What I Read in September and October
Getting back to my nonfiction roots and sharing why I find value in writing book reviews
One of my 2024 reading goals was to write a short review for every book I read. While I doubt that I’ll reach my goal in the literal sense, I’ve gotten pretty darn close and I’m proud of that. (So far, I’ve written reviews for ~80% of the 106 books I’ve read so far in 2024 either in this newsletter or on Goodreads.)
I wanted to get in the habit of writing book reviews for two reasons. First, writing book reviews helps me understand my own thoughts about and reactions to a book. I love talking about books with people (including people on the internet 👋🏽). And writing short book reviews helps me form my opinions about what I’m reading and better recall those opinions later on. Second, reading others’ reviews of the books I’ve read (which I try to read only after I’ve drawn my own conclusions) is helping me sharpen my critical reading skills. This has been especially true for me when it comes to reading and reviewing fiction. (If getting a social science PhD taught me anything, it’s how to critique a nonfiction argument.)
Over the last year, I’ve found that I enjoy writing book reviews. Reading is a core part of my identity and one of my main hobbies. I enjoy reflecting on and writing about what I’m reading. Writing reviews has also helped me refine my reading tastes and preferences and has made me a more engaged reader.
And so, despite being three months behind on my monthly reading recaps, I’m determined to catch up. Today, I’m sharing reviews of the books I read in September and October. I am slowly getting back into reading nonfiction as a nonfiction girlie at heart (62% of the 52 books I read in 2023 were nonfiction; whereas, only 17% !!! of the books I’ve read this year were nonfiction). Note that I separately rank my nonfiction versus fiction reads because my brain has a very hard time with ranked lists that include both genres.
Here are my September reads ranked from most to least favorite.
Nonfiction
Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here by Jonathan Blitzer. An expansive and thorough history of the migration crisis and U.S. immigration policy. This is a piece of deeply reported journalism that tells the stories of different individuals who migrated to the U.S. seeking refuge from political violence in Central America— volatile circumstances that were often the direct result of U.S. foreign policy in the region, alongside the stories of those who shaped and carried out U.S. immigration policy. The scale of what’s covered in this book is remarkable, as is the fact that the author still manages to treat each of his individual subjects with incredible depth and nuance. I’m seeing this book pop up on many best books of 2024 lists and it is worthy of all the praise. (Don’t be surprised when it pops up on my top 10 reads of 2024 list!) I listened to the audiobook 🎧 which was fantastic.
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith. A beautifully written divorce memoir by poet Maggie Smith that explores themes of grief and loss, the gendered dynamics of heterosexual marriages—including the tensions that can arise when a woman is more professionally successful than her male partner, and the boundaries of memoir as a genre. I mostly enjoyed this. The writing is evocative and poetic. I loved the ways Smith played with narrative structure. Though, I also found her many meditations on how much she would divulge about her marriage and divorce tiresome. Either spill some tea about your divorce, or stop hinting at the good tea that exists!
Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen. I started following Anne Helen Petersen’s writing after reading her viral 2019 piece in Buzzfeed on burnout among millennials, which became the foundation for this longer book on the same topic. Petersen explores the manifold ways that cultural and societal dynamics and norms, and historical events have shaped millennials’ adult lives and propensity to experience burnout. To say her 2019 Buzzfeed piece resonated with me is an understatement. I remember where I was when I read it. I remember sharing it and talking about it with close friends for months after. While I enjoyed reading this book length treatment on the subject, as someone who’s been reading Petersen’s writing pretty regularly in the five years since, it felt more like re-reading some of her older work than reading something newly insightful about the topic. That said, if you are new to thinking about burnout among millennials or new to Petersen’s writing in general, this book is a great place to start! As is her Culture Study newsletter, which remains one of my favorites here on Substack.
A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy by Tia Levings. A memoir about one woman’s escape from the fundamentalist Quiverfull movement (a strictly patriarchal, ultra- conservative Christian movement) and journey to heal from religious trauma. The author’s story was also told in the recent Amazon Prime documentary Shiny Happy People about the Duggar family (who are also followers of the Quiverfull movement). This was a solid read. Though, I wanted more background and discussion around Christian nationalism as an ideology and political movement from Levings’ memoir. Shiny Happy People does a better job of telling the bigger story on Christian patriarchy alongside individual narratives, though neither does an adequate job of connecting Christian nationalism with white supremacy despite the well-known connections.
Fiction
Ne’er Duke Well by Alexandra Vasti. Lady Selina Ravenscroft is a matchmaking debutante who secretly runs an erotic circulating library for the purpose of sex education. Peter Kent is an abolitionist duke who enlists Lady Selina for help in becoming guardian to his younger half siblings. Lady Selina’s plan entails finding Peter a respectable wife— though, of course, their sparkling chemistry proves a formidable obstacle. Vasti’s vivid writing features witty banter, great humor, and a large cast of endearing side characters. I especially loved the ways Vasti explores more serious themes of sexual agency and empowerment alongside the central love story. I cannot wait to read the second book in this new regency series following Selina’s best friend, Lydia. I mostly listened to and enjoyed the audiobook 🎧.
Mickey Chambers Shakes It Up by Cherish Reid. A delightful grumpy-sunshine romance featuring Diego, a widowed bar owner in his early 40s, and Mickey, an adjunct literature professor with chronic health issues in her early 30s. Mickey gets a part-time summer job at Diego’s bar after one of her summer classes is canceled, after which they both realize that Diego is also enrolled in Mickey’s online summer writing class. Despite featuring two tropes I typically hate (boss-employee and teacher-student), I so enjoyed this heartfelt and spicy romance. The chemistry between the two MCs jumps off the page and I loved seeing both characters open themselves up to new experiences and perspectives throughout the book.
After Hours on Milagro Street by Angelina M. Lopez. Alex Torres returns to her Kansas hometown in hopes of taking over her grandmother’s bar, only to find out her grandmother is considering selling the building to a (hot) history professor who wants to turn the site into a museum. I love how messy and conventionally unlikeable Lopez lets Alex be as a character. Alex is brash, abrasive, and kind of an asshole for large parts of the book. And her subsequent development as a character development was so satisfying to read. I loved seeing how Alex learns to let her guard down and open herself up to repairing her relationships with her family and to the possibility of romantic love. I also loved learning about the histories of Mexican migration to Kansas in the 19th and 20th centuries told throughout this book. And if you aren’t already sold, this book also features a historical and magical mystery (including a meddling ghost!) that unfolds over the course of the story.
The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa. A fun contemporary romantic comedy featuring Carolina, a type-A wedding planner, and Max, the brother of her ex-fiancé who is partially at fault for Carolina’s failed nuptials. This is a heartfelt enemies-to-friends-to-improbable lovers story with lots of great chemistry and some laugh-out-loud scenes. Sosa also excellently captures the fun, funny, and sometimes frustrating dynamics of large Latin American families in her portrayal of Carolina’s extended Brazilian-American family, which I loved. Though, the ending felt rushed and unsatisfying— Sosa left too much to be wrapped up in the last chapter and with no epilogue, I was left wanting more.
Red White & Royal Blueby Casey McQuiston. I enjoyed this buzzy backlist romance featuring an improbable love story between the first son of the United States and a British prince. I loved the Pride and Prejudice feel of the book with a (one-sided) enemies-to-lovers arc, the standoff-ish, brooding prince (hello, Mr. Darcy!), and the use of the epistolary trope. I also thought it was entirely too long, and while the author acknowledges that this book was inspired by their desire to create an alternative history after Trump’s 2016 win, the political plots made no sense in ways I found distracting as someone too plugged into politics.
Here are my October reads ranked from most to least favorite.
Nonfiction
The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates. An important, timely meditation on the purpose of writing and journalism. The Message is a collection of three essays that explores the politics of storytelling, including whose stories get told and how narratives and counter narratives form. Of course, most of the public discussion of Coates’ new book has focused on his essay on Palestine, which I thought was excellent. Coates is not setting out to tell a definitive history of Israel and Palestine. Instead, he sets out to answer the question of how his own previous writing on Israel failed to reckon with the state’s inhumane treatment of Palestinians. I deeply admire Coates’ earnest intellectual curiosity (something I wish more of us valued and aspired to), which is on full display in this book. I love Coates’ masterful and evocative writing style. I listened to most of this on audiobook 🎧, which is excellent and read by the author, and then re-read large sections of my physical copy to annotate and further digest the text.
Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win by Jessica Valenti. I’ve followed Valenti’s writing on feminism and politics for at least the last decade. By far, her recent work (including her excellent Substack newsletter— Abortion, Everyday and this book) documenting the everyday horrors of anti-abortion policy in our post-Roe world is some of her best. Abortion is an excellent, timely (and short!) primer on the impact state abortion bans are having on pregnant people and the new tactics anti-abortion groups are using to promote radical anti-abortion policy despite widespread public support for abortion care. As Valenti emphasizes in this book, most Americans want abortion to be legal for any reason and available at any point in pregnancy. Everyone should read this book. I read the physical copy for the first half and listened to the second on audio (and enjoyed the audiobook 🎧 narrated by the author).
Fiction
Vampies of El Norte by Isabel Cañas. This book is one part historical fiction, one part romance, one part horror and I loved every single second of it. The story takes place in the Rio Grande Valley around the time of the Mexican-American war and follows Nena and Néstor, two childhood best friends who are separated following a horrific attack that leaves Nena near death and Néstor on the run believing Nena dead. The story picks up nine years later when Nena and Néstor are reunited and forced to work together after they’re separated from the group they’re traveling with to avoid the threat of Yanquís, as well as the unknown creatures that lurk in the night. Cañas writes vivid, lush historical settings and superb horror prose. The romance is a slow burn and ripe with emotional depth and yearning. I also loved the way she explores themes of colonialism and imperialism while also providing incisive commentary on race, class, and gender. I loved literally everything about this book and want to read everything Cañas writes. I both read the physical copy and listened to portions on audio (& loved the audiobook 🎧 narration).
A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adrianna Herrera. This is a historical romance that features a marriage of convenience between a Dominican rum heiress and a Scottish distiller set around the time of the 1889 Paris Exposition (or the Paris world’s fair). I loved the way Herrera explores themes of imperialism and colonialism, patriarchy and white supremacy head on alongside a steamy, heartfelt love story. The story was also rich with interesting historical details about the Dominican Republic and the Paris Exposition that I enjoyed learning about. I loved the depth the author brought to the two main characters— Luz Alana and Evan, their banter and chemistry, and I can’t wait to read the next two books in the series following Luz’s two best friends (who are fun and interesting side characters in this book).
You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria. A daytime soap actress (Jasmine) and a telenovela star (Ashton) are cast in a new series, and despite both of their respective commitments not to date their coworkers, sparks fly and a secret romance ensues. This book felt like Jane The Virgin (one of my favorite TV shows) come to life and I loved every second of it. (Actually, I had some minor quibbles with how quickly Jasmine comes to some key realizations about her need for external validation, but I digress. For a book I loved, I can ignore some imperfections.) I loved the representation of Nuyoricans and large Puerto Rican family dynamics captured in this book and Jasmine’s close friendship with her two cousins (who get their own love stories in the subsequent books in this series). Her characters felt so real to me as a Nuyorican who grew up in the type of community and setting she’s describing. I loved Alexis Daria’s writing style and read two more of her books since finishing this one.
Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton. I really enjoyed this work of historical fiction that tells the story of Elisa, a 19-year old wealthy Cuban socialite who falls in love with a revolutionary on the eve of the 1959 Cuban revolution, and her Cuban-American granddaughter Marisol, who travels to Cuba for the first time 60 years later to spread her grandmother’s ashes only to find herself on the cusp of her own love story. Cleeton tells a rich, long sociopolitical history of Cuba— exploring both the sociopolitical conflicts that led to the Cuban revolution, as well as the dynamics of its present day political climate. I love Cleeton’s writing. Her descriptions of settings reignited by desire to travel to Cuba. Though, what I most appreciated was following a character wrestle with learning about the realities of a place and a people that had long been romanticized and depoliticized by her elders (something that I can very much relate to). At times, the pacing felt off to me and the ending felt like it wrapped up too neatly given the major conflicts that characterized the book’s third act.
A Lot Like Adiós by Alexis Daria. This is the second book in Daria’s Primas of Power series. A Lot Like Adiós is a second chance romance between two childhood best friends (and almost lovers) who reconnect unexpectedly thirteen years later. The story follows Michelle, a freelance graphic designer based in NYC, and Gabriel, the founder and owner of celebrity gym in LA, who end up working together on a marketing campaign for the opening of the gym’s first NYC location. Second chance love stories are often hit or miss for me, and this one was a hit. I love a second chance love story where we get to see two characters fall in love for a second time, and that’s the flavor of this book. I also loved many of the same elements that I enjoyed about the first book, including the excellent representations of Nuyoricans, what NYC is like for non-wealthy, non-white New Yorkers, and large (sometimes, intrusive) family dynamics. The third book in the series, following Ava, comes out next Spring, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it!
Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan. After reading Alex Daria’s novella What the Hex, I had the itch to read another paranormal romance and despite some minor quibbles, I really liked this book (my first by this author). Riley, an expert in the supernatural, is hired to break the curse on an infamous Scottish castle. Clark, a disgraced archeologist, is hired to survey the site for historical preservation. The two become enemies after Clark (ever the skeptic scientist) attempts to get Riley and her supernatural work kicked off the site. My favorite elements were the lush Scottish Highlands setting and the chemistry and banter between the main characters. Though, the pacing felt a bit off to me. There was a declaration of love that felt premature relative to the enmity between Riley and Clark that characterized the first half of the book and given the short timeline of the story. Still, I enjoyed Rosie Danan’s writing overall, and plan to check out her other work.
What the Hex by Alexis Daria. I read this fun, steamy novella on a Saturday afternoon in October and it was such a great reminder of how satisfying short stories can be to read. What the Hex is about two former childhood friends turned academic rivals, Catalina and Diego, who must work together to save their families from demonic possession. This story unfolds in a world where a powerful community of Latinx witches live on an island off the coast of Miami, and all I wanted was to learn more about this world, its’ history, and the rules of magic. Even though I was craving more backstory, I enjoyed the chemistry and banter between the two main characters. I love childhood friends-to-lovers stories, and this one was a lot of fun.
Ana María and The Fox by Liana De la Rosa. An enjoyable historical romance featuring Ana María Luna Valdés, a Mexican heiress seeking refuge in London during the French Occupation of Mexico, and Gideon Fox, an ambitious British politician fighting to abolish the slave trade. This is a slow burn romance with a marriage of convenience and a B plot featuring a scheming, villainous nobleman. I enjoyed elements of this book, especially the portrayal of Ana María’s relationship with her sisters and learning about a period in Mexican history I was unfamiliar with. The scheming nobleman was a little too cartoonish of a villain for my taste. I also struggle with slow burn romances. There is a fine line between satisfyingly slow and frustratingly or boringly slow, and this veered towards the later direction. Though, I enjoyed the authors writing and the characters she developed enough that I’ll check out the next book in this series.
Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland. A contemporary romance with elements of fantasy and magical realism featuring Sage Flores, who has the magical gift of communicating with plants, and Tenn Reyes, her high school crush, who connect after Sage returns to her hometown for the first time in eight years. I enjoyed elements of this book, especially how sweet and tender Tenn is as a male lead and the author’s depiction of the ways harmful family dynamics can develop and persist through adulthood. The magic system, which piqued my interest, wasn't given sufficient attention. Instead, it felt like a plot device that was relied on too heavily to advance some of the underdeveloped B plots. Speaking of B plots, there were too many. I wish the book had focused on one of the B plots and the central love story. Though, I liked this book enough that I’ll give her work another try especially given some of the initial reviews I’ve seen for the second book in this series, Lightening in Her Hands, which was released earlier this year.
What I’m currently reading
James by Percival Everett. Back in October, I made a “ten before the end” list of the ten books I wanted to read before the end of the year. I haven’t made much progress on it (very much in my mood reading era this year). But I did start this one over the Thanksgiving weekend. I’m nearly done and what a book! James is so clearly worthy of all the praise and accolades.
A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone. It is holiday rom-com season, and while I usually take my cheesy rom-coms in movie format, this year, I’m giving holiday rom-com books a try. This steamy and laugh-out-loud funny rom-com is just the delightful escape my brain needs right now.
Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America by Paola Ramos. 🎧 I’m listening to this on audio and it is so incredibly insightful. I’m planning to pick up a physical copy ASAP because I’m itching to annotate this book.
P.S. Let’s be friends on Storygraph and Goodreads!