I read six books in September and four of them had a fantastical element to them. Another was a historical fiction book about a female Chinese doctor and the other was a non-fiction book about speech. Here’s what I read in September:
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
The main character, Piranesi, lives in a mansion that he spends his time mapping. He keeps journals about his days. He fishes in the waters at the lower levels. He brings offerings to the dead he finds. He also gets visits once a week from a man who guides him. His world starts changing when he observes something contrary to his advisor and starts to notice huge sections of his journal are missing. He starts to re-read the earliest journals and finds them describing a place called London. Was he ever really there? Where is he now? Piranesi has many twists and turns and deals with the question of what is really real.
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
Yesteryear is a very popular book right now, but I wouldn’t highly recommend it. It has an unreliable narrator and the twists I was expecting ended up with a twist that fell flat instead. Natalie becomes an overnight sensation on social media with her traditional family and farm life. However, when an assistant is hired who sees behind the scenes – the nannies, the hired help, the re-labeling of products to be sold as made elsewhere – Natalie’s world starts to fall apart. When she finds out the assistant is having an affair with her husband, it all crumbles. But, Natalie finds a way that she hopes will lead to atonement.
The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
Aaron is a grad student enlisted to help Professor Helen Watts sort through some old papers found in a London house. They assess the papers to be from a blind rabbi in the 1600s with a scribe who turns out to be a woman, which is unheard of at that time. The story also follows the life of the scribe, telling how she came to be working for the rabbi. Some mysteries remain and Aaron and Helen have to fight hard to find out what really happened to their scribe and if any of the writings could be originally hers.
The Forget-Me-Not Library by Heather Webber
In the town of Forget-Me-Not, people who need help healing emotionally often find themselves stranded there with a broken-down car. Juliet finds herself in exactly this situation while on a road trip. She left home hoping to find peace and memories. After being struck by lightning, she barely remembers anything. What kills her most is not remembering her grandfather, who died from the lightning strike. The people she meets in the town help her come to terms with her life and find her true calling.
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See
After her mother dies and her father is sent to work in the Imperial City, Yunxian goes to live with her grandparents. There, they teach her how to practice medicine, especially women’s medicine. The culture doesn’t allow men to look at women they’re not related to or to touch blood, which includes doctors. This makes it very difficult to treat women. When she gets married, it’s a struggle for Yunxian to fit in to her husband’s family dynamic and find ways to still practice medicine. Set in 15th century China, Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is an interesting historical fiction novel.
Training the Tongue by Fr. Gregory Pine
Instead of focusing on how we use our words to sin and bring people down, Fr. Pine wrote a book on how we can use our words in positive ways. In several short chapters, he talks about using our words to praise God, teach, correct and edify.
What interesting books have you read lately? Share in the comments!