Beneath the Book Club: It’s time to choose our September read.

By SARA VANDEN BERGE

With summer unofficially over, we are moving away from beach reads and on to three interesting books I found on Goodreads.

These books are a little different from the thrillers we often read (and will return to in time for Halloween) and I am anxious to see which one you choose!

1.  Wish you Were Here by Jodi Picoult

3.9 on Goodreads, Editor’s pick best literature & fiction

WHAT GOODREADS SAYS: “Diana O’Toole is perfectly on track. She will be married by thirty, done having kids by thirty-five, and move out to the New York City suburbs, all while climbing the professional ladder in the cutthroat art auction world.

“She’s an associate specialist at Sotheby’s now, but her boss has hinted at a promotion if she can close a deal with a high-profile client.

“She’s not engaged just yet, but she knows her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident, is about to propose on their romantic getaway to the Galápagos—days before her thirtieth birthday.

“Right on time.

“But then a virus that felt worlds away has appeared in the city, and on the eve of their departure, Finn breaks the news: It’s all hands on deck at the hospital.

“He has to stay behind. 

“You should still go, he assures her, since it would be a shame for all of their nonrefundable trip to go to waste. And so, reluctantly, she goes.

“Almost immediately, Diana’s dream vacation goes awry. Her luggage is lost, the Wi-Fi is nearly nonexistent, and the hotel they’d booked is shut down due to the pandemic.

“In fact, the whole island is now under quarantine, and she is stranded until the borders reopen. Completely isolated, she must venture beyond her comfort zone.

“Slowly, she carves out a connection with a local family when a teenager with a secret opens up to Diana, despite her father’s suspicion of outsiders.

“In the Galápagos Islands, where Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was formed, Diana finds herself examining her relationships, her choices, and herself—and wondering if when she goes home, she too will have evolved into someone completely different.

2. The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab

4.2 on Goodreads, NYT, USA Today, National Indie and Washington Post bestseller, recommended by Entertainment Weekly and Oprah Magazine

WHAT GOODREADS SAYS: “France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever—and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

“Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

“But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.”

3. I See You’ve Called in Dead by John Kenney

4.1 on Goodreads, instant national bestseller, USA Today pick

WHAT GOODREADS SAYS: “The Office meets Six Feet Under meets About a Boy in this coming-of-middle-age tale about having a second chance to write your life’s story.

“Obituary writer Bud Stanley isn’t really living his best life.

“He’s fallen into a funk after a divorce. (She left him for another man, who, in fairness, was far more interesting.)

“He’s not doing his job well. He’s given up on dating.

“And he’s about to be fired for accidentally publishing his own obituary one mildly drunken night (though technically the company can’t legally fire a dead person).

"As Bud awaits his fate at work, he does the only logical thing: He goes to the wakes and funerals of total strangers to learn how to live again.”

So which book will we read in September?

Vote for your favorite on Beneath the Surface News’ Facebook page.

We will discuss the book that’s chosen on Saturday, Sept. 28.