Hello bookish friends and welcome to the new and improved (by which I mean pared back, less of my waffle!) #CaseClosed for September 2025.

#CaseClosed is my monthly wrap up post where I share the books I’ve read, the content I’ve posted on the blog, the state of my NetGalley shelf and how my Goodreads challenge is going (spoiler alert, I completed my challenge a while ago now 🤭).

I read seven books in September (not great but better than last month!):

➡️ Fiend by Alma Katsu
➡️ Darker Days by Thomas Olde Heuvelt
➡️ The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman
➡️ The House Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry
➡️ Legacy by Chris Hammer
➡️ The Afterparty by Ruth Kelly
➡️ The Captive by Kit Burgoyne

Hopefully I can get back to my usual eight or nine books a month in October.

During September I posted the following reviews…

💛 The Lifeline by Libby Page
💛 Estella’s Revenge by Barbara Havelocke
💛 House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias
💛 Influencer by Adam Cesare
💛 Fiend by Alma Katsu
💛 How to Survive a Horror Sequel by Scarlett Dunmore
💛 The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman
💛 59 Minutes by Holly Seddon
💛 Legacy by Chris Hammer

I posted five Top Ten Tuesday posts during September…

⚪ Books with Occupations in the Title
⚪ Books with ‘First’ or ‘Final’ in the Title
⚪ Books By My Favourite Authors I Still Need to Read
⚪ Books on My Autumn 2025 To-Read List
⚪ Book Covers That Give off Autumn Vibes

I also posted four WWW Wednesday posts where I share my previous read, my current read and what I plan to read next.

🟧 Wednesday 3rd September
🟧 Wednesday 10th September
🟧 Wednesday 17th September
🟧 Wednesday 24th September

And of course, there was #CaseClosed for September.

My review with the most views in September was The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman.

My most popular non-review post in September was my Top Ten Tuesday contribution from Tuesday 23rd September – Books on My Autumn 2025 To-Read List.

I have completed my Goodreads Challenge for this year! As things currently stand, I have read 75 books (60 was my goal) 🥂🎉🙌

On to my NetGalley update for this month. This is what I currently have to read on my NetGalley shelf.

💟 Serial Killer Support Group by Saratoga Schaefer (November)
💟 Mimik by Sebastian Fitzek (December)
💟 The Drop by S.R. Masters (December)
💟 Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward (February 2026)
💟 Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman (February 2026 – this one is for my guest reviewer)
💟 The Exes by Leodora Darlington (February 2026)
💟 How to Get Away with Murder by Rebecca Philipson (March 2026)

Seven books (six really because one of them isn’t mine!) is a few too many. Five or below is ideal. Will have to get them read ASAP 😉🤭

So in summary…..
January: 11 eARCs to be read | 14 to be reviewed
February: 14 eARCS to be read | 11 to be reviewed
March: 12 eARCS to be read | 12 to be reviewed
April: 9 eARCS to be read | 11 to be reviewed
May: 5 eARCs to be read 🥳 | 14 to be reviewed 🙈
June: 1 eARC to be read 🍾 | 11 to be reviewed 🙈🙈
July: 3 eARCs to be read 🥂 | 7 to be reviewed 😥
August: 6 eARCs to be read (but one of those isn’t mine) 😅 | 5 to be reviewed 😮‍💨
September: 6 eARCs to be read (7 if you count my guest reviewer’s book) | 7 to be reviewed 😥

There are also eleven non-NetGalley books I need to write a review for.

In other news:

• One of my bookish aims for this year was to get the most views/visitors I’ve ever had in damppebbles history. And I did it in September 🍾🙌🎉🥂 Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for your ongoing support. It means the world to me.
• I’ve revived my Instagram account with a new look that I’m still a little unsure of 🤭 Check it out before I change my mind and completely redo it!!!
• #R3COMM3ND3D may make a return this year. If you’re interested in taking part, please fill in the form below (it’s not the full form, just finding out if there is interest). There’s more info about #R3COMM3ND3D too, a little further down this post. I’ve only had one person say they’re interested in taking part so far. Huge thanks to that one person, you know who you are 🤩

Out of the seven books I read in September, my book of the month is…

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The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman

Another month done and dusted. I hope yours was a good one with lots of brilliant books. Here’s to October and lots of cosy reading by the fire with a hot chocolate (no hot chocolate emojis so fizz will have to do😛 )🥂

#R3COMM3ND3D

I’m also considering whether to revive #R3COMM3ND3D this autumn/fall so if you’d like to join in the #R3COMMN3D3D fun, then please register your interest here (it’s a very short form). If you’ve not seen #R3COMM3ND3D before then please see this link which should hopefully tell you everything you need to know. It took a break in 2024 but if there’s interest, I will happily revive it for 2025.

P.S. If you’re looking for your next read then check out the hashtag #fivestarflashback on Bluesky. I’ve been re-sharing all of my old reviews from the dawn of time itself (or 2016 if you prefer). It’s been so much fun digging in the DP archives! There are around roughly five reviews posted a day so lots of lovely book suggestions if you’re in need of inspiration.

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