September Overview

In September I read 13 books, a bit less than the 15 books in August and July.

Op zee by Toine Heijmans was my favorite book this month. This is a Dutch book and I do hope it gets translated to English. It’s brilliant. As far as English reads are concerned I think When She Woke by Hillary Jordan was my best read.

Books I read

(Hover over the covers to see their titles and authors).

Bonita Avenue by Peter BuwaldaWhen God Was a Rabbit by Sarah WinmanReturn to Summerhouse by Jude DeverauxTaboo by Casey HillBlack Swan Rising by Lee CarrollThe End of Mr Y by Scarlett ThomasLies by Michael Grant

Dancing in the Shadows of Love by Judy CroomeSkippy Dies by Paul MurrayWhen She Woke by Hillary JordanThe Cosy Knave by Dorte Hummelshoj JakobsenDoodskap (Death Mask) by Arnaldur Indridason

Titles in orange link through to their reviews.

Bonita Avenue by Peter Buwalda. It’s a Dutch book, not translated. It has won some prizes and it was good, but not as good as I’d hoped. 4 stars

When God was a Rabbit by Sarah Winman. I’m not sure what the book was all about. The author explains the book in the back which I don’t like. A book should be able to explain itself. 3.5 stars.

Return to Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux. A light reading, sequel to The Summer House, which I enjoyed a lot. Three women that didn’t know each other beforehand, meet up in a house and discuss their lives. 4 stars

Taboo by Casey Hill. An American forensic specialist is newly heading a team in Dublin, Ireland. A serial killer is on the loose leaving clues. Well-paced, good story. 5 stars.

Black Swan Rising by Lee Carroll. A young woman is given an antique box by a man. When she opens it, she unleashes some nasty creatures that threaten to take over the world. Garet (the woman) has to stop it all. 3 stars

The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas. A young female university researcher finds a rare book, a book that is cursed. Or so people say. She becomes intrigued by the book and ends up in an alternate world, or is it her fantasy? 4 stars

Lies by Michael Grant. The third in the Gone series. The struggle in the FARZ is continuing with children nearly ready to kill eachother. Some disturbing events make their lives even more uncertain than they already were. 4 stars

Op Zee [At Sea, Dutch] by Toine Heijmans. A father takes his seven-year old daughter on a sailing trip to travel from Northern Denmark to the Netherlands in two days. But then the daughter disappears. Her father can’t find her but he doesn’t want to call in the coastguard because he may be accused of being an irresponsible father. Very good! 5 stars [Do read my review, click on the link in the title, and use google translate to see what I thought]

Dancing in the Shadows of Love by Judy Croome.  ”Three emotionally adrift women fight to heal their fractured worlds. Not everyone can be a hero. Or can they?” I found it a bit disappointing, 2 stars (DNF).

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray. Skippy dies in a donut restaurant while eating donuts with his friend Ruprecht. The book is mainly about what happened before and what happens afterwards. 4 stars

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan. Hannah Payne is being punished by having had an abortion. Her skin is dyed red so everyone will recognise her as a criminal. Dystopia in the near future. 4 stars

The Cosy Knave by Dorte Hummelshoj Jakobsen. Rose, an older single woman is murdered while in the company of several other villagers. Nobody saw what happened. Archibald Penrose, the local constable investigates the case. Very English, lots of fun names, lots of tea. 3.5 stars.

Doodskap [“Death Mask”] by Arnaldur Indridason. A woman who is suspected of blackmail is found murdered, while a deranged man is keeping a man prisoner that he knew from when he was young. Detective Sigurdur Óli is on the case.

Other Books Reviewed (click on the title to read the review):

Sundays at Tiffany’s by James Patterson. As a child, Jane Margaux had an imaginary friend who she was supposed to forget about when she grew older. But when as an adult, she meet Michael, she knows it’s him! (3 stars)

One Day by David Nicholls. Over a period of twenty years, the book describes one day in July for every year. The lives of the two main characters Emma and Dexter are thus followed through two decades. 5 stars.

The Surrogates by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele. A graphic book in which people stay at home and use surrogates to live their lives for them. Interesting. 4 stars.

Duma Key by Stephen King. A man who was badly wounded in a car accident moves to Florida to start a new life. It was OK but I wasn’t impressed by the sea ghosts. 3 stars

Other happenings on my blog:

I announced the 3rd Literary Giveaway Blog Hop. Sign ups are now open if you want to participate with your blog and give away a book or book related item.

The Ugly Covers Competition has run for five weeks. You can still vote for week 5.

I did a guest post at The Book Garden. It’s a quiz – What type of reader are you? Click HERE to find out.

I wrote about my 5 Best Books… in a University Setting, … about Hope.

I’m starting a new short challenge to get rid of some TBR books.

What was you favorite book this month?

About Leeswammes
I'm owner and editor at bookhelpline.com. In my free time, I read and review books on my two blogs, Leeswammes' Blog and De Boekblogger.

17 Responses to September Overview

  1. I loved 1Q84, even though I wrote the review this month:) I think I’ll not read When God Was A Rabbit now, haven’t seen a positive review of it.

    • Leeswammes says:

      I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t read 1Q84 yet – although I claim to be a Murakami fan!

      Sam, there are lots of people who enjoyed When God was a Rabbit, but I wasn’t one of them…

  2. Cindy says:

    “lots of tea” LO! I haven’t had any time for reading, except for recipes.

  3. JoV says:

    Good for you to finish 12 books this month! Thanks for joining in on the read-along for Mr Y.:)

    • Leeswammes says:

      It was fun to read Mr Y. I was planning to read it sometime but it might have still been a long time before I’d actually got round to it. Thanks for organising it.

  4. mpartyka says:

    Great job with 13 books! I was on goodreads yesterday and realized how much I read last year, compared to this year. Training for the run gave me so much time to listen to audio books. I think I will read 1/3 less this year but that’s okay.

    I have read a few blogs hoping to focus on TBR piles, I should be happy that I have only 3 books that I really want to read!

    • Leeswammes says:

      Mari, there’s no shame in reading less. But do you really have just 3 unread books in the house that you’re still planning to read? I’ve got 60!:-)

  5. Rikki says:

    Your productivity amazes me. Well done. If I read 5 books I am good.

  6. Tiina says:

    13 is a very good number!:) I think my favorite read in September was Soulless by Gail Carriger. The world she’s created for the series is interesting, plus I loved the humour.:)

  7. Trisha says:

    I’m not reading enough these days to choose favorites!:) But you definitely have added to the wishlist here.

  8. Erin says:

    I forgot I have One Day! I should read that one. Thanks for the reminder:-) I really enjoyed all my my September books, actually, but I think Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh was my favorite.

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