As the month comes to a close, it’s the perfect time to share the books that I purchased in September. After buying quite a few books in the previous months, I did my best to keep the number of new books to a minimum. In my September 2024 book haul, I share the books I picked up this month and added to my TBR.
September 2024 Book Haul
Yona of the Dawn Vol 42 by Mizuho Kusanagi
Yona and her friends have thwarted South Kai’s Emperor Chagol, but Sinha, Jaeha, and Zeno are still nowhere to be found. Suddenly, Yona hears the voice of a dragon! But the biggest surprise might be what Su-won reveals to Hak regarding his plans for succession…
Rascal Does Not Dream of a Nightingale by Hajime Kamoshida
WORST CHRISTMAS GIFT EVER…
A miniskirt-wearing Santa appears before Sakuta, calling herself Touko Kirishima and cheerfully informing him that she’s been handing out presents—Adolescence Syndrome. Apparently, one of the lucky winners is Sakuta’s classmate from middle school, Ikumi Akagi. According to urban legend, posts tagged #dreaming are filled with prophetic visions, and Ikumi is using those posts to play hero. Sakuta sees the results of this first hand when he spots her saving someone. And then a poltergeist suddenly attacks, and this is somehow his fault?! Solving all this might require delving into Sakuta’s unpleasant past…
Otherlands by Thomas Halliday
The past is past, but it does leave clues, and Thomas Halliday has used cutting-edge science to decipher them more completely than ever before. In Otherlands, Halliday makes sixteen fossil sites burst to life on the page.
This book is an exploration of the Earth as it used to exist, the changes that have occurred during its history, and the ways that life has found to adapt―or not. It takes us from the savannahs of Pliocene Kenya to watch a python chase a group of australopithecines into an acacia tree; to a cliff overlooking the salt pans of the empty basin of what will be the Mediterranean Sea just as water from the Miocene Atlantic Ocean spills in; into the tropical forests of Eocene Antarctica; and under the shallow pools of Ediacaran Australia, where we glimpse the first microbial life.
Otherlands also offers us a vast perspective on the current state of the planet. The thought that something as vast as the Great Barrier Reef, for example, with all its vibrant diversity, might one day soon be gone sounds improbable. But the fossil record shows us that this sort of wholesale change is not only possible but has repeatedly happened throughout Earth history.
Even as he operates on this broad canvas, Halliday brings us up close to the intricate relationships that defined these lost worlds. In novelistic prose that belies the breadth of his research, he illustrates how ecosystems are formed; how species die out and are replaced; and how species migrate, adapt, and collaborate. It is a breathtaking achievement: a surprisingly emotional narrative about the persistence of life, the fragility of seemingly permanent ecosystems, and the scope of deep time, all of which have something to tell us about our current crisis.
I hope you enjoyed my September 2024 Book Haul. What books did you purchase this month?
