September 2023 Reading Wrap Up
Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!
My favorite time of year is finally upon us: October! But before I can decorate for Halloween (sort of, as I've already sneaked a few pumpkins around my room) and break out the crisp apple cider, we need to talk about September.
September was a weird month, for me. As I explained in my last reading update, I've taken up crochet as new hobby. I haven't made anything new since I finished the teddy bear, but that's because I haven't been able to make my way to the yarn store again. I'm experiencing a rather bad flare up with my chronic pain and other illnesses, so I haven't been wanting to leave the house much.
It was also a rather slow reading month, unfortunately. I only managed to read 11 books; 7 novels, and 4 manga volumes. However, I crossed quite a few books off of my "2023 Anticipated Releases" list this month, so I'll still count that as a win. 4 of the 7 novels I read this month were new releases. However, only 2 of them were on my physical TBR, and very recently added at that, too. I feel like I'm falling behind in my reading goals, but all I can do about that is adjust accordingly for the next month as much as possible.
Oh, and I have another massive book haul this month, too. I guess that book buying ban didn't exactly work out as I had planned, huh?
Alright, let's get into my September wrap up!
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Novels
1. Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati
Genre: Mythology Retelling, Historical Fiction, Adult
Star rating/CAWPILE: 4 stars/7.43 CAWPILE
Page count: 448 pages
Day(s) read: 9.01 - 9.05
Goodreads thoughts: I thought this was an excellent retelling of Clytemnestra’s story. I’m well versed in her myth—Aeschylus’s Oresteia was a particular focus of mine in school—so nothing in this book was technically new information to me, but I enjoyed how the author told it. The voice was very clear, vengeful and strong. Very “good for her” vibes. I mean, Clytemnestra is the original “good for her” character, really. Her motivations always made sense and she remained level-headed throughout the entire novel, which isn’t always the case in newer retellings. I’m surprised at the ending, though: it felt rather hopeful, which of course doesn’t really match the source material, but I’m not mad about it.
2. Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa
(Translated from the Japanese by Allison Watts)
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Literary Fiction, Adult
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3.5 stars/6.43 CAWPILE
Page count: 218 pages (5 hrs 4 mins audio)
Day(s) read: 9.04 - 9.05
Goodreads thoughts: This was super emotional! It reminded me a lot of The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa; it’s a quiet story about regular people who form an unlikely connection. There’s no big revelation or plot twist, it’s just people living their lives, day to day. I can appreciate the simplicity in that.
3. He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Adult
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3.5 stars/6.71 CAWPILE
Page count: 496 pages
Day(s) read: 9.06 - 9.21
Goodreads thoughts: The most political of political fantasy, truly. This has got to be one of the densest books I've read so far this year. That's not an insult, either; merely an observation as to why it took me over two weeks to finish this novel. I can't decide if I liked this one more than the first book. What I do know is that if I tried reading this series five years ago, it would have flown over my head entirely.
4. Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Mystery, YA
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3 stars/5.57 CAWPILE
Page count: 320 pages
Day(s) read: 9.07 - 9.08
Goodreads thoughts: N/A
5. House of Odysseus by Claire North
Genre: Mythology Retelling, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Adult
Star rating/CAWPILE: 4 stars/7.29 CAWPILE
Page count: 400 pages
Day(s) read: 9.10 - 9.21
Goodreads thoughts: It took me a while to get into the narrative voice (it makes me wonder if it's been too long since I read the first book, because I can't recall who the narrator was in that one) but once I did, it was rather smooth sailing. Having Aphrodite be the one to tell the story was an interesting choice, I think. Her omnipresence focused on things I wouldn't have thought to focus on, it was a nice change of pace.
All that being said, this is a duology, right? Because it ended in a way that left more for the story, but if there were to be a third book, I feel like it wouldn't have Penelope be the focus any more, which sort of defeats the purpose of this series to begin with. I am brimming with curiosity.
Edit: Okay I looked it up and there is going to be a third book. Interesting to see how it will end (even though I know how it ends, of course. You know what I mean).
6. Kaikeyi by Vashinavi Patel
Genre: Mythology Retelling, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Adult
Star rating/CAWPILE: 4 stars/7.43 CAWPILE
Page count: 478 pages
Day(s) read: 9.23 - 9.27
Goodreads thoughts: I really enjoyed this! It reminded me a lot of Circe by Madeline Miller and The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec--just a story about a woman and her life, but you know that there is something otherworldly about her or the people around her. I really sympathized with Kaikeyi and her decisions, which of course was the point of the book in the first place. Now I really want to read a translation of the myth it's inspired by, and of course get lost in a Hindu mythology rabbit hole along the way. Very good!
7. The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Historical Fiction, Adult
Star rating/CAWPILE: 5 stars/9.14 CAWPILE
Page count: 656 pages
Day(s) read: 9.28 - 9.30
Goodreads thoughts: I mean, of course this was brilliant, right? I loved diving back into this world so much. And surprisingly, my favorite character isn't one of the original characters (though Ned will always have my heart), but Tes! As soon as I met her I knew I wanted to adopt her. I hope that we get more of her in the rest of the series, because I loved every moment of her chapters.
Manga
1. Yona of the Dawn vol. 23-26 by Mizuho Kusanagi
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, YA (Shoujo)
Star rating/CAWPILE: N/A
Page count: 776 pages
Day(s) read: 9.04, 9.09
Goodreads thoughts: N/A
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Total page count: 3,792 pages
Favorite book of September: The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab (obviously)
No DNFs
No unfinished books
September book haul: Atalanta by Jennifer Saint
Ariande by Jennifer Saint
Elektra by Jennifer Saint
Life on Mars: Poems by Tracy K. Smith
Live Oak, With Moss by Walt Whitman
Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsaw Shire
The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi
The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Poetry of Egdar Allen Poe by Edgar Allen Poe
The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab
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Okay, that's a wrap on September! I'm hoping beyond hope that October goes well. It's an odd month in my family and household, because I love October (it's my birthday month, Halloween is my favorite holiday, it has the best movies and clothes and food) and my mom actually really hates it (she's not a Halloween person, it's fire season, and historically bad things have always happened to her this month) so it's sometimes hard to strike a good balance.
Until next time, friends!
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