Every month I try to read at least one book from the following categories: nonfiction, devotional, and fiction. In 2019 I’m not participating in a formal reading challenge, but rather The Unread Shelf Project 2019, a challenge to read books that I already own. So I’ll be listing where each book came from this year instead of listing a particular challenge category. This is my September 2019 Reading List, my brief reviews and book recommendations for September 2019. Hopefully I’ll provide you with some inspiration for your future reading as well!

Books Finished:

Next by Michael Crichton

Purchased physical book this year.

This novel is an indictment of a runaway bio-genetic research system that does not value humanity. It follows several characters, whose plot lines intertwine with one another. The characters, as with those in all Michael Crichton novels, are compelling. This was an enjoyable read.

The Man Who Knew the Way to the Moon by Todd Zwillich

Audible Original book, so new but free.

This is the true story of John Houbolt, an engineer who pressed for the use of Lunar Orbit Rendezvous, or leaving a craft orbiting the moon while the astronauts went down to the surface. Without him pressing this, the Apollo moon mission likely would not have been successful. It was an interesting tale that I hadn’t every heard about before.

The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis

Borrowed from library using Libby app.

This novel is a dual storyline, one set in the 1920s with an artist working at the art school in Grand Central Terminal in New York, while the other is set in the 1970s with a housewife who has gotten a divorce and now must work in the terminal to support herself. Both characters were relatable and strong women. I liked this book.

Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell

Purchased using Audible credit.

I’m a huge fan of Malcolm Gladwell. I’ve read or listened to all of his previous books, and especially like listening to the audiobooks as he narrates them himself. I also listen to both of his podcasts, Revisionist History and Broken Record. I just love how he takes seemingly different stories and situations and ties them together into a compelling narrative or lesson. This book is no different in that respect. And I’ve spent quite a lot of time thinking about it after having finished it. This likely will be a re-read (or listen) for me, as I just can’t decide exactly what I think about his premise or conclusion. And I do recommend listening to this one on audio, as he blends his podcast and writing styles, in that when he quotes others, he uses audio from that person when he can.

Be All You Can Be: A Challenge to Stretch Your God-Given Potential by John C. Maxwell

Already owned Kindle e-book.

I honestly didn’t love this book. I thought that it would be a great one about stretching yourself and maximizing what you are meant to do. But it appeared to mostly be written for pastors and those in the ministry, which doesn’t describe me. And the whole structure of the book didn’t seem to be one that helped me to remember the lessons within it. I don’t recommend it.

Chancer: How One Good Boy Saved Another by Donnie Kanter Winokur

Purchased Kindle e-book this year (using credits from IHG membership).

This was a sweet and sad memoir. If you want a good cry, there are scenes that will help you with that. But the subject matter of the book is the author’s experience adopting two children from overseas, one of whom has severe behavioral problems and is later diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The author convinces her husband to adopt a dog and have it trained as a service dog for her son, which ends up being the salvation for her son in terms of helping him to realize his potential and be successful in getting through his day to day struggles. The author talks a lot about training Chancer and service dogs. This was really interesting to me, I think more so because my work often means that I deal with children with past trauma, developmental delays, behavioral problems, and even FAS.

The Home Front: Life in America During World War II narrated by Martin Sheen

Audible Original book, so new but free.

I listened to this while I was doing a bunch of repairs and maintenance at my office building. It was wonderful for that, as it was interesting and kept my mind busy while my hands were otherwise occupied. Because it’s an Audible original, I’m counting this with my books, but it was more akin to a podcast series. The Home Front is about Americans’ lives up to, during, and after World War II. It covers women in the workforce, normal Americans’ views on the war and the president, mental health and PTSD, and soldiers’ return to and readjustment to normal life, to name just a few of the topics. This was a great listen, especially narrated by Martin Sheen.

American Prison: A Reporter’s Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment by Shane Bauer

Borrowed from library.

Prisons are not supposed to be pleasant places. They are supposed to be places of punishment, and places of rehabilitation. But they are supposed to be controlled and prisoners are supposed to be kept safe from other inmates. This book examines the history of prisons and prison farms, particularly when turning a profit is the motive of the state. The author also went undercover to work as a prison guard in a for-profit prison in Louisiana. And the results of his investigative reporting are quite shocking. I am a generally in favor of privatization, but there are certain things that need to remain governmental functions, and I think prisons are among them.

The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star by Nikki Sixx

Purchased using Audible credit.

As a fan of rock biographies, this was right up my alley. But even after reading several previously, the level of drug use, sex, and general depravity in this one was more than I expected. It’s amazing that Nikki Sixx survived all of this. Essentially this book is the actual diaries written by Nikki Sixx at the height of Motley Crue, commentary from Nikki well after he was able to get clean, as well as the commentaries from others in his life at the time.

The Rabbit Girls by Anna Ellory

Kindle First book, so new but free.

This book follows a woman named Miriam as she’s caring for her dying father right at the fall of the Berlin Wall. She’s a bit of an unreliable narrator, and it becomes clear that there is much more to her personal story. But her father keeps repeating a name that Miriam hasn’t heard before. And Miriam discovers an Auschwitz tattoo on her father’s wrist. Miriam becomes obsessed with her father’s story and finding out who this woman is. The book’s elements of mystery kept me engaged in the book. But I didn’t particularly like Miriam, and really didn’t like her terrible choices. So because of the fact that I couldn’t really get behind the protagonist, I didn’t really love the book.

Death & Honey by Kevin Hearne, Chuck Wendig, and Delilah S. Dawson

Purchased using Audible credit.

I picked this up, as it included an additional installment in The Iron Druid Chronicles, one of Oberon’s Meaty Mysteries. I loved the series so much that I thought this short story collection was worth the money. But I only finished the first two short stories, because the narration was so bad on the final story and I couldn’t understand what the narrator was even saying. Hearne’s story was fantastic, and definitely recommended for completionists like myself. And the second short story, by Delilah Dawson was weird but enjoyable. The title is Death and Honey because all of the stories in some form or fashion include both death and honey/bees.

Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman

Borrowed from a friend.

I love Neil Gaiman, and dove right into this after my friend Sierra loaned it to me. It’s a series of short stories, all of which were great. I do recommend reading the Introduction, as it is written by Gaiman and gives a little primer of what is to come. Making this even more timely for me is that one of the short stories included is called The Case of Death and Honey, fitting right in with the other short story collection that I’d just listened to on audio.

The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia

Purchased Kindle e-book this year (but free on Amazon on World Book Day).

Rounding out my month of inadvertently reading stories about bees and honey (and death) is The Murmur of Bees. This book was recently translated into English, and is so amazing. The characters are colorful and magnetic. The setting is vivid. And the story is such that I don’t want to say much of anything about it, but just want a reader to experience it for themselves without preview. I really recommend this book!

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

This was a re-listen/read for me on a road trip, but was new to the others in the vehicle. I listened to this on Audible, which was AMAZING! I read Gaiman’s American Gods a couple of years ago and loved it. Audible recommended this for me, and I didn’t hesitate to download it. I don’t really know what else to say about this book, other than that you need to read it.

Books In Progress:

Courageously Uncomfortable by Lisa J. Goins (Already owned Kindle e-book.) My bible study group is working through this book.

The Selected Letters of Willa Cather by Willa Cather, Andrew Jewell, and Janis Stout (Purchased physical book this year.)

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It by Chris Voss (Purchased using Audible credit.)

Resistance Women by Jennifer Chiaverini (Borrowed from library using Libby app.)

To Live Is Christ by Beth Moore (Already owned Kindle e-book.)

Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia by George Way of Plean and Romilly Squire (Purchased physical book this year.)

Books Abandoned:

A Serial Killer’s Daughter: My Story of Faith, Love, and Overcoming by Kerri Rawson (Borrowed from library.)