9 Must-Read Books Released in September
My favorite things to do in the fall, in no particular, order are:
1. Drink apple cider spiked with caramel vodka
2. Sit outside, surrounded by falling leaves and newly cool weather
3. Sip a pumpkin spice latte
4. Watch scary movies — which I will undoubtedly regret once darkness falls and I remember I’m a big fucking wimp.
5. Read. New. Books.
And what a great month September was for new reads.
After some considerations, we’ve whittled our list down to 9 must-read titles.
Are any of these on your TBR?
9. Pretty Guilty Women
by Gina Lamanna
Release Date - September 3, 2019
Genre - Thriller
What should be a fun-filled, luxury-heavy weekend at a resort promises to be anything but for Emily, Ginger, and Kate.
Close friends in college, the trio parted on bad terms and have all been going about building their own, very different lives in the intervening years.
But now their mutual friend is getting married.
So they all come — some more begrudgingly than others — to extend their well-wishes.
As fate would have it, Lulu, an older woman who has been through a string of wealthy husbands, is also a guest at the destination wedding. And, though she seems to share little in common with these women, a night at the bar brings them together — as nights at the bar tend to do.
But the weekend won’t go as expected.
What is planned to be an over-indulgent, multi-day celebration of love will come to a rather unceremonious and decidedly premature conclusion when a man is murdered.
But finding the culprit won’t be easy as, almost immediately, all four women claim responsibility for his death.
An exploration of friendship and love disguised as a murder mystery, this novel will appeal to readers who both love Big Little Lies and hate flashy destination weddings.
8. Strands of Truth
by Colleen Coble
Release Date - September 10, 2019
Genre - Mystery
Harper Taylor’s life has not been an easy one by anyone’s standards.
But things are looking up.
Finally, she’s no longer bouncing around from foster placement to foster placement. She’s found a home — hopefully a permanent one — with Oliver Jackson.
But, despite her recent string of good luck, she’s not stopped hoping for a reunion with her real family.
So when she learns that she has a half-sister, Annabelle, who lives just a few hours away, she jumps at the chance to meet up with her.
Though their first meeting starts off pleasantly enough, it isn’t long before talk turns to darker subjects. Specifically, to the tragic similarities the girls share.
As it would turn out, both lost their mothers violently.
And neither mother revealed the name of the father Harper and Annabelle share.
Because complications always come in pairs, at around this same time Harper’s savior, Oliver, is attacked.
Working with Oliver’s son, Ridge, she tries to find out who tried to harm Oliver before they come back to finish the job.
All the while, she wonders whether uncovering the secrets of her past could help her ensure a happy future.
A clean and tidy mystery, this novel keeps readers guessing right up until the satisfying conclusion.
7. What Rose Forgot
by Nevada Barr
Release Date - September 17, 2019
Genre - Thriller
Waking up in a nursing home, surrounded by people who question your lucidity may seem like a nightmare, but for Rose Dennis it’s her new reality.
Though she might not be as physically or mentally spry as she once was, Rose is certainly not slipping into dementia. Or, at least, she doesn’t think she is.
Unfortunately, everyone around her argues the contrary.
From her loved ones, who committed her in the first place, to the authorities, who are siding with the nursing home, everyone with any power to change the situation seems to think that Rose is exactly where she should be.
But when Rose overhears an alarming conversation, she begins to worry that it’s not just her freedom, but instead her very life that is at stake.
With a motley crew of allies, Rose must race to get out of the nursing home in which she is ostensibly being held prisoner before it’s too late.
Featuring a decidedly less common protagonist and a night-terror inducing situation, this thriller is a departure from the often formulaic books that fill the genre. Readers will appreciate the distinctive story as well as Barr’s fresh voice.
6. 29 Seconds
by T.M. Logan
Release Date - September 10, 2019
Genre - Thriller
Ill-treatment of women — or anyone, for that matter — in the workplace shouldn’t be tolerated. But when the person mistreating people is a powerful television host who regularly brings in millions of dollars in grant money, people have a way of overlooking what otherwise would never be overlooked.
Unfortunately for Sarah, she’s currently falling victim to this imbalance of power.
And, as far as she can see, there is nothing she can do to better the situation.
That all changes, though, when she intervenes in an attempted child abduction.
Though she doesn’t know it when she bravely steps in, the father of the child she saves is a powerful man — potentially even more powerful than the man who is actively working to make her worklife hell.
Eager to express his gratitude, this father gives Sarah a burner phone and empowers her to call him, anytime.
He’s willing to do anything he can to better Sarah’s life.
But is Sarah willing to ask him to do the unforgivable?
Twisty and clean, as readers have come to expect from the increasingly prolific T.M. Logan, this novel is an easy read that will leave readers pondering their own willingness to cross ethical lines.
5. Today We Go Home
by Kelli Estes
Release Date - September 3, 2019
Genre - Historical Fiction / Women’s Fiction
A trained and confident soldier, Larkin Bennett has hardened herself to war. But, when tragedy strikes while on a tour of duty in Afghanistan, she finds herself faced with feelings she’s not equipped to handle.
Though she wants to run and hide from her pain, she knows that the only way past heartache is through it and that confronting it head-on is her only real choice.
As she works to come to terms with her new normal, she happens upon a long-ago-forgotten diary.
Despite the fact that the diarist, Emily, died more than a century before Larkin was even born, she experienced situations shockingly similar to the ones that have left Larkin both physically and mentally scarred.
Uneager to abide by the rigid gender norms of her time, Emily found a way around them. Disguising herself as a man, she joined the Union army and fought in the Civil War.
But, like Larkin, exposure to war had lifelong consequences for Emily and left her questioning everything she’d ever believed to be true.
A distinctive exploration of an element of American history not many know about, this book informs and entertains while tugging at the heartstrings and leaving readers pondering their own abilities to be resilient in the face of loss.
4. Vendetta in Death
by J.D. Robb
Release Date - September 3, 2019
Genre - Police Procedural
Nigel McEnroy isn’t what you would call a sympathetic victim. A wealthy businessman, his unwillingness to take no for an answer has gotten him in trouble more than once, resulting in a hefty accumulation of HR sexual harassment payouts.
And, though most don’t know it, his misdeeds don’t stop there.
But someone does know how evil Nigel truly is.
The vengeance-seeking serial killer, Lady Justice, who brings her power down on Nigel, subjecting him to a night of brutality designed to make him pay for all he’s done.
Tasked with finding out who murdered Nigel, Eve Dallas and her husband Roarke start to pick through what little evidence they can find.
But they must move fast, because Lady Justice isn’t done dispensing her own version of punishment.
The 49th novel — yes… 49th — in this incredible series, this newest from J.D. Robb (aka, Nora Roberts) will leave lovers of crime TV and police procedurals satisfied — and longing for book #50.
3. A Single Light
by Tosca Lee
Release Date - September 17, 2019
Genre - Medical Thriller
A lot has changed in the six months since Wynter and Chase first sought refuge in an underground silo.
When they emerge, they find a country ravaged by disease with disastrously scarce resources.
But Wynter doesn’t have time to dwell on the disrepair she encounters. Her friend, Julie, is sick. And the only thing that can save her is medicine that, given the abundance of illness, will undoubtedly be hard to find.
As Wynter heads off with Chase, desperate to find the medication she needs to save her friend, she must confront the realities of society as it exists now and learn how to navigate a world that is different from — and so much less hospitable than — any she has encountered before.
With vivid characterization and stunning tension, this novel will captivate readers and keep them on the edge of their seats from start to finish.
2. A Single Thread
by Tracy Chevalier
Release Date - September 17, 2019
Genre - Historical Fiction
As a child, Violet Speedwell had plans for her life.
Then the war happened, and everything changed.
Now she’s just one of many women left behind by partners who never returned from the front.
But Violet isn’t resigned to live a life of spinsterhood caring for her ailing mother.
Instead, she takes a job in Winchester. Shortly after arriving, she — quite unexpectedly — finds her way into a circle of women who embroider kneelers for the grand cathedral located in the city.
But she isn’t allowed to comfortably settle in. Before she knows it, her position is challenged. Further complicating matters, another war seems to be on the horizon.
With her nearly established place threatened and her resolve unwavering, she decides to make a stand, regardless of what doing so may cost her.
Written in Chevalier’s traditional lilting and lyrical prose, this novel will remind readers how hard life used to be as well as passively reassuring them that finding a mate in the 21st century is, comparatively, not that bad — no matter how full of garbage the sea of prospects may seem to be.
1. Mother Knows Best
by Kira Peikoff
Release Date - September 10, 2019
Genre - Thriller
Claire loved being a mother.
She doted on her son, cherishing his every milestone and celebrating even the smallest of his successes.
Though she knew from an early age that her time with her son would be limited, thanks to a painful genetic mutation that she passed on to him, she still wasn’t prepared to actually lose him.
Her husband is desperate to have another child and reassures her that there is a chance she won’t pass on the same fatal flaw to any future offspring, but Clarie isn’t willing to take the risk.
To appease her husband and fulfill her dream of becoming a mother again, Claire goes behind his back. She convinces Robert Nash, a cutting edge fertility doctor, to use currently illegal reproductive technology to create a healthy embryo that she will carry to term.
But before she can welcome her new, healthy baby into the world, her husband finds out what she’s done.
Driven by a keen sense of right and wrong, he reports her actions.
Now a wanted woman, Claire flees the city and, with the help of Dr. Nash, starts to live on the lamb.
After all, she’s willing to do anything for her child, even if that means trading the comfortable life she has built for herself for one typified by struggle and fear.
This novel induces readers to ask hard questions about motherhood and technology. Depicting a terrifyingly real dilemma that real women struggle with daily, it will move readers — particularly mothers — to reconsider where they stand.
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