September Wrap Up

Is it just me or does it seem like you blinked and September was over?

I’ve had a fantastic reading month this book and have read 13 books.  I’ve enjoyed reading some really different books this month and have found some treasures I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to read*.  So let’s take a look at them:

1. ‘Sweetpea’ by C J Skuse  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐  – This is not only my favourite book this month but also my favourite this year.  It has also become one of my favourite books ever read!  It is a story about Rhiannon, your average girl next door who also happens to be a serial killer.  It’s a hilarious, grisly, no holds barred book that is so addictive I devoured it.  I’m just sorry I didn’t read it sooner.
2. ‘Don’t You Cry’ by Cass Green ⭐⭐⭐ .5 – A thriller about a woman who is held hostage in her own home by the young waitress who saved her life earlier that day.  The waitress’s brother also turns up with a baby he’s kidnapped and the longest night of Nina’s life begins.  This book started off exciting but this lulled half way through and I found myself struggling to keep reading.  Thankfully it picked up again and had me on the edge of my seat until the climax.
3. ‘The Memory Chamber’ by Holly Cave ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – This story is about Isobel, who is the best Heaven Architect there is.  She is renowned for the beautiful personalised heavens she creates for her clients. But when she falls for a client who is later suspected of murder her whole life is turned upside down.  This book was a combination of romance,  mystery, thriller, and sci-fi interlaced together to make an unusual, exciting and brilliant read.
4. ‘Down to the Woods’ by M. J. Arlidge ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – I love M J Arlidge’s Helen Grace books and with book 9 in the series he has yet again delivered an exciting, grisly thriller that you don’t want to put down.
5. ‘The Color Purple’ by Alice Walker ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – I read this for my BookBumClub read for September.  I’d had this classic on my shelf for years but never picked it up.  What a mistake!  This is a haunting, heartbreaking and beautiful book that everyone should read at least once.
6. ‘In Bloom’ by C J Skuse ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – The sequel to ‘Sweetpea’.  I won’t give too much away in case you  haven’t read the first book but I will say that this book didn’t disappoint and was another fantastic read.
7. ‘The Lucky Ones’ by Mark Edwards ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Another riveting and captivating thriller from this incredible author who has become one of my favourites to read this year.
8. ‘The Birthday’ by Carol Wyer ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – My first Carol Wyer book but not my last.  I loved this well written thriller that tells the story of the discovery of the bodies of young girls and the hunt for a possible serial killer.  It was the first of the new DI Natalie Ward series and I can’t wait for book 2.                       
9. ‘Perfectly Human’ by Sarah C. Williams ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Out October 1st. This extraordinary book is the true story of the author’s heartbreaking journey after discovering that her longed for third child had lethal skeletal dysplasia and wouldn’t survive birth.  She takes us with her as she deals with the decision to go ahead with the pregnancy despite knowing her baby won’t live.  This incredible book had a powerful and unexpected impact on me as it talked about how we view quality of life in the face of illness and disability.
10. ‘Still Lives’ by Maria Hummel – I can’t post my review or say much about this book until nearer its November 1st release date.  Sorry.
11. ‘The Psychology of Time Travel’ by Sarah Mascarenhas ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – An incredible, exhilarating, unique and captivating book that really was like nothing I had read before.  It is the story of how four female scientists create time travel and it becomes a part of society’s norm, of Ruby embarking on the discovery of her Granny Bee’s part in this discovery and of Odette, who finds the body of an old lady and embarks on a quest to find out not only her identity but that of her killer. 
12. ‘The Storyteller’s Secret’ by Sejal Badani ⭐⭐⭐⭐ –  This review hasn’t yet been posted but I loved this beautiful story about Jaya, a New York journalist who embarks on a journey of self discovery and attempts to uncover the truth of her mother’s past in their native India. She is feeling lost after suffering three devastating miscarriages and the breakdown of her marriage and thinks this will be her escape, not realising what she will discover and where it will lead…
13. ‘The Cactus’ by Sarah Haywood ⭐⭐⭐.5 – Out October 4th. My review will be up in the next few days for this funny story of the strange Susan Green and her quest to prove her brother made her late mother give him her house in her will while coming to terms with her own impending motherhood.

Have you read any of these books?  Let me know if you did and what you thought of them in the comments below.

*Thank you to NetGalley, authors and publishers for the chance to read ‘Don’t You Cry’, ‘The Memory Chamber’, ‘Down to the Woods’, ‘In Bloom’, ‘The Birthday’, ‘Perfectly Human’, ‘Still Lives’ and ‘Cactus’.