Chatelaine Book Club: September's best books

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1. Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Maria Semple, $29.

Once-brilliant but now agoraphobic architect Bernadette Fox spends her days hiding at home, emailing instructions to a virtual personal assistant. Her workaholic husband barely recognizes her. But to her genius teen daughter, Bee, she’s more than Mom — she’s everything. So when Bernadette disappears, Bee heads to the ends of the earth to find her. A quirky tale about what happens when life takes a wrong turn.  — Lora Grady

2. Goodbye For Now, Laurie Frankel, $30.

Sam Elling is a romantic genius who invents a program that matches up soulmates. Using it, Sam finds true happiness with co-worker Meredith. When her grandmother, Livvie, dies, Sam’s at it again, creating another program to simulate Livvie — but how far will Sam and Meredith take this death-defying act of love? Their own relationship is what could end up on the line. — Grace Toby

3. In the Shadow of the Banyan, Vaddey Ratner, $29.

In her compelling debut, Vaddey Ratner paints a vivid picture of great loss, tragedy and hope during the Cambodian genocide of the 1970s. With stunning imagery and poetic grace, Ratner fictionalizes her own personal journey of endurance through the innocent and imaginative eyes of the novel’s lovable seven-year-old heroine, Raami.  — Gillian Berner

4. The Age of Desire, Jennie Fields, $30.

Set during the early 1900s, The Age of Desire fictionalizes Edith Wharton’s scandalous extramarital affair and its detrimental effects on her relationship with Anna, her long-time maid and confidante. The lush locales range from intimate French salons to fabulous London parties, and the novel’s moneyed glamour forms the ideal backdrop for this well-written romantic drama.  — Julia Martineau

5. The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns, Margaret Dilloway, $28.

Gal Garner is an avid rose breeder and teacher with three wishes: 1) grow a prizewinning rose, 2) challenge her students and 3) receive a transplant. Between kidney dialysis, teaching and tending roses, she’s swamped. But one day, her 15-year-old niece unexpectedly turns up on her doorstep. Can Gal raise a teenager — and does she want to? — Janet Ho

September's Chatelaine Book Club pick is How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran. For the excerpt and review, click here. We were lucky enough to host a Twitter chat with the author, so we rounded up some of her funniest laugh-out-loud tweets in case you missed it! Click here to read her tweets on how to be a woman and more!