September 2020 Reading WrapUp

 
Goodbye September! 

Wow, this month has flown by!
I discovered that Blogger is working correctly for me again recently so I'm playing cach up on reviews and posts here but otherwise had a great month. I prioritized reading more over writing in September but I also had a busy home life and quite a few socially distanced adventtures. 


Books I Read in September

Chapter Books I Read To My Daughter

Started But Haven't Finished

Challenge Progress

ABC Challenge
Aug: 16/26
Sept: +2

K - Kiki's Delivery Service
G - The Girl Who Owned A City

Beat the Backlist / Tackle My TBR
Aug: +1
Sept: +4

The Witch of Blackbird Pond
The Boy Who Cried Werewolf
The Girl Who Owned A City
Matilda

New Release Challenge
Aug: +4
Sept: +5

Home Before Dark
War Is Over
The Time of Green Magic
Kiki's Delivery Service
The Last Book on the Left

PopSugar Challenge
Aug: 13/50  +4
Sept: +0

Read Harder Challenge
Aug: 9/25  +4
Sept: +0


1001 Children's Books To Read Before You Grow Up
Aug: 160 / 1001
Sept: +5
164/1001

Old Bear by Jane Hissey
Madlenka by Peter Sis
Millions of Cats
The Story of Babar
Matilda (reread)
My Father's Dragon

What was your favorite read of the month?
(Mine was Home Before Dark!)

Are you excited for the Spooky Season? Have any good horror / thriller reads on your tbr for October? 
I'd love to hear what you're looking forward to! 

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Home Before Dark by Riley Sager (Adult Horror Thriller Book Review)

Home Before Dark

by Riley Sager 

Published by Dutton Books

on June 30th, 2020

Genre: Adult, Fiction, Horror, Thriller

Length: 384 pages

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Synopsis:
In the latest thriller from New York Times bestseller Riley Sager, a woman returns to the house made famous by her father's bestselling horror memoir. Is the place really haunted by evil forces, as her father claimed? Or are there more earthbound--and dangerous--secrets hidden within its walls?

My Thoughts:

I think this might be my favorite read so far this year! 
Ghost stories and haunted houses have always been my jam but I've also really been enjoying murder mystery thrillers lately and this is both! 

Maggie Holt doesn't remember what happened at Baneberry Hall before her family fled the house when she was five years old, never to return again, but she's pretty sure the bestselling 'true ghost story' her father wrote about their 'experience' is complete bull. When her father dies and leaves her the house, Maggie decides to go back, not only to fix it up to sell but also to prove the book wrong. She soon finds that the book just may be rooted in fact and there may be ghosts after all. 

This suspenseful mash-up of murder mystery and paranormal haunting has alternating chapters between Maggie Holt as an adult returning to the famous haunted house and the book her father wrote, 'House of Horrors'.  I loved that we get to read the ghost story along with the MC's present-day return to the house that inspired the book her father wrote. Together, they wove a suspenseful and spooky murder mystery with tons of twists and turns that had me reading late into the night. 

I definitely recommend this if you're looking for a great read for Spooky Season! 

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The Time of Green Magic by Hilary McKay (MG Book Review)

 

The Time of Green Magic

by Hilary McKay

Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books

on July 28. 2020

Genre: Middle Grade, Magical Realism, Fantasy

Length: 240 pages

Ages: 8 - 12 years

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Synopsis:
From award-winning author Hilary McKay comes a beautiful, enchanting story about a girl adjusting to her new family and their new house--which just might be magical. 


My Thoughts:
The Time of Green Magic is a cute magical realism MG novel about two families that become one and move into a fantastic new house that has a bit of 'green magic' to it! 

Abi lost her mother in a car crash when she was just a baby. Max and Louis' father walked out on them. When their parents, Theo and Polly, meet years later, it's love at first sight.
Soon, they're married, moved in together, and house hunting for the perfect big family house, which ends up being a neat ivy-covered house with colorful stained glass windows and really really quiet neighbors.  But there's something odd about the house, and when Abi finds herself falling into the books she reads, she realizes there's something magical going on! 

This cute middle-grade novel covers a lot of real-life subjects and situations, from loss of parents, abandonment, blended families, sibling rivalry, school-age crushes, and more... 

with a dash of magic added! 

My Life in the Fish Tank by Barbara Dee (Middle Grade Book Review)

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

My Life in the Fish Tank

Written by Barbara Dee

Published by Aladdin

on September 15, 2020

Genre: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction / Contemporary, Mental Health

Length: 320 pages

Ages: 9 - 13 years

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Synopsis:
From the acclaimed author of Maybe He Just Likes You and Halfway Normal comes a powerful and moving story of learning how to grow, change, and survive. 

My Thoughts:

Zinnia Manning's family is thrown off track when her older brother, Gabriel, is diagnosed with a mental illness that Zinny believes must be kept a secret, even from her two best friends. While Gabriel is away at a residential treatment center called Redwoods Village,  Zinny feels the new divide in her home, noticing that her mother and father have become distant and much too busy to notice the empty refrigerator. Her older sister, Scarlett, wants more space from everyone and her younger brother, Aiden, is fixated on finding the coolest subject topic for his school project. Zinny also attempts to navigate her family's "secret", pushing away her boy-obsessed friends in favor of quiet and predictable crawfish observations in her favorite science teacher's class. But Ms. Molina urges Zinny to join the super-secret Lunch Club where she meets others like her with secrets of their own.  

Barbara Dee has a talent for writing realistic issues for youth readers! She tackles tough subjects and makes them relatable with complex characters and life lessons that everyone can get something out of! 
In My Life in the Fish Tank, Dee tackles mental health and how Zinnia deals with her brother's diagnosis, especially how it affects her life at home and school. Keeping her family's secret puts a lot of strain on her relationship with both family and friends and Zinny starts to draw into herself and focuses more on her own interests as a result.  It isn't until she joins the mysterious and oddly named 'lunch club' at Ms. Molina's behest that she starts to realize that there's a difference between keeping something private and keeping something secret. 

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Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Adult Gothic Horror Novel Review)

Mexican Gothic

by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Published by Del Rey

on June 30, 2020

Genre: Adult, Historical Fiction, Gothic, Horror
Length: 301 pages

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | BookDepository

Synopsis:
An isolated mansion. A chillingly charismatic aristocrat. And a brave socialite drawn to expose their treacherous secrets...

From the author of Gods of Jade and Shadow comes a novel set in glamourous 1950's Mexico.


My Thoughts:
Mexico City socialite Noemi Taboada visits her recently-wed cousin, Catalina, at the English manor, High Place, after receiving a disturbing letter. Once there, Noemi tries to get to the bottom of what ails her cousin, but High Place is full of dark secrets and sinister inhabitants that threaten to trap her in their dark web. 

This was fantastically eerie! I love a good Gothic tale and this did not disappoint!
I tend to love anything with a big old spooky house in it and this had a great start with the setting and back story of High Place. The house and its' eccentric family give us all those aesthetically pleasing gothic vibes. 

The story starts out wit hthe mystery of Catalina's illness but soon turns into a literal nightmare as Noemi unravels the dark history of the house and the Doyle family and fights to keep her sanity in the dark, gloomy prison. 

Noemi was a character that I didn't think I could relate to at first but ended up surprised by her. She is intelligent and fierce and doesn't take no for an answer.  She never wavers from her duty to her family and I loved her determination. I also enjoyed her interactions with the underdog character! 

I highly recommend this if you're looking for something spooky to read! It's well-written, atmospheric, and disturbingly good! 

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September 2020 TBR & Goals

 Hello September!!!

We are a month into homeschooling so I'm extra busy but it's Spooky Season and I always have a TBR for that plus a ton of library books out at the moment so here they are! 


For Review


Library Borrows

Spooky Reads From My Shelves

What are you reading in September?
Any spooky recs?