What a change from the summer months when I was in a bit of a reading slump. This past month, however, all the books (except one!) were solid 4-star and 5-star reads and so different from each other that I was thoroughly engaged and eager to read throughout the month.

On top of that, I recently attended two book events for new releases that have me eagerly anticipating upcoming reading. Mid-September, I caught Emily St. John Mandel on her US tour for Exit Party when she was in conversation with Rachel Khong, another author on my TBR list. I’m toying with the idea of becoming a completist for Emily St. John Mandel since I really enjoyed both Station Eleven (Reading Lately, November 2018) and The Glass Hotel (Reading Lately, April 2020) and am intrigued by her Mandelverse.

Then at the beginning of October, I attended a large and packed event for Min Jin Lee and her latest novel American Hagwon. She was in conversation with director Lee Isaac Chung, moderated by actress Jamie Chung, and they had an animated and interesting discussion about immigration, family, sacrifice, education, and more. I really enjoyed Pachinko. It opened my eyes to world history and prejudices that were unfamiliar to me (Reading Lately, October 2017). I am eager to delve into her new novel.

How has your reading been lately?  

Crash Into Me by Robinne Lee (2026) 📖
Narrated by the author 🎧

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I went into this expecting a beachy romance, but it was absolutely not. Instead, it explored a fragile marriage, starting over after a move, old crushes, race, privilege, and identity, just to name a few major points. Alternating between 2015 westside Los Angeles and a 1996 photo shoot in Cabo San Lucas, the story follows a Jamaican-Chinese immigrant to the US who has lived in France for two decades and has now just moved to LA and is forced to process a chance reunion with a model from that shoot and the painful way it ended. I enjoyed the unexpected direction of the story and the big ideas it explored. And as someone living in Los Angeles, I was intrigued by her take on the city. Bonus was the opportunity for our book club to speak with the author.

• Summer Reading Challenge: A book by a friend’s favorite author

Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth (2025) 📖
Narrated by Hannah Fredericksen and Jenny Seedsman 🎧

⭐️⭐️⭐⭐️⭐️ This was a fun read with a twist at the end that I did not see coming. Elsie is a 81-year old curmudgeon who’s worked hard to keep her past unknown. Then a precocious little girl moves into the neighborhood and is set on befriending Elsie. Slowly but surely, Elsie’s shell softens and her past starts coming to light. It’s a wonderful, at times heartbreaking, story of friendship, community, and redemption.

• Read Around the World: Oceania (Melbourne, Australia)
• Read My Own Audio Bookshelf

Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan (2026)
Narrated by Julia Whelan 🎧

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I loved this story and the audiobook was excellent. Dolly, a 30-something single mom with a 13-year old son, returns to her seaside hometown in Rhode Island for the summer to help her father with the family fish business and care for her adult disabled brother. After a chance encounter with handsome and wealthy Stewart, they agree to fake date for the summer as a solution to both their problems. Of course, you know how it’s going to end, but the journey to get there was perfect. I laughed and even got teary-eyed at times. It was perfectly sweet, humorous, and thoughtful.

So Old, So Young by Grant Ginder (2026) 📖

⭐️⭐️ I read this on a whim for an annual girls weekend with high school friends. A few others had read it, and they had very conflicting thoughts. Since it was a book about friends, in this case college friends, reuniting over time, I thought it would be the perfect book to read and discuss with them. It was not for me. I could not relate to this group of friends. There was too much hooking up, drinking, and drugs, and just not friendly behavior. Though I love the cover and how spot on it was for the story.

A Girl Within a Girl Within a Girl by Nanda Reddy (2025) 📖
Narrated by Khaya Fraites 🎧

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really enjoyed and appreciated this book, though it tackles difficult subject matter that may not be for everyone. It follows Maya, a Guyanese immigrant who has built a wonderful life for herself in Atlanta, until a letter from her long-lost sister brings her painful past crashing back. At just 13, Maya was forced to leave Guyana and sent to live with an abusive family in Miami. It’s a heartbreaking but also inspiring story of survival and resilience as she found a way forward. This book also opened up my eyes to the Indian connection and influence on Guyana which was totally unknown to me.

• Read Around the World: South America (Guyana)

What have you been reading lately?

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