It’s Getting Spooky! | September 2023 TBR

My first pick for the month is one of my most anticipated releases of the year. I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea sounds like my perfect fall and spooky season read!

A young Black ballerina tired of being overlooked and cast aside in the cutthroat world of ballet makes a pact with an entity deep in the catacombs of Paris. But greatness comes with a price…

I love books about ballet, angry girls willing to make terrible choices, and sharp social commentary. I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me promises to be all of those things, as well as dark and twisted. If that’s not the perfect book for fall, I don’t know what is. This one has been calling my name ever since I first heard about it and I can’t wait to finally read it!

Next, I’m hoping that September 2023 is finally the month I read A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder!

I recently bought the last book in the series and now there’s nothing standing in my way of binging the entire trilogy.

Honestly, I’ve been excited to read these books for years now. I love a YA mystery, particularly when it’s written in a multimedia format. And A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder is probably the most famous example of this!

Pippa Fitz-Amobi is a straight-A student who choses a true crime case in her hometown as an extra credit project for school. A girl went missing and everyone thinks her boyfriend murdered her. But Pippa isn’t so sure that’s what happened and quickly gets wrapped up in the case and the fallout it left behind.

I’m pretty certain I’ll love this series and can’t wait to see what the hype is all about.

My last physical book choice is a chunky boy! For my September 2023 TBR I have decided to finally start reading House of Leaves.

It’s part of the 30 before 30 book list I’m putting together and considering it’ll probably take me a while to actually read, I might as well start now.

My partner and one of my closest friends have read and loved this strange book and I’m excited to join them in that experience. In case you couldn’t tell, I am fascinated by books with interesting formats that create unique reading experiences. And House of Leaves is a prime example of this! From the little I know about the actual story, there’s multiple narrative layers, a lot of footnotes, and flipping back and forth involved in reading this book and I can’t wait to dive in!

Let’s talk about the ebooks that are on my September 2023 TBR. First up, The Reunion by Kit Frick!

Kit Frick is the author of one of my favourite YA thrillers: I Killed Zoe Spanos.

The Reunion follows a fatal family reunion at a high-end resort. Secrets and mysteries abound and nobody will be left untouched by the end of this reunion.

I look forward to a twisty ride with this one. I love reading about complicated family dynamics and The Reunion feels like the perfect book to close out the summer with as I enter spooky season!

I’m also hoping to finally read Nocturne this month!

Yes, I chose a second ballet-themed book for my September 2023 TBR, what about it?

Nocturne, however, leans more fantastical and less horror than I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me.

Set in 1930s Chicago, Nocturne follows Grace who has recently finally reached her dream of being a prima ballerina. But success is not what she thought it would be. When a mysterious patron takes an interest in her, Grace gets swept up into a world more mythical than she could ever inmagine.

This one gives me lyrical and dark fairytale vibes and I’m curious to see if it delivers on that front or surprises me!

The last ebook on my September 2023 TBR is yet another eARC. Can you tell I’m working through my review copies?

I talked about this one in my last NetGalley TBR and I’m still just as excited about it.

Told through transcripts of a true crime investigative podcast, With a Kiss We Die follows two college students accused of committing a heinous murder. They contact The Reines Report and, before they’re arrested, want to speak exclusively to the host.

This one promises to be an engaging thriller that also critically looks at true crime content and the ethical implications of that kind of crime reporting.

I’m curious to see if it’ll deliver on that front! the first few chapters have definitely intrigued me and I can totally see myself devour this in one sitting.

Lastly, I chose three audiobooks for my September 2023 TBR!

My first pick is Ninth House, a book that has haunteed my TBR for years now. Every year, I promise myself I’ll finally read it and then never do. But this is the year! I already own the sequel because I’m pretty sure I’ll love this series so now I won’t even have to wait for book two to release.

Alex Stern gets sucked into the world of magic and secret societies at Yale when she gets offered a full-ride scholarship to observe their occult activities. Of course, things aren’t quite what they seem and the secret societies hide much darker, twisted things.

y’all, I’m so hyped to finally read this! I’ve already put it on my bedside table and tabbed every 50 pages (a method that I’ve realised helps me read physical books faster!). Luckily, the weather is getting rainy again so at some point this month I will be curling up with this book.

My next audiobook pick is Amari and the Night Brothers, a fantastical middle grade adventure I’ve been meaning to read for a while now.

I don’t read as many middle grade books as I’d like, I feel like there are so many cool books being released in that age bracket! Amari and the Night Brothers promises to be one of those amazing books.

When her older brother goes missing, Amari learns that he was involved with the secretive Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. More than that, he has left her an invitation for the institution’s summer try-outs. As she tries to navigate this new world of magical creatures and supernatural abilities, Amari tries to find out what happened to her brother while also finding her own place.

Finally, the last book on my September 2023 TBR is a non-fiction book!

Fossil Men tells the story of the discovery of “Ardi”, the oldest human skeleton and how that discovery changed what we know about human history and evolution.

We know I love bones and now that I’m a freshly baked archaeology student, I’m even more excited to learn more about paleoanthropology and human evolution.

I’m pretty sure this book will lead me down a few research rabbit holes in the future. Fittingly, starting in October, I will be taking a physical anthropology class for my archaeology module that will also cover some human evolution. So technically this totally counts as studying, right?