What I Learn in September 2025

This was a fantastic month of studying. I learn 9 books in complete, and it was a pleasant little combine of various genres: a romance, some modern fiction, two non-fiction listens, and naturally, a number of thrillers. The e book I liked most was really The Correspondent. I discovered myself stunned by how a lot I liked it (it got here extremely really useful so I purchased it, however the plot didn’t sound all that compelling to me). It was an A+ and simply one in all my favourite books of the entire 12 months. I can’t suggest it sufficient. 

What I learn in september 2025

Inform me what you learn and liked within the feedback part: I all the time store your recs. And for much more books, try The Library: a catalog of each single e book I’ve learn over the previous ten+ years; you’ll be able to even filter by style and type by finest/worst.

PS – Final month’s record! (An enormous due to Chrissie and Lynn for pushing me to learn The Correspondent.)

Romance

Exit Lane, by Erika Veurink

Joanna Goddard in contrast this to “the perfect of When Harry Met Sally, Regular Folks, and Girl Fowl,” and he or she is completely proper. This opens with Teddy and Marin on a post-graduation street journey from Iowa Metropolis to NYC. They’re initially very skeptical of one another; Teddy is just doing this as a favor to the woman he’s secretly pining for. However over the course of the street journey, the 2 discover themselves getting alongside (possibly too effectively). Marin, determined for a recent begin, tells Teddy they aren’t associates and that they may go their separate methods. However by a collection of likelihood encounters over eight years, they preserve discovering their method again to one another. This one has some severe highs and severe lows, all packed into underneath 200 pages. You gained’t be capable of put it down. It made me cry, it made me very (very!) mad at occasions, but it surely additionally warmed my coronary heart. That is extremely pleasing and excellent fro followers of Emily Henry’s books. General Rating: A // Order on Bookshop or Amazon

Thrillers

The Fallacious Daughter, by Dandy Smith

I’m not even positive the place to begin with this one. It’s twisty, and it held my consideration completely whereas I learn it. But it surely’s nearly too twisty and off the rails? Writing isn’t nice both. I completed it, and quite than feeling glad, I simply felt WTF-y! Like, what the heck did I simply learn!?!?! That being stated, I couldn’t put it down whereas I used to be studying! So, proceed at your individual threat, I assume? When Caitlin was ten years outdated, her older sister Olivia was snatched from her mattress, by no means to be seen once more. Caitlin witnesses it, and 16 years later, she nonetheless doesn’t know what occurred. So when Olivia reveals up again residence, her whole world is shattered. At first, she’s thrilled to have her sister residence. However Olivia is manipulative. Her moods fluctuate, and Caitlin can’t shake the thought that Olivia isn’t who she claims to be. As time goes on, Caitlin begins to really feel like she’s going loopy. Olivia isolates her from her associates, household, and fiancé. However Caitlin is set to determine if this girl actually is her sister . . . and if not, what actually occurred to her. It’s a wild experience. Too wild, which isn’t one thing I normally say! General Rating: B // Order on Bookshop or Amazon

Jar of Hearts, by Jennifer Hillier

I’m an enormous fan of Jennifer Hillier’s books, and somebody advised me I needed to learn this one from 2018. I can not keep in mind who it was, however I’m so pleased they really useful it, as I couldn’t put it down. This one is darkish, and there’s a main CW for sexual abuse. That out of the way in which, WOW. I’m nonetheless occupied with it. Years in the past, Georgina (Geo), Angela, and Kaiser have been the perfect of associates. After which one was murdered, one went to jail, and one joined the police power (nonetheless looking for the reality about what actually occurred that night time). At age 16, Angela Wong vanished. Years later, her stays are discovered, and Geo is implicated (her ex was Angela’s killer, and Geo helped cowl it up). Geo has labored her method as much as dwelling a really fancy life—a VP for a pharmaceutical firm, a rich fiancé, the perfect of all the pieces. However when proof implicates her within the homicide, she’s despatched away to jail. 5 years later, she is launched from jail. As she tries to rebuild her life, one thing terrifying occurs. She learns that her serial-killer ex has escaped from jail and a collection of murders has transpired, the place the ladies have been all killed the identical method as Angela. As Geo struggles to guard herself and her father, she should revisit her horrific previous to assist stop any additional killings. I couldn’t put this down. I guessed the twist, but it surely was satisfying. Extremely suggest! General Rating: A // Order on Bookshop or Amazon

Heartwood, by Amity Gaige

This e book is so beloved that I really feel responsible saying something dangerous about it. And my not liking it has extra to do with my very own preferences and style than the writing. Objectively, it’s a superbly written e book, and I usually love a literary thriller! That being stated, the tempo and subject material didn’t do it for me. Valerie Gillis is a nurse and skilled hiker. Deep within the Maine woods, she is climbing the Appalachian Path. By some means, she’s managed to fade 200 miles from her last vacation spot. She is alone within the wilderness, on the point of hunger, pouring her ideas into chaotic (however poetic) letters to her mom as she makes an attempt to outlive. Main the investigation is Beverly, a tricky, decided Maine State Recreation Warden. After which, in a Connecticut retirement group, now we have Lena, a 76-year-old girl who spends her days chatting with fellow nature lovers on Reddit. When she learns of Valerie’s disappearance, she turns into obsessed as Valerie bears some resemblance to her daughter. Because the search goes on (and so they decide that Valerie’s disappearance may not be unintended), the stakes turn out to be increased and better. Will they be capable of save Valerie earlier than it’s too late? I really feel dangerous giving this solely a B as I liked the writing. But it surely simply wasn’t probably the most pleasing learn for me. General Rating: B // Order on Bookshop or Amazon

Up to date Fiction

The Academy, by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham

That is the most recent from Elin Hilderbrand (written along with her daughter!), and I need to say, I’m actually having fun with this new route for her. I wasn’t positive how one can classify it, because it positively had suspenseful components, however it isn’t a thriller. There’s additionally some romance (but it surely’s not a romance!). So, modern fiction, it’s! The e book takes place over the course of a 12 months at Tiffin Academy, a prestigious boarding college in New England. However when the college jumps 17 rankings (all the way in which as much as the quantity two boarding college within the nation), the headmaster fears that there’s been a typo (or that one thing fraudulent might be taking place). Over the course of the 12 months, the wheels start to fall off the bus and mini crises emerge each day. A brand new app known as ZipZap surfaces, releasing scandalous blind objects each week. Nobody is secure, be it the younger new historical past trainer, the queen bee influencer, the bookish new switch pupil, the older workers members, or the charming son of a rich board member. This one has villains you wish to see get taken down, and heroes you root for. I completely find it irresistible (and regularly marvel over Hilderbrand’s capability to put in writing from the angle of so many alternative characters, with seamless transitions! There have been a number of issues left unresolved; I hope we get a sequel! General Rating A, Order on Bookshop or Amazon

No matter Occurred to Lori Beautiful, by Sarah McCoy

I wolfed this up over the course of a weekend and promptly handed it over to my mom, realizing that she is going to find it irresistible too! Followers of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo will completely gobble this up. Informed in twin timelines (alternating between the late sixties and the nineties), it’s the story of the glamorous Hollywood starlet Lori Beautiful. On the top of her profession (at simply twenty-three-years-old!), she determined to go away all of it behind and turn out to be a Benedictine nun. What occurred!? Why would she do that? In the meantime, it’s the early nineties and Lori’s niece Lu Tibbott is engaged on her senior thesis. She decides to dig into the true-life thriller of her aunt and heads to Lori’s convent in rural New England. Mom Lori tells Lu that she’s lastly prepared to speak (and share the story of a lifetime). And wow, the story is an effective one. We begin in New York, the place Lori is set to make it as a dancer. She heads to London for education, and through an opportunity encounter finally ends up being chosen to play Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (reverse dreamboat Lucas Wesley). Romeo and Juliet catapults her into stardom (and a romance with Wesley). However Hollywood life is extra tumultuous than Lori may have ever anticipated. That’s all I’ll say. I actually loved this one! General Rating A- // Order on Bookshop or Amazon

The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans

Learn this e book! My first A+ in a short time. It’s nearly like a jigsaw puzzle: structured completely in letters, so that you’ll need to put a number of issues collectively. It takes place over the course of 9 years, as we get to know Sybil Van Antwerp, who has written letters all her life. At first, Sybil flt like a really unpleasant character to me, and I wasn’t positive if I used to be going to benefit from the e book. However slowly, we get to know her extra deeply: her ache, her passions, her previous. She writes to her relations, but additionally to well-known authors like Joan Didion. There may be her finest pal Rosalie, a pal’s son Harry, a stalker who holds an unresolved grudge, and two males who’re competing for Sybil’s affections. In the meantime, she goes blind and understands that her days of letter-writing are numbered. There are such a lot of tiny subplots that add as much as make this such a gorgeous, compelling learn. I wept on the finish. This one wil keep on with me for a really very long time. General Rating A+ // Order on Bookshop or Amazon

Non-Fiction

Warhol’s Muses, by Laurence Leamer

I listened to this and liked each minute. It was so attention-grabbing. Lawrence Leamer is a favourite of mine (Capote’s Girls is one other must-read!) and that is the account of Andy Warhol and the ladies he deemed his “Superstars.” Over the course of the e book, we meet Child Jane Holzer, Edie Sedgwick, Nico, Extremely Violet, Viva, Brigid Berlin, Ingrid Celebrity, Worldwide Velvet, Mary Woronov, and Sweet Darling. We find out how Warhol manipulated them, took benefit of their magnificence, and used them to construct his personal empire and social standing with (frankly!) no concern over their well-being. This made it arduous to hearken to at occasions, particularly as a fan of his artwork. However I realized so much about each Warhol and these ladies, and naturally, life within the Manufacturing unit and sixties New York. Intercourse, medication, wild events, and a world the place (to Warhol at the least), everybody and all the pieces was replaceable. General Rating A // Order on Bookshop or Amazon

If You Don’t Like This, I Will Die, by Lee Tilghman

I’m nonetheless battling my ideas on this e book. On one hand, it’s trustworthy and weak, it’s a quick hear (simply over 5 hours), and it’s juicy as hell. I used to be not fairly so ready for all of the oversharing about her private life (particularly, her intercourse life!!). She doesn’t maintain again. Personally, I’ve all the time discovered her somewhat bit irritating. There was the influencing, then the break, then the anti-influencing-influencing . . . it’s made my head spin somewhat bit. Studying the e book and understanding her background helped to clarify it somewhat bit extra. However it’s a very wild experience. It truthfully made me really feel tremendous grateful for my very own profession: having extra boundaries with what I share, treating it like a 9-5 (vs. an entire life!), beginning later in life (I didn’t write my first weblog submit till I used to be 28 years outdated; she began in faculty!). It’s a lot, upsetting at occasions, cringe at others. But it surely’s a enjoyable and juicy hear. The epilogue was my favourite half. It looks like she’s discovered a greater steadiness. General Rating: B+ // Order on Bookshop or Amazon