First up, I read Savage Blooms by S. T. Gibson (task #16), which is an almost impossible book to describe. It’s a dark gothic romantasy with a bisexual M/F/M/F why choose romance subplot. Definitely check the content warnings for this one, but I had a great time reading it.
I finally read Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens (task #8), which has been on my TBR for ages. It felt like the perfect read to greet the fall. It’s about a teenage ghost who falls in love with George Sand, the writer. It’s a sad, beautiful, and strange story that was exactly what I was looking for.
On audiobook, I read Algospeak by Adam Aleksic, a quick but thought-provoking book about how algorithms and social media change our language.
The book I spent most of September reading, though, was The New Annotated Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, edited by Leslie S. Klinger. I mean to read it on October, but my library hold came in early. This ended up being a slog, though I’m glad I did it. I just think Leslie S. Klinger and I have different ideas about interesting asides. And I can now confidently say Frankenstein is not one of my favourite classics, unfortunately.
I followed that up with a palette cleanser: You Can’t Live All on Your Own!, Volume 2 by Mizoko Tsuno, a slice-of-life manga about four women roommates in Japan. I’ll definitely be continuing with the series.
As another quick read, I finished Fate’s Bane by C. L. Clark (task #1, #6, and #19), a tragic sapphic fantasy novella. Clark is definitely an incredible writer, and I’m looking forward to reading their other book out the same day: the last book in the Magic of the Lost series, Sovereign. I’ve decided I want to reread the first two volumes first, though, so I’m saving that until November.
Currently, I’m reading The Salvage by Anbara Salam, a gothic literary thriller about Marta, a queer Syrian marine archaeologist, set in the 1960s on a remote Scottish island. It’s very atmospheric, and I’m planning on finishing it today.