A Cuppa Cosy Reads – September 2025

Boy oh boy, September came in with a bang and left with a bang…and I still don’t know what happened during the month. Whew. 

We had family visit at the beginning, my husband was in and out throughout the month, I started working. And volunteering and community events started ramping up. I feel a bit all over the place to be honest, so here I am, sitting down to write some posts in the hopes that it’ll ground me before I have to move on to the next thing. 


With all of that- I somehow read 8 books this month! While I had some average reads in there, I also had some absolute winners and new favorites. I gave an average rating of 3.857, which might be the highest average in a while! I’m really hopeful about October too as I’ve picked some real good ones out, I think.

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeannette McCurdy NR One of the things I really enjoyed about this book was how frank she was. We share a semi similar history with traumatic childhoods through our mothers and it was nice to hear someone else discuss it with such frankness. You can tell she has been in therapy and is working through a lot of issues (which I love for her!) and therefore is able to now recognize certain issues or patterns. As someone who went through a lot of therapy, I can speak about certain life experiences with such frankness that it throws people off. This was a breath of fresh air in that sense. 

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid 5 Stars Boy does this live up to all of the hype! It was such a slow but beautiful story, and you can’t help but just fall in love with what exists between the covers. I will say, I recognize some people have some issues with the ending (and I’d love to talk them through with you if you do), but I found it to be exactly as I’d imagined and there is only one thing I’d change if anything. 

Beautiful Things by Emily Rath 4 Stars Mia- you have a why choose book on this wrap up AND you gave it 4 stars?! Yes- I really loved this book. It has the best mix of social society and dynamics in regency England with smut. The fact that this worked for me (or at least this book) is fantastic and I cannot wait to read the second one. 

Fall I Want by Lyra Parish 3 Stars This was “fine”. I learned that I really like to have that 3rd act breakup, even as ridiculous as it can be, it progresses things and gives a little drama. I found that things went a little too easy (and not because everyone was emotionally mature, but because it just went easy). I don’t have too much more to add to it. 

Julie Chan is Dead by Liann Zhang 5 Stars When I tell you that I loved this book- I mean it. This was great, a mix between social commentary, social media, thriller, a hint of the horror…it had it all. This was such a great ride to read, and I would highly recommend it. 

Spookily Yours by Jennifer Chipman 3 Stars Again, another OK book. This is actually a novella and a very cheesy one at that (which I expected based on the cover), but I wish there had been a bit more to it. Give me a bit more struggle, a bit more development and I might have rated it higher.

The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective by Jo Nichols 3 Stars I think the word that I can best use to describe my issues with this book is “lazy”. There was so much about this book that was lazy- from the character development to the actual makeup and twist to the story. There was also a bit too much performative diversity that ended up detracting from the story as a whole. I didn’t hate the story or book, but I definitely found some issues that could have been handled before publishing. 

Love Arranged by Lauren Asher 4 Stars This was the third book in this sister series, and I really enjoyed this one! I loved the dynamic between our two main characters and the fact that they didn’t waste time. This was the first series of hers that I have read start to finish and I’m glad I did! 

So, that was September! I’m really happy with the reading I did and the books I chose. What was your favorite book in the past month?

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A Cuppa Cosy Reads – August 2025

I feel like this year is just flying by and I can’t catch up! Before we know it, it will be time to be talking about the year as a whole and new reading goals- which is scary to think about. I would say August was a fairly average reading month for me; a couple of standouts, but on the whole nothing super special in any of the books. I read a total of 8 books and gave an average rating of 3.28. 

Loving a Vampire is Total Chaos by Aura Hayes 2 Stars – This book was total chaos…

Mean Moms by Emma Rosenblum 3.5 Stars – This book was so much fun in all good ways, but it was also just a standard thriller esque story. 

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna 4 Stars – I thoroughly enjoyed all the coziness this book brought, but I also felt a little let down (possibly because it was so built up after all the publishing delays). 

Rush Week by Michelle Brandon 3 Stars – Another average thriller, though this one was more boring in certain parts than Mean Moms. I don’t know if it was too much with reading it during Rush Week or if it was the book itself (probably the latter to be honest).

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz 4 Stars – This was just a delightful novella- I could have read more about these robots trying to open a noodle spot. 

Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare 3.75 Stars – While I enjoyed this immensely and am looking forward to picking up the second, I also felt like at times it was a bit…long winded and was repeating itself in ways that wasn’t necessary (the author does a great job at showing not telling, but then would tell us after). 

How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive by Craig DiLouie 3 Stars – This was solid in some parts and yet feel short in other parts. I felt like it was a little drawn out, so when we got to the punchy parts, it was already a little tiring to read. I enjoyed the last sections, but the lead up was a little overdone. 

To Have and To Heist by Sara Desai 3.5 Stars – This was cute and fun and a great comedy of errors, but I don’t think I need to read any further. 

And that’s it! A solid month if not as high a rating as I’d like. On to September and the start of all the autumnal reads. 

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The Home Library – Alaska Edition

I think this is now the third iteration of my home library that I’ve shared on here (3rd or 4th I can’t recall) and this one is my favorite of them all. I don’t know if I’ll ever have this set up, this perfection again, so I firmly plan on being here every single day (and I have been so far). But first, let’s go back and see through the years how the home library has existed in our various houses…

The 1st edition (the one I don’t know if I shared or not) was known as the wall of books. And was simply, a wall of books. It was dreamy in its own way (I mean who wouldn’t want to just have a wall of books), but there wasn’t much seating within the books- the chair was opposite- and it was also in the office- so lots of other things happened instead of reading. 

The 2nd edition was the first corner set up. It was where I first started becoming “Belle”. It didn’t have a chair within the library itself, but it was moldable, and I would move the boy’s little nugget in, I would re arrange easily, and it became our Hogwarts library of dreams when we did the hanging candles from the ceiling. It was my first chance to start seeing what I’d like in a library and what I don’t need. 

The 3rd edition was the shortest of them all- our one year in Texas. Another corner shelf set up, though we added a lamp, had the chair in the library, and had a separate area for library books. This was a great set up- I learned that I absolutely need a lamp (multiple would be nice if possible) and I placed a speaker on one of the shelves- which was a great addition. 

Finally, here we are this 4th edition. You will be able to see why I won’t be able to top this one- it’s an absolute dream. I’ve got a cushioned window seat, the wall of books, but still two corners, the chair and lamp within the library, but also plenty of space to host/bring in more cushions for the kids to read too. It’s dreamy in all the best ways and I really truly plan on spending a little bit of time here every day.

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