Recent reads: September 2026

I couldn't believe it when I looked back and saw that it's been about 2.5 months since my last book post. I've spent the summer reading, reading, and more reading. Along with watching baseball, of course. I've come to realize that keeping my nose in a book keeps me away from the awfulness of the world and so I've been reading even more. There's nothing earth shattering here. I finished a long time read (The Odyssey), read a lot of romance, sprinkled in some other fiction, and read a cookbook! Now that fall is here, I've started my next long time read (bio of John Adams) and am trying to let up a bit on the romance and read some other things, but we'll see how that goes. On to the books!

The Friend Zone

Abby Jimenez is a big name in the romance world, so I finally read a few of her books and The Friend Zone was the first. I didn't love it, but it was good. Kristen's best friend is getting married, she meets the best man and of course from there the sparks fly. While I found the tension that brought about the story line of them not being able to get together to be realistic, I also found the secondary story line took away from the romance a bit. It's a light read and I read it quickly and it led me to some other books of hers that I like better, so worth the time.

The Bromance Book Club

A short romance premised on a group of men who read romance novels in order to better understand their partners. The main character is a baseball player who's wife is unhappy in the marriage and wants to end it. I enjoyed the finding love again aspect of this and the secondary characters were funny. Of course this is the first in a series, so some of those secondary characters are featured in later books.

How to End a Love Story

I really liked the characters in this book, but also found the book uncomfortable at times. The premise of how they know each other is... difficult. But there was something about the way the two interacted that kept me going. I absolutely loved the ending.

Our Perfect Storm

Carley Fortune has become one of my favorite romance authors. I've read all her books (my fave is One Golden Summer) and so I put this one on hold as soon as the library had it. This is a good book, two best friends since grade school who go on the honeymoon of one of them after she's left the day before her wedding. I love Tofino, having visited many years ago, so the setting was amazing, and I loved the ending. I'm starting to really enjoy books where people use writing in some way to find each other be it emails, letters, or text messages.

The Odyssey

I've had the Emily Wilson translation of this poem for years so when I heard Christopher Nolan had a movie coming out, I decided to finally read it. I really enjoyed it, what an adventure and I liked Wilson's translation but haven't read any other so have nothing to compare it to. I also saw the movie, enjoyed it quite a bit, but it's nothing like the book to me—which is fine!

The Original Daughter

Nicole wrote about this book quite a while ago and I put it on my list and am so glad I did. A complex story about sisters, family, what makes someone family, and how we handle ruptures in those relationships closest to us. For me this book gave me a glimpse into another culture as well, one I know very little about and it was interesting to learn a bit via these characters.

Same Time Next Summer

I subscribed to the RSS feed of Modern Mrs. Darcy recently and it's been a source of so many new to me authors and books. Annabel Monaghan is one of the authors I discovered and this was the first of her books I read. It's billed as a romance, but I think it's more about a woman figuring out what she wants in life after working a crap job for years and settling for a man who isn't good to her.

The Briar Club

Kate Quinn books are always page turners for me and I love how much she bases her stories on real history. This book is a bit different, with each chapter being from the point of view of a different border at a boarding house in Washington, DC. I loved their stories and how they came together and how much these women were all pushing boundaries in the 1950s.

Nora Goes Off Script

More Annabel Monaghan, reading one quite quickly after the other since I enjoyed the first of her books I read. Nora is divorced and writes romance movies for a cable channel when she writes about her own life and the movie is quickly picked up and getting made for the big screen. Nora even rents out her house for shooting some of the movie and it's then that she meets Leo, the star. This book is quick, lively with banter, and ends in the sweetest way; I loved it.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Every so often I go back further in my to read list on Story Graph to see if some things are finally off long hold waits at the library. This book was on the shelf at my branch right when I was looking for something to read and wow, what a great story. I love that this is a love story about friendship. Sam and Sadie move through years of life together and at times they feel like maybe they aren't even friends anymore, but of course they are. I don't game so that aspect of this book flew over my head at times, but that didn't make a difference in how much I enjoyed the book.

The Happily Ever After Playlist

Another Abby Jimenez book, somewhat the sequel to The Friend Zone and I absolutely loved this one. The first two thirds was absolutely great, my only complaint is that I think it could've resolved more quickly. The banter and the fact that a dog plays a central role did it for me. So much laughing out loud.

Rich Girl Summer

When we were in Seattle I stopped into Beguiled, a romance bookstore, and picked this up based on a shelf tag. I liked the two main characters but there was a lot of drama happening around them that didn't draw me in as much. I finished the book more out of curiosity to see how it ended than anything else.

Tenderheart

This spring I made a huge change to my life when I gave up my subscription to NY Times Cooking. I wanted to get back into my cookbooks and take the screen out of the kitchen. I bought some new cookbooks as a result, especially around veggies as we're eating less and less meat. This is a memoir and cookbook which is beautifully written. I'm slowly starting to try the recipes, pushing myself to cook with some veggies that I don't normally turn to and am really excited for this once winter hits and I'm more willing to turn on my oven.

Till Summer Do Us Part

A knitwear designer gave this book a shout out in her newsletter recently and talked about it making her laugh out loud. Since it was on the shelf at my library branch I picked it up and will admit I laughed a lot. The premise is a bit absurd, a woman pretends to be married to fit in at work and her best friend's brother agrees to pose as her husband, but the main male character is absolutely hilarious and I loved that. It's a steamy romance, in case you aren't into that, beware.

All the Beauty in the World

This is one of my favorite books I've read this year and, frankly, in a long time. It's marketed about overcoming grief and it's about that, for sure, but it's also about so much more. How do we define success? How does one look at and see art? How do we move through the world when what the world thinks is success doesn't make us happy? I really enjoyed it and will most likely read it again at some point, can't recommend it highly enough.

Meanwhile, the office part of the job seemed also to have narrow horizons—ironically, nothing like what a museum guard enjoys. My colleagues and I cobbled together systems such that I didn't always have forty of hours of work to do in a week, but by the customs of the modern office, there I sat. Also by custom, I couldn't open a book at my desk, or take a head-clearing walk, but it was just excpted that I'd waste hours clicking around on the Internet, learning how to not read books. So into that muck I sank. And before long I became something I had never really been before: lazy. (p 48)

Just for the Summer

More Abby Jimenez! I didn't love this book. I picked it up at a romance book shop in Seattle when we were there and it took me a bit to read it and get through it. It's a hard read with talk about childhood abuse and other family difficulties, but I'm glad I finished it. Jiminez does a great job with sense of place in her books and this one is no different. Having grown up in Minnesota, I enjoyed the nods to places I recognized even though I haven't lived there in twenty years. If you like Jimenez and are prepared for some difficult subject matter, you'll probably like this one.

Bridesmaid for Hire

An extremely silly premise that had enough good banter between to the two main characters that I stuck with the book. Honestly, this will probably be my last Meghan Quinn book. Her writing isn't bad, but the stories are so very odd in some ways.

It's a Love Story

Annabel Monaghan is becoming a favorite author, as seen by three books by her in this one post. Her characters are so funny and I've been able to pick them up right off my local library shelf, a bonus as I've been reading so quickly lately. I loved the premise of a former child star trying to get a movie she's passionate about made and the family of the male main character is a riot and made me think of my mom's family of origin quite a bit. But what I also love about her stories is often how the female main characters are finding their way in life as they find their way in the relationship. I end up finding the stories of her characters really interesting apart from the romance.