There was no August update because I didn’t finish a single book in August. 😦 Here are the books I read in September.

1. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander- After the national discussions about continued police events and the efforts of the Black Lives Matter movement, this was a must-read book for me. I believe that every educator, every American citizen, would benefit from reading this book. The book covers the history of our criminal justice system and the role the “war on drugs” has played in imprisoning exorbitant amounts of black men in the past three decades. There are so many statistics in here, I sometimes felt like I was reading the longest research paper ever. My heart and soul ached while reading many of the sobering facts. The author’s call to action at the end is for us to begin a dialogue and plan real action. I would love to talk to anyone who has read this book.
2. The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Shumer- I listened to the audio version of this book, read by the author. Though I don’t know much about her comedy, the book was funny and entertaining. Her chapter about what it’s like to be an introvert was spot-on, and exactly how I feel so often. Extroverts would benefit from reading that essay!
3. Make Me (#20) by Lee Child – It’s a good thing I’ve been keeping my reading lists this year, because I can never remember which Child books I’ve already read. In this story, Reacher gets sucked into a private investigator’s drama and travels all over the US in search of a missing PI. I was fascinated by the research around the “Deep Web” in here, and the underbelly of shady activity online.
4. Adnan’s Story by Rabia Chaudry – As a longtime addict of the Serial and Undisclosed podcasts, of course I had to get this book! I listened to it, read by the author, who is now a familiar voice thanks to the podcast. After all my addictive podcast listening, I did’t expect to learn much new information in this story. I was pleasantly surprised to hear new facts of the case, and to see a personal side to both Adnan and Rabia. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Serial!
5. in a dark, dark wood by Ruth Ware – Thanks to my cousin for the loan of this fun mystery! It was scary with a good twist that kept the action moving. Each of the characters was so real I found myself rooting for them and disliking them in equal measure.  I love when authors begin in the present (knowing about a death/murder) and then flashback to the events that led to the big event (which slowly develops the mystery of the story).