What To Read In September: The Books On Team Service95’s TBR Pile 

The team behind the Service95 Book Club share the books they’re reading this month, from new releases we’ve enjoyed to the titles topping our to-be-read piles…   

The Muslim Cowboy by Bruce Omar Yates 

“An Iraqi man decked out in double denim and a cowboy hat rides his trusted camel through the broken landscape of post-war Iraq. Looking for his own hero story, following unspecified and no doubt unbearable trauma, he meets a young girl who needs his help to survive. Cinematic in style and with deceptively simple prose, this story of friendship, survival and sacrifice will stay with you long after the final page.” – Maria Padget, Book Club Director 

Untold Lessons by Maddalena Vaglio Tanet 

“Untold Lessons is the debut novel from Italian author and poet Maddalena Vaglio Tanet. Inspired by a true story that rocked the author’s hometown, this is an intense and mysterious novel about the death of a young child in a small Italian village and the events that unfold. As the news breaks of Giovanna’s death, her teacher Silvia goes missing. The subsequent search through the surrounding woodlands unearths feelings and situations that some feel would be better hidden. An intense literary thriller that subverts expectations, forcing us to ask whether it’s a good idea to pry into the inner lives of those who do socially taboo things.” – Maria Padget, Book Club Director 

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

“As a huge fan of Normal People, this one sat firmly on my TBR pile. A poignant tale about bereavement, brotherhood and romantic relationships, it follows beautifully flawed brothers Peter and Ivan – who appear to have no common ground – after the death of their father. Peter is a successful lawyer in his thirties, but in his grief for his father, he’s juggling relationships with two different women and medicating himself to sleep. Ivan is a socially self-conscious competitive chess player in his twenties who thinks of himself as the antithesis of his slick elder brother. In the weeks following his father’s death, Ivan starts a relationship with a woman nearly 15 years older than him, who is emerging from her own life’s challenges. For both brothers and the people closest to them, this is a period of love, loss and new beginnings. I can’t wait to finish it.” – Samantha de Haas, Creative Production Manager

Passiontide by Monique Roffey 

“Violence against women is a global issue, but Passiontide imagines a feminist reckoning in the wake of one woman’s murder on the fictional Caribbean island of St Colibri. Through the shifting perspectives of a sweeping cast of characters – Sharleen the journalist, Tara the activist, Gigi the sex worker and Daisy the First Lady – Roffey masters the building sense of tension and scale as the women’s protest gathers strength. Can their courage force real change?” – Katie Teehan, Editorial Director 

Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker 

“Touching on themes including domestic violence, the pressures of being a parent and the modern obsession with ‘wellness’, Madwoman tells the story of Clove and the carefully curated life she has designed for herself and her family, which is brought under threat when her mother sends a letter from the prison where she is serving a life sentence for murder. This is a book that explores the complexity of life after trauma, and for every event that you anticipate, there are more surprises and twists and turns that you won’t see coming” – Stella Fabinyi, Managing Director