everything I read in October
2 new favorites and 16 more
There’s nothing like October.
It’s the most autumn month of autumn, and autumn is the best season (I have yet to hear a convincing argument for any other one) both for reading and in general.
I am assuming that it was this October magic, the same that made Anne of Green Gables glad to live in a world where the month exists and F. Scott Fitzgerald remark that life starts all over again thanks to its crispness, that gave me two new favorite books.
This is the most excited I’ve been to write one of these posts in a lifetime, so. Let’s get into it.
I read 18 books this month and two of them I could yap about till the end of days, or in other words, this post is long. If you’re viewing it as an email, it will cut off at some point, but there are buttons to view in browser or in the Substack app if you’re so inclined.
What paid subscribers got
The #1 benefit was, is, and will continue to be my love and gratitude.
But outside of that, they also got these posts:
Sad books for happy girls: The squeakquel to happy books for sad girls. This is one of my favorite made-up niche subgenres: stories where everything starts off horrible and stressful and cringe-worthy and then suddenly there’s a nice unrealistic happily ever after. It’s like therapy but affordable.
Can I guess your personality based on books?: I can’t stop making quizzes. In this one I ask you questions about your reading and then tell you who you are. This was a few weeks ago and now I’m going through withdrawals from quiz invention so…watch this space.
The best books of my life: I am not a birthday person in life, but I am a birthday person online, because I like to use it as an excuse to get attention I can then use to talk about my favorite books and tell you to read them. I celebrated my own birthday by sharing my most beloved read from every year since I learned how.
Reading 25 new releases: This fall my NetGalley addiction reached what many would call “rock bottom” and I prefer to brand as a challenge. I had over 25 ARCs to read over the past few months, and I documented my journey here. (This made up the bulk of my reading, so. You will be hearing more below.)
Highly rated books I hate: Another squeakquel, this one popularly requested when I shared low-rated books I love. The first reason anyone ever listened to me on Goodreads was my unpopular opinions (many of which were because of my then-inability to figure out my own reading taste), so these are most of my most popular reviews ever, also.
Projects
Reading all those new releases was the big one.
As part of my catching-up-on-all-my-ARCs challenge, I did something I haven’t done in forever: an installment of my becoming-a-genius project. This was the first project I ever did, involving reading the collected short stories of a certain author at a story a day pace. I abandoned it because I don’t actually love short story collections all that much, but I temporarily picked it back up in order to tackle an intimidating Daphne du Maurier ARC.
And of course, I wouldn’t know another month had passed if I hadn’t completed another round of Project Long Classics. I finally checked off The Odyssey, via The Octoberdyssey, after hating it when I read it in a 9th grade English class. Still didn’t love it.
Review copies
Adding this section because I always check my wrap-ups against the last month’s to make sure I didn’t miss anything. But in a much more real way skipping it this time around because I’ve already mentioned my 25 review copies about 900 times and we have at least 900 more mentions to go.
The books in question
Finally! That took forever. Sheesh, I can yap.
Now I can talk about what I read in the month I’ve been most excited to discuss all year.
Let’s get into it! Here’s everything I finished in October:
You are the Detective by Maureen Johnson
September 29 - October 2 | Source: NetGalley
This is kind of like a gift book, in that it’s a little bit fun and a little bit charming and a little bit broadly appealing but not really a book. In other words, a great present for an acquaintance, or perhaps an office Secret Santa.
Read more: I read 25 new releases | Rating: ✯✯✯
The Water Bearers by Sasha Bonet
September 30 - October 3 | Source: Publisher
I love a good memoir, and these days I feel like I even prefer them when they’re by authors I’ve never in my life heard of. Especially if they’re about complicated family dynamics and womanhood.
Read more: I read 25 new releases | Rating: ✯✯✯✯
Heart the Lover by Lily King
September 29 - October 2 | Source: NetGalley
AHHH! IT’S HAPPENING! I GET TO TALK ABOUT ONE OF MY NEW FAVORITE BOOKS! I began reading this on a layover before a 16-hour international flight that would ultimately be canceled. Somehow it captivated me and I loved every second of it, leaving me happy as a clam in that sea of furious passengers. (Are clams happy?)
Read more: I read 25 new releases | Rating: ✯✯✯✯✯
Will There Ever Be Another You by Patricia Lockwood
October 9-14 | Source: Publisher
Patricia Lockwood is so wacky and cool and the way she uses words should be protected in some sort of national treasury, therefore of course it’s scary that she almost lost that gift because of COVID. I hope this not-great book about it is the closest we get to that outcome.
Read more: I read 25 new releases | Rating: ✯✯✯
Hot Wax by M.L. Rio
September 26 - October 16 | Source: NetGalley
I waited for ML Rio’s follow-up to If We Were Villains for so long, only for it to be a, sorry, pretty bad novella. Then I heard that she was quickly publishing a novel after and was like, thank god. Turns out it was so much worse.
Read more: I read 25 new releases | Rating: ✯
The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy
September 29 - October 2 | Source: NetGalley
My word of advice to intergenerational books about lifelong friendships in which each section jumps perspective and timeline would be: Make the chapters shorter. I’m confused and I’m scared.
Read more: I read 25 new releases | Rating: ✯✯✯
We Love You Bunny by Mona Awad
October 2-21 | Source: Publisher
The sequel we never knew we needed! Because this is so terrible that I not only despised every second of reading it but actually questioned whether I could have possibly liked both the original and everything the author has ever written. <3
Read more: I read 25 new releases | Rating: ✯
Minor Black Figures by Brandon Taylor
October 15-21 | Source: Publisher
IT’S THE OTHER BOOK I LOVE!!!
Brandon Taylor has never had a miss for me, but this was another level of a hit. So captivating and eloquent and wise and endlessly interesting. Between this and the last book…Epic highs and lows.
Read more: I read 25 new releases | Rating: ✯✯✯✯✯
Somebody Is Walking On Your Grave by Mariana Enriquez
October 12-22 | Source: Publisher
This is a memoir about exploring graveyards. I loved the exploring and graveyard parts and couldn’t stand the memoir parts.
Read more: I read 25 new releases | Rating: ✯✯
The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers
October 24 | Source: NetGalley
I love reading lit fic about women blowing up their lives, and this one is also funny and smart and so fun to read. I caught a bus with my friend and was not mad when it was late AND we couldn’t sit together because it meant I got a little more time with this unputdownable book.
Read more: I read 25 new releases | Rating: ✯✯✯✯
It Girl by Marisa Meltzer
October 23-25 | Source: Publisher
Jane Birkin is extremely interesting, but this book about Jane Birkin isn’t particularly. Does that make sense?
Read more: I read 25 new releases | Rating: ✯✯✯
Pick a Color by Souvankham Thammavongsa
October 22-25 | Source: NetGalley
This is a fun gossipy book about women who work at a nail salon. Also for some reason one of them used to be a wrestler. That makes up more of the page count than I would have liked.
Read more: I read 25 new releases | Rating: ✯✯✯
A Mouthful of Dust by Nghi Vo
October 21-25 | Source: NetGalley
Like Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series, this is a bunch of short little fantasy books that come out every year and each one has no impact on my feelings on the next. This one was mostly starvation- and cannibalism-based. This concludes the 2025 new releases section of this post!
Read more: I read 25 new releases | Rating: ✯✯✯
The Ha-Ha by Jennifer Dawson
October 27-28 | Source: Publisher
This is a forgotten feminist work about mental health from the 1960s that has now been republished. I don’t want to say there’s a reason it’s been forgotten, because that would be catty and mean. But I also don’t want to lie.
Rating: ✯✯✯
One Boat by Jonathan Buckley
October 28-29 | Source: Publisher
I’ve seen this getting compared to Rachel Cusk, which I agree with in the fact that it’s mostly reflections and dialogue. But this is a lot of less interesting thinking leading to a pretty limp reveal.
Rating: ✯✯✯
Flesh by David Szalay
October 29-30 | Source: Publisher
Another comparison that fell flat for me…people have all kinds of the lit fic female icons in their mouths about this one, but its purposeful lack of emotion and characterization and plot was annoying.
Rating: ✯✯✯
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
October 29-31 | Source: Library
I turned a new leaf (actually reading an author’s most popular / beloved book first instead of randomly picking one and making everyone mad). And it worked! This is the unforgettable character everyone told me it would be.
Rating: ✯✯✯✯
The Odyssey by Homer
October 1-31 | Source: Bought
The aforementioned Project Long Classics iteration. I always intended to reread this after hating it my freshman year of high school because I thought it was a me problem, but…this is no Iliad.
Rating: ✯✯✯
Summing things up
After months of infinite three-star reads, my prayers have been answered. October had some high highs and low lows and I will take that trade every day of my life.
There were some tough ones, but now I have two new favorites!
Out of these 18 books, I would, with my whole heart and mind, recommend 5. That’s 28%, which is not a lot. But two of them are very strong!
The very best book I read was a tie between Heart the Lover and Minor Black Figures, and the very worst book was a tie between Hot Wax and We Love You Bunny.
Now, pie charts (with one ugly one because I read only adult books)! But first:
What were the best and worst books you read in October? Have you read any of these? Anything exciting on your radar for November?
i’ve read hot wax, gave up on bunny sequel 20 pages in, and purchased a signed copy of minor black figures. oddly enough i also read 18 books. my best books of october were: family matter, we are all guilty here, king of ashes, and coffin moon. worst: disco witches of fire island (queer book club burned me on this one) and hot wax.
I am reading The Wilderness myself right now and really struggling with it … I’ve heard it praised to the skies but I don’t find the friendships as compelling as they’re meant to be, partly because of the chapters and perspective issues you mentioned. I honestly think the book is just trying to do way too much! I don’t know if I’ll finish it.
Also, the Iliad being better than the Odyssey is a bold claim, and one I can’t verify because I haven’t read the Iliad myself! This gives me the motivation to finally pick up my copy of Emily Wilson’s translation.