The 12 best books to read this September, according to Amazon's editors

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The 12 best books to read this September, according to Amazon's editors

Best Books Of Sept 4x3

Alyssa Powell/Business Insider

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Ironically, I chose to major in English in college because I loved reading books. It didn't take me long to realize that, although I read hundreds of literary works each semester, I rarely had time to read books for fun. Now that I've graduated, I have the time to read books of my own choosing.

As much as I reveled in Shakespeare's tragedies and women's 19th-century literature, I couldn't be more overjoyed to pick my own books now. The only problem I face is that I don't really know where to start my search for compelling books. Thankfully, the Amazon Books team curates a selection of their favorite books each month.

Rather than provide the typical selection of 10 books, the Amazon Books team chose 12 of the best books of the month for this September. Editor Erin Kodiceck exclaims, "It's difficult enough narrowing the number of best books of the month selections to just 10, and occasionally there comes a month when it's impossible (these are the months we especially love). September offers an embarrassment of riches, and we're excited to share our top 12 with you."

Check out this month's book selection to discover captivating stories from the rise and fall of Uber to the CIA's secret drug and mind-control experiments of the '50s and '60s and more.

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Captions have been provided by Erin Kodicek, editor of books and Kindle at Amazon.

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"The Water Dancer: A Novel" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

"The Water Dancer: A Novel" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
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In the dramatic, and fantastical, first novel from the National Book Award–winning author of "Between the World and Me," a young man with special gifts fights for freedom in a world that believes he should be enslaved.

"Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber" by Mike Isaac

"Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber" by Mike Isaac
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The story of the rapid rise and precipitous fall of Uber, under the sway of a cutthroat CEO whose out-sized ambitions almost destroyed the company he founded.

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"Red at the Bone" by Jacqueline Woodson

"Red at the Bone" by Jacqueline Woodson
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National Book Award-winner Jacqueline Woodson deftly touches on race, class, religion, and sexuality in a spare but poignant multigenerational portrait of a Brooklyn family.

"The Dutch House: A Novel" by Ann Patchett

"The Dutch House: A Novel" by Ann Patchett
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Ann Patchett is at the peak of her writing powers in a novel about two monied siblings whose lives are upended when their stepmother ousts them from the only home they've ever known.

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"She Said" by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey

"She Said" by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey
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"She Said" is the riveting account of the downfall of Harvey Weinstein, told by the New York Times reporters whose investigation became a catalyst for the #MeToo movement.

"Quichotte" by Salman Rushdie

"Quichotte" by Salman Rushdie
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Salman Rushdie pays homage to fellow satirist and cultural critic, Miguel de Cervantes, with a contemporary take on "Don Quixote" that speaks to our uniquely troubled times.

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"The Secrets We Kept" by Lara Prescott

"The Secrets We Kept" by Lara Prescott
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Lara Prescott's page-turning Cold War spy thriller dazzles with real-life literary intrigue, illuminating the women tasked with pulling off an unusual heist: smuggling Boris Pasternak's censured "Doctor Zhivago" out of the USSR, to be used as a weapon of war.

"Poisoner in Chief" by Stephen Kinzer

"Poisoner in Chief" by Stephen Kinzer
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The bone-chilling story of how Sidney Gottlieb — a club-footed, mild-mannered, peace-loving chemist who lived like a hippie long before the term was coined — became the fulcrum of the United States' panicked post-WWII bid for supremacy in germ warfare.

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"Opioid, Indiana" by Brian Allen Carr

"Opioid, Indiana" by Brian Allen Carr
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Seventeen-year-old Riggle tries to right his upturned life in a struggling Indiana town in this timely tale that is drawing comparisons to J.D. Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye."

"The World That We Knew" by Alice Hoffman

"The World That We Knew" by Alice Hoffman
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Bestselling author Alice Hoffman puts a supernatural spin on a WWII novel with the story of three women, and a protective golem, trying to survive with their humanity intact.

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"The Ten Thousand Doors of January" by Alix E. Harrow

"The Ten Thousand Doors of January" by Alix E. Harrow
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This fanciful debut is about love and family (and a trusty dog named Bad), and the lengths we'll go to in order to understand the people who make us who we are.

"The Grammarians" by Cathleen Schine

"The Grammarians" by Cathleen Schine
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In this delightful comic novel, two sisters' infatuation with language is what bonds them … until it doesn't, leading to a literal war of words when they find themselves fighting for ownership of the family dictionary.

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