What I Read in September 2025
Happy Q4, friends! The time of the year has arrived where we are not sure where this year went and the rest of the year will disappear out of nowhere. I have currently fallen out of audiobooks (this happens to me from time to time but this time might be more or less permanent?) and read only physical books last month, which is my favorite medium for reading anyways.
Okay, here’s everything I read in September:
FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelly
Another AP Lit Book Club, this time picked by yours truly! It was my first time reading Frankenstein ever, and it was so much different than what I expected based on how it is portrayed in the popular culture which is widely inaccurate (I did know going into it that Frankenstein is NOT the name of the “monster” but that was the extent of my knowledge). Compared to Wuthering Heights, I found Frankenstein much more readable though some parts read a bit clunky and convoluted. While I wouldn’t say it is my favorite book, I appreciate how significant Frankenstein is to Gothic literature and science fiction.
KATABASIS by R. F. Kuang
Having read all of R. F. Kuang’s books, Katabasis was one of my most anticipated reads for this year. R. F. Kuang’s latest heroine Alice Law, a graduate student at Cambridge studying in the field of Magic, braves a journey to Hell in order to bring back her advisor Jacob Grimes, which turns out to be much more than she bargained for, especially with an unexpected company of Peter Murdoch, fellow Grimes advisee and her rival. Despite the similar academic settings, Katabasis reads more contemporary and lighthearted(?) compared to Babel, or at least the writing is. A lot of people criticize Babel for pretentious prose and the heavy use of footnotes but I personally loved it! While the premise of Katabasis intriguing and the romance sweet, it’s just no my favorite R. F. Kuang book (and that is okay!!!).
THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END by Adam Silvera
Clearing out my physical TBR, I finally got around to reading They Both Die At the End, which was a recommendation/gift from my older sister Jiyoung. They Both Die At the End is set in an alternate reality where you get a phone call at midnight (or shortly after) if it’ll be your last day. You don’t know when exactly or how but you know for certain you’ll die that day. Naturally, there are places online and offline targeted for these people who receive their End Day notification and that is how Mateo and Rufus meet. The last day they spend together is full of life and love. An emotional read for sure…
THE LUCKY RIDE by Yasushi Kitagawa
Publishing in English in just a couple of days (officially on October 7, 2025), The Lucky Ride is being advertised as a cross between The Midnight Library and The Secret. I can’t recall if I ever read The Secret but I though The Lucky Ride is what The Midnight Library would be if the message it conveyed was “Be Ready When The Luck Happens” aka the title of Ina Garten’s memoir. The Lucky Ride certainly has it own air to it, and how fun is the idea of a magical taxi ride (or a handful of them) changing the course of your life?! There is a tiny bit of self-help energy in this book and some indirect mention of Japan during WWII, which I am never a huge fan of.
Thanks to HarperOne for the gifted book!
THERE THERE by Tommy Orange
I don’t know why I put off reading There There for so long (I bought a used copy from Persnickety Books almost four years ago)! There There follows several characters, all of whom are Indigenous and are traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow for one reason or another. Their stories and motivations are somehow connected as a whole. I did have to flip flop to confirm my memory as the cast is quite large and you don’t hear from all of them more than twice maybe. I loved reading (and learning) about life in Oakland and how different Native experiences can be.
P.S. I’m currently reading Dead Before Co-Ed by Mary Vecellio, a fellow Salem alum!
