September Reading

In hopes of trying to catch up on reading posts, I'm just posting my September books all in one big clump. (This should be fun! Ha!)

I thought this book was okay but I feel like I wasn't as sympathetic to the main character as I should have been. I feel bad saying that because he clearly had serious mental health struggles but I didn't feel like he was very likeable. Again, maybe it was how his mental health issues were protrayed. (Can you tell I'm struggling with how to write about this book?)

I really liked this book (I rated it 5 stars on Goodreads) but I remember absolutely nothing about it. I do remember that it was a quick read which sucked me in, and I probably read it in about one sitting. And now, since I have very little memory as to what it was about, and why exactly I rated it 5 stars, I want to read it again!

This is a book written by a local author and it takes place in England before World War II. I wanted to love this book but I just... didn't. It fell a little flat for me and I feel like there were quite a few things which could have been explored more in depth to engage me a little more. This felt like a very Canadian book, and while I can't exactly define what I mean by that, I think my Canadian readers will probably understand exactly what I'm talking about! I make "Canadian literature" sound like a secret club but really, I doubt many people outside of Canada have read a lot of Canadian literature. Maybe I'm wrong... (And Jennifer Robson doesn't count -- I don't really think she writes like a typical Canadian.)

This book was so good. I really enjoyed it. It is the story of a teenager who loses her beloved uncle to AIDS in the 1980s and what she discovers about his life after his death. I wanted this book to be much longer than it was because I didn't want to stop reading June's story.

  

Yes, more Karen Kingsbury. What can I say?!? However, after these ones I'm taking a very long break from her writing.

I found this book interesting but not as gripping as I had expected. I did wonder if an immigrant maid would have that much influence over a rich family's son so it was hard for me to suspend my disbelief for that.

I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it. I loved the community Maggie built up around herself and the book shop. And you all know that any story about a main character who builds community around them is going to rate high on my list!

Again, this is a book where I thought the story would be so good. It's about twins who find themselves on opposite sides of the Berlin Wall when it is built in August 1961 and what happens to them afterwards. I feel like parts of this story did not go in depth enough and I was left wanting... But this book did make me want to find stories of people who were separated by the Wall and what life was like for them.

I found this book because I wanted to read Robbins' book The Teachers but my library only had a copy of this. This book was so engaging, but also a little scary to read about the health care system. In every profession you hope that those working in it are all working together for the good of others but even more so when it comes to health care. It was eye-opening to see some "behind the scenes" and reads stats about the nursing profession. But really, when it comes down to it, anyone who chooses to be an nurse is incredibly dedicated and selfless. And it's a job I could never do.

 

I followed The Nurses up with another nurse story. Shalof is a nurse in Toronto and this was her story of being a patient. It was much more of a memoir on her specific experience but still very interesting. I feel like this book taught me how to be a better patient.

I didn't love the "current" timeline of this book very much (set in the 1990s) but I loved the stories from the past. I loved reading about Sara's life and all the couples she influenced. Also, it was interesting to me to read about a time and culture when marriages were decided by matchmakers rather than by the couples' themselves.

So that is a small taste of my September reading. Hopefully you found at least one book I wrote about interesting enough to pick up yourself. Let me know...

Total books read in September: 12

Total books read in 2023: 143