Oof. I was not anticipating September being such a rough month! Between a zillion appointments for my kids with specialists all over this side of the state, some bad anxiety, life kept on life’n and I barely read in September!

Usually Autumn is my fave season, there’s nothing better than curling up with a cozy blanket and reading. Seattle has officially gotten all foggy and rainy, which is peak reading weather. I hope that October can help me settle into autumnal love.

The two books I completed in September were House Of Night, a re-read. And House of Marrionne.

I really enjoyed the All Souls Trilogy in the past, and no, I have not seen the TV series. It was nice to revisit this book and go back in time to the late 1500s.

House of Marrionne was interesting, I liked the concept. There was a bit of intrigue, debutantes and deception. Unfortunately I found many parts of the story and character choices frustrating and there were places the story was a slog. I was disappointed and the premises promise was not quite met. I haven’t decided if I would come back to the series for book 2 or not.

August Reads

August was a hard month for me in terms of reading goals. Between the end of the summer/back to school rush, the anniversary of my brain surgery, and my birthday; I read significantly less this month than my usual.

• Book 1: Lockwood and Co, The Whispering Skull (Book 2 of Lockwood&Co)
• Book 2: The Murder of Mary Russell
• Book 3: Island of the Mad (Another Mary Russell Novel)
• Book 4: Riviera Gold (Another Mary Russell Novel)
• Book 5: Castle Shade (Another Mary Russell Novel)
• Book 6: A Botanist’s Guide to Flowers and Fatality (Book 2 of Saffron Everleigh)
• Book 7: A Right Worthy Woman
• Book 8: A Discovery of Witches (reread one of my fave books ever)
• Book 9: The Second Mrs. Astor
• Book 10: The Hollow Boy (Book 3 of Lockwood&Co)

The majority of these books were comfort rereads which I found necessary for my mental health.

The most disappointing book was A Right Worthy Woman, I was so incredibly disappointed. I adored The Personal Librarian and the premise was similar. The first Black Banker, with multiple businesses and part of Black Wallstreet? It sounded like something I would absolutely adore and fall into. Unfortunately, it was full of telling and not showing and didn’t read well as a novel or as a non fiction book. So It was hard to love, and I couldn’t get immersed in it.

The bright side was it gave me a bit of context and a place to start from in researching this wonderful woman.