As sad as I am about not writing a Preview post, or a birthday post (hello, third decade of my life), especially because September is my favorite month of the year, I look back on last month with the utmost fondness.

And not just because I celebrated my birthday. My sister’s wedding day fell on one of the prettiest weekends of the month (and year, I’d argue), and I got to take a mini vacation from work because of it (added a couple extra days to my time off request that I definitely deserved). I love weddings in general, but this one could not have been a better celebration for one of the most important people in my life. I’ll be gushing about it for a long time.

A cousin of mine also got married the following weekend, so it was nice to get dressed up for dancing, dinner, and ceremony one more time.

The book club at work had its inaugural meeting, and it was a fun time to see some coworkers outside our professional space.

My boyfriend and I closed up camp for the year (the road is closed in the winter), which is always a little melancholy but also a nice opportunity to look back on another summer spent at the lake. We spent the final day of September driving around as leaf-peepers, catching all the tourists who were a little early to catch peak foliage (at least in the part of the state we were in). It was a gorgeous final day for the best month of the year.

As far as reading went…

Books Read

• The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
  • What an absolute gem of a story. It is unexpected, heartbreaking, tear-jerking, and sweet all in one. It was made for literature lovers, bookstore lovers, and admirers of family stories (in any iteration), and it has taken its spot on my “books I’ll always recommend” list. It reminded me of Nina George’s stories and writing, so you may likely enjoy this if you are an admirer of hers.
    • And I know Gabrielle Zevin’s newest novel was recently published; it’s on my short[er] term TBR.

Books I Did Not Finish

Once again these are not DNF’s [derogatory], just books I did not get around to finishing.

• Living Nations, Living Words: An Anthology of First Peoples Poetry by collected and with an introduction by Joy Harjo, 23rd US Poet Laureate, foreword by Carla D. Hayden, Librarian of Congress
• The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica

Blog Posts

None.

Miscellany

As soon as this post is published I’ll be drafting my October Reading Preview. Per usual, I’m feeling optimistic about the month, but we’ll see how it goes from here.

As always, I’d love to hear about what you’ve been reading (including any blog posts you’ve enjoyed), and would love to know if you’re partaking in any spooky or seasonal activities this month. Let’s chat in the comments.