September recommended lists you don’t want to miss
September is a month where libraries really get their chance to shine. It’s Library Card Sign-up Month, Banned Books Week is September 22-28, libraries are supporting students who have returned to school, and readers are getting ready to cozy up with a good book as we enter fall. We’re also kicking off our celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, which starts September 15 and runs through October 15. We have all the Marketplace lists you need to shop for and curate your collections for all your library lovers and new cardholders.
Library Card Sign-up Month
Shop the list here
September is Library Card Sign-up Month, so we know librarians everywhere are seeking out every adult, teen, and child in their area who may not already have access to the abundance of resources their library has to offer. What better way to get patrons (and yourself) inspired than with some books that exemplify the joy and power of reading. With both fiction and nonfiction for all audiences, this mega list is sure to entice all your seasoned readers, along with those just now being introduced to the wonders of their library.
Featured Title
Not Another Banned Book by Dana Alison Levy
Buy the ebook here
Buy the audiobook here
From your OverDrive DCL: Banned Books Week is September 22-28 this year, so why not tackle two-in-one with this title that celebrates libraries and addresses book bans all at once! Molly knows the value of a good book. No matter what’s going on at home, she has the book club at school to turn to. That is, until someone anonymously notifies the school board about a controversial book in the classroom and her favorite teacher Ms. Lewiston is suspended. Now the book club is on hold until further notice, and Molly is feeling lost. She knows she has to prove to everyone that the books Mrs. Lewiston shared with her students are more important than the adults understand, so she and her group of friends decide to take a stand of their own. From writing to their favorite author to protesting on the football field, Molly will discover just what it takes to make a change. With both humor and heart, this book tackles school censorship, displays why representation matters, and celebrates how stepping into someone else’s story can lead to empathy.
Hispanic Heritage
Shop the list here
Hispanic Heritage Month is a month-long celebration of Hispanic and Latino history and culture, and it’s a great opportunity to recognize these cultures across the country and in your own community. It is celebrated from September 15 – October 15, so be sure to check out this list of titles for all ages to provide your patrons with everything they need.
Top Titles of September
Shop the list here
Featured Title
Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
Buy the ebook here
Buy the audiobook here
From the publisher: Creation Lake is a novel about a secret agent, a thirty-four-year-old American woman of ruthless tactics, bold opinions, and clean beauty, who is sent to do dirty work in France.
“Sadie Smith” is how the narrator introduces herself to her lover, to the rural commune of French subversives on whom she is keeping tabs, and to the reader.
Sadie has met her love, Lucien, a young and well-born Parisian, by “cold bump”—making him believe the encounter was accidental. Like everyone Sadie targets, Lucien is useful to her and used by her. Sadie operates by strategy and dissimulation, based on what her “contacts”—shadowy figures in business and government—instruct. First, these contacts want her to incite provocation. Then they want more.
In this region of centuries-old farms and ancient caves, Sadie becomes entranced by a mysterious figure named Bruno Lacombe, a mentor to the young activists who communicates only by email. Bruno believes that the path to emancipation from what ails modern life is not revolt, but a return to the ancient past.
Just as Sadie is certain she’s the seductress and puppet master of those she surveils, Bruno Lacombe is seducing her with his ingenious counter-histories, his artful laments, his own tragic story.
Written in short, vaulting sections, Rachel Kushner’s rendition of “noir” is taut and dazzling. Creation Lake is Kushner’s finest achievement yet as a novelist, a work of high art, high comedy, and unforgettable pleasure.
Coming Blockbusters of September
Shop the list here
Featured Title
Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
Buy the ebook here
Buy the audiobook here
From your OverDrive DCL: What would you do if a stranger told you when and how you would die? This is the thought-provoking premise of Liane Moriarty’s latest novel. On an otherwise ordinary flight, a seemingly unremarkable woman suddenly stands up and makes her way down the aisle, pointing at each passenger and declaring her predictions for their age and cause of death. Some patrons (mostly those with many more years predicted) laugh this off, but a handful of passengers whose predicted deaths aren’t far away at all start to wonder if there might be something more to this strange woman, who comes to be known as “The Death Lady.”
After the flight most passengers go about their lives and try to shake off the woman’s unsettling words, but a few months later, one passenger dies exactly as predicted. When more passengers die as The Death Lady foretold, the remaining passengers start to wonder if there is truth to the woman’s words, and whether it’s possible to change your fate. With a rich cast of likeable characters, humor, nuance, and heart, this book asks an age-old question through a fresh lens and will leave readers with much to ponder. This book will delight Liane Moriarty die-hard fans, and it’s sure to draw in new readers too!
Top Romance of September
Shop the list here
Featured Title
The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
Buy the ebook here
Buy the audiobook here
From your OverDrive DCL: It’s not every day I have to think long and hard about whether to feature a title in the romance list or the mystery list, but this is that book! Equal parts cozy mystery and holiday rom com, this book is bound to draw in a wide range of readers looking their next feel-good read. Maggie Chase is the new Queen of the Cozy Mystery. Ethan Wyatt is a hot-shot thriller writer. She hates his guts, he calls her Marcie, and together they are a rivals-to-lovers match made in heaven. When they both accept a cryptic invitation to attend a Christmas party at the English estate of a reclusive mystery fan, neither expects their host to be the greatest mystery author in the world: Eleanor Ashley, the Duchess of Death herself. Think Agatha Christie for the contemporary reader. That night the weather takes a turn, by morning the household discovers that Eleanor has gone missing, and the stage is set for a delightful locked-room mystery. Quite literally, as Eleanor vanished from her locked office, and now Maggie is left to wonder if Eleanor is in danger, or if this is some kind of test. As the snow falls and tensions mount, Maggie and Ethan find themselves working together to uncover clues and the truth. With cheeky humor, well-crafted characters, and thoroughly plotted clues, this book is sure to satisfy romance and mystery readers alike.
Top Historical Fiction of September
Shop the list here
Featured Title
The Booklover’s Library by Madeline Martin
Buy the ebook here
Buy the audiobook here
From the publisher: In Nottingham, England, widow Emma Taylor finds herself in desperate need of a job. She and her beloved daughter Olivia have always managed just fine on their own, but with the legal restrictions prohibiting widows with children from most employment opportunities, she’s left with only one option: persuading the manageress at Boots’ Booklover’s Library to take a chance on her with a job.
When the threat of war in England becomes a reality, Olivia must be evacuated to the countryside. In the wake of being separated from her daughter, Emma seeks solace in the unlikely friendships she forms with her neighbors and coworkers, and a renewed sense of purpose through the recommendations she provides to the library’s quirky regulars. But the job doesn’t come without its difficulties. Books are mysteriously misshelved and disappearing and the work at the lending library forces her to confront the memories of her late father and the bookstore they once owned together before a terrible accident.
As the Blitz intensifies in Nottingham and Emma fights to reunite with her daughter, she must learn to depend on her community and the power of literature more than ever to find hope in the darkest of times.
Top Fantasy of September
Shop the list here
Featured Title
The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C. M. Waggoner
Buy the ebook here
Buy the audiobook here
From the publisher: Librarian Sherry Pinkwhistle keeps finding bodies—and solving murders. But she’s concerned by just how many killers she’s had to track down in her quaint village. None of her neighbors seem surprised by the rising body count…but Sherry is becoming convinced that whatever has been causing these deaths is unnatural.
When someone close to Sherry ends up dead, and her cat, Lord Thomas Crowell, becomes possessed by what seems to be an ancient demon, Sherry begins to think she’s going to need to become an exorcist as well as an amateur sleuth. With the help of her town’s new priest, and an assortment of friends who dub themselves the “Demon-Hunting Society,” Sherry will have to solve the murder and get rid of a demon.
This riotous mix of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Murder, She Wrote is a lesson for demons and murderers alike: Never mess with a librarian.
More recommended September lists you don’t want to miss
Top Mystery/Thrillers of September. Shop the list here.
Top Sci-Fi of September. Shop the list here.
Top Self-Published Titles of September. Shop the list here.
Top Nonfiction of September. Shop the list here.
If you ever need help shopping, you can always email your Digital Content Librarian! Find your DCL in the SUPPORT tab of Marketplace.
About the author: Claire Weibel has worked in publicity for the arts, public libraries, and archives. At OverDrive she helps public libraries manage their collections and creates lists of the hottest titles to help her partners shop and promote their collections to their patrons. When she isn’t reading she loves to run, try new recipes (while listening to an audiobook), plan her next road trip, or hang out with her two dogs and cat. Claire is always excited to talk about a good mystery or spooky books!
