The Books I Read in September

 Yay me! This is the first time that I have ever completed a 52 Book Challenge before the end of the year. Usually I have one or two categories that I just keep pushing off until the very end but this year I really enjoyed the challenge and found some great new books and authors to read.  I'll have a full recap of them coming soon but for now let's talk about the great books I read this month.  

1. Off the Map by Trish Doller-- While the whole story is not set in Dublin, the story does start with the main character landing in Dublin and heading to a local pub so I used this book to cross yet another off my 52 Books Reading Challenge.  It was a super cute story too.  Carla travels from place to place only stopping long enough to make money to fund her next big adventure.  When she arrives in Dublin to attend her best friend's wedding she was not planning to fall for Eamon Sullivan, the best man.  While Eamon has always wanted to travel and see the world he actually spends his days making maps. When fate throws the two of them together sparks fly and while Carla brings out the adventurous side of Eamon, Eamon helps Carla realize that everyone needs a home. 

 2. Summer Reading by Jenn McKinlay-- I love Jenn's Cupcake Mystery series and decided to give a few of her other books a shot.  This super cute story sucked me right in with it's adorable characters and cute Martha's Vineyard setting. Samantha Gale has quit her chef job for the summer and heads back home to Martha's Vineyard to watch over her 14 year old (much younger!) 1/2 brother. The two get off to a rocky start but form quite a bond over the summer.  Meanwhile Samantha meets the cute new librarian Ben and while she think he is so cute and so sexy she realizes that once he learns she has dyslexia and hates reading that he will run for the hills.  Samantha is also trying to help her best friend navigate what could be live altering medical news all while toying with the idea of writing her own cookbook and starting a summer side gig working at a local restaurant on Friday nights. 

 3. The Wife App by Carolyn Mackler-- Three best friends Lauren, Sophie, and Madeline decide that they are done being taken for granted by their ex-husbands and after a drunken gab fest one night where they talked about all the hidden jobs that (primarily) wives do for free they decide to launch an app called The Wife App where men and women can hire "Wives" (a role filled primarily by themselves at first) to any of those odd jobs that create a mental load in their everyday lives.  The app really begins to take off and while the concept of the app and how they handle it is a huge part of the story the best part was watching these three women really pull together and come into their own as business partners, finding joy and purpose in their lives beyond being moms, and making new friends along the way.

4. The Block Party by Jamie Day-- This murder mystery reminded me a bit of Sally Hepworth.  When someone is murdered at the cul-de-sac's annual picnic the book then takes us back to one year ago and the story is told in many different points of view.. it's actually quite some time before we even know WHO was murdered and much longer to uncover the why behind it.  It was a fun little twisty tale. 

5 Meet Me In the Margins by Melissa Ferguson-- A cute little rom-com I listened to on my Libby app. It was a pretty predictable book but I enjoyed the characters.  Savannah has always dreamed of being a writer and has started writing her first manuscript. She even has an editor-in-chief ready to read it when she's done.  But, since she is an editor at a different publishing house focusing on serious literary works and her book is a cute little rom-com complete with a meet cute, she's been keeping her writing a secret. One day she drops her manuscript in the middle of a staff meeting and stuffs the pages in a hidden room of the building only to find lots of remarks and edits in the margins when she goes to pick it up. The two strike up a friendship borne out of notes left back and forth in the margins as Savannah's rewrites.  But Savannah can't help wondering who her mystery editor is, especially as she starts to realize she looks so forward to his replies. 

6. One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke-- Another fun murder mystery! Six women travel to a lovely villa in a secluded area on one of the Greek Islands for a fun and relaxing bachelorette party before Lexi (the bride) gets married. But nearly all the women are harboring a secret and it's stated in the first chapter that someone ends up dead... but the twisty tale of who ends up dead and how and why was quite the fun little page turner! 

7. The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise by Colleen Oakley-- Tanner is in her 20's and unable to complete her last year of college due to an injury that took away her ability to play sports and with it her sports scholarship.  She takes a job working as a caretaker for Louise, a spunky 80 something year old who wants nothing to do with having a caretaker.  Since Tanner would rather play video games anyway and just needs a place to live the arrangement works for them both until Tanner notices things that don't add up-- like the neighbor's claim that Louise pointed a gun at her boyfriend and said she'd gladly go back to prison, or the fact that so many of the closets, drawers, and sheds have locks on them, or the news report of a jewelry thief who looks a lot like Louise.  The two steal off in the middle of the night on what turns out to be a grand adventure. 

8. Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid-- I pretty much avoided this book when it was released since I find TJR's books to be hit or miss and I know nothing at all about tennis but when I saw it was available for immediate download on the Libby app I thought it might be worth a shot. I listened while painting our shed and was quite entertained. Carrie Soto played professional tennis and several years after her retirement she decides to get back in the game to keep her title intact.  

9. Woke Up Like This by Amy Lea-- I picked this as my Kindle First reads for the month and enjoyed this cute YA novel.  I read in the blurb that this book was compared to the movie 13 Going on 30 and I really enjoyed that so I figured I'd give it a shot.  I am so glad I did too as it was super cute. Charlotte is a high school senior and approaching the end of this era. She's involved in planning everything for senior week at her school and loves her lists.  She doesn't, however, love J.T Renner who stole her student body presidency right out from under her senior year. He skates through high school and has everyone convinced he's perfect. The two bicker constantly and while decorating the gym together for prom Charlotte falls and lands on Renner.  The two wake up the next morning to find that they are 30 and have skipped the last 13 years of their lives-- and that they are getting married.  The story really takes off from there with them trying to piece together what happened, big life events that have happened that they missed, and how to get back to their senior year.  I'm not usually one for time travel tropes but this was really well done. 

 10. The Bucket List by Rachel Hanna-- I've had this book on my Kindle for some time ever since Holly recommended it on her blog and I am so glad I finally started reading it! The main character Jill is a neurotic mess; even going so far as to track her 22 year old daughter on an app to make sure she gets home safe during her commute every day.  Traumatized by her husband dying in front of her when her daughter Annie was just 7, Jill has never had any desire to shake up her routine.  Jill's best friend Monica, however, is quite the daredevil so when Monica dies unexpectedly before their 50th birthdays she leaves a bucket list for Jill complete in order to get her inheritance. Every item on the list puts Jill to the test and forces her to face her fears.  Along with her daughter and new friends she makes along the way Jill finds her life drastically changed by Monica's bucket list. 

11. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry-- I thought I had read all of Emily Henry's books but must have missed this one!  Poppy and Alex became friends in college and have enjoyed a summer vacation together nearly every summer for 10 years.  Two years ago something happened on their last vacation and they haven't really spoken again since.  When Poppy realizes that the last time she was happy was on a trip with Alex she decides to convince him to take one more trip hoping to fix everything that went wrong and get her best friend back.

12. A Proposal They Can't Refuse: A Rom-Com novel (Vega Family Love Stories book 1) by Natalie Cana-- this cute little love story was a fun and quick read. Kamilah Vega is trying to get her family to update their Puerto Rican restaurant and join the Chicago Fall Foodie tour in their neighborhood for fear that they will close if they don't.  Her grandfather is technically the owner and agrees to help her put her new plans in place on the condition that she marries his best friend's grandson.  Liam and Kamilah were friends for years until Liam turned his back on her one last time. Liam has been focused on making his grandfather's dream distillery come true and is blind-sided when his grandfather announces he has cancer and would love to see his grandson married before he dies; but he's picked out the bride, Kamilah.  With the two meddling grandfathers threatening to sell the family businesses, Kamilah and Liam agree to team up and outfox the two men with a fake engagement... that just might be too convincing for even Liam and Kamilah. 

13. Murder by Numbers by Megan Mayfair-- I saw this cute little murder mystery on Joanne's book post from last month and thought it sounded like a fun little read. Clara has just recently returned home and is working as a hairdresser in the local shop when Lucas comes in for a cut one morning. Sparks fly and when Lucas leaves Clara realizes he forgot his phone. Intent on returning it to him she walks into his place of work to find him standing over a dead body.  Clara is pretty sure that Lucas is innocent but the local police and much of the local gossip all think Lucas is guilty.  It was an enjoyable read. 

14. I'll Be Gone In The Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara-- I had seen a few great reviews for this book and knew it was published posthumously (my last category to fill for the challenge) but wasn't sure I could get into a true crime book.  I do love everything that goes into a true crime series but the actual fact of it being true. I am much more comfortable with the idea in the abstract.  BUT, knowing the killer was now behind bars helped and honestly once I started reading I really did enjoy it a lot. 

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