September 2020 Book Recommendations: What to Read & What to Skip

Welcome to my regular round up of mini book reviews for my September 2020 book recommendations! This month I managed to read seven books from a wide variety of genres.

I was lucky enough to come across two 5 star novels that will surely end up on my best books of 2020 list. However, there was also one of my least favorite books of the year.

In my list of September 2020 book recommendations, I include everything I’ve read recently no matter what.  I like to share both my five star reads and any misses to help you get a better idea of what you should read or might want to skip.

As always, I love to hear if you agree or disagree with my ratings! Let me know in the comments what you thought of my September 2020 book recommendations.

I’m linking up with Jana Says /Life According to Steph and Modern Mrs Darcy as usual to share what we read this month!

*Disclosure – I earn a small commission for any items purchased through the links above at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my book blog!!

 

September 2020 Book Recommendations

Physical Books:

The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline

An unexpected surprise five star historical fiction novel. I received this book to participate in a bookstagram tour with TLC Book Tours and I’m so glad I got the opportunity to read it. It focuses on the plight of women convicts from England who were sent to Australia as essentially slaves. It’s heartbreaking and difficult, but also full of hope and love. 

Despite the difficult topics, this was still a quick read and I became incredibly invested in the characters and what would happen to them. I cannot recommend it enough! 5 Stars | Amazon

 

 

 

Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon

I’m a sucker for Beauty and the Beast retellings. Place it in the YA genre set at a boarding school and its a guaranteed hit. Princess Jaya Rao sets off to boarding school with the sole intention of bringing down her mortal enemy, Grey Emerson. Their families’ feud has lasted for generations, but she knows exactly how to get back at him.

These sort of plans always tend to go awry, though. She realizes the Grey she meets at school is nothing like the person she expected. 4 Stars | Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

The Last Piece by Imogen Clark

This was my Once Upon a Book Club selection for August! I am absolutely adoring this subscription box (and you can get 10% off with code NEVERENOUGHNOVELS10). The Last Piece is a family drama featuring the Nightingale sisters and their mom. When she unexpectedly jets off to Greece, the three women have no idea what is going on.

The story is a mix of the mom uncovering her past and the sisters dealing with their hectic lives. I wasn’t the biggest fan of how the story unfolded due to one particular character, but I loved everyone in the Nightingale family. 3.5 Stars | Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes by Elissa Sloan

I had high hopes for this one, but it simply fell flat. There are obvious comparisons to Daisy Jones based on the concept alone, but the character development and plot are clearly second rate. Cassidy Holmes becomes the fourth member of a girl group who turn into an overnight sensation.

The book flips back and forth between their rise to stardom and years later as the other members deal with the aftermath of Cassidy leaving the group at the height of their popularity. The jumps back and forth felt disjointed and the plot wasn’t engaging. 2.5 Stars | Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

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eBooks (reading from Netgalley / Library):

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

There is a devoted V.E. Schwab fan base, but for some reason I had yet to pick up one of her books! Thankfully I chose this one first. Addie LaRue can live forever, but she is immediately forgotten by everyone who sees her. This fantasy novel is an incredible look at what it means to walk among humanity leaving no footprint. Addie tells her story from multiple time periods, beginning with her life in 18th century France.

I absolutely adored this book, from start to finish. The concept is fascinating and I loved how the implications of the curse were slowly revealed. It was also interesting reading about Addie’s movement through different time periods and locations throughout history. 5 Stars | Amazon

 

 

 

Love Her Or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey

After the absurdly steamy first book in this series, it was nice to cool off a bit with Love Her Or Lose Her. Rosie and Dom and their rocky marriage are the focus of this story. There’s no denying that their physical connection is still going strong, but they are barely speaking otherwise. As a last ditch effort, Rosie leaves and Dom agrees to counseling to try to win her back. 

There is undeniably a lot more story in this installment. I adored how they learned about love languages and how to show love in a way that the other person appreciated. 4 Stars | Amazon

 

 

 

 

Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella

Ava falls in love in Italy on a writers retreat, but part of the deal is they know no personal details about each other. Back in the real world, she and Matt realize their incredible connection is tested by the vast differences in their lifestyles. 

I am still a bit shocked by how much I enjoyed this book, because to be honest Ava was quite annoying and Matt was terrible at dealing with serious issues. However, Kinsella’s writing is always fresh and funny and can turn any character into someone you’re rooting for. It was a nice break from typical rom-coms to see a couple working through their own compatibility issues. 4 Stars | Amazon

 

 

 

 

Reading Tracker Analysis (Data: Jan – Present)

Since I created my Reading Tracker (available for $5 in my store), I decided to showcase a few of the graphs each month. I’m an accountant, so books + Excel is my dream combo 🙂

 

With all the romance/chick lit books I’ve been reading, I was expecting that genre to show up with a higher average star rating! I guess it shows that I love reading them, but they’re often fairly predictable so I don’t give many five stars. Meanwhile, I’ve read a few incredible fantasy and historical fiction books this year!

 

Clearly I favor female authors over males! That is a WIDE difference in numbers there. To be fair, my most read genre by far is romance/chick lit and there aren’t exactly a plethora of males in that category! 

 

 

 

 

If you’d like to analyze your reading or you’re tired of tracking books with Goodreads, check out my Reading Tracker!

 

What was the best book you read recently?

 

For more mini book reviews, check out What I Read in August 2020!