Hello, dear readers!

September was a great month for reading. I completed 8 books out of my massive 11-book TBR full of ARCs, or Advanced Reader Copies. I read 6 ARCs last month, with one book becoming my new number three best book of the year.

I read horror, dystopian fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, and my first-ever LitRPG. I had some of my best ratings this year, with one 5-star book, one 4.5-star book, five 4-star books, and one 3-star book. My lowest-ranked book was actually on my list of Most Anticipated Books of the Year.

I’ve included a video of my September wrap-up, as well as individual video reviews for all eight books. I also did a bonus video featuring my book haul and all the books I got signed at Gen Con this year.

8 Books Ranked from Least Favorite to Favorite:

8. Pictures of You by Josh Malerman – 3 out of 5

Pictures of You by Josh Malerman is a meta horror novel written like a thriller, all about art. Have you ever seen something so beautiful that you just had to have it, even if it was a person? Pictures of You tells a horror story about a living piece of art, a person who is unwillingly turned into art.

The horror of being an unwilling living piece of art is terrifying, especially when the kidnapper is as unhinged as she is. She is an artist who is unsure of herself and what she is trying to display. She has a cult leader mindset and is jealous of anyone who has artistic talent.

The scenes between the kidnapper and the kidnapped are the best in the book. I wish the novel would have stayed in this space more, but it is written like a cat-and-mouse story, so we have to have the chase, which did not work at all for me.

The chase is all about trying to find the missing woman. It is written like a thriller, but there were no thrills. I never felt the urgency of finding the woman. The emotional connection was not there. Malerman tried, but it just did not work for me.

7. The Land of Oz edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane – 4 out of 5

The Land of Oz, edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane, is an anthology about Oz, the wonderful world that can also be quite terrifying. The stories explore different genres like mystery, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. You will be delighted, terrified, heartbroken, and enthralled.

Oz, to some, is just a children’s book, but others view it as a satire about America, with the Scarecrow representing the farmer, the Tin Man the steel industry, the Lion the factory workers, and the Yellow Brick Road the railroad. The short stories view it as both.

The most memorable and best stories, in my opinion, were the ones that took chances and did not play it safe in the world of Oz.

Delilah S. Dawson’s story imagines the brutal world of Zo, which is the haunted mirror image of Oz, where everything is broken and put back together. Louise Carey’s story is about a worker who was turned into a machine for his family, where the story becomes a satire of coal miners.

No stories in this collection are bad. I enjoyed parts of all of them. Of the ones I didn’t enjoy as much, it was more about pacing and the stories taking too long to get to the point.

6. Worry Box by Chris Panatier – 4 out of 5

Worry Box by Chris Panatier is a unique haunted house horror novel. The house has opinions and its own ideas about right and wrong, which take a sinister turn.

Panatier delivers an emotional, deeply psychological story about being part of a family. The horror explores misunderstanding and the question of whether the ends justify the means. If you believed it was just a matter of time until evil was unleashed, would you do anything you could to stop it? That is what a haunted house believes in Worry Box.

The Worry Box is a device used by a foster child who is still developing and dealing with past trauma. She writes down her intrusive thoughts and places them in the Worry Box, which is an old shoebox with a slit in it. She doesn’t want to do those things. They are just thoughts, and if she writes them down, she is free of them. But what she doesn’t know is that the house reads these thoughts and becomes concerned.

The horror is a bit of a slow burn after the bloody prologue, but Panatier uses that time to build up the characters so the reader is emotionally invested when the haunted house starts messing with the residents. We feel like we are part of this tight-knit family that slowly starts unraveling at the seams.

5. The Only Way Out is Up by Django Wexler – 4 out of 5

The Only Way Out is Up by Django Wexler is a LitRPG about fighting robots and class warfare. The novel is Real Steelmeets Alita: Battle Angel.

The Real Steel comparison comes from the underdogs, fighting robots, and class system. Alita: Battle Angel comes from the class system, finding a special robot, and making it to the top. The book is closer to Alita: Battle Angel in structure.

The Only Way Out is Up is the first book in a new series called the Sigilist series.

The characters and action are what make the book good. The heroes make a great found family that you have to root for. I think the class system works very well. We get to see how the rich live and how the poorest of the poor live.

The robot fighting scenes were very cinematic. They were written so I could easily visualize what was going on. The second-to-last fight was the best, in my opinion. It was super intense, with three fights going on at once. The last fight was not as epic but made up for it with emotion.

Star the robot makes the book. I loved this character so much, especially how sassy, sarcastic, and hilarious he is. When Star hurt, I hurt. During the final fight, I almost cried because of how much I loved Star and the danger he was in.

4. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins – 4 out of 5

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins is the spark of the revolution. The second novel in The Hunger Games series expands upon the tyranny and oppression in the first novel. Katniss’s one act of defiance sends ripples through the remaining 12 districts, showing other people that they can defy the Capitol and President Snow.

Catching Fire is great at showing how a revolution slowly starts and the way those in power act to try to quell it. The tension is felt throughout the book. Every word that Peeta and Katniss utter is under scrutiny, and even their actions away from the cameras are observed.

This book shows a lot more layers to Peeta. The first book showed his kindness, love, and loyalty. This book expands on those traits and shows how adaptable he is and how his mind works.

In this book, I became a member of Team Peeta. In the last book, I was on no one’s team, but this book showed how Peeta and Katniss are in sync. Katniss needed him more and more. Gale is so one-note and would never share his feelings the way Peeta would.

I do like that we got to know more about Katniss. In the first book, she plays her feelings so close to the chest. In this book, she is forced to think about the future and opens up about her fears. This time, she becomes the purposeful rebel.

3. Vengeful by V.E. Schwab – 4 out of 5

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab continues the dark story of a found family with powers and a dark feud between characters who were once like brothers.

Vengeful is the second novel in the Villains trilogy. The first book is Vicious, and the highly anticipated final book, Victorious, has just been released.

The theme of this novel is being broken. A couple of characters are broken in more ways than one. The tight-knit family is broken as well.

This sequel ramps up the violence, the murder, the epicness, and the characters. The new characters are good, but I hate that they take so much time away from the characters that I love.

2. Die Famous by Michael Koryta – 4.5 out of 5

Die Famous by Michael Koryta is a historical gangster novel set in the 1930s. It takes real characters and events and creates a fictional story about the rise and fall of fame among gangsters. The story draws a connection to modern-day fame culture and those chasing fame, while also touching on the lack of anonymity that comes with it.

Die Famous is very good. The characters are all interesting, the action scenes are white-knuckle tense, and it nails the theme of the cost of fame.

Die Famous joins my list of favorite novels set in the 1930s, alongside The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles and The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah.

Die Famous captures the desperation of people just trying to survive after the Great Depression. The dialogue feels authentic but is never hard to understand. The robbers see their crimes as payback for the banks taking so much. The story captures the chaos of the FBI and its director, J. Edgar Hoover. This is the time of famous gangsters like Bonnie and Clyde and John Dillinger.

1. Crone by Keith Rosson – 5 out of 5

Crone by Keith Rosson is a gritty witch horror novel. The writing, the characters, and the story floored me. Rosson delivers flawed characters and flawed situations with such heart. The horror and the imagery terrified me while the story gripped me. Rosson is an incredible storyteller.

The story is Sons of Anarchy meets The Witch. It takes place during a biker gang drug turf war with a witch settling old scores.

Crone has been labeled horror noir. It deals with seedy characters and the supernatural. Fans of S.A. Cosby and Joe R. Lansdale will love the criminal underbelly and the darkness that terrorizes them.

This is horror that puts characters and story first. If there were no horror in this story, I would still be invested in the characters. All these characters are damaged, but Rosson shows you the root cause and the people they could have become. He gives the reader hope that they could recover.