September 2025
- Katie Peterson
- Sep 1, 2025
- 6 min read
Something old, something new, something steamy, something true-ish
(Hint: If you click on the image of a book below, it will take you directly to the section about that book!)
Something old: All the Truth That's in Me by Julie Berry
Something new: The Other Side of Now by Paige Harbison
Something steamy: Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone
Something true-ish: When We Flew Away by Alice Hoffman
Book club pick: The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark
The Ratings:
Like plain, black coffee. Strong dislike.
A little cream, a little sugar. Not bad. Not great.
Add some flavor or syrup, it's getting good.
I liked this a latte!
Love! Refill please!
The Steam:
No peppers: Love/romance not a major part of this story
One pepper: Mild! Some love scenes; nothing risque on the page; fade to black
Two peppers: Moderate! Slightly descriptive romantic scenes may occur on page; some implied innuendos
Three peppers: Hot! Blushing while reading may occur; lots of spice
All the Truth That's in Me
Julie Berry
Written in an extremely non-traditional narrative style, this book is the first person account of Judith, town outcast in a non-specified historical time period. Some chapters are mere sentences long; some are several pages, all from Judith's perspective.
Four years prior, Judith and her best friend, Lottie, went missing. Lottie is discovered in the river, naked and deceased. Judith remained missing for two years, before returning, mutilated and heartbroken. For when she was away, life went on. Her childhood beau had set his eyes upon another...a loved one died without her being able to say good-bye...and a family member became so distraught over her condition she's practically shunned in her own home. However, even with near constant setbacks, Judith remains steadfast and hopeful.
She is kind to others, even when they are unkind to her. She yearns to learn to read and write, even though she is made fun of for not being able to do so. She is a hardworker, lending a hand, even when she is unappreciated. And suddenly, Judith is thrust into a new role: savior. For when the village is under attack, she alone knows how to save them. Returning to her captor's lair, she convinces him to help the others, sacrificing her own chance at freedom and happiness. What follows is a tale of a woman who fights to gain her voice, both literally and figuratively, when she's been told her entire adult life that she doesn't have one.
My rating:
I love this book so, so much. It's been a frequent re-read of mine when I need something quick without too much mental commitment. You will be rooting for Judith from page 1!
The Other Side of Now
Paige Harbison
To an outsider, it may seem like Meg Bryan has it all: fame, money, a hot boyfriend. But, from her stage-name (Lana Lord) to her perfect nose, not everything is as 'real' as it seems. As she's celebrating her thirtieth birthday party, she reflects on where things started to derail...when did she stop being truly happy and start pretending? She reminisces on the choices that led her to Hollywood, rather than following her dream and moving to Ireland to attend a small theater school.
During high school, Meg and her best friend Aimee were inseparable. Both dreaming of a life in theater, they make plans to attend an art school in Ireland. However, when Aimee isn't accepted, Meg decides to stay stateside with her, unwilling to follow their dream alone. A tragic accident claims Aimee's life, and Meg eventually ends up as an actress in L.A. Experiencing an emotional crises, Meg (Lana as she goes by now) decides to book an impromptu trip to the place she dreamed of moving to for years, but never actually got the chance to see. When she arrives, everything seems...'off'. Everyone acts like they know her...a dog she's never seen before follows her everywhere...and the cute pub bartender is giving her the cold shoulder. None of this compares, however, to finding out that in this town, in this place, Aimee is alive.
For some reason, Meg is getting a glimpse into the life she could have chosen. What would have happened had she moved to this quaint village in Ireland with her best friend? As she navigates the newness, she discovers that not everything happened as she remembered it. As the date of her return ticket to her life in California gets closer, she desperately clings to the 'now'...because what happens if she doesn't want to go back?
My rating:
Steam rating:
One of my favorite reads so far this year!
Promise Me Sunshine
Cara Bastone
Lenny is lost. Not literally; she knows where she is. But emotionally and mentally, she is adrift. After losing her best friend to cancer, she is drowning in grief. Avoiding all things that remind her of Lou, including close friends and family, their shared apartment, and her job, Lenny passes her time taking temporary babysitting gigs and sleeping on the Staten Island Ferry so that she doesn't have to go home. Her most recent charge, Ainsley, is a spitfire whose adventurous spirit helps distract Lenny...while Ainsley's uncle, Miles, seems to always be brooding in the background.
One day, after discovering that she spends her nights snoozing aboard public transportation, Miles shares with Lenny that he also has experienced the overpowering heartache that accompanies losing someone important to you. When Lenny shows him the "Live Again" list that Lou left her before passing, he offers to be her companion to check off some of the items. As they traipse through New York, completing her late friend's wishes for her (eating something famous you can only get in New York, finding a big boat and 'doing the Titanic thing', watching the Godfather to finally understand the hype), Lenny discovers that she's not just surviving anymore...she's living. As they get closer to finalizing the list, Lenny discovers a message from Lou...one that she'd never seen before...one that truly allows herself the freedom to exist in a way that is both sad and happy; a life filled with missing Lou, but also enjoying the people that are still here.
My rating:
Steam rating:
Good to know before reading: A character experiences intense grief/very emotional
When We Flew Away
Alice Hoffman
Anne Frank's diary has captivated readers and historians for decades: the tragedy of a young life horrifically cut short by cruelty and evil. In this novel, Alice Hoffman imagines the life before the diary. Anne is like any other child in the world...sometimes bored with her life, sometimes enthralled. She loves spending time with her friends, she shares a special relationship with her sister, and she is beginning to show interest in boys. And she especially looks forward to any precious moment spent with her favorite person in the world: Pim, her beloved father.
As the Nazis rage war on Europe, the Frank family feels empathy and worry for their Jewish counterparts, but ultimately feel as if they'll be safe in the neutral country. But when their Queen flees, neutrality no longer applies. The Netherlands are thrust into war, ready or not. Day by day, restrictions become more extensive and widespread. Her childhood is no longer carefree; Anne's movements are monitored and confined to school and home. Jaunts around the neighborhood are no longer allowed, in fact it's illegal for her to even ride her own bicycle now. She doesn't understand this new world with all the new rules. Why does anyone care what she does? She's just a child and she's done nothing wrong!
This novel ends where her diary picks up...going into hiding. It is a realistic, and therefore incredibly heartbreaking, telling of what Anne may have really been thinking during this tumultuous time. It's perhaps geared more towards young adults, but it's worth a read.
My rating:
The Ghostwriter
Julie Clark
As a ghostwriter, Olivia Dumont gets to hide her real persona behind the pages. Researching her subject, really immersing herself in their lives, is something that sets her work apart from others. So it's no wonder that she's handpicked to help a famous author write his next book. However, unlike another horror novel as she was expecting, this one is going to be a life narrative. The problem? The author Olivia is helping is her dad, someone accused of murdering his own siblings decades ago. Although she's always kept her relation to him a secret, she has no choice but to become involved in his life once more. If she's going to do this book justice, she needs to find out what really happened all those years ago.
As she begins working with her father, she discovers this job will be an uphill battle. He is suffering with Lewy Body Dementia, an ailment that affects both his memory and bodily functions. Unable to work for long periods of time, Olivia fears that she's running out of opportunity to discover the truth. Visiting the house where the murders were committed, Olivia finds some clues that have remained undiscovered all these years. Can she finally uncover the murderer after all this time? And when the prime suspect is her dad, even if they are estranged, does she really want to expose all the gory details?
My rating:
Read along with me in October
Something old | The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna |
Something new | You [Don't] Belong Here by Megan Miranda |
Something steamy | Play Nice by Rachel Harrison |
Something true-ish | The Chanel Sisters by Judithe Little |
Book club pick | Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth |
As always, send me book recs to sosnssst@gmail.com or tag me on IG @ktpete23.
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