I am a third of the way through The Tiger's Wife and so far its good but doesn't seem in line with the over the top praise when it came out. Anyone else read it and have thoughts?

Saptember 2025 by Anonymous

Pretty good so far

"Dear Miss Lake", which is the fourth and final book in a series about people working at a magazine in London during WW II. The first book in the series is called "Dear Mrs. Bird". Loved it. I loved every book in the series.

Saptember - cool title. And definitely agree that next month should be Actober. Let’s come up for something for every month too, while we are at it.

I read “Venetia” by Georgette Heyer. It is a re-read and one my favorite books if hers so loved it.

I am reading “Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows”. An Indian-origin London woman applies for a job at the local Sikh temple as a creative writing tutor for Punjabi women but turns out they are more interested in sharing racy stories. It is a bit draggy and could have been edited tighter but so far a lot of fun.

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Boring.

The Girlfriend (great so far)
The tv series came from this book

Anonymous wrote:I read Sandwich, by Catherine Newman. It is an easy, often funny read but I don’t really recommend it. Her anger at her husband is a major theme but her husband is portrayed as sort of perfect, so that is confusing. And though I have gone through menopause I guess I don’t really recognize/identify with the portrayal of menopause as provoking rage. (Plus the main character is 54; wouldn’t she have gone through all that a few years earlier? I don’t know, I had chemo induced menopause at 40, so maybe I am just clueless.) And as someone struggling with the pain and fear of aging parents—her parents were so spry and fit overall that her fear about them seemed out of proportion, pre reveal. So, fine to read but in the end it didn’t land for me.

I’m 51 and was so eager to read a book about where I am in life. Couldn’t identity with any of it.

I read Sandwich, by Catherine Newman. It is an easy, often funny read but I don’t really recommend it. Her anger at her husband is a major theme but her husband is portrayed as sort of perfect, so that is confusing. And though I have gone through menopause I guess I don’t really recognize/identify with the portrayal of menopause as provoking rage. (Plus the main character is 54; wouldn’t she have gone through all that a few years earlier? I don’t know, I had chemo induced menopause at 40, so maybe I am just clueless.) And as someone struggling with the pain and fear of aging parents—her parents were so spry and fit overall that her fear about them seemed out of proportion, pre reveal. So, fine to read but in the end it didn’t land for me.

I just finished a slim novel by the Australian author Helen Garner called The Spare Room. Nicola has advanced cancer and comes to stay with her friend Helen to receive experimental treatment. It sounds grim, but was actually funny and real and I loved it.

Anonymous wrote:I am re-reading Barbara Pym’s “Excellent Women,” because I just read “Lucky Loser” about Trump and thought my soul needed cleansing.

Love Barbara Pym. I've read all of her novels and often reread one in November - they just seem to fit that month.

Anonymous wrote:Clown Town by Mick Herron (the 9th Slow Horses book)

It's ok. He doesn't quite bring the energy of the previous books (I'm not done yet). and there's a lot of revisiting old ground so far... I will come back and update

Anyone else reading this one? I loved the book series, devoured books 1-8

I loved the TV version, “Slow Horses” and didn’t think to read the books until i saw a review of Town Clown. I almost finished first book and may continue reading because of the descriptive language .

I am re-reading Barbara Pym’s “Excellent Women,” because I just read “Lucky Loser” about Trump and thought my soul needed cleansing.

Ooh, I've had a few good ones lately.

Mean Moms - over the top NYC private school moms welcome a new mom and mystery ensues. I love rich-people-behaving-badly books. This one is fun.

Among Friends - the writing is exquisite. Four friends meet on an annual vacation and the unthinkable happens. The story goes into how each character deals with this aftermath of the situation.

So Far Gone - This book feels very Lebowski-esque. The protagonist has moved to the woods to get away from "it all" but then has to find his kidnapped grandchildren and missing daughter while dealing with a white supremacist militia group.

The Listeners - I loved this one! It's set in a luxury hotel in West Virgina during WWII. Nazi diplomats are housed here, along with FBI and State Department officials, hoping to make swaps for U.S. Citizens. It's the story of the staff in the hotel, the diplomats, and an interesting back story. Definitely recommend.

I just finished Passion Project. It was SUPER sappy. Too much for me, I only gave it two stars.

Let’s make sure the next month title will be Actober 2025 - what are you reading?