Clare L. Deming

I often struggle with reading in September because I have an annual conference this month that takes up a solid week of my time. But this year I managed to stay focused and was determined to keep a consistent reading schedule, completing four books for the month.

If you’d like to pick up any of these books and support my blog at the same time you can click on the book links in this post. You can also find my list of recommended reads (in different categories) over at Bookshop.org.

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Books I read in September (2,001 pages):

• A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher is a stand-alone retold fairy tale that featured both young and elderly heroines in a deadly game of courtship – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden is a historical fantasy novel that reimagines the story of Anne of Brittany in the 1400s as she cleverly navigates political intrigues and discovers a touch of magic – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• The Tapestry of Fate by Channon Chakraborty is the second book in The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi series and takes the retired pirate out to sea once more in a semi-historical Arabic setting – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Written in my Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon is the 8th book in the Outlander series and sees me nearing the end of this epic story – ⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Reading now:

• The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon is a historical fiction novel set in Maine in the late 1700s that a friend recommended to me. I’m more than halfway done with this one already and I’ve been completely drawn in to the mystery.
• Murmuration by T.J. Klune is an older book by this author that is being re-released this fall, so I’m reading it for review courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. I’m about a third of the way into it.
• Blacklight Born by Alexander Darwin is the third and final book in The Combat Codes series that I’m listening to on audio. I’m only a short ways into this one and you can find my review of the first book in the series here.

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Other books I had hoped to get to in September:

• A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett is the second book in the Shadow of the Leviathan series and I’ll get to this one soon enough, just not in September.
• Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab is a gorgeous Fairy Loot edition hardcover that has been taunting me for months, but there are not enough hours to read everything I want to.

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Books I’m planning to read in October:

• The Eleventh Gate by Nancy Kress is a stand-alone space opera novel that was picked for an upcoming book club selection.
• Dead Beat by Leigh Bardugo is the third and final book in the Ninth House series and is one of my most anticipated reads of 2026.
• Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher is a fantasy romance novel and a loose sequel to Swordheart which I read early in 2026.
• Infinite Wisdom by Thomas R. Weaver is the sequel to Artificial Wisdom (review here) which was a phenomenal near-future science fiction book except for the ending. I’m hopeful that this sequel will fix that and I was eager to accept this from Net Galley for review.
• Steelborn by Taylor J. LaRue will be my bonus book for the month if I’m doing exceptionally well with my reading.
• The Best of All Possible Planets by Alex Shvartsman will be my bonus audiobook, depending on how long it takes me to get through Blacklight Born.

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New books acquired in September (2 allowed):

• Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher was purchased because I already have the first book in hardcover and they’re both so pretty.
• Immortal Rose by Alexandra Bracken was this month’s Fairy Loot pick and looks like a stand-alone romantasy pick.

Looks like I’m back on track with resisting the need to bring excessive numbers of new books home, at least for one month!

What books are you still hoping to read before the end of the year? Do you plan out your reading like I do or pick up a book based on your current mood or some other factor? Let me know in the comments!