Books I Read and Loved in September
and a selection of september substack posts worth reading
Friends,
I had high hopes for some 5⭐ reads this month but in the end there were only four that I really loved. Themes for the month were books by new-to-me authors, African challenge reads, short stories and a few more super slim novels. There’s something about the end of summer and the dread of winter that impacts my reading every year around this time (and not in a good way), so I’m afraid it’s a fairly short list this month.
Also, and it bears repeating — if you have not yet started using Storygraph as a reading tracker / book research tool, I cannot recommend it enough! It feels like a monthly horoscope, but with books :)
16 books read, mostly 3⭐
Short stories are definitely a 2024 favourite genre
This excited me slightly because generally ALL my reads are <300 pages so it looks like I’m finally getting my attention span back!
For You I’d Steal A Goat - Niq Mhlongo (190 pages)
Niq Mhlongo’s1 third short story collection is an absolute gem which I picked up at Johannesburg airport. African authors are so hard to find organically in the UK and so I usually take an empty suitcase to stock up when I travel back to South Africa. I also came across this wonderful short story collection on my last trip.
For You, I’d Steal a Goat is a collection of 10 short stories, featuring unique characters and intriguing plots, set amongst the dramas of modern South African society. The stories explore “the things people do for each other, but also to each other,” including major themes such as injustice, corruption, love, desire and other aspects of human interaction.
Quintessentially South African, but you don’t have to have visited or be familiar with the culture to enjoy these short tales.
Any Person Is The Only Self - Elisa Gabbert (221 pages)
Another essay collection, this one found via Substack notes and ordered simply because I loved the book cover! In case you’re curious, it’s called The Passing of Time (2023)2 by Jess Allen.
Written over the course of 5 years, pre and post-pandemic, pre and post-turning 40, each story explores reading, art, the human mind and memory, and delves into Plath, Proust, music and books. General themes of chance, freedom, ambition, envy, nostalgia and happiness made this my favourite read for September.
Gabbert asks,
“When are we truly ourselves? Alone, with others, in the company of the books we hold dear?”
A Postcard For Annie - Ida Jessen (180 pages)
Translated from Danish by Martin Aitken
Another short story collection (a theme this month!) by renowned Danish Author Ida Jessen. Each of the six stories is uniquely intense with an underlying theme of the lives of women - women out of synch with their lives, women who yearn to connect, women in loveless or sexless marriages or women struggling with relationships with their sons.
Books v. Cigarettes - George Orwell (10 pages)
Published in 1946 as propaganda from the Bookseller Association’s Minister for Information, George Orwell debunks the myth that books are too expensive to buy by comparing them to tobacco purchases. At the time there was a general argument that the buying or reading of a book was an expensive hobby and so by using his own book collection as a use case, Orwell breaks down the actual cost of a book vs cigarettes.
A humorous and cheeky read, if you enjoy maths and passive-aggressive calculations you’ll love this book. At 10 pages it’s definitely my slimmest of the slim reads :)
A few September Substack posts I loved to bits:
Petya’s generous guide on how hone in on your personal taste by annotating your books (which I have never done so will be trying this in October!)
DIY natural, hydrating face serum by Sally
The Fourth Plinth artwork in Trafalgar Square by Matt Brown (Mil Veces un Instante (A thousand times an Instant) by Teresa Margolles)
South Africa, Israel and painful histories by Joseph Dana
Niq Mhlongo is an award-winning author from Soweto, South Africa. His second novel, ‘Soweto, under the Apricot Tree’ was awarded the 2019 Herman Charles Bosman Prize and the 2019 Nadine Gordimer Short Story Award.
https://www.jessallen.co.uk/artworks/categories/13/9639-the-passing-of-time-2024/
Seems like we could use a modern update from Orwell to Books vs Vaping.
Oooh... I feel the same about that Elisa Gabbert cover! In combination with your notes on it and my general sense that I should probably add a little bit of nonfiction into my mix, I have already added to my cart!
You have such a specific taste! I love it!
P.S And thank you so much for linking the annotation guide!