Time for a September update on my 2025 Crochet Book Blanket project. I can’t believe we’ve already reached the ‘ber’ months! After a wonderful summer filled with family time and plenty of opportunities to read, I’m excited to settle into a new season of page-turning. Who else is ready for cosy reading sessions, whether it’s curled up in bed or tucked into a comfy chair with a blanket?
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That said I’ve had to hustle a little to catch up with my squares this month as we are moving into the busiest period of the year for me – but I’m still going!
The Vision for the Book Afghan
To maintain cohesion, I’ve used the same block pattern for the entire afghan (grab the free pattern here), working with yarn from my stash and selecting colours that reflect the book’s cover design. The ultimate goal? A warm, meaningful blanket that doubles as a literary keepsake.
Here’s what I accomplished in September:
- Total Books Read: and Squares Completed: 7 / 14
September Reads and Squares
Book 60: Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 stars (out of 5)
Synopsis: A slow-burning, beautifully written piece of historical fiction, Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah follows two estranged sisters who, after their father’s death, finally begin to understand their cold, enigmatic mother. Through the unfolding of a haunting fairy tale rooted in war-torn Leningrad, long-buried family secrets come to light, reshaping everything they thought they knew.
Book 61: The Tenth Circle by Jodie Picoult
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 stars (out of 5)
Synopsis: This was such a unique book with prose interspersed with comic book strip which I thought was a really interesting way to tell the story. When fourteen-year-old Trixie Stone accuses her ex-boyfriend of raping her, her tightly knit family is thrown into crisis. Her father, comic-artist Daniel, facing dark echoes from his past, and her mother, Laura, a college professor hiding her own affair, both scramble to protect her, even as the worst happens and the police begin to suspect even their own daughter. It’s a gripping family drama about how far parents will go, and what happens when the line between right and revenge blurs.
Book 62: Liar Liar (DI Helen Grace #4) by M. J. Arlidge
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 3.75 stars (out of 5)
Synopsis: In this instalment, DI Helen Grace faces perhaps her most destructive foe yet – a cold-blooded arsonist whose fiery rampage across the city seems designed not just to kill, but to terrify and obliterate. As homes go up in flames, lives are shattered and the pressure mounts. Helen must navigate bureaucratic roadblocks, mounting public fear and her own inner turmoil to stop the blaze before it consumes more innocents. I’m enjoying working my way through this series, like the others it’s was fast paced with a compelling storyline.
Book 63: Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 3.75 stars (out of 5)
Synopsis: This book had such a promising premise, I enjoyed it but felt like the pacing did slow down in the middle though it was tided up nicely at the end. A seemingly ordinary domestic flight turns unforgettable when a quiet woman dubbed “The Death Lady” stands up mid-air and predicts the manner and age of death for her fellow passengers. As her chilling forecasts begin to come true months later, each passenger is forced to confront fate, free will and how much control we really have over our lives.
Book 64: The Maid’s Secret (Molly the Maid #3) by Nina Prose
My Rating: ⭐⭐2.5 stars (out of 5)
Synopsis: Molly Gray’s life is about to take a dramatic turn. As Head Maid and newly installed Special Events Manager at the grand Regency Grand Hotel, she’s gearing up for her wedding and ready for good things when a reality-TV treasure-hunting show arrives. What seems like a fun appraisal of her grandmother’s trinkets turns into a revelation: a priceless heirloom, an explosion of media attention, and then the prized object vanishes in a daring art heist. Molly and her friends must dive into the past — aided by her grandmother’s hidden diary — to uncover long-buried secrets, reveal the truth of the theft, and protect everything she’s built. Whilst I really loved Molly the Maid from the first book in this latest book I felt that her character (and the other characters in the book) were becoming more caricatures of their former selves – as a consequence I found it a little hard to stay engaged with the story.
Book 65: You Killed Me First by John Marrs
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐3.5 stars (out of 5)
Synopsis: Three women, Margot, Anna and Liv, live on the same suburban street, each hiding secrets darker than their glossy exteriors. The novel opens on Bonfire Night with someone bound and gagged within a blazing bonfire, then rewinds eleven months to show how their lives spiralled into murder, betrayal and revenge. With escalating tension, shifting perspectives and unrelenting twists, it asks: who did the killing … and who got killed first? After a great opening chapter I found the intermittent chapters in italics a bit confusing but it does all come together in the end. Not my favourite Marrs book, but a good read all the same.
Book 66: The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) by Rick Riordan
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐4 stars (out of 5)
Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson discovers he’s no ordinary kid but a demigod – the son of the sea-god Poseidon, when he’s accused of stealing the powerful lightning bolt of Zeus. With the help of his satyr friend Grover Underwood and the daughter of the goddess Athena, Annabeth Chase, Percy embarks on a high-stakes quest across America, battling monsters and unravelling ancient myths in a modern setting – all to clear his name and prevent a war among the gods. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this. As someone who has always loved Greek and Roman myths it was a really good romp of a story – I’ll probably continue reading the rest of the series at some point.
All the books so far
Don’t want to scroll and look for all the books that I’ve read so far? Well I’ve put together a list in my Amazon storefront so you can see all the books in one place: Go to the book list
Looking Ahead to October
As we step into October, I’m excited for more autumn reading and to see how these stories will inspire the next squares in my Crochet Book Blanket. Each book seems to bring its own mood and I’m wondering if I’ll be naturally drawn to books with an autumnal palette? If you’re joining in, don’t forget to share your progress with the #KCACOUKBookCAL2025 hashtag – I love seeing your updates!
What’s the best cosy book that you can think of? I’m always looking for new recommendations – drop yours in the comments 👇.
Stay tuned for next month’s updates. Until then, happy hooking and happy reading!
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