September Reading Wrap-Up 2025
Hello! Welcome to my September reading wrap-up. I finished reading 14 books in September, and I gave 5 out of 5 stars to more than half of them! I don’t know if I was just feeling generous or if I really did luck into that many stellar books this month. Either way, I enjoyed myself!
As always, the links in the titles are to each book’s Goodreads page, in case you want summaries or more information. And I would greatly appreciate it if, should you choose to buy any of these books online, you would consider ordering from Bookshop.org through my affiliate link at the bottom of the page. I’ll receive a small commission from your purchase, at no extra cost to you, and Bookshop.org also gives some of its proceeds to independent bookshops in the buyer’s area. It’s just a nice way to help out independent bookstores while also helping me pay the blog bills.
Anyway, here are my brief thoughts on the 14 books I read this month, ranked from least to top favourite.
Least Favourite – My only 2-star read of the month
The October Film Haunt by Michael Wehunt
I was excited to get the NetGalley ARC for this one and fully intended to post a review on here. But… I didn’t like it. Wehunt is clearly a very talented wordsmith, and there are quite a few excellent atmospheric moments throughout, but the pacing is way too slow, the dialogue is stiff at times, I found it hard to keep track of the POVs, and it didn’t help that the premise is basically “Stupid people die/disappear while following a stupid social media trend.” There are only so many times I can read about that happening before I start to think, “Natural selection?” and lose sympathy. I don’t know. I was bored.
The OK Bunch – My 3-star reads
Survive the Night by Riley Sager
Okay, here’s the thing – Riley Sager is a competent writer who comes up with intriguing premises for popcorn thrillers. The first two-thirds of this are a nail-biting, page-turning good time. But then the twists start, and each one makes the set-up make less sense. So what started out as a potential 5-star read ended up fizzling out. Unless you’re just in it for the vibes and don’t care about believability. But I kinda wasn’t.
None of This Is True by Lisa Jewell
I think maybe this was over-hyped for me. Everyone talks about how amazing Lisa Jewell’s thrillers are and how this is her best, but to me it was… fine? I guessed most of the twists, and by the time I hit a surprise, I’d come pretty close to not caring anymore. I still want to read more Lisa Jewell, but I’ll lower my expectations a bit from now on.
Now We’re Talking – My 4-star reads
I’ve already reviewed Colony for the blog here, so I’ll just say again that I was pleasantly surprised by it. It’s a fun YA sci-fi horror, even if the plot falls apart a bit at the end.
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
This is often called one of the scariest and/or most disturbing books of all time. I didn’t find it to be either of those things.
Loved the experimentation with form. Didn’t have trouble following the dual storylines or dealing with the footnotes and tangents (I guess years of having more than one book on the go at a time and reading the footnotes of classics and Infinite Jest have served me well). Lost a star for making me read all about Johnny’s sex life, but other than that, it was an enriching reading experience.
This Happened To Me: A Reckoning by Kate Price
I reviewed this memoir here. This is a captivating account of Price’s childhood abuse and the journey she took to prove that it happened. Obviously trigger warnings abound.
Maybe I Rounded Up From 4.5 – The 5-star bonanza begins
How Bad Things Can Get by Darcy Coates
I reviewed this fabulous horror/thriller here. Have you ever wondered what would have happened if the Fyre Fest catastrophe hadn’t been about poor organization but about partygoers mysteriously disappearing and/or dying bloody? If your answer is “Yes” or “No, but that would be a great premise for a horror novel!” then this is the book for you.
My answer was the latter. I enjoyed the crap out of this book.
The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey
I reviewed this historical dystopia (is that a thing??) here. In some ways, this book makes no sense. In other ways, it’s extremely predictable. But in every possible way, I don’t care. It’s brilliant.
Kihiani: A Memoir of Healing by Susan Aglukark and Andrea Warner
I reviewed this beautiful memoir here. Susan Aglukark, an award-winning Inuk singer/songwriter here in Canada, tells the story of her happy early childhood, a childhood trauma that changed everything, and her long journey of healing.
This is a very simple, humble, unpretentious memoir about healing from trauma. Susan Aglukark is a very private person, so she only opens up as much as she needs to for her message to break through. That makes this a much more comforting read than most memoirs involving child abuse. Plus, if you’re a fan of her music, you’ll walk away with more insight into her career and writing process than you previously had. I highly recommend it.
Indisputably Excellent – The 5-stars continue
I reviewed this powerful historical fiction here. I get the hype now. This book is gorgeous, captivating, and all-around brilliant. But in some ways I also get the hate – Goodman writes in a slow, contemplative style, closes the door on the spicy moments, and doesn’t characterize Marguerite as a 21st-century woman in 16th-century clothes. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea. But speaking as someone who reads more classics and nonfiction than contemporary historical fiction, I absolutely loved it.
This was my Top 100 Canadian Reads of All Time selection of the month, and I talked about it here. It’s compelling, beautiful, and quintessentially Canadian. I absolutely loved it.
September’s Top 3 Reads
The Night Guest by Hildur Knutsdottir
This was my Diplomatica’s Great Reads from Around the World selection of the month (representing Iceland), and I talked about it here. I absolutely LOVED it. Just my kind of weird, eerie literary horror. I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
Wow. I love it when an author laughs in the face of everything a novel is supposed to be. This is a masterpiece.
6:40 to Montreal by Eva Jurczyk
I reviewed this literary mystery here. That’s right, somehow it ended up being my favourite read of the month! I did not expect that much from this little Canadian murder-on-a-train novel, but by golly did I ever enjoy every second of it. I seem to be in the minority there, so maybe read some other reviews before you decide to pick it up. But I guess this one was meant for me!