September 2026 Reading Update

Time for a September reading re-cap. Four finished and still in the middle of another four. It was a slower reading month as we got back into the full school routine.

Also, its worth noting I probably also reread at least two of “The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lions” because I’ve been listening to them to fall asleep at night instead of new books just because they’re comforting/relaxing. If you haven’t read those yet, I’m excited for you (and you just have to get through the first 1.5 before they get good). This post is not sponsored and may contain affiliate links.

What I Finished in September

The Midnight Train by Matt Haig

★★★★☆ Loved it! Carried over from August and finished. This was a powerful one for me. It had me thinking a lot about what we are prioritizing in our lives, and about what you can and cannot get back at the end of it.

Read this if you loved: The Midnight Library, The Measure

My Friends by Fredrik Backman

★★★★½ Really liked it! It made me cry. These are not my favorite characters and this is not my favorite kind of story. But it was just well done and powerful.

Two timelines. Four kids during one summer, and twenty-five years later a teenage girl named Louisa who meets a dying painter and ends up with the famous painting he made of three of them on a pier. It is about life and friendship and struggle.

It does have a lot of heavy themes. Foster care, grief, a terminal diagnosis. It is not A Man Called Ove cozy.

Read this if you loved: A Man Called Ove, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

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

★★★★½ Really liked it! I went in with no idea what to expect. A friend told me I had to read it, so I did. I was hooked after a few hours and needed to know how it was going to end.

A young woman in 1714 France makes a deal to live forever and gets cursed so that every person she meets forgets her the moment she walks away. Three hundred years of that, she walks into a bookstore in New York and a boy says he remembers her.

Read this if you loved: The Midnight Library, Life After Life, The Night Circus

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

★★★★½ I love this one. I reread this one to see if is appropriate for my eleven-year-old.

It is more violent than I remembered. I am not sure I would hand it to an eleven-year-old right now (but I found out they’re reading it in school this year so I’m glad I didn’t have him read it last month anyway).

Read this if you loved: The Giver, Project Hail Mary, Ready Player One

What I’m Reading Right Now

Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky

It just came back up on my library holds. It is fascinating and it is not a page turner. It is world history told through the story of Salt and it is a slow read for me.

Read this if you loved: Cod by the same author, The Book of Eels, Sapiens

Beginners by Tom Vanderbilt

I’m still only partway through this one. His argument is that kids really do have an edge when it comes to picking things up, but that this is not a reason for the rest of us to stop. Somewhere along the way we quit letting ourselves be beginners at anything, so he spends a year taking up chess, singing, surfing, drawing and juggling, none of which he is any good at and none of which are going to be useful to him.

Read this if you loved: Tiny Experiments, Range, Atomic Habits

To Sell Is Human by Daniel H. Pink

Pink’s argument is that nearly everyone is in sales now, including people who don’t think sales has anything to do with their job. So far he’s only convinced me that everyone needs sales training but hasn’t gotten much into the actual training.

Read this if you loved: Drive, Influence, Never Split the Difference

Good People by Patmeena Sabit

In progress Two chapters in, so I cannot tell you much yet. A debut about an Afghan-American family whose polished public image comes apart after a tragedy.

Read this if you loved: Little Fires Everywhere, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Anatomy of an Alibi

Waiting on a Hold

Two books went back to the library (Libby app) before I finished listening to the audiobook. I am on hold for both again.

Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff

Unfinished, for now I was partway in and liking it when the loan ran out. The idea that has stayed with me is that we need less of the big outcome-driven goal setting and more curiosity and experimental thinking. I’m almost done and already implementing “tiny experiments” in my own life.

Read this if you loved: Beginners, Atomic Habits, Four Thousand Weeks

Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend

I thought this would be a good one to revisit (I read it for the first time 5 or 6 years ago). But right now it just feels heavy and slow. I’m still committed to getting through it but I’m not eager for it to come up off my holds again.

Read this if you loved: The Untethered Soul, Set Boundaries, Find Peace

What’s Up Next

The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli

This one has ninety-nine very short chapters with one thinking error each. I just picked it up from the library and have not started.

Read this if you loved: Thinking, Fast and Slow, Influence, Nudge

If you want to keep going backward, here is what I read in July, June and May.

Have you read anything good lately?