What We’ve Been Reading: September 2026

Welcome to our monthly reading-round-up for September 2026! This is the place where we gather highlights from what the Lighthouse team have been reading each month.

Read on for recommendations on AI, the climate crisis and fascism - both in fiction and non-fiction form, as well as several kinds of romance, poetry and fantasy.

Enjoy! You’ll find previous rounds-up in the booklist section of the website.

Noor

Shorelines by Alycia Pirmohammed

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

End Times Fascism by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor

Pao

Life Out of Order by Audrey Niffenegger - The Time Traveller's wife was a cosy, philosophical and heart-wrenching read about destiny and soulmates so I wasn't expecting its follow-up to be a dystopian future full of AI, climate crisis and fascism. This is a chunky book and I loved every bit of it - it's queerer than you'd expect!

Melete by Jennifer Lee Tsai - Melete takes family histories, trauma, love and belonging and turns them into magical, political, sticky poems that stay with you. I read this collection on a train, having to stop often to feel poems deep in my body. I think I'll be a lifelong fan.

Yes, Chef by Grace Reilly - An ADHD romance about making your own way in the restaurant industry. A fun, fluffy read!

Christina

The Glass Hotel by Emily st John Mandel

The Switch by Beth O'Leary

You'll Love it Here by Natalie Sue

Always Home, Always Homesick, by Hannah Kent

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Hannah

Styx by Nikita Gill

Are we saturated with mythological retellings yet? Apparently not! Hekate and Styx give us the stories of two generations of Greek deities, who suffer at the misogynistic whims of their respective god-kings and relatives, despite fostering great powers themselves (I.e. Kronos and Zeus can absolutely get in the bin).

Gill’s lyrical verse style gives a distinct flow to the way you read each character voice, listening to Gill’s audio narration helps with finding the rhythm too, if you’re not a poetry reader (like me). If you’re after spice or romance these are not the goddesses for you. Think more coming of age, sisterhood, and feminine rage. (The trilogy finale will focus on the primordial goddess of the night, Nyx)

Back for Blood: Never Whistle at Night Part II, ed. Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.