Books I Read in September

1. Royal Gambit by Daniel O’Malley – O’Malley’s great tragedy is that in his first novel he created Myfanwy Thomas, one of the greatest characters ever written. He keeps writing sequels, set in the same world, featuring Strong Female Leads, who are fine but they aren’t Myfanwy Thomas.
2. Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa – the subtitle describes this book as a P&P remix, which is a genre I have read copiously and am extremely familiar with. But it’s missing a lot of crucial elements that make up P&P – Oliver (known to Mrs Bennet as Elizabeth) is attracted to Darcy and hates Wickham from the beginning. The Bennets aren’t social inferiors to the Bingleys and Darcys at all, nor is Collins. Neither is the latter the buffoon of the original (or a clergyman, for that matter). The Bennets live in London?! This isn’t a remix, it’s just fanfiction, and not particularly good fanfiction. It’s certainly interesting to imagine the Darcy-Bennet romance with a trans twist, but I had hoped for a much better characterized and plotted version than this, and go into P&P remixes expecting more similar beats to the original.
3. I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett (audio) – maybe my favourite of the Tiffany Aching sub-series. I literally fist-pumped in the car when she told the Cunning Man what was wrong with him was that he told people to think of other people as their enemies rather than him, Master of Lies.
4. Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith by Eric O. Jacobsen – this book isn’t at all what I anticipated. Much more an evangelical pastor writing to evangelicals, than a Christian urban studies academic sharing his research with fellow Christians. And yet, while quite dated, this book is a surprising encomium to the city, to the built environment, to church buildings (church buildings! To read about their value in an age that views them more as an albatross was a balm), to community and living together, not as individual consumers. Really interesting thoughts about the local economy, about permanence, walkability, that go beyond basic Christian platitudes. I’ll be thinking about this one for awhile.
5. How to Lose a Lord in Ten Days by Sophie Irwin – oh, what disappointment! I had been eagerly waiting for this one and it was such a letdown. Some of it was just not for me – enemies to lovers isn’t my favorite trope; I always think the enemies have been too cruel to each other to come back from – but well done enemies to lovers requires more scenes from each character alone, with their friends that they love, so that we can see who lovable they are when they aren’t antagonizing their romantic partner. We got little to no character interiority until halfway through. And the good scenes were really unevenly written. The parts where she challenged him on women’s interests were good! And the second half got much better, as they warmed to one another. But they were also way too stupid to notice the obvious looming mystery/conflict/dramatic event bringing them together, which was evident to me from chapter 4. A disappointing read from one of my favourite authors. I’m so sad about it.
6. Value(s) by Mark Carney – honestly a surprise in the depth and breadth of his research, and I found his prose very readable (though I skimmed some of the more technical sections). It’s a strong defense of virtue capitalism, if you’re open to such a thing. Some of it, though, makes some of his governance choices since becoming Prime Minister pretty baffling. Why, for example, is he listening to Greta Thunberg on climate when writing this book, but not listening to her about Palestine as he chooses to continue to arm Israel? Why is he reversing course on the climate solutions he proposes here? I want to hold up his own book to him and say, “um, excuse me, you should read this, it’s got good ideas!”
7. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett (re-read) – it’s easy to forget how much Vimes and Vetinari changed Ankh-Morporkh until you go back to the beginning and see how it was. And Sybil pursuing Vimes romantically is so adorable.
8. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (audio, re-read) – I really like Richard Osman’s writing style, he does an excellent job leaving little cliffhangers throughout, but he definitely improved over the course of the series and this first one isn’t quiiiite there. Proper ending though.
9. Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza by Munther Isaac – there is a reason that he has become such a prominent voice. What a writer. It’s so well-cited, and he actually makes a theological and moral argument rather than just name-dropping!
10. The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett – meh. The illustrations were wonderful though!
11. Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (re-read) – I listened to this one a few years back straight through on a very memorable long drive through the mountains, and it’s impossible to recreate that propulsive experience via reading the words on the page. But it still completely grabbed me.
12. Moral Conscience Through the Ages: Fifth Century BCE to the Present by Richard Sorabji– a comprehensive historical survey of Western thought about conscience without much judgment on any of them
13. Snuff by Terry Pratchett (audio) – this was everything I want in a book: a country murder mystery, a quest for justice, Pride and Prejudice references, and Sam Vimes. While there are obvious references to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, there’s also surprising resonances with what would have been coming out at Canada’s TRC at the time this was written. Important and satisfying. I wish it weren’t the last in the series.
14. Do Morals Matter? A Guide to Contemporary Ethics by Ian Markham – this book from 2007 proved astonishingly prescient from my vantage point in 2025. Really helpful in thinking through my conscience sermon series.
15. The Bodyguard by Katherine Center – so cliché it must have been deliberate but I cried buckets
16. Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning by Peter Beinart – this was incredible. I’m in awe of his courage and integrity. I highly recommend all y’all read this book, especially if you believe in a free Palestine and even more if you are frightened by the thought of a free Palestine.
17. Blood and Circuses by Kerry Greenwood – meh. I didn’t like this one so much.
18. Thud! by Terry Pratchett (re-read) – this one is weird. I remember thinking that on my first listen through, and I thought it again. But there were quite a lot of gems within: Lance-Constable Sally, Mr Shine Him Diamond, Tawnee, Carrot & Angua, Lady Sybil and her dragons and her knowledge of history, the Guarding Dark. A joy in the midst of its weirdness. 
19. The Rook by Daniel O’Malley (audio, re-read) – Yay Myfanwy Thomas! But I did not care for the narrator. Her attempt at a Belgian accent was ….. something.

Work's gotten really busy, and I'm re-watching Buffy, so we'll see how much reading I can do for the rest of the year. What are y'all reading?