September 2026 Book Reviews!
Can you believe it's already October? My September was really busy with some travel, some work and some visits from friends. It really made the month fly by. In addition, I'm getting ready to go on my pre-retirement/my birthday/my husband's birthday trip in just a couple of days. We'll be spending almost 3 whole weeks in Italy and Greece with some friends. This is the biggest and longest trip we've done in awhile, so I'm pretty excited!
My schedule in September put a little damper on the number of books I was able to read, but I still had a couple of really good ones. Make sure you check out all the reviews, below. I do expect my reading to slow down a bit in October and I likely won't post any reviews on Goodreads or The Story Graph until I get home at the end of the month. But feel free to follow along on my social media to see what I'm up to during my travels.
In the meantime, enjoy my September reviews!
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How The Rhino Lost Its Horn by Jack Rathmell
This book is a memoir about the time the author spent in South Africa, both as a volunteer before starting college, then later as a student.
I found the beginning part of the book to be interesting, with a lot of information about what is was like for the author to be living in South Africa and to discover the culture as someone who had lived in the Lancaster, PA area his whole life. The second part of the book focused more on the individual antics of his roommates and other people that he was around. I was hoping for more on the aspect of life in South Africa, than on the antics of young people living there.
Well written with some introspection at the end that I'm not sure was necessary either.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.
Swift Sword: The True Story Of The Marines Of MIKE 3/5 In Vietnam, 4 September 1967 by Doyle D. Glass
This book tells the story of a group of Marines and specifically covers one night on the battlefield where they encountered a heavy attack. The story is told based on first-hand accounts from several of the Marines.
While I found this book to be an extremely important story to tell, I didn't find that it pulled me in as much as I thought it would. It was difficult to follow the different Marines and keep track of who was who. Important story to share and your heart goes out to all of the Marines and their families who sacrificed so much.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.
IF ONLY She... by Diane Harth
In this memoir, the author shares her experiences growing up in a Sicilian-American family with a mother that could never show her love and a father that could never stand up to her mother. That led to additional family dynamics with her sister and brother as well. As the author became an adult, her dysfunctional relationship with her family manifested itself in her first marriage as well as other relationships.
The book is ultimately about therapy and how therapy helped the author learn how to deal with the anger and resentment she felt. The author ultimately became a social worker and helped others deal with their own issues.
I thought the author did a great job laying everything out - no holds barred. I'm sure the book would be helpful to others dealing with similar situations. I did find the author's writing style off-putting at times. It was almost too informal. Not bad, just seemed a bit immature. In any case, this is a solid read for the right audience.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Three out of five stars.
A Daughter's Guide To Mothers And Murder (A Countess Of Harleigh Mystery, Book 8) by Dianne Freeman
Frances and George are amateur sleuths who find themselves in the middle of a murder investigation. When a former actress was found murdered several months before, the police assumed it was a burglary gone wrong, until new evidence points to a number of suspects.
This is a fun little Victorian-era mystery that has several twists and turns. While it might not be a page turner like some others, it's well written with interesting characters and a good plot.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!
Crime Writer by Vinnie Hansen
Zoey is looking for inspiration for her next crime novel, so she does a ride along with a local police officer. When a routine traffic stop goes wrong, Zoey finds herself a witness to the murder of that officer. And the shooter wants to make sure that Zoey can't tell anyone what she saw.
This book is action packed from beginning to end. It does zig and zag quite a bit, but I didn't really mind that. Even though you know who the killer is from the very beginning, there are lots of twists and turns to get you to the end.
Well written and kept me very interested.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!
The Years by Annie Ernaux
At first, I wasn't quite sure about this one. I struggled with the writing style. It's a memoir that covers the author's life from being a young girl through a woman in her 60s, but it's written all as short blurbs that only cover highlights of things - current events, politics, certain life events. Unlike a typical memoir, it's not written in a story form, so it was hard for me to really get interested in it.
But as the book went on and the perspectives of the author changed to really looking back on her life and expressing what it's like to start to grow older, the book started to resonate with me much more.
Having read the book, I'm not sure that I could tell you a lot of detail about the author herself, but I do feel that I got a good read on current events and the effect they had on the author as she went through her life. This book is number 37 on the New York Times list of the "Best 100 Books of the 21st Century". Four out of five stars!
Refugee: A Story of Loss, Love, Endurance and Redemption by Stella Beake
What happens when the world turns upside down? In this book, the U.S. and Europe have become places people need to escape from for various reasons, and they become refugees in places like Africa. Mago - who was born in the UK - finds herself as one of these refugees seeking shelter by trying to get to her partner who lives in Zimbabwe. A former aid worker herself, Mago suddenly sees the world from a different perspective and tries to find her place in the new world.
This book is thought provoking and emotional. I was honestly super close to giving it 5 stars, but it just wasn't quite there as I thought it got a little long and preachy in parts. It's also a little scary to read as it is set in the new future, and the way the world is going now, you can see where so much of the story could come true.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!
The Enigmas by Emilia Hart
If you could go back and change time to save the life of someone you loved, would you? This is a historical fiction novel with a bit of a magical twist, set during WWII. Beatrice is stuck at home with her parents while her younger sister, Clemmie, is doing secret work to help the British effort in the war. But when Clemmie is killed in a fire, Beatrice is given the opportunity to go back in time to save Clemmie. When Beatrice realizes that what she's done has consequences she could not foresee for others and her country, she faced with a decision.
I went back and forth on this book between giving it 3 or 4 stars. I love historical fiction from this time period, but the time travel part through me off a bit. The time travel was really the whole basis of the book, but it wasn't focused on much, which seems strange to say. And while I loved the ending and how everything came together, it felt at times that the book didn't have good focus and strayed quite a bit from time to time.
Overall, I loved the premise of the book and the characters. Just felt like the plot could have been sharpened up a bit.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am voluntarily leaving this review. Four out of five stars!
This book is scheduled to be published April 6, 2027. To pre-order your copy on Amazon, click here: Kindle, audiobook or hardcover.
Knoxley Hall by Eddie Heaton
A journalist discovers that a number of politicians and other famous people are taking advantage of young boys at Knoxley Hall. But when he tries to investigate the story and break it, he ends up dead. Who's behind the murder and the cover up?
This book was really a struggle for me. I felt the author made it way too complicated. And while there was nothing grammatically wrong with the writing, it just felt awkward and almost like it was graphic just to be graphic. Confusing story. Nothing redeeming about any of the characters.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Two out of five stars.
They Told Me Back Home Would Be Beautiful: A Palestinian Memoir by Elena Dudum
In this memoir, the author shares her experiences growing up and coming to terms with her Palestinian ancestry. Born in America into a Palestinian Christian household, Dudum learned about Palestine and her background mostly through her father and the information he shared with her. When she eventually visited the area as a college student with her parents and one of her siblings, her perspective was forever changed. Living in a world that likes to put all people of certain nationalities in one box, Dudum struggled through her adult years trying to shed light on her perspective of her background and fighting the stereotypes that are out there.
In today's current climate, this book gives a perspective that is not always heard. No matter what your political stance - and I personally do not have enough knowledge or understanding to make any sort of judgments on anyone or anything - we are all human and it's important to understand that not everyone of a certain nationality can be thrown under the same net.
I applaud the author for putting herself, her family, and her background out there in such an open way. I hope that people can approach this book with the same openness.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Four out of five stars!
This book is scheduled to be published on October 27, 2026. To pre-order your copy on Amazon, click here: Kindle, audiobook or hardcover.
Have a great October! I'll think of all of you while I'm enjoying some wine in Italy!
What books do you recommend I read next? Let me know! Did you check out any of these books? I'd love to hear what you think! Comment below or e-mail me at tips2livebywriter@gmail.com.
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