Greetings everyone. I hope you all had a nice Labor Day weekend. Happy September! Will your days become busier or tamer post-Labor Day? Or will they chug along at a similar pace? That is the question. I think mine will continue on at the good clip they’re on … just much to do still with the house move and selling. And like most places it’s been baking temps up here for weeks on end — and lately smoke from far-flung wildfires. The dogs have been swimming at the end of most days, but now post-Labor Day, it seems the heat is starting to drop. We might even get a chance of showers later this week, which will help against the fires.
Meanwhile I’ve been looking at what’s releasing this month in fiction and many major authors have new novels coming out, including Maggie O’Farrell, Kate Atkinson, Paul Theroux, Ian McEwan, Robert Harris, Elizabeth Strout, and Kamila Shamsie among others. From these, I picked 12 new books to read possibilities and then cut the list down to about half that. It was too many to include my picks for October releases, so we’ll stick to September for now. Here are the ones on my radar:
I have not read any of Yiyun Li’s novels yet, but she has a new one called The Book of Goose (due out Sept. 20) that looks good, which I gather is about an intense friendship between two girls that might bring to mind Elena Ferrante’s novels. The two girls grow up in the French countryside, go to boarding school, and then years later one of them receives word in America that the other has died and so she feels free to tell her story.
Hmm. It’s probably best not to know too much beforehand, so I’ll leave it there. But I’m curious to try author Yiyun Li’s writing. She was raised in Beijing and moved to the U.S. in 2000, where she is a creative writing professor at Princeton.
Next up British author Kate Atkinson has a big new novel called Shrines of Gaiety (due out Sept. 27), which is set in post-WWI 1920s London and includes many characters who face the highs and lows of the Jazz Age era there. It’s said to have many plots and characters and could read like a regular Dickens novel.
It’s been years since I last read Atkinson so what am I waiting for. Many people think Atkinson’s books keep getting better and better. What do you think? Are you a fan? She’s an author who grew up in York, England, and now lives in Edinburgh.
Then there’s always Elizabeth Strout and her new novel Lucy by the Sea (due out Sept. 20), which follows her series about writer Lucy Barton. This latest one follows Lucy getting stuck for several months with her ex-husband William during the pandemic lockdown in a house by the sea in a small town in Maine. What a premise!
I’m a Strout fan so I will continue on with Lucy (and Olive) whenever there’s more. And William and Lucy are quite cute together — closer than most married couples though they’re divorced. I need to find out if they stay close, or if they’re driven apart in the new one as they rehash their past.
After that quiet read, I might try Canadian author Iain Reid’s psychological suspense thriller We Spread (due out Sept. 27) — about an elderly woman in a long-term care residence who I gather starts to wonder if she’s losing her marbles while aging, or if something else more ominous there is going on.
I have yet to read any of Reid’s suspense novels, but if this one is any good, I’ll read his 2018 novel Foe, which is becoming a movie starring Saoirse Ronan. This new novel he’s written apparently poses many questions about art, conformity, and growing old.
Lastly in books, I’m looking at two short story collections. The first is by Ling Ma called Bliss Montage (due out Sept. 13) who wrote the 2018 novel Severance, which I liked. Kirkus Reviews says the ideas of home and belonging recur in these stories, as well as those about motherhood, academia, and abusive relationships.
Then the second book on my radar contains inter-linked stories by Andrea Barrett called Natural History (also due out Sept.13). I haven’t read Barrett in years, but I remember loving her earlier 1998 novel The Voyage of the Narwhal about an Arctic expedition, and her 1996 book Ship Fever won the National Book Award. Much of her work touches on women in science and the natural world, so I look forward to reading her latest.
Then on the screen this month new releases include the final season of The Good Fight, the law show series that stars Christine Baranski as attorney Diane Lockhart, which was a spinoff of The Good Wife show.
One winter I think we got hooked on it and binged five seasons of the show. Now Season 6 starts Sept. 8 on Paramount Plus, which I don’t have. And I’m not sure if I can get it on Prime in Canada, but we’ll see.
Meanwhile there’s also a new Ken Burns six-hour documentary series coming out on PBS starting Sept. 18 called The U.S. and the Holocaust about America’s response to the Holocaust before, during, and after it happened. It won’t be pretty, but it’s likely to be essential viewing and will entail the antisemitic and anti-immigration sentiments that were prevalent then as well as the stories and letters of people caught during those dark days.
For lighter fare, there’s always the rom-com /drama movie The Good House (due out Sept. 30) based on the novel by Ann Leary about a New England realtor (played by Sigourney Weaver) whose life begins to unravel when she hooks up with an old flame from New York (played by Kevin Kline). Its critic ratings look a bit weak, but I’m still hoping it might be the ticket for something just a bit fun.
You might recall that Sigourney and Kevin Kline were together in the funny movie Dave from 1993. Now all these years later here they are back together acting. Though you might be fooled when watching the movie thinking it’s New England when actually it was filmed in Nova Scotia. Ha.
Lastly the drama movie God’s Creatures (due out Sept. 30) looks fairly decent about a mother played by Emma Watson, who is torn between covering for her son (played by Paul Mescal) when he’s accused of a crime in their small Irish fishing village — and her own sense of right and wrong. It looks angst-filled and makes one realize as usual a mother’s job watching out for her kids is never easy.
And now I’ll leave you here with the new single Night Moves off Lissie’s new album Carving Canyons (due out Sept. 16) as my music/artist pick this month.
That’s all for now. What about you — which releases interest you this month? Have a wonderful September.
I always look forward to your monthly picks – fall is a favorite season for me. I loved Lucy By the Sea and, I have We Spread on my fall reading list as well. I’m in trigued by The Book of Goose and Bliss Montage as well. Thanks for sharing Susan.
Hi Diane, thanks. It helps me to see what’s coming out – so these Previews organize me in a way. I think I first heard about We Spread on your site and then I checked it out. I need one suspense book among my reading! Credit it to you.
We read many of the same books so I always love seeing your reviews. You’re having another great reading year. Happy Sept.
I’m really looking forward to all that you mention here, though did not know of Yiyun Li, so I’ll have to add that one to my list. I was going to read Severance, which my son enjoyed, but the pandemic setting put me off it. Since you liked it too, I guess I’ll have to give it a whirl! Good recs, including the movies, which are completely off my radar, so thanks!
Good Molly. Glad some of these are your radar too. Let me know when you read anything good and I will put it on my list. I think I liked Severance especially the first half, but the ending could’ve been stronger … it was a bit rushed or melted away but still interested to follow Ling Ma. She wrote it before the current pandemic so that’s a bit interesting – the similarities to what happened. And I have not tried Yiyun Li yet so we’ll see. Happy reading!
Lucy by the Sea is my top pick for September. Elizabeth Strout never disappoints! I’ve got my eye on The Book of Goose, too. I remember loving The Good House on audio, so I’ll give the movie a try regardless of the critics.
We got quite a bit of much-needed rain yesterday in CT. Today it feels like fall! We’ll probably stay up here through October… haven’t had a chance to enjoy fall in a few years. Hope your selling and moving process goes smoothly!
Thanks JoAnn. I remember your move of a few years ago and now can understand what you went through! It’s nice you’re staying in CT for Oct … Wow that’s wonderful. The colors will be so pretty! I will look forward to what you think of Lucy by the Sea. Happy reading.
Ah! I didn’t put the movie and book together. I read The Good House on audio, too. It was great. Hope the movie is just as entertaining.
Yeah perhaps I should get to the audio before the movie. The trailer makes it seem pretty rom-com but the book has some drama aspects to it I hear. We’ll see what they do with the movie.
Temperatures have already dropped where I am, which is a huge relief. The transition from summer to autumn is probably my favourite time of year. It’s a busy time at work though, so limited time to read. Thanks for your list of new releases. None of them tempt me too much, but at some point I will try one of Strout’s earlier books.
Hi Stargazer …. what line of work are you in? It sounds busy. Our temps have just started to drop too … it’s a bit more livable now. We are getting rain today — wow it’s been a long while. I hope you are loving almost fall there. I’m hearing about your new PM there & energy prices. Good luck to the UK!
Looks like a lot of good reads coming out in September and I’ve added them to my TBR list. Can’t wait to dig in!
Great Dorothy. So many titles in September as usual. We will see what comes out on top. Happy reading & month to you!
What a fun read! Love seeing a pic of your dogs swimming. I’m so excited for this time of the year, because our temps will finally start to go down and we can feel like going out a bit more. There are so many new releases I’m looking forward to and one in particular I just heard about is a new poetry collection by Sandra Cisneros. She is also supposed to be coming to the Texas Book Festival so fingers crossed I can make it. Hope you are having a great start to the month and can’t wait to see what you read!
Thanks Iliana. Great to hear from you. Cisneros is good! Hope your temps cool. I went to college in Texas so I recall staying inside during summer days … too hot! Then I’d swim laps at the pool, LOL. Happy reading & month to you. I hope you make it to the festival.
I’m eager to read Lucy by the Sea, and I’ve added myself to the waiting list for We Spread, though it may be too scary for me. I haven’t read a Kate Atkinson book in a long time either (and why is that, I wonder).
I am a sucker for a rom-com, good or not, and I will definitely look for this new one with Kevin Kline.
Great Deb. I miss seeing Kevin Kline. Ha he was always a bit fun. So I’m game for this one too. Some of Kate Atkinson’s books I think take more energy & concentration perhaps for her multi-plots & many characters – so maybe that is why I’ve not read her in awhile, but I still want to. Time is of the essence at the moment! Lucy by the Sea should be excellent. And We Spread might be eerie. Kirkus says the book tries for scary and ends up silly, though others thought it raised some interesting issues. Hmm. we will see. Have a great week.
My days have definitely gotten busier with school starting back up and me back at work. Not as much time to read sadly. But lots of good books out there! My want-to-read list for September is even longer than yours. 😀
Ha, Lark so many new books for September! You must work at a school so I can imagine you are full on right now. It is hard to find reading time for me too. Yikes. Have a great week.
September looks full! Whew. I’m working my way through The Good Fight. Really enjoying it.
Your dogs look so happy swimming! It’s been hot all week long. Over 100 F. It’s supposed to cool down next week!
I’ll also be watching the U.S. and the Holocaust. Essential viewing for sure.
Loved Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver in Dave! It’s been so long since I saw that. I think it would depress me, though, since it’s about actually carrying about people when in politics…
New book for me this month will by Tiffany Jacksons’ the Weight of Blood, a retelling of Carrie! Looks good.
I hope you have a wonderful week!
Hi Heather thanks. Wow a retelling of Carrie! That’s a blast from the past. I’ll check out what you think of it. I hope it starts to cool down there. We have cool mornings. I’m glad you will be checking out a few of these shows/movies. We found The Good Fight quite entertaining. Right now we’ve been watching the new Elvis movie and the series Five Days at Memorial … which is pretty unreal. Enjoying both. I hope you have a great weekend with some hiking involved! Cheers.
I hope things are going well with regards to having a lot of house showings. As you know, we are enjoying our travels to Glacier NP. We arrive tomorrow after five days of travel. We’ve encountered smoky skies in eastern WA and some of ID, but hope it won’t be too bad in MT. Back home in our little cove, the temps got up to 80+, which is unheard of. Humidity is low, as well, so everyone is concerned about fires there. Sigh. Definitely the new normal for so many areas.
I’m looking forward to Maggie O’Farrell’s new release. I have one of her earlier novels (The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox) in my stacks here in the RV. I’m on the fence about Ian McEwan’s. I loved Atonement and thought Saturday was pretty good, but his more recent works haven’t worked for me. I haven’t read anything by Atkinson, but have a few on my shelves. Do you have a favorite? Of course, Elizabeth Strout is a must read for me. I need to read Oh, William first though! We Spread is on my list, too. It sounds very good and reminds me a little bit of Turn of Mind (reviewed here).
We’ve seen the ads for the new Ken Burns documentary series and will watch, although I’m sure it will be brutal to watch at times. Thanks for the heads-up about The Good House. It looks wonderful! I also want to watch the Ticket to Paradise with Clooney and Roberts. Looks light and funny.
Oh yeah. Lesley I think I will spotlight Ticket to Paradise come October. Looks fun for sure. The smoke is very bad right now Ugh. I’m sorry about it for your trip. But this whole area from ID, MT, to BC and Alberta are inundated with smoke. I thought we had escaped it this summer but now it is here. We need rain big time. You must be driving through smoke. Hope your time will be nice regardless. We are leaving on Tues to a lake in BC but the air there is very bad due to fires ugh.
I’m not hearing good things about the new McEwan book so I stayed clear but I am a big fan of some of his novels. The books I listed are on my radar but haven’t had time to pick them up yet. Still behind on earlier reads. Cheers!
I’ve got Lucy by the Sea and a Paul Theroux on my ereader! Exciting.
Oh yeah Harvee — you can’t go wrong with those! Happy reading.
I hope you do get some rain to help with the fires. I know our recent rain helped with the fires out my way. I am grateful for the cooler temperatures. It’s been pretty humid though with the heat warring with the moisture in the air.
I will have to keep my eye out for Shrines of Gaiety. I have a couple of her earlier books on my TBR shelf still to read. I hadn’t heard they made a movie of The Good House. I read the book years ago and loved it. I didn’t take it as a rom com when I read it. I’m curious to see how the movie turns out if that’s their take on it.
I hope you have a great week and enjoy your reading!
Yeah LF — you are right that The Good House has some drama to it though the movie trailer made it seem like a lot of comedy, so we will see what they did to the book for the movie. Usually the book is better.
The smoke here is very bad right now — from fires in BC and Idaho. Much rain is needed. Hmm. Cooler temps but no rain on the horizon. Fingers crossed. Have a great week where you are!
Good House sounds about right for me, those are 2 actors I enjoy.
Yeah Helen: I hope that movie will be fun. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them. Happy September!