October 4, 2023 • 8 mins
Welcome to Shelf Byte on the Shelf Addiction Podcast. Hear a spoiler-free book or audiobook review in 15 minutes or less! Today I am reviewing The September House by Carissa Orlando. The audiobook was narrated by Kimberly Farr.
Pick up a copy of the book/audiobook featured in this Shelf Byte Book Review!
The September House by Carissa Orlando | https://amzn.to/46zCcc1
Ep 470
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Website | shelfaddiction.com
Twitter & Instagram | @ShelfAddiction (https://twitter.com/shelfaddiction / Instagram.com/shelfaddiction)
Email me: info (at) shelfaddiction.com
Want to share a comment? Have a question you'd like answered on air? Call Shelf Addiction and leave a Speakpipe voicemail at https://www.speakpipe.com/shelfaddiction
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Help the Shelf Addiction Podcast pay for the hosting and editing of the podcast by becoming a patron! Learn more at https://www.patreon.com/shelfaddiction
If Patreon isn't your thing, you can also show your support by using the sponsored links below or buying me a coffee (ko-fi.com/shelfaddiction) to help me with my early mornings and late nights spent editing.
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Produced with GarageBand
- Background Intro/Outro music from album Music for Podcasts 4, Southside by Lee Rosevere and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: Artist: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/Music_for_Podcasts_4/
FTC Disclaimer: The show notes may contain affiliate and/or referral links. I receive a small commission if you purchase using my link(s). If you purchase using my link(s), you will be supporting the Shelf Addiction website and podcast. This is NOT a sponsored podcast. All opinions are genuinely my own.
**This audio podcast shall not be reproduced, sampled or uploaded elsewhere without my written consent.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/shelf-addiction-podcast--1703669/support.
FTC Disclaimer: The show notes may contain affiliate and/or referral links. I receive a small commission if you purchase using my link(s). If you purchase using my link(s), you will be supporting the Shelf Addiction website and podcast. This is NOT a sponsored podcast. All opinions are genuinely my own.
**This audio podcast shall not be reproduced, sampled, or uploaded elsewhere without my written consent.
Pick up a copy of the book/audiobook featured in this Shelf Byte Book Review!
The September House by Carissa Orlando | https://amzn.to/46zCcc1
Ep 470
Check out our sponsors!
* The Shelf Addiction Merch Store! Buy your next favorite bookish t-shirt!: http://www.shelfaddiction.com/merch.html
* Try audiobooks! New audiobooks.com customers get a FREE 30-day membership and your first audiobook FREE! Use our promo code SHELFADDICTION when you sign up at https://ca.audiobooks.com/signup
***********************************
Connect with Tamara on social media!
Website | shelfaddiction.com
Twitter & Instagram | @ShelfAddiction (https://twitter.com/shelfaddiction / Instagram.com/shelfaddiction)
Email me: info (at) shelfaddiction.com
Want to share a comment? Have a question you'd like answered on air? Call Shelf Addiction and leave a Speakpipe voicemail at https://www.speakpipe.com/shelfaddiction
***********************************
Help the Shelf Addiction Podcast pay for the hosting and editing of the podcast by becoming a patron! Learn more at https://www.patreon.com/shelfaddiction
If Patreon isn't your thing, you can also show your support by using the sponsored links below or buying me a coffee (ko-fi.com/shelfaddiction) to help me with my early mornings and late nights spent editing.
Books and audiobooks one click away:
Audible.com - Get a free 30-day membership and a free book | http://amzn.to/2k1tflo
Download Ebooks & Audiobooks on Scribd | https://www.scribd.com/g/4vrg66
***********************************
Blog Updates: Join the 3 book bloggers, 1 series read-along!! Get more info here: http://www.shelfaddiction.com/read-along.html
**********************************
Are you an author or audiobook narrator and would like to be featured on Book Chat? Apply here: http://www.shelfaddiction.com/author-feature-policy--request-form.html
Podcast and Blog advertising opportunities are available here: http://www.shelfaddiction.com/advertising.html
***********************************
Produced with GarageBand
- Background Intro/Outro music from album Music for Podcasts 4, Southside by Lee Rosevere and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: Artist: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/Music_for_Podcasts_4/
FTC Disclaimer: The show notes may contain affiliate and/or referral links. I receive a small commission if you purchase using my link(s). If you purchase using my link(s), you will be supporting the Shelf Addiction website and podcast. This is NOT a sponsored podcast. All opinions are genuinely my own.
**This audio podcast shall not be reproduced, sampled or uploaded elsewhere without my written consent.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/shelf-addiction-podcast--1703669/support.
FTC Disclaimer: The show notes may contain affiliate and/or referral links. I receive a small commission if you purchase using my link(s). If you purchase using my link(s), you will be supporting the Shelf Addiction website and podcast. This is NOT a sponsored podcast. All opinions are genuinely my own.
**This audio podcast shall not be reproduced, sampled, or uploaded elsewhere without my written consent.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
Welcome to shelf Bite, a shortform, spoiler free review series featured here
on the shelf Addiction podcast. Iam your resident reviewer and host, Tamera.
I will feed your shelf addiction bysharing bite side book and audiobook reviews.
In just a few minutes, you'llknow my opinion on whether you should
be adding today's title to your collection, or if you should borrow it or
(00:29):
pass on reading. It's all together. If you love long form book is
chats, check out the shelf Addictionpodcast feed, available wherever you're hearing this
episode. Let's begin today. I'mreviewing The September House, written by Cariso
Orlando, narrated by Kimberly Farrer,published September five, twenty twenty three,
by Berkeley and Random House Audio.The hardcover is three hundred and fifty six
(00:52):
pages and the unabridged audio run timeis thirteen hours and fifty one minutes.
First up, I'll summarize for youif you haven't read it, do you
have a good idea what this bookis about? This is spoiler free again,
so hopefully this gives some good contextfor what I'm about to share with
you in this debut novel. Margaretand how purchase their dream home on Hawthorne
Street despite its terrifying hauntings. WhileHal eventually leaves, Margaret stays behind and
(01:19):
eventually is joined by her daughter Catherine, who is unaware of the ghost.
With each attempt to find how thehauntings worsened, were feeling the house's dark
secrets. So before I dive in, I want to thank Penguin Random House
for giving me access to the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
So I do want to issue sometrigger warnings for this book. I decided
(01:41):
I'm going to start incorporating that intothe shelf bites. I think it's important,
especially when there are some big flagswaving around. So for this book,
I would say some language, drinking, alcoholism, toxic parent relationships,
domestic abuse, some child abuse,and obviously gore. So if any of
(02:04):
those things are big red flags foryou, I would recommend skipping this one.
If you're good with that, let'scontinue. I pick this because it's
fall, y'all, It's officially fall, and I wanted to continue my horrorsh
vibes and this seemed to fit thebill. The cover art was appealing,
the title was appealing, and Ithought, I want to see what the
September House is all about. First, I'll share some things that I liked
(02:28):
about the book. I love ghoststories in general. That horror theme is
the only one that really gives mea reasonable creep factor, which is this
is what I was looking for.To be honest, again, I wanted
that horror ish vibe and this deliveredthat. It takes a lot to scare
me, and for some reason,ghosts are the sweet spot for that.
(02:50):
I also liked that there was amystery to solve, which added another level
to the haunting. And Carissa Orlandonailed the tone of the book and the
atmospe spheric descriptions were on point.Chef's kiss really. I liked that the
ghosts had their own personalities, whichwas unique. Not all were dangerous,
and some were very much so.While the story definitely followed some of the
(03:14):
traditional haunted house tropes, I stillhad a good time with it. I
also was able to guess what happenedin the mystery part of the book.
I don't think it's really hard tofigure out, especially if you read a
lot of thriller slash mysteries. It'shonestly pretty obvious, But when it comes
down to it, I didn't care. It was a fun ride anyway.
(03:35):
I also love that the book hadan ending that will leave you content.
Dare I say, even with asmile. I love when it ending gives
me exactly what I needed, andCaissa delivered that. Now. What I
didn't like I did not like howthe main character saw ghosts as pranksters.
Her personality really made light of theghost at first, and I was not
(04:00):
sure how scary this book was gonnabe. But as the story went on,
we learn more about her personality traitsand how it's her personality to kind
of tolerate a lot. But whiledoing that, it was minimizing what was
going on, and that really kindof made me feel like maybe I had
picked the wrong book. But youknow, hang on, stay in there,
(04:24):
and it does get better. Ithink, at least by the end
of it, we understand her motivationsand we understand why she's acting while she's
acting. So when it's all saidand done, While I disliked her,
you know, being lighthearted about theghost and calling them pranksters, I'm like,
get realities are ghosts? It itdidn't bother me by the end.
(04:46):
So let's talk about the narrator.This was an audiobook that I listened to,
and the narrator did an excellent job. I have not heard Kimberly far
before, but I definitely would pickup more titles with her name on it.
I did speed it up, asI always do, but not extremely
so. I did listen at onepoint five, which was a pretty calm
pace for me. No issues really, and I think that even her narration
(05:13):
style helped with the pacing, becauseI do think that also. You know,
another thing I didn't like. Ido feel like kind of the movement
of the plot was kind of slow, and I think the narrator helped keep
me engaged during the slow parts ofthe book. What would I rate the
September House. I rated it fourout of five stars. Yes, four
(05:33):
out of five. That is astrong rating and I stand by it.
Like I said, I had areally good time with this read. I
got it done in like two days. It was a good time, even
though you know, it had it'sthings that I didn't like. The positives
of far outweigh the negatives and itwas just perfect and it was what I
(05:53):
was looking for at this point intime. So I recommend this book for
people like horror, but maybe youknow horror with a dose of mystery and
some thriller. And this is definitelyhas some other themes going on, so
it's not a straightforward horror story.So if you like some undertones and some
(06:15):
serious situations, family situations, relationships, situations, like kind of in the
undercurrent of the story, I thinkyou'll enjoy it. It's really good for
spooky season, right, but it'snot too scary. So if you're like,
oh, I want to try somethingin the horror genre, but I'm
scary, I don't like scary stuff, I still think you would enjoy this
(06:38):
as well because it can be alittle scary, but like not overly so
right, it's not extreme in anywayin my opinion. Now, should you
add this to your digital or physicalshelves or bro from the library or a
friend, or should you skip it? I recommend you add it to your
shelves, of course. Now Iwould definitely download the digital version, you
(07:00):
know, so you can take iton audio or kindle wherever you go,
because I think this is when you'llbe wanting to hear it with you and
read on your lunch hour or listento in the car. It's that good.
I had a great time with it. So that's it for my review.
If you've read The September House,please let me know how you've rated
the book, share your thoughts onthe title. You can answer my pole
(07:21):
or a question directly on Spotify,So if you are listening on Spotify,
share with me your feedback, yourthoughts or questions with a tap of your
screen. That is it for today'sshelf Bite. I hope you enjoyed today's
episode. Please like ensure it withyour bookish friends. If you'd like to
reach out to me, you canfind me everywhere at shelf Addiction. Until
next time, happy reading, takecare of yourselves. Bye guys. If
(07:51):
you enjoyed today's episode and would liketo show your support, there are a
few things you can do. Headon over to Apple podcast and leave up
positive five star review, or likethis episode on your favorite podcast player.
It seems so simple, but itreally helps me out. You can share
this podcast with other book nerd friendsor on your favorite social media space.
(08:13):
You can also join the shelf EdictionPatreon family for as little as two dollars
a month. You will help usproduce even more awesome content for your ears.
You can also consider joining the shelfEdiction official Facebook group, where we
talk all things book ish and morein a safe space. The self Ediction
podcast is a part of the NerdyMaven network. You can also reach us
(08:35):
via email at info atshelf edition dotcom. Thank you for listening.
Welcome to shelf Bite, a shortform, spoiler free review series featured here
on the shelf Addiction podcast. Iam your resident reviewer and host, Tamera.
I will feed your shelf addiction bysharing bite side book and audiobook reviews.
In just a few minutes, you'llknow my opinion on whether you should
be adding today's title to your collection, or if you should borrow it or
(00:29):
pass on reading. It's all together. If you love long form book is
chats, check out the shelf Addictionpodcast feed, available wherever you're hearing this
episode. Let's begin today. I'mreviewing The September House, written by Cariso
Orlando, narrated by Kimberly Farrer,published September five, twenty twenty three,
by Berkeley and Random House Audio.The hardcover is three hundred and fifty six
(00:52):
pages and the unabridged audio run timeis thirteen hours and fifty one minutes.
First up, I'll summarize for youif you haven't read it, do you
have a good idea what this bookis about? This is spoiler free again,
so hopefully this gives some good contextfor what I'm about to share with
you in this debut novel. Margaretand how purchase their dream home on Hawthorne
Street despite its terrifying hauntings. WhileHal eventually leaves, Margaret stays behind and
(01:19):
eventually is joined by her daughter Catherine, who is unaware of the ghost.
With each attempt to find how thehauntings worsened, were feeling the house's dark
secrets. So before I dive in, I want to thank Penguin Random House
for giving me access to the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
So I do want to issue sometrigger warnings for this book. I decided
(01:41):
I'm going to start incorporating that intothe shelf bites. I think it's important,
especially when there are some big flagswaving around. So for this book,
I would say some language, drinking, alcoholism, toxic parent relationships,
domestic abuse, some child abuse,and obviously gore. So if any of
(02:04):
those things are big red flags foryou, I would recommend skipping this one.
If you're good with that, let'scontinue. I pick this because it's
fall, y'all, It's officially fall, and I wanted to continue my horrorsh
vibes and this seemed to fit thebill. The cover art was appealing,
the title was appealing, and Ithought, I want to see what the
September House is all about. First, I'll share some things that I liked
(02:28):
about the book. I love ghoststories in general. That horror theme is
the only one that really gives mea reasonable creep factor, which is this
is what I was looking for.To be honest, again, I wanted
that horror ish vibe and this deliveredthat. It takes a lot to scare
me, and for some reason,ghosts are the sweet spot for that.
(02:50):
I also liked that there was amystery to solve, which added another level
to the haunting. And Carissa Orlandonailed the tone of the book and the
atmospe spheric descriptions were on point.Chef's kiss really. I liked that the
ghosts had their own personalities, whichwas unique. Not all were dangerous,
and some were very much so.While the story definitely followed some of the
(03:14):
traditional haunted house tropes, I stillhad a good time with it. I
also was able to guess what happenedin the mystery part of the book.
I don't think it's really hard tofigure out, especially if you read a
lot of thriller slash mysteries. It'shonestly pretty obvious, But when it comes
down to it, I didn't care. It was a fun ride anyway.
(03:35):
I also love that the book hadan ending that will leave you content.
Dare I say, even with asmile. I love when it ending gives
me exactly what I needed, andCaissa delivered that. Now. What I
didn't like I did not like howthe main character saw ghosts as pranksters.
Her personality really made light of theghost at first, and I was not
(04:00):
sure how scary this book was gonnabe. But as the story went on,
we learn more about her personality traitsand how it's her personality to kind
of tolerate a lot. But whiledoing that, it was minimizing what was
going on, and that really kindof made me feel like maybe I had
picked the wrong book. But youknow, hang on, stay in there,
(04:24):
and it does get better. Ithink, at least by the end
of it, we understand her motivationsand we understand why she's acting while she's
acting. So when it's all saidand done, While I disliked her,
you know, being lighthearted about theghost and calling them pranksters, I'm like,
get realities are ghosts? It itdidn't bother me by the end.
(04:46):
So let's talk about the narrator.This was an audiobook that I listened to,
and the narrator did an excellent job. I have not heard Kimberly far
before, but I definitely would pickup more titles with her name on it.
I did speed it up, asI always do, but not extremely
so. I did listen at onepoint five, which was a pretty calm
pace for me. No issues really, and I think that even her narration
(05:13):
style helped with the pacing, becauseI do think that also. You know,
another thing I didn't like. Ido feel like kind of the movement
of the plot was kind of slow, and I think the narrator helped keep
me engaged during the slow parts ofthe book. What would I rate the
September House. I rated it fourout of five stars. Yes, four
(05:33):
out of five. That is astrong rating and I stand by it.
Like I said, I had areally good time with this read. I
got it done in like two days. It was a good time, even
though you know, it had it'sthings that I didn't like. The positives
of far outweigh the negatives and itwas just perfect and it was what I
(05:53):
was looking for at this point intime. So I recommend this book for
people like horror, but maybe youknow horror with a dose of mystery and
some thriller. And this is definitelyhas some other themes going on, so
it's not a straightforward horror story.So if you like some undertones and some
(06:15):
serious situations, family situations, relationships, situations, like kind of in the
undercurrent of the story, I thinkyou'll enjoy it. It's really good for
spooky season, right, but it'snot too scary. So if you're like,
oh, I want to try somethingin the horror genre, but I'm
scary, I don't like scary stuff, I still think you would enjoy this
(06:38):
as well because it can be alittle scary, but like not overly so
right, it's not extreme in anywayin my opinion. Now, should you
add this to your digital or physicalshelves or bro from the library or a
friend, or should you skip it? I recommend you add it to your
shelves, of course. Now Iwould definitely download the digital version, you
(07:00):
know, so you can take iton audio or kindle wherever you go,
because I think this is when you'llbe wanting to hear it with you and
read on your lunch hour or listento in the car. It's that good.
I had a great time with it. So that's it for my review.
If you've read The September House,please let me know how you've rated
the book, share your thoughts onthe title. You can answer my pole
(07:21):
or a question directly on Spotify,So if you are listening on Spotify,
share with me your feedback, yourthoughts or questions with a tap of your
screen. That is it for today'sshelf Bite. I hope you enjoyed today's
episode. Please like ensure it withyour bookish friends. If you'd like to
reach out to me, you canfind me everywhere at shelf Addiction. Until
next time, happy reading, takecare of yourselves. Bye guys. If
(07:51):
you enjoyed today's episode and would liketo show your support, there are a
few things you can do. Headon over to Apple podcast and leave up
positive five star review, or likethis episode on your favorite podcast player.
It seems so simple, but itreally helps me out. You can share
this podcast with other book nerd friendsor on your favorite social media space.
(08:13):
You can also join the shelf EdictionPatreon family for as little as two dollars
a month. You will help usproduce even more awesome content for your ears.
You can also consider joining the shelfEdiction official Facebook group, where we
talk all things book ish and morein a safe space. The self Ediction
podcast is a part of the NerdyMaven network. You can also reach us
(08:35):
via email at info atshelf edition dotcom. Thank you for listening.
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