Books Read in September

Early September, kayaking in the Catskills

September was a very fun reading month for me! I always love the annual Readers Imbibing Peril (RIP) Reading Challenge in the fall, so much of my reading was focused on the dark and slightly creepy side. Here's what I finished last month:

• The Likeness by Tana French (Ireland) - adult mystery/thriller
• Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel (Russia) - adult sci fi thriller
• The One Safe Place by Tania Unsworth - middle-grade sci fi thriller on audio

• This Was Our Pact by Ryan Andrews - middle-grade fantasy graphic novel 
• Crimes Against a Book Club by Kathy Cooperman (CA) - adult fiction
• The Outsider by Stephen King (OK) - adult fantasy/horror/thriller

• Old Souls by Brian MacDonald and Les McClaine - adult supernatural graphic novel

So, I finished seven books in all, and it was an all-fiction, all-the-time month! Like I said, it was a fun reading month--not a serious or real-life issue here (unless you count giant alien robots and large, magical bears). Five of my novels were for adults and two were for middle-grade readers. I finished one audio book and included two very different graphic novels last month. All in all, despite the dark theme for the RIP Challenge, there was a nice mix of genres, ages, and types. I thoroughly enjoyed every book I read in September, but my favorite was the first one, The Likeness.

Progress in 2019 Reading Challenges:
This is my favorite part of my monthly summary - updating my Reading Challenges:

Mount TBR Reading Challenge - The RIP Challenge is always great for my TBR Challenge! Five of my seven books were from my own shelves last month - woohoo!

Monthly Motif Reading Challenge - September was Animal, Number, Color, Name month, so The One Safe Place by Tania Unsworth fit in perfectly.

Back to the Classics Challenge - No new classics this month and only two so far for the year (but I've already read one in October!).

Monthly Keyword Challenge - After eight months without meeting this challenge even once (clearly, not the best choice for me), I finally did it! One of the keywords for September was "book," and I read Crimes Against a Book Club by Kathy Cooperman. Yes!

Nonfiction Reading Challenge 2019 - No nonfiction last month.

Diversity Reading Challenge - Yikes, only one book with diverse characters in September (unless I can count witches, bears, aliens, and whatever that thing in Stephen King's book was? Yeah, I didn't think so...)

Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge - I added Russia and Ireland.

2018 Literary Escapes Challenge - I added two new states, California and Oklahoma.

RIP XIV Challenge - I kicked the challenge off well with six books last month!

Finally, Bookish Bingo hosted by Chapter Break - not really a challenge per se, but a fun game that I play each month. I filled in just 15 squares in September, despite reading seven books:

Spaces Filled In:

The Likeness - set in a school, thriller/suspense
Only Human - shelf love, read a physical book, in a series
The One Safe Place - new-to-you author, audio book
This Was Our Pact - tournament/competition, water on the cover, ship/boat
The Outsider - tattoo, man on the cover
Old Souls - not in a series, free book
Free Space

What was your favorite book read in September?