September Reading Roundup 2024
Some of the books I read and enjoyed last month, plus a fun anecdote about my therapist telling me to chill on feminist nonfiction
I walked into therapy recently determined to find out if the moon was making me mean. I had spent the week arguing with every man I know and wondered if it was the full moon. She asked me what I was reading and I said, “The divorce book.” My therapist was like, “Wait a minute. You’re reading a book on divorce, you just finished a book on misogyny and didn’t you read a book about women and ambition before that?” Reader, I did. In the biz, this is what we call busted.
She told me to “stop it” and to take a break from feminist nonfiction and pick up a romance book. As you will see below, I am nothing if not a rule follower.
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Unbound by Shadows (Shadows of Aurelia #1)
Sometimes when the world gets to be too much, you just need to read a book about a woman falling in love with a demon. Bonus points if you have a horn kink. I have a friend who laments that there aren’t more books where women inadvertently fall into another dimension, a la Narnia. This is a book that does that.
We find our main character Selene hiking in Rugby, TN when she slips and falls into a dimension called Aurelia. In an effort to get back home, Selene goes on a long quest with a demon named Sam, who, oh by the way, is the literal Prince of Darkness. If you like paranormal romance with great writing, this is for you.
This American Ex-Wife: How I Ended My Marriage and Started My Life
by Lyz Lenz
What a book! Part memoir, part history of heterosexual marriage, part ‘divorce is good actually.’ Yes, it’s a book about divorce, and it’s about patriarchy and the gender politics of marriage. TL;DR: you don’t have to want a divorce to read this book. If you date men, if you’re co-parenting with a man, or if you’re a man consciously trying to be a more equitable partner, add this to your TBR.
The memoir writing in this book is so good that I found myself wanting more of it. The historical and sociological chapters are interesting, and they add to the argument this book is making, but the parts of the book about Lyz’s personal life are what really shone for me. Lyz nails the ending. I cried.
Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women
by Kate Manne
I cannot imagine a single person I know who wouldn’t benefit from reading this book. They should hand you this book when you start your period. They should hand you this book when you join the workforce. They should hand you this book when your OB-GYN tells you it’s time for estrogen. “You’re not crazy. There’s a reason you’re mad all the time,” they would say, pressing this book into your hands.
by Jennifer Romolini
Shout-out to Virginia Sole-Smith for having Jenn on her podcast because that’s when I decided to read this book. This book felt so specifically written for me that I can’t believe it almost passed me by. So much resonated with me: the family dynamics, moving to NYC, struggling to fit in in a city where so many people have so much money, leaving NYC, starting therapy, working for bad boss after bad boss.
A great read if you like books set in early aughts NYC, especially the fashion and magazine world. Also a great read for all my friends in midlife.
The Rich People Have Gone Away
by Regina Porter
I read this for Roxane Gay’s Audacious Book Club. The book is set in Brooklyn in 2020. It follows three connected storylines through the early days of lockdown. One couple flees to their upstate summer home, one couple has to close their Michelin-starred restaurant and one couple deals with a Covid hospitalization. The book centers around the disappearance of one of these characters and how that plays out, while also giving pretty in-depth background on every other character.
I liked this book. I didn’t love it. I’d probably give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. In fairness, I had no idea 9/11 would play such a large part in this Covid novel and I read it the week before the anniversary. This book is dark and I was possibly just was not in the mood for it.
ICYMI: Here’s what I read last month:
Read my interview with Avalon Griffin where she talks about the challenges of getting her book into bookstores and ways to support indie authors.