September 2025 Books

* The Joy of Visualization by Valerie Wells - I believe I came across this a few years back when I was at Baldwin’s Book Barn. I finally decided to read one visualisation a day. There were a few that were a bit goofy, even for me, but others left me dog-earing the page so that I could return and work on them again and again.

♥ Super Sleuth ¹ by David Walliams - Oh my gosh, this story was so good!! I started it one day while out for a drive but I couldn't seem to focus. Then I put it on while filling out Halloween cards and got sucked in to the story, big-time. The narration was sensational and more than once I found myself LOLing and hitting the back button so I could laugh all over again. I'm so glad that I purchased it because I absolutely will be listening to this with Bailey and hopefully Lucy.

* 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think by Brianna Wiest - This is Kayla's pick for the book that was most influential/life-changing. The first 64 essays were fantastic and my book is marked (with pencil) on so many pages. Arrows and underlines and asterisks and x marks noting statements that really resonated with me. As the book went on I wasn't as excited as I had been when I first started. Still, I am looking forward to popping over to Kay's so we can break out our copies and talk about what really stood out to us. 

* Eleanor Roosevelt - A Life of Discovery ¹ by Russell Freedman - I knew so very little about the former First Lady and this book was a nice introduction. She was definitely a woman ahead of her time and I can see now more clearly why she is so admired by so many people.

♥ The Second Son by Charles Sailor - The first three quarters of the book was riveting and I so looked forward to popping outside for a smoke break and to get in a few chapters. The last quarter had some stressful moments, one of which I skipped entirely once I knew what was gonna happen, and the end kind of was blah. I wanted a happily ever after rather than reality. But it was extremely well written and I've been recommending it a lot. I even bought a second hand copy to loan out, that way my copy doesn't get banged up any more than it already is. Aunt Berne gave me her copy back in December. She told me that when she first finished reading it, she loaned it to my father who blew through it in no time. In my make-believe life, I'd have had a Dad who took a real interest in me as a person and I imagine that in this perfect alternate timeline, he'd still be alive and would ask me to go out for lunch so we could chat about the book. Alas, it is never to be. It's a brilliant concept for a novel - New York City in the late 70s/early 80s where an iron worker, a literal every day Joe, falls twenty-four stories to the pavement below and survives. Through a series of events it - spoiler alert - turns out that Joseph Turner is the Second Son of God. The best part of the book for me was the time where I, an agnostic at best, got so wrapped up in the story that for a brief moment I thought it was actually happening. Kind of like when you have a vivid dream, wake up, and still feel like what you dreamt was real. When the world found out who Joesph really was, I felt a sort of calm peace, as if the truth was revealed and there really is a God and a Heaven where everyone is waiting. But then I came back to reality. I found myself clinging to that sensation of a real life Joseph Turner who urged people to help themselves and those around them and to bring power to the people through kindness and hard work. I can't wait for Wayne to read it so we can talk it over!

* Quitters, Inc. ¹ by Stephen King - This was a very short story (the audiobook was only about 45 minutes, and I remembered it a bit from the vignette in Cat's Eye that I saw when I was in grade school.) It was really good and Eric Roberts was a great narrator.

* The Mist ¹ by Stephen King - I'd seen the film version years ago when it came out, and then again last October. I'm working my way through as many King stories as possible before my death (he has so many!! I know I won't get to them all in time.) and this was a shorter one so I queued it up after Quitters, Inc. and it was really good. The film was pretty faithful, except for the end. (I like both endings, to be honest.) The only thing I didn't like was when David Drayton, the lead, was trying to get it on with one of the women trapped in the market with him. Lame!

¹ - audiobook
² - abridged version
* - liked
♥ - loved
Any unmarked titles were, in my opinion, so-so.