September Wrap Up

All the books I read in September.

With October almost upon us, it’s time for a wrap up. September was another fruitful month, in which I managed to finish 12 books altogether (5 novels, a novella, two non-fiction books, a poetry collection, a short story pamphlet, a graphic novel and a play). Can you tell I like to read broadly? All-in-all, this put me up to a total of 103 books read so far this year, surpassing my goal of 100 earlier than expected, which was a nice surprise.

I’ll start by talking about the play, firstly because it’s so unusual for me to read one, and secondly because I absolutely adored it. Peter and Alice by John Logan tells a fictionalised account of the real life encounter between the man and woman who inspired the main characters from Peter Pan and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in their youth, in which they discuss the highs and lows of trying to live up to the legacy that was bestowed upon them. It’s powerful, playful and utterly heart-breaking.

Another highlight was Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, which, though difficult to stomach at times in terms of its subject matter, was undoubtedly a skilfully realised piece of literature.

Other enjoyable reads included Alice Through the Looking-Glass, a rare re-read for me which was lots of fun and packed full of great word play and bonkers goings on; Misery by Stephen King, a dark and gripping thriller about a writer kidnapped by his ‘number one fan’; Undying by Michel Faber, a series of brutally honest poems documenting the writer’s grief over his deceased wife, and A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle, the first Sherlock Holmes story, which was a surprisingly readable classic crime story.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable and successful reading month with only a couple of slight duds along the way, and I hope that trend will continue into October.

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What was your favourite read in September?