September book haul - YA fiction, thrillers and more!

Autumn is when I always seem to get really back into reading. There's nothing better than curling up under a blanket, lighting some candles and turning away from the world for a couple of hours to read on a chilly evening. So it's no surprise that I've picked up a whole selection of new reads in the last month. There are some books in here that I've been wanting to buy for over a year, and I'm so happy to finally see them lining my shelves!

The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr. This haul is fairly YA heavy, and this book is the first of the bunch. Flora Banks, the protagonist, has severe amnesia, meaning that she can't remember things from one day to the next. That is, until she kisses a boy and remembers it the next day. This is the first time she's remembered anything since she was ten, but the problem is that she can't find the boy. I'm getting 50 First Dates vibes from this, and I hope it's as cute as that movie.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by John Tiffany and Jack Thorne. I've been sitting on the fence about this one for a long time: on the one hand, I'd love to see the world of Harry Potter expand, but on the other, J K Rowling has become so problematic that I feel I can't support her or the modern aspects of the franchise too much. I found this copy in a charity shop, which gave me a little bit of a loophole in being able to read it without directly supporting Rowling. I'm really hoping this doesn't destroy my childhood nostalgia from the original books!
Doing It! by Hannah Witton. I've wanted to read this ever since Hannah brought it out. She's one of my favourite Youtubers because she talks frankly and honestly about all things sex ed, from looking into your sexuality to different methods of contraception and their impacts. The book is also absolutely beautiful with doodles and illustrations throughout.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. Lydia grew up in a small town in 1970s Ohio to Chinese-American Parents Marilyn and James Lee. They've only ever wanted the best for her, so when Lydia's body is found in a lake, the fragile balance of secrets keeping the family together is threatened with exposure. This sounds like a dark, creepy read ideal for a cold October night.
The Craftsman by Sharon Bolton. Another scary one, this book is told from the perspective of a woman who put a serial killer behind bars, stopping his rampage. Thirty years later, she's witness to signs that maybe she didn't stop him at all.
The Rise and Fall of Becky Sharp by Sarra Manning. Set against the backdrop of the world of Instagram, the importance of likes, and online fame, this tells the tale of Becky Sharp's determination to make it to the top, no matter how many toes she steps on. I love a good story about a girl reaching her goals, and I think it'll be such an interesting twist to see all the bad things someone might do to get what they want.

The City & the City by China Mieville. I was 100% meant to read this in my first year of uni, and didn't even go to the effort of buying the book, so that clearly went well. A dystopian tale, a routine murder in the book turns out to be a link to a sordid underworld that the detectives must enter. Again, I think this could be a creepy AF Autumnal read.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. I'm trying to get back into fantasy fiction as I loved it so much as a teen, and this is one from my stack that fits into that category. The book is about a middle aged man who returns to his childhood home and is forced to confront the dark memories from his youth that await him there.
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare seems to be permanently discussed on my Twitter timeline, so I need to see what all the fuss is about. The first instalment in Clare's 'The Mortal Instruments' series, it starts with Clary (our protagonist) witnessing a murder committed by strange tattooed teens. But, when the killers and the body vanish, Clary can hardly report anything to the police. From here, she begins to be embroiled in the world of the Shadowhunters.

'The Tent' by Margaret Atwood. This is a collection of short stories by Atwood: some only a paragraph or two in length, but others ranging up to a few pages long. I loved The Handmaid's Tale, and I'm ready to delve into some terrifyingly accurate feminist stories.
'The Book of Dust' by Philip Pullman. This book is one of the most beautiful things I own. I've got the paperback version, and the illustrations inside are just so perfect. This is the first set of the prequels to Pullman's 'His Dark Materials' trilogy and it makes me want to re-read all of those right now.
Did you pick up any new books in September?
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