Mrs. Ram's Jams

September was a glorious reading month over here at Mrs. Ram’s Jams. I hit the 100 books read for the year mark, and read some great (and some less-than-great) books.

For a full list of what I’ve read so far this year, you can check out my book challenge list at Mrs. Ram’s Goodreads Book Challenge.

But without further ado, here’s my September reading list:

• Uglies (Uglies, #1) by Scott Westerfeld. This has been on my YAL back burner for years, and a student’s copy, perched on her desk’s edge, reminded me of its existence. Premise: there are ugly people. Said ugly people have an operation to make them pretty when they turn 16. Some people in society question if uglies need to turn pretty and run away to start their own society. I had a hard time choking it down. At least it had a decent message? The fact that it’s on a student’s desk even though she’s been reading it the entire first nine weeks suggests how ***yawn*** it is.  
• The Travelers by Chris Pavone. Every now and then, I need a good international thriller. Pavone doesn’t disappoint.
• My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella. This was my least favorite read in September, and it’s chick lit at its worst.
•  Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal. A twenty-something, second-generation Indian woman living in London thinks she’s teaching a creative writing class at a community center to widowed Sikh women, but the women are under the impression they’ve signed up for a course in learning to read English. What happens next? The. Widows. Start. Writing. Erotica. YESSSSSSSS!
• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. Earlier this year, I read Novik’s Uprooted and exalted it, touting it as a book to reread. Her latest novel, Rumplestiltksin-inspired, doesn’t compare to Uprooted’s caliber in the slightest fashion, primarily in regards to narration.There are a bazillion first person narrators, and when they switch, the only clear demarcation of the new POV is a fancy symbol separating one narrator from the next.
• Less by Andrew Sean Greer. This year’s Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner is MORE than deserving of the prestige. Arthur Less, a well-meaning blundering novelist, goes on a transcontinental journey to escape the impending nuptials of his former boyfriend only to encounter even more problems along the way. It’s endearing and hilarious.
• Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) by Ernest Cline. I had so much fun reading this book. It’s set in the dystopian future where the world plugs into OASIS, a virtual reality system, daily instead of existing in the real world. When OASIS’s creator dies, he unveils via a posthumous video that he has programmed in a contest for one winner to win his fortune. The protagonist, Wade Watts, is the first person to uncover the first clue. Gaming, virtual reality, and 80s nostalgia are jammed-packed into this novel, and Cline builds a kick-ass (albeit simulated) world.
• The Seven Year Bitch by Jennifer Belle. Woman marries man. Has kid. Dreams of divorcing man. Fantasizes about man’s death. Flirts with a wealthy man throughout who tries to woo her away from her husband. You know, typical chick lit. Belle’s story line is damn predictable, but it’s funny and well-written.
• Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips. Joan and her young son frequent the local zoo. One evening they stay until closing time, and when trying to exit the park, come across gunshot victims, signaling to Joan an active shooter situation. She takes her son back into the zoo for safety and spends the next three hours fighting for their survival. I fiercely recommend this thriller.
• Ghosted by Rosie Walsh. Sarah immediately falls in love with Eddie and is sure of their connection. But then he vanishes, and she doesn’t hear from him for months. Despite an uneven opening chapter, it was enjoyable–for a romance novel.
• Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall. This book is a wannabe To Kill a Mockingbird, a tad silly in places, and more than inconceivable in others.

P.S. Why do I struggle writing reviews for books I loved? It’s much easier to articulate why I didn’t like a book.  

P.P.S.  I need to start writing reviews immediately when I’m done reading and save them for my monthly books read posts. This whole I’m-gonna-wait-until-the-month’s-end-process-and-review-everything-in-one-fell-swoop malarkey is trash.

Note:  All cover art images were taken from Goodreads.

Links to other book reviews and book lists by Mrs. Ram’s Jams:

Book List: What Mrs. Ram Read Recently

Mrs. Ram’s Jams Reading List for May, June, and (the First Half) of July

The Books I Read in March and April

Mrs. Ram’s Jams Reading List for January and February

Top Twenty Books of 2017

The Books I Read in 2017