Our September Favorites!

Happy Fall Everyone! Time to get prepared for cozy reading season (for those of us too scared to read anything horror). After having read the entire (so far) Dream Harbor series, (that blog here) you might be surprised it's not on this list, but alas, I wanted to give the light to some of my other favorite reads this month, since it was a big reading month and not much else. We have a options for everyone in this post! A middle grade series, a young adult duology plus an adult fantasy romance and a poetry collection. Make sure to let us know your favorite reads of the month!

The Entanglement of Rival Wizards by Sara Raasch - Maggie

4.5 / 5 Stars

Sebastian Walsh and Elethior Tourael are both 24, and both working to get the same grant on their graduate work. For Sebastian, it would mean proving to his father he didn't have to follow in his footsteps, and for Elethior it would be freedom.

Sebastian and Elethior don't get along, using different types of magic and overall never getting along. When they both get the grant, and now have to work together in a small lab, they decide to have a truce, at least for the sake of their projects. But when their truce turns into actual feelings, with a lot of tension that isn't hate, they now have something completely different to navigate.

As they start to learn more about each other's pasts, they realize their goals may align more then they thought. Mix that with a lot of sexual tension and this book is a fun ride. Lots of DnD influence on the story as well, with hearing announcements about travel parties and various beings.

The Chasing Helicity series by Ginger Zee - Allison

5/5 Stars

As a meteorologist who went to the same school as Ginger Zee, it feels like almost a rite of passage to read this series. What I expected was a fun, silly little series with a true representation of weather phenomena, and to that end, this book did fulfil my wishes. However, what I did not expect was for Zee to also tackle huge, complex problems like survivor's guilt, addiction, and narcissistic parents with the poignancy and care that was appropriate for the middle grade age level. This set of three books- Chasing Helicity, Chasing Helicity Into the Wind, and Chasing Helicity Through the Storm- absolutely wowed me.

The first book follows Helicity, a young girl fascinated by the weather, as she and her family survive a tornado that devastates their town. In spite of her father's opinions about respecting people's pain in the aftermath, Helicity decides to help her meteorology mentor further the science and share a video she captured of the event. But when she and her crush are caught in a flash flood, will she panic with memories of the tornado or see herself and others to safety? Without spoiling too much, the other books include a hurricane, a derecho, and a haboob. They also include a side character battling with addiction as a result of injuries from a natural disaster, a first kiss from one party in a love triangle, a best friend who may be keeping secrets, and a puppy that ends up bringing Helicity to my own backyard for Albuquerque's International Balloon Fiesta. I recommend this book series for anyone who likes the weather and any children dealing with the aftermath of something traumatic.

A Steeping of Blood by Hafsah Faizal - Maggie

5 / 5 Stars

A Steeping of Blood is the final book in a duology that started with A Tempest of Tea and man I'm just as obsessed with this one as I was with the first.

A Steeping with Blood starts almost right at the ending of the first book, with our group of anti-heroes now (mostly) vampires and with a whole nation that is wishing for them to be dead. As they try to come back together after hard times and fight the Ram, who is taking over and stealing humans off the streets.

With the press dead, people missing and vampires being turned into soldiers, the group has to find a way to stop in.

I absolutely love this duology and its Six of Crows with vampires vibe. I also really like how Faizal writes. There are a lot of messages within this book that seem like real life right now, even if vampires aren't real.

Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong - Allison

5/5 Stars

I've never been someone who reaches for a poetry collection when I am in search of something short to read, but Ocean Vuong may have changed that for me. I feel like I did not truly respect the power of poetry until I read this 2016 collection. The subject matter is deep- romance, family, memory, grief, war, melancholia, etc- but that is not what stands out the most. It's the way in which the poems are crafted and the diction choices used to create the feelings and visuals of the subject matter that proves Vuong is truly a master at what he does. Every single poem hit home, even when I was hearing and reading something I had not experienced myself. I felt engulfed by each poem, immersed in the sometimes painful revelations in the best way possible. This is going to be a collection I undoubtedly return to again and again.

What did you read in September? Are there any books that you would recommend we have to add to our TBR?