One of the things that fell by the wayside postpartum is reading for fun. The girls slept in our room for the first 5 months, so my reading-in-bed habit became a rare occurrence. The list of titles to read became longer and longer.

But then it was like fate…the new Girl with the Dragon Tattoo book was going to come out on my birthday.

I had avoided going into bookstores for the better part of a year, knowing that whatever I bought would just sit in a pile and make my bookshelf look good. But, I love the writing in The Millennium Series and Lisbeth Salander is one of my favorite literary characters of all time. So whatever half-read books were in my eBook queue, I quickly returned or finished just so I could be ready when The Girl Who Lived Twice came out.

Now that I’m (hopefully) back in the habit, these four titles are my standouts this month:

The Girl Who Lived Twice (Millennium Series #6), by David Lagercrantz
The marketing of this book was nothing compared to the original three titles. It is a good continuation of the series, but not if it was meant to be a finale. Lisbeth Salander is one of my favorite literary characters and this book got into her vulnerability. There isn’t as much overlap between her plot line and the main “mystery”, but it does get into espionage, racketeering, secret Russian troll factories, and Mount Everest.

The Starless Sea, by Erin Morgenstern
This book is brand new, just came out this week. Erin Morgenstern’s first book, The Night Circus, is one of my favorite fantasy titles, and I’ve been excited to get my hands on The Starless Sea for months. I’m about 40 pages into it and it’s already one of the most beautifully written fantasy books I’ve ever read.

The Guest Book, by Sarah Blake
I got this advance copy in February, but finally got to deep dive into it at the beginning of October. Whenever a review says “This book is the next great American novel”, I fall for it every time. This is a sizable historical fiction that brings together wealth inequality, racial prejudice, Nazi profiteers, and complicated mother/daughter relationships. Yes, this book is a good candidate for book groups, and although it’s long, it’s not heavy.

The Infinite Game, by Simon Sinek
I’m in the first half of the book now. Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why” completely changes your expectations and motivations when it comes to work. Before buying this book, I downloaded every podcast episode he was featured in, and my mind started considering productivity, collaboration, innovation, work-life blend, true connection–everything that makes a job more than just a job. One of my favorite sentiments in this book is that it is impossible to have continuous profit growth year after year, in life and at work. There are ebbs and flows. Strong businesses and true leaders know that taking care of your people is what makes companies thrive beyond the foreseeable future.

It’s worth mentioning that I went and bought three of these books the day they came out. That’s how excited I am about them. At this rate, I could probably do another book review post in two months. Always an avid reader, but never a fast one.

Follow me on Goodreads for more reviews and titles to add to your list.