What Are The Popular Book Themes In September?

As September rolls around, so does the back-to-school feeling that instills excitement to many literary themes. And while many book themes are extensively covered throughout the year, a few have especially found their place in September reads. The dominant theme amongst these is self-discovery. It’s so fascinating to find out how many books there are that include a main character on a journey – physical or mental – searching for their identity, their place in the world. Who doesn’t love a good coming-of-age story? Titles such as ‘The Secret Life of Bees’ show beautifully how to develop a main character throughout a story and how they come to terms with their personal growth while fighting against the society’spressure to conform.

A major book theme for September is Change and Transformation. As the summer days come to an end and we transition to the autumn season, many books relate to the time of change in the main characters’ lives. For example, ‘The Goldfinch’ by Donna Tartt portrays the struggles of a main character after a significant change in his life when his father dies. Also, the story of ‘Me Before You’ by Jojo Moyes highlights a main character that has to deal with a huge change in her life when her boyfriend becomes a paraplegic. This type of book often portrays characters who have to adapt to new ways of living, whether this be due to moving away, dealing with loss, or growing apart from friends and family.

In addition to those themes previously mentioned, community is another really big read for September, often tied to new beginnings of school, work, or life in general. These books often are stories of people connected in unique ways and look at the differences between various cultures and groups, at times probing the complexities of friendships and races. Stories such as The Help highlight the most powerful narratives of marginalized voices and the complex ways in which communities interact with each other. The stories remind us of how interconnected we are and highlight the ways in which support systems can step up in times of crisis for individuals.

Finally, there is ‘Mystery & Suspense’. This seems to be a genre that is popular at this time of year. Maybe it’s because we tend to snuggle up with a good mystery and a cup of coffee on those cold rainy days in September. Novels such as ‘The Girl on the Train’ and ‘Big Little Lies’ are great examples of this genre. They present complex scenarios and keep us guessing until the end of the book.

In summary, September is a fabulous month with so many themes of personal growth and connection with others and even a little mystery and suspense too. Each book will have its own take on the themes but overall they are so thought provoking that they allow us to be able to reflect on our own lives and how literature can be so similar to real life. There is nothing better than a good story be it old or new to get lost in and even reflect on ourselves from time to time.

I’m surprised that in this season of change no one has observed the recent surge of climate fiction, typically defined pejoratively as ‘eco-language’ or ‘dirge-like green agenda’, but in fact many gripping stories of human survival or, set even closer to the present, gripping near-future thrillers where the main antagonist is environmental collapse. Yes, several of September’s new releases feature a sudden new Ice Age, a mega-drought or even more strange and powerful ecological transformations. Here, rather than provide some, usually crass and motivational, means by which we can save the planet, these stories explore the ways in which humans can adapt to, try to control and make moral decisions in the face of failed systems. In a deeper sense the season mirrors the theme of these stories – change, preparation for harder times. (As opposed to the more obvious – summer = heat = a vine-covered ancient ruin on a desert island; autumn = warmth = wandering the South of France after World War II in search of meaning etc.). They are terrifying because they are plausible. Such stories are being published in the normal run of sci-fi, in literary fiction and even in more obvious thrillers. It’s the matter of our present uneasy state of affairs translated into story and the publishers are exploiting it.

Comfort food historical fiction. As opposed to those extremely distressing historical novels, I’m finding a lot of pedestrian historical fiction about unusual historical jobs or a particular historical hobby. For example, female timekeepers in 18th century Paris, women building a botanical garden, groups of actresses traveling from town to town in the past performing to audiences largely comprised of women. It’s historical fiction about people who are extremely passionate about something and do it exceptionally well, with the help of a (ridiculously) petite historical romantic subplot. I’m reading these because they are extremely researched historical fiction about specific skills and the joy of extreme mastery in historical circumstances. There’s none of the unpleasantness of war or other terrible circumstances. Instead these novels are the perfect historical setting for those who want to learn something about history without being weighed down by the sort of thing that would normally be included in historical fiction. Extremely uplifting, with heart.