differences, compromised, and supported one another. That aspect reminded me a little of The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker.

Book Love by Debbie Tung

Rating: 5 stars

Book Love was a serendipitous find at my local library. I spent a lovely afternoon soaking up the magic of this book. It’s cute, funny, and deeply relatable.

Debbie Tung beautifully illustrates the life, thoughts, and struggles of a book lover.

This is a perfect book for fellow book nerds and would make a beautiful gift for any book collector.

Some favorite parts include:

• dedicating an entire suitcase to books to take on vacation
• making sure you’re always prepared with a book in your bag to follow your current read – sometimes with a few depending on mood!
• what a party with other book nerds looks like
• the perfect weekend – spending time with some friends i.e. books!
• an ode to the library as a second home
• the struggle to find the perfect reading position – My husband can attest it happened as I read this!

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan

Rating: 4 stars

Steam Level: 2

I do recommend checking this one out on audio because it is narrated by the author, Julia Whelan herself!

It was a bit of a meta experience. Listening to an audiobook narrator narrate her story about an audiobook narrator who spends much of the book working narrating romance. It wasn’t as confusing as it sounds.

This was another romance+ category story. I enjoyed the supporting characters a lot. The love story between Sewanee and her grandmother, Baba, and then the friendship between Sewanee and her BFF were almost better than the actual romantic love story.

This book did have a slow middle where the only thing that really kept me engaged was the hilarious banter and puns between Sewanee and Brock in their messages and emails. Almost all of the steam in this book comes from poking fun at the romances being narrated rather than the love story itself.

I did enjoy the behind the scenes look into the world of audiobook narrators as well as the touch of Hollywood and movie stars. It was a big summer for fictional celebrity stories and I’m here for that!

Birds of California by Katie Cotugno

Rating: 3.5 stars

Steam Level: 2

This was my only hybrid read of the month. It’s also another story with celebrity characters narrated by Julia Whelan.

In Birds of California, former costars meet again when Sam Fox tries to convince Fiona St. James to do a reboot of their hit show. Fiona left that world and her career behind years ago in a blaze of self destruction. An agreement to lunch leads to more than either expected. As Sam’s future in Hollywood becomes uncertain he wonders if there’s more to Fiona’s breakdown than the tabloids reported. 

I enjoyed Fiona as the grumpy heroine who takes crap from no one. The celebrity status of the lead characters was a win. Sam and Fiona had amazing chemistry and great banter. I also loved the gorgeous cover on this one.

The flow of the story was off for me. It had a slow beginning, then suffered from a slight case of insta-love. I wished for more backstory on Sam and Fiona’s past interactions. The ending felt rushed and some things were left unresolved. I also would have loved to hear a male narrator in the audiobook since the chapters rotate between Sam’s perspective and Fiona’s.

For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing

Rating: 3 stars

This book was wild. When I first heard of it, people were putting it into the dark academia genre but I’m not sure that’s accurate. I wasn’t completely sure what to make of this story.

Teddy Crutcher is teacher of the year at the prestigious Belmont Academy. Both beloved and hated by his students and colleagues, he only wants what is best for the children – helping them discover their full potential whatever the cost.

This book is a hard one to discuss without giving things away. There were times when I was really into the story and engaged. Then other times it lost me with some of the directions it took – and not in a good way.

The way chapters switch between different characters and perspectives felt jarring and abrupt. I also wasn’t crazy about the ending.

A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert

Rating: 3 stars

Steam Level: 3

This is my second Talia Hibbert book and unfortunately I didn’t like any more than the first one I read, Get A Life Chloe Brown. I swear I saw a review saying this book was set in a small town in Montana – it is not! – so I may have to give a third book a fair shot at some point.

In Ravenswood – a small English town – Ruth is a comic artist with a bad reputation. She’s an outcast due to a scandal in her past. Evan is new to town. After a literal run in and then discovering Ruth is his next door neighbor, Evan can’t help his curiosity about her no matter how many people warn him off.

Besides being bummed that this book wasn’t set in Montana, the story unraveled very slowly and the circumstances around the way the town treated Ruth were infuriating. Evan was pretty darn amazing though – hot, kind, patient, and genuine to name a few traits. When they finally did get together, the sparks definitely flew!

A couple weeks after reading it, I am still curious about Hannah, Ruth’s badass sister, so I may pick up the next one in the series.

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

Rating: 4 stars

Billie, Mary Alice, Helen, and Natalie recently retired from the Museum – code name for an organization of skilled assassins. When the four take off on a cruise to celebrate, they are surprised to find their old company may be trying to eliminate them.

This book was so fun! While Billie is our narrator, I loved each of these leading ladies for different reasons. It’s rare to read about women in this age range let alone ones who are trained to kill. I enjoyed the humor, the friendships, the observations about age, and the adventure in this story. I also liked how some of their past missions were interwoven with the present.

There are so many book to screen adaptations going on right now that it is overwhelming but I hope this one gets made into a movie. I think it would be a hit!

Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Rating: 3 stars

It’s impossible to look at anything going on in the book world without getting hit by the rave reviews surrounding Carrie Soto is Back, the newest novel from Taylor Jenkins Reid.

I love most of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books. I do prefer her older style of women’s fiction with a love story to the newer fictional celebrity tales. Some of those new ones have worked for me though – Evelyn Hugo!

Unfortunately this one did not. Which was a pretty big let down after all that hype. I did finish it to remain a TJR completist. After the halfway point, the story did pick up but not enough to redeem the first half for me.

I was told by tons of people that you don’t need to love tennis to enjoy this book but I’m not so sure about that. This book is pretty much all tennis – whether it’s practice or matches. Add to all that sports talk, a slow beginning and a very unlikeable hypocritical main character (who appears in a previous novel as a “homewrecker”) and this just wasn’t for me.

I’m still curious to see what Jenkins Reid comes out with next. I’ve heard the most recent 4 books referred to as the fab 4 or the 4 starlets so I’m really hoping she does something new with her next one!

---

What did you read in September? Any new favorites?