September Wrap-up and October TBR

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I read three books in September. I think that puts me at 34 books read so far this year (plus 2 DNFs), which is 5 books behind schedule (according to Goodreads) to hit my annual goal of 52 books read.

Five books isn’t that bad, I suppose. It means I need to average about 5 books a month for the last three months of this year, though. And I sincerely doubt I’m going to finish 5 books in October. So, this may be the first year since 2014 that I haven’t read at least 52 books! Shocking!

Anyway, to re-cap from previous posts, here’s what I read in September:

Bride by Ali Hazelwood — The only book I finished on my Orilium Autumn Equinox TBR.

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske — I liked the magic and world-building in this book, but the story seemed to drag a bit in the middle for me. I think I’m going to continue with the series, though, if only because the next book features two different main characters, and they were two of my favorites from the first book.

Marque and Reprisal by Elizabeth Moon — A re-read of book two so that I can refresh my memory before continuing on with the rest of the series.

In-Progress

I continue to make slow progress through Furious Heaven by Kate Elliott. This is by no means a reflection on the book, but only a result of my lack of time to read and also the fact that I insist on listening to the audiobook instead of reading this on my Kindle. I have a trip coming up that will require a lot of time in-transit, and I am looking forward to finishing the second half of this tome, uninterrupted.

Meanwhile, on my Kindle, I am slowly making my way through Engaging the Enemy by Elizabeth Moon for the second time. This is book three in the Vatta’s War series. I’m doing this re-read as a series buddy-read with my Camp Book Club friends (L & S). I am especially enjoying revisiting this story because it features Aunt Gracie, a character I really love. I sincerely hope she survives to the end of the series.

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Because of my upcoming trip, I have just downloaded a bunch of books from the library. Here’s a sampling of what I’m considering reading while I’m traveling:

• The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen — I read the first book in this series last year and really enjoyed the imaginative world-building and the characters. I don’t think this is a direct sequel. More like different story, same world, maybe? Regardless, I’m looking forward to checking this out.
• Lost Ark Dreaming by Suyi Davies Okungbowa — I pre-ordered this because Suyi has become an auto-buy author for me, but it keeps getting buried on my Kindle. I have pushed it to the top for this trip.
• Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett — I’ve read several books by this author and enjoyed all of them, so I have been very much looking forward to this one, her latest release.
• Darkside by Michael Mammay — Another new release by another of my auto-buy authors. This one is an unexpected book four in his military sci-fi series! Hooray!
• Grave Expectations by Alice Bell — I can’t remember who recommended this one to me (maybe S?), but it’s been on frozen on my holds list for a while now, and a hilarious paranormal murder mystery sounded like excellent vacation reading to me.
• Stories are Weapons by Annalee Newitz — Several of my author friends are reading and recommending this right now. I’m very much looking forward to listening to this on audiobook during my travels (once I finish Furious Heaven).

I’m not considering this an actual TBR, because I will probably just read whatever I feel like, and I may not feel like reading any of these. Plus I may have more studying I need to do in order to wrap up “secret summer project” by the end of October. But, these are the books I feel like reading right now, if I had more time to read for fun.

What are you reading this month?