September Reading Round Up – Book Reviews & Goals
Honestly guys, September was a bit of a write off! I was expecting my book figures to get a bit mixed up because it was my birthday (so I was anticipating new books) and also because of a couple of new books releasing too. What I hadn’t planned for though was The Flu.
Archie woke up one night and appeared in our bed feeling like a radiator. It was only as he climbed in that I realised I had the sore throat of all sore throats. What followed was the most horrific I’ve felt in years. That was at the beginning of September and I’m only just recovering now. I took 2 days off sick, and thought, well at least I’ll be able to get some reading done.
I couldn’t even pick up my book. I mean, physically I just about managed. I opened my Kindle and read a few sentences and that was all. I spent 2 full days basically staring into space and sleeping, with a radiator of a little boy beside me.
So yep, that set the tone for the month really! I read half as many pages as usual, and far fewer books – though there were some very hefty ones in there. Let’s check the stats:
September Reading Stats
- I read 5 books total in September.
- 2 books were from Netgalley.
- None out of those 5 were past publication dates!
- 3 books were from my “own but not yet read” shelf.
- 1 of those books was non-fiction.
- I didn’t complete any series, but 2 books were series continuations.
- I acquired 3 new books.
So those hefty books I mentioned were mainly the Zodiac Academy ones – I was glad of a couple of somewhat lightweight, at least in terms of tone, books to read. They were both over 700 pages, the second one was either just over or under 1000 pages depending on which source you look at! I’ve only got a few more left in this series now and I’m very much enjoying the later books.
The other hefty book was an accidental series start when I’ve said I’m supposed to be finishing series – whoops! From Blood and Ash popped up on Netgalley and I jumped at the chance to read it as it’s been on my list forever. I’m glad I did as I loved it, but it means I’ve committed to another series now!
My Netgalley reads were both current publication ones; the past publication ones have had to be bumped forward sadly, so I didn’t get very far with that list this month! I didn’t request any more at least so fortunately I maintained the 88% feedback ratio that I hit last month.
I did make some progress on my “own but haven’t yet read” shelf – although this technically wasn’t related to the fact that I read them all! We had a trip to Northumberland booked for the first weekend of October, so I decided to siphon off a few books to donate there (which unforunately I didn’t manage to do as we left them in the holiday cottage! They’ll go to charity instead!). These were books that were very low on my priority list – ones that I’d picked up years ago and just couldn’t see myself getting to any time soon, along with a few that I’ve read but didn’t want to hang on to.
Thanks to this clear out, my shelf went down to 129 books in September, so just 9 away from my goal of 120 by the end of the year. I did however know that I would be buying books at Barter Books – of course I would be! That’s for next month’s round up as it fell in October, but I did have some self-restraint…on my books at least. I can’t say the same for books for Emmy and Archie!
I’m still not fully back into the swing of reading as I’m struggling through a long standalone fantasy right now that I’m liking but not loving, so keep your fingers crossed for me that I can get back on track in October!
2026 Reading Goal Updates
Book Reviews from September 2026
Age Like A Girl by Dr. Mindy Pelz
This was such an illuminating read! I’m technically a few years too young for it, but there’s no such thing as being too prepared I’d say. Honestly, this book has me excited for the next stage of life.
It’s hard to summarise in a single review the kind of impact that I think this book is going to have on my life. The descriptions of the three times in your life that the brain prunes and recalibrates really resonated. As I said, I’m a bit early to be acting on the menopause stage, but since I know I am absolutely (mentally) done with the reproductive stage of my life, I feel that I’m starting that recalibration already. I’ve felt changes in a few areas of my life already, and I often feel like I’m fighting mentally against aging, so understanding why and how these changes will be positives feels exciting.
I’ve already observed some of the teachings from Fast Like a Girl and Eat Like a Girl, but now I think I really need to read them – these are more for the time in my life right now and can make a difference. This book feels like an excellent follow up to those, although I think the musings it gives on being a strong aging woman might be even more important.
I plan to reread this in a few years time, but there are little things from it I know I can already implement now. I’ll also be recommending it to a few women I know as my circle has women that are actively discussing menopause in it (just this weekend in fact!). I’m glad to know that I’ve already started building that circle accidentally!
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
This book felt like the tip of the iceberg of an adventure of a series – I thoroughly enjoyed it!
You can see my full review of From Blood and Ash on the blog here.
Bodies of Magic by Freya Marske
This was a very unique fantasy world, with a magic system that was medical and healing based, and a dark academic setting to rival any others I’ve read.
You can read my full review of Bodies of Magic on the blog here!
Fated Throne by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti
I think I’m now at the tipping point of these books, so I’m a bit scared! They’ve got really good now, everything’s all coming together, but also a lot is falling apart. I really enjoyed this one but I’ve heard that they start to become a bit of a slog now as they’re surpassing 800 pages per book, but I’m excited for the next one!
Not a lot more to say as it would be spoilers galore!
Heartless Sky by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti
Okaaaay so I get the Zodiac Academy hype totally now! I started this series not a fan of the bully romance thing, but the sloooow burn of it has finally paid off – only 7 books later! This book is everything – there are absolutely ridiculous and hilarious moments, times where I was literally grinning and squealing because FINALLY things were happening that I’d been waiting for, and times where I was basically sobbing.
I said at the beginning that these books were “trashy”, and I still stand by that – the writing isn’t amazing, and there are little mistakes in the copy every so often – but the story and the characters are truly brilliant. This book was long, and the next one is LONG, but I’m so ready for it!
