What I Read in September 2025

This was a great month of reading. I read nine books in total, and it was a nice little mix of different genres: a romance, some contemporary fiction, two non-fiction listens, and of course, a few thrillers. The book I loved most was actually The Correspondent. I found myself surprised by how much I loved it (it came highly recommended so I bought it, but the plot didn’t sound all that compelling to me). It was an A+ and easily one of my favorite books of the whole year. I can’t recommend it enough. 

What I read in september 2025

Tell me what you read and loved in the comments section: I always shop your recs. And for even more books, check out The Library: a catalog of every single book I’ve read over the past ten+ years; you can even filter by genre and sort by best/worst.

PS – Last month’s list! (A big thanks to Chrissie and Lynn for pushing me to read The Correspondent.)

Romance

Exit Lane, by Erika Veurink

Joanna Goddard compared this to “the best of When Harry Met Sally, Normal People, and Lady Bird,” and she is absolutely right. This opens with Teddy and Marin on a post-graduation road trip from Iowa City to NYC. They are initially very skeptical of each other; Teddy is only doing this as a favor to the girl he’s secretly pining for. But over the course of the road trip, the two find themselves getting along (maybe too well). Marin, desperate for a fresh start, tells Teddy they aren’t friends and that they will go their separate ways. But through a series of chance encounters over eight years, they keep finding their way back to each other. This one has some serious highs and serious lows, all packed into under 200 pages. You won’t be able to put it down. It made me cry, it made me very (very!) mad at times, but it also warmed my heart. This is highly enjoyable and perfect fro fans of Emily Henry’s books. Overall Score: A // Order on Bookshop or Amazon

Thrillers

The Wrong Daughter, by Dandy Smith

I’m not even sure where to start with this one. It’s twisty, and it held my attention entirely while I read it. But it’s almost too twisty and off the rails? Writing isn’t great either. I finished it, and rather than feeling satisfied, I just felt WTF-y! Like, what the heck did I just read!?!?! That being said, I couldn’t put it down while I was reading! So, proceed at your own risk, I guess? When Caitlin was ten years old, her older sister Olivia was snatched from her bed, never to be seen again. Caitlin witnesses it, and 16 years later, she still doesn’t know what happened. So when Olivia shows up back home, her entire world is shattered. At first, she’s thrilled to have her sister home. But Olivia is manipulative. Her moods fluctuate, and Caitlin can’t shake the thought that Olivia isn’t who she claims to be. As time goes on, Caitlin begins to feel like she’s going crazy. Olivia isolates her from her friends, family, and fiancé. But Caitlin is determined to figure out if this woman really is her sister . . . and if not, what really happened to her. It’s a wild ride. Too wild, which isn’t something I usually say! Overall Score: B // Order on Bookshop or Amazon

Jar of Hearts, by Jennifer Hillier

I am a huge fan of Jennifer Hillier’s books, and someone told me I had to read this one from 2018. I cannot remember who it was, but I am so happy they recommended it, as I could not put it down. This one is dark, and there is a major CW for sexual abuse. That out of the way, WOW. I am still thinking about it. Years ago, Georgina (Geo), Angela, and Kaiser were the best of friends. And then one was murdered, one went to jail, and one joined the police force (still searching for the truth about what really happened that night). At age 16, Angela Wong vanished. Years later, her remains are found, and Geo is implicated (her ex was Angela’s killer, and Geo helped cover it up). Geo has worked her way up to living a very fancy life—a VP for a pharmaceutical company, a wealthy fiancé, the best of everything. But when evidence implicates her in the murder, she’s sent away to jail. Five years later, she is released from prison. As she tries to rebuild her life, something terrifying happens. She learns that her serial-killer ex has escaped from prison and a series of murders has transpired, where the women were all killed the same way as Angela. As Geo struggles to protect herself and her father, she must revisit her horrific past to help prevent any further killings. I could not put this down. I guessed the twist, but it was satisfying. Highly recommend! Overall Score: A // Order on Bookshop or Amazon

Heartwood, by Amity Gaige

This book is so beloved that I feel guilty saying anything bad about it. And my not liking it has more to do with my own preferences and taste than the writing. Objectively, it’s a beautifully written book, and I generally love a literary thriller! That being said, the pace and subject matter did not do it for me. Valerie Gillis is a nurse and experienced hiker. Deep in the Maine woods, she is hiking the Appalachian Trail. Somehow, she’s managed to vanish 200 miles from her final destination. She is alone in the wilderness, on the brink of starvation, pouring her thoughts into chaotic (but poetic) letters to her mother as she attempts to survive. Leading the investigation is Beverly, a tough, determined Maine State Game Warden. And then, in a Connecticut retirement community, we have Lena, a 76-year-old woman who spends her days chatting with fellow nature enthusiasts on Reddit. When she learns of Valerie’s disappearance, she becomes obsessed as Valerie bears some resemblance to her daughter. As the search goes on (and they determine that Valerie’s disappearance might not be accidental), the stakes become higher and higher. Will they be able to save Valerie before it is too late? I feel bad giving this only a B as I loved the writing. But it just wasn’t the most enjoyable read for me. Overall Score: B // Order on Bookshop or Amazon

Contemporary Fiction

The Academy, by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham

This is the newest from Elin Hilderbrand (written with her daughter!), and I must say, I am really enjoying this new direction for her. I wasn’t sure how to classify it, as it definitely had suspenseful parts, but it is not a thriller. There’s also some romance (but it’s not a romance!). So, contemporary fiction, it is! The book takes place over the course of a year at Tiffin Academy, a prestigious boarding school in New England. But when the school jumps 17 rankings (all the way up to the number two boarding school in the country), the headmaster fears that there’s been a typo (or that something fraudulent could be happening). Over the course of the year, the wheels begin to fall off the bus and mini crises emerge daily. A new app called ZipZap surfaces, releasing scandalous blind items every week. No one is safe, be it the young new history teacher, the queen bee influencer, the bookish new transfer student, the older staff members, or the charming son of a wealthy board member. This one has villains you want to see get taken down, and heroes you root for. I absolutely love it (and continually marvel over Hilderbrand’s ability to write from the perspective of so many different characters, with seamless transitions! There were a few things left unresolved; I hope we get a sequel! Overall Score A, Order on Bookshop or Amazon

Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely, by Sarah McCoy

I gobbled this up over the course of a weekend and promptly handed it over to my mother, knowing that she will love it too! Fans of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo will absolutely gobble this up. Told in dual timelines (alternating between the late sixties and the nineties), it is the story of the glamorous Hollywood starlet Lori Lovely. At the height of her career (at just twenty-three-years-old!), she decided to leave it all behind and become a Benedictine nun. What happened!? Why would she do this? Meanwhile, it’s the early nineties and Lori’s niece Lu Tibbott is working on her senior thesis. She decides to dig into the true-life mystery of her aunt and heads to Lori’s convent in rural New England. Mother Lori tells Lu that she’s finally ready to talk (and share the story of a lifetime). And wow, the story is a good one. We start in New York, where Lori is determined to make it as a dancer. She heads to London for schooling, and via a chance encounter ends up being chosen to play Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (opposite dreamboat Lucas Wesley). Romeo and Juliet catapults her into stardom (and a romance with Wesley). But Hollywood life is more tumultuous than Lori could have ever expected. That’s all I will say. I really enjoyed this one! Overall Score A- // Order on Bookshop or Amazon

The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans

Read this book! My first A+ in a little while. It’s almost like a jigsaw puzzle: structured entirely in letters, so you’ll have to put a few things together. It takes place over the course of nine years, as we get to know Sybil Van Antwerp, who has written letters all her life. At first, Sybil flt like a very disagreeable character to me, and I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy the book. But slowly, we get to understand her more deeply: her pain, her passions, her past. She writes to her family members, but also to famous authors like Joan Didion. There is her best friend Rosalie, a friend’s son Harry, a stalker who holds an unresolved grudge, and two men who are competing for Sybil’s affections. Meanwhile, she is going blind and understands that her days of letter-writing are numbered. There are so many tiny subplots that add up to make this such a beautiful, compelling read. I wept at the end. This one wil stick with me for a very long time. Overall Score A+ // Order on Bookshop or Amazon

Non-Fiction

Warhol’s Muses, by Laurence Leamer

I listened to this and loved every minute. It was so interesting. Lawrence Leamer is a favorite of mine (Capote’s Women is another must-read!) and this is the account of Andy Warhol and the women he deemed his “Superstars.” Over the course of the book, we meet Baby Jane Holzer, Edie Sedgwick, Nico, Ultra Violet, Viva, Brigid Berlin, Ingrid Superstar, International Velvet, Mary Woronov, and Candy Darling. We learn how Warhol manipulated them, took advantage of their beauty, and used them to build his own empire and social status with (frankly!) no concern over their well-being. This made it hard to listen to at times, especially as a fan of his art. But I learned a lot about both Warhol and these women, and of course, life in the Factory and sixties New York. Sex, drugs, wild parties, and a world where (to Warhol at least), everyone and everything was replaceable. Overall Score A // Order on Bookshop or Amazon

If You Don’t Like This, I Will Die, by Lee Tilghman

I am still struggling with my thoughts on this book. On one hand, it’s honest and vulnerable, it’s a fast listen (just over five hours), and it is juicy as hell. I was not quite so prepared for all the oversharing about her personal life (specifically, her sex life!!). She does not hold back. Personally, I have always found her a little bit frustrating. There was the influencing, then the break, then the anti-influencing-influencing . . . it’s made my head spin a little bit. Reading the book and understanding her background helped to explain it a little bit more. But it is a very wild ride. It honestly made me feel super grateful for my own career: having more boundaries with what I share, treating it like a 9-5 (vs. a whole life!), starting later in life (I didn’t write my first blog post until I was 28 years old; she started in college!). It is a lot, upsetting at times, cringe at others. But it’s a fun and juicy listen. The epilogue was my favorite part. It seems like she’s found a better balance. Overall Score: B+ // Order on Bookshop or Amazon