September is National Literacy Awareness Month and a perfect time to pick up a new book. Take a look at some staff recommendations we’ve assembled and see if there are any books you’d like to add to your reading list this month!

From Trish DeScioli

The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto by Mitch Albom

This is the epic story of Frankie Presto—the greatest guitar player who ever lived—and the six lives he changed with his six magical blue strings.

Frankie, born in a burning church, abandoned as an infant, and raised by a music teacher in a small Spanish town, until war rips his life apart. At nine years old, he is sent to America in the bottom of a boat. His only possession is an old guitar and six precious strings. His amazing journey weaves him through the musical landscape of the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, with his stunning playing and singing talent affecting numerous stars (Duke Ellington, Hank Williams, Elvis Presley) until, as if predestined, he becomes a pop star himself.

The Kingmaker (All the King’s Men #1) by Kennedy Ryan

Raised to rule, bred to lead, and weaned on a diet of ruthless ambition. In a world of haves and have nots, my family has it all, and I want nothing to do with it.

My path takes me far from home and paints me as the black sheep. At odds with my father, I’m determined to build my own empire. I have rules, but Lennix Hunter is the exception to every one of them. From the moment we meet, something sparks between us. But my family stole from hers and my father is the man she hates most. I lied to have her and would do anything to keep her. Though she tries to hate me, too, the inexorable pull between us will not be denied. And neither will I.

From Cindy Puryear

What the Wind Knows By Amy Harmon

Anne Gallagher grew up enchanted by her grandfather’s stories of Ireland. Heartbroken at his death, she travels to his childhood home to spread his ashes. There, overcome with memories of the man she adored and consumed by a history she never knew, she is pulled into another time.

Atomic Habits By James Clear 

A must-read and reread for anyone who wants to get a little bit better every single day. James Clear gives 4 simple laws for making an action become a habit (or oppositely making a bad habit stop).

From Monique Aguilar

The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman

In the finale of the Practical Magic series, Hoffman weaves through the Owens family curse once and for all. The family is known to fall in love at the expense of their beloved and they’re back at it again. From the house on Magnolia Street in Massachusetts to NYC to France to London, the generations of the Owens family learn what it truly means to love someone.

From Andrew Wilson

Let me Tell you What I Mean by Joan Didion

This collection of 12 previously unpublished essays showcases Didion’s detached version of Gonzo Journalism – incisive skills of observation and description in pieces ranging from 1968 to 2000. Never inserting herself into the center of the story yet refusing to pretend that she doesn’t exist. In the foreword, the iconic critic Hilton Als describes her as “a carver of words in the granite of the specific.”