September Book Review {09.30.24}

Hello and happy Monday friends! I hope you had a wonderful weekend and your week is off to great start so far. I had a goal in 2024 to read a total of 12 books and I'm excited to say I met that goal! So now for the remainder of 2024, I am going to just see how many books I can finish for the year.

Today we're talking about the books I read in September. I finished a total of five books.

If you want to get any of these books for yourself, click on the picture or the name of the book below and it will take you to Amazon where you can buy the book for yourself. Heads up: I am an Amazon Associate so if you purchase with my link I could make a small commission.

So without further adieu...here's my September book review.

Book #1 this month was:

Maria by Michelle Moran

In the 1950s, Oscar Hammerstein is asked to write the lyrics to a musical based on the life of a woman named Maria von Trapp. He’s intrigued to learn that she was once a novice who hoped to live quietly as an Austrian nun before her abbey sent her away to teach a widowed baron’s sickly child. What should have been a ten-month assignment, however, unexpectedly turned into a marriage proposal. And when the family was forced to flee their home to escape the Nazis, it was Maria who instructed them on how to survive using nothing but the power of their voices.

It’s an inspirational story, to be sure, and as half of the famous Rodgers & Hammerstein duo, Hammerstein knows it has big Broadway potential. Yet much of Maria’s life will have to be reinvented for the stage, and with the horrors of war still fresh in people’s minds, Hammerstein can’t let audiences see just how close the von Trapps came to losing their lives.

But when Maria sees the script that is supposedly based on her life, she becomes so incensed that she sets off to confront Hammerstein in person. Told that he’s busy, she is asked to express her concerns to his secretary, Fran, instead. The pair strike up an unlikely friendship as Maria tells Fran about her life, contradicting much of what will eventually appear in The Sound of Music.

A tale of love, loss, and the difficult choices that we are often forced to make, Maria is a powerful reminder that the truth is usually more complicated—and certainly more compelling—than the stories immortalized by Hollywood.
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I enjoyed this book very much. The Sound of Music has always been one of my favorite movies and this book gives you a better understanding as to the life of Maria von Trapp before and after marrying into the family. It also shows the reality of living in the time of Hitler. Very good read.


Book #2:

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is told from a narrator's perspective and I enjoyed how sarcastic and also endearing the narrator was. I have not read any Brandon Sanderson books before this one and I am so glad I read it. Definitely will be asking for more of his books for Christmas.

Book #3

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

No masters. No limits. No regrets.

Aelin Galathynius takes her place as queen in the fourth book of the #1 bestselling Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas.

Celaena Sardothien has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen's triumphant return.

Everyone Aelin loves has been taken from her. Everything she holds dear is in danger. But she has the heart of a queen-and that heart beats for vengeance.
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As is standard for Sarah J. Maas this book built up until the last 100 or so pages and oh my gosh it was intense. I am really loving this series and cannot wait to see what the next book brings with it.

Book #4

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder by Kerryn Mayne

Lenny Marks is good at not remembering.

She has spent the last twenty years not thinking about the day her mother left her when she was still a child. Her stepfather’s parting words, however, remain annoyingly unforgettable: 'You did this.'

Now thirty-seven, Lenny prefers contentment and order over the unreliability of happiness and the messiness of relationships. She fills her days teaching at the local primary school, and her nights playing Scrabble with her pretend housemate, watching reruns of Friends and rearranging her thirty-six copies of The Hobbit.

Recently though, if only to appease her beloved foster-mum, Lenny has set herself the goal of ‘getting a life’.
Then, out of the blue, a letter arrives from the Adult Parole Board. And when her desperate attempts to ignore it fail, Lenny starts to unravel.

Worse, she starts to remember . . .
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This is a fun read and one I would recommend to pretty much anyone. I am bummed because I had to miss book club for this one due to personal issues, but overall I really enjoyed the read and hope this author releases more books in the future.


Book #5

A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor by Darci Hannah

While filming at a haunted English manor, chef Bunny MacBride’s big break on her first reality TV show may be cut short by an unscripted murder in Darci Hannah’s new Food & Spirits cozy mystery series . . .

It isn’t how chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride imagined her own cooking show unfolding. But, if preparing historic meals with a modern flair is what it takes to get her cooking on the air, she can deliver, even if her dinner guest is a ghost. That’s the premise of the new reality TV show Food & Spirits, where Chef Bunny teams up with ghost hunter Brett Bloom and psychic medium Giff McGrady to visit haunted locales around the world and tempt lingering spirits back to the table with a beloved meal. For their first episode, the Food & Spirits team sets off to investigate Bramsford Manor, a historic house turned famously haunted hotel, in picturesque Hampshire, England. The sprawling estate is said to be home to the Mistletoe Bride, a young woman who died in the 18th century, the victim of a tragic accident on her Christmas wedding night.

Disliking spooks but loving food, Bunny leaves the spectral search to the pros and focuses on the feast, creating a traditional English holiday wedding dinner, complete with a gorgeous prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, and rustic apple tarts. It’s a sumptuous meal she hopes will entice the ghostly Mistletoe Bride to take a seat and join them while the cameras roll. But Bunny’s task is made more difficult when someone steals a boning knife from her custom kit. Alas, when the blade finally turns up again—in the chest of an all-too-human dinner guest—Bunny’s woes only grow as she is named a lead suspect in the case! Now, with a haunted house full of living residents, staff, and crew, Bunny will need the help of Brett, Giff, and her clairvoyant Grandma Mac, to solve this murder before the manor gains another ghost!

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If you're a cozy mystery guy or gal, I'd definitely recommend this read to you.  The premise of the story is fun and is a great read, especially for this time of year (spooky season).

Well that's all for today's book review! I hope you found a new book to add to your reading list for the future. 

If you want to stay current on all of the books I’m reading in 2024, THIS PAGE HERE is where I keep the books, authors and reviews each month.

Okay what should I read next? I'm always on the hunt for book recommendations and am fairly open to all stories.

Have a wonderful day,
Jackie

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