October 2025 Reading Wrap Up
Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!
Wow, October really just flew by! I can't believe it's already November, which is historically one of my worst months of the year. I really go from my favorite holiday/season/month to my least favorite. The duality of woman!
Anyways, in the month of October I read a grand total of 12 books: 6 novels, 3 novellas, 1 nonfiction, and 2 manga volumes. I tried to get to as many of my spooky and spooky-adjacent books that I had on my shelves, and I'd say I managed to meet that goal, since all of the novels and novellas, save one, were horror or had horror elements. 5 of them were also classics in the genre, mainly gothic fiction. Aside from the manga, however, none were translated, and almost all of the books I read this month were by British authors. So, sadly, not a whole lot of diversity, but I really just wanted to lean into the gothic horror of it all, and I started from the ground up.
Okay, let's get into the books!
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Novels
Genre: Fantasy, Adult
Means of reading: E-book
Star rating/CAWPILE: 4 stars/7.75 CAWPILE
Page count: 1008 pages
Day(s) read: 10.01 - 10.26
Final thoughts: Book 3 in the Song of Ice and Fire series.
This was much better than A Clash of Kings, in my opinion. It was far more intense and had a lot of really important and interesting scenes. Every chapter there was something huge happening. I can't really go into much without spoilers, unfortunately, but some of the biggest moments in the series come from this book, and I was never bored while reading (something I couldn't say about book two). There's a certain character that comes into play at the end of the book, and I am dying to know who this character actually is and what their motivations are!
Genre: Horror, Historical Fiction, Adult
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3.5 stars/6.65 CAWPILE
Page count: 369 pages
Day(s) read: 10.01 - 10.06
Final thoughts: Honestly this was kind of mid to me. This was my first book by this author, but I've had her previous two books on hold for ages and just haven't been able to read them. I haven't heard a single poor review about this author's works, however, and maybe because of that I went in with too high of expectations. The best part was definitely the atmosphere. The descriptions of the isolation and the cold were very convincing. I just didn't care about the characters. Like, at all. The secrets, motivations, even the romance all felt very surface level to me, dare I say, boring. I couldn't drum up any sort of feeling for them, positive or negative. I was very frustrated with the ending, as well.
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Genre: Horror, Adult
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3.5 stars/6.48 CAWPILE
Page count: 351 pages
Day(s) read: 10.13 (ONE DAY READ)
Final thoughts: If there is anything that T. Kingfisher is a master at, it's atmosphere. The way she describes the odd and uncanny is so strong, I can picture it all very easily in my head (and I'm much of a visual thinker). I can guarantee that I'll never look at willow trees the same way again after reading this book, which is a shame because willows are one of my favorite trees thanks to the massive weeping willow that grew in my grandparent's backyard. I had issues with the ending, though. It felt a little cheap, to be honest. Maybe I'm just used to horror not having happy endings, but everything felt like it wrapped up a little too neatly.
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Genre: Classic, Horror, Adult
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 4 stars/7.94 CAWPILE
Page count: 376 pages
Day(s) read: 10.14 - 10.30
Final thoughts: This was a ride, that's for sure. I think I actually quite enjoyed it. I saw a lot of classic gothic tropes in this, and I even saw some things that I could easily recognize in later works (as influence). It felt Shakespearean in a way, especially in the characters Lorenzo and Antonia. There wasn't any part in the story where I was struggling, but the ending really solidified it as a potential new favorite for me. I won't go into too much detail for fear of spoilers, but let's just say everything comes to a head and there is a horrifying revelation that actually made me put down my book and take a moment to let it all sink in. If you like gothic literature and haven't yet read this, I highly recommend your doing so.
Genre: Horror, YA
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 4.5 stars/8.02 CAWPILE
Page count: 327 pages
Day(s) read: 10.24 - 10.27
Final thoughts: Hahaha, what the fuck was that?!
I absolutely flew through this. I read the first 60 pages on the 24th, and the other 270 pages on the 27th during reading sprints online. I couldn't put it down or look away. It was a botanical horror car crash of a book (in the best way possible). I wouldn't have guessed the plot twist if I hadn't watched a certain horror movie at much too young an age where it seared itself into my brain, because this book utilizes the same plot twist as that movie. That being said, it still took me quite a long time to figure out what was actually happening. The ending, however, left me extremely frustrated. I abhor ambiguous, open endings in literature. If this wasn't a library book, I absolutely would have thrown it across the room after finishing.
Genre: Classic, Science Fiction, Horror, Adult
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 5 stars/9.05 CAWPILE
Page count: 216 pages
Day(s) read: 10.30 - 10.31
Final thoughts: This was a wonderful reread, honestly. I'm so glad I decided to pick it up again, because I loved it even more this time around. When I first read it in 2023, I gave it a four star rating, but I couldn't in good conscience keep that rating because it truly deserves five stars. The existentialist nature of the writing is so genius, especially in relation to the creature and his miseries. And, having now read Paradise Lost earlier this year, I understand a lot more of the philosophy that the creature brings up in his story. I think I prefer the 1818 text to the 1831 edition, because it revels more in nature and the consequence of defying her. I'll have to compare it with the later edition to be sure, however.
Novellas
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Genre: Classic, Horror, Adult
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3.5 stars/6.73 CAWPILE
Page count: 160 pages
Day(s) read: 10.02 - 10.07
Final thoughts: The actual experience of reading this story was much cooler than the story itself. I mean, this is widely considered the origin of the gothic tale, a genre that I hold rather dear to my heart. Not to say that I didn't enjoy the story, because I did. It reminded me of Shakespeare's tragedies, very similar to Hamlet or Macbeth. It was fun seeing what have now become staple tropes of the gothic genre be explored for the first time on these pages. My favorite characters were definitely Matilda and Theodore (I found that Lorenzo and Antonia from The Monk reminded me an awful lot of these two characters).
Genre: Classic, Horror, Adult
Means of reading: Audiobook
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3.5 stars/6.35 CAWPILE
Page count: 108 pages (1 hr 34 mins audio)
Day(s) read: 10.18 (ONE DAY READ)
Final thoughts: This was a spur of the moment reread for me, entirely inspired by Gavin's Sleepy Hollow vlog. As soon as I finished watching it, I immediately went to Spotify to listen to this story. And I enjoyed it way more than I did the first time I read it, a few years ago. I can't believe I gave it two stars back then! It's so atmospheric! I must have been in a bad mood or something when I first read it. I do think audio is the way to go for this one, just because the descriptions of the food and the foliage and the town are so delicious that it calls to mind dramatic readings by firelight.
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Genre: Classic, Horror, Adult
Means of reading: Mixed Media
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3 stars/5.65 CAWPILE
Page count: 134 pages (5 hrs 38 mins audio)
Day(s) read: 10.30 - 10.31
Final thoughts: If I thought the ending of Don't Let the Forest In was bad, this is monumentally worse! I honestly feel cheated by this story because of that ending. At least I have comfort in knowing that I'm not alone in feeling like this; I've read a lot of reviews disparaging the ending. Ugh, I hate ambiguity in literature! If I hadn't been listening to the audio, I'm sure I would have DNF'd this book. The prose is so dense that I was having serious issues trying to parse through what was actually being said. I don't think I'll be reading any more of Henry James...
Nonfiction
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Genre: History, Folklore, Adult
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: 3 stars/5.50 CAWPILE
Page count: 320 pages
Day(s) read: 10.08 - 10.11
Final thoughts: This was my second attempt at reading this book. The first time was nearly ten years ago at this point (I'm pretty sure it was 2016) and I tried listening to the audiobook in between classes at NAU and I just wasn't paying that close of attention to it, and got lost frequently. I got through maybe 60% when my library hold ran out, and I couldn't get it back in a timely manner.
Since then, I've read, watched, and listened to a lot of historical ghost stories, ghost hunts in notoriously haunted places, and true crime, so pretty much everything mentioned in this book. A lot of the places mentioned I had already read about or heard about or watched a documentary about, so there wasn't a whole lot of new information for me, sadly. It was well-written and well-researched, I just think it was little beginner for me. Funnily enough, I think I would have enjoyed it more in 2016, had I actually had the time to read it properly.
Manga
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Adult
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: N/A
Page count: 176 pages
Day(s) read: 10.22
Final thoughts: N/A
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy, YA
Means of reading: Physical
Star rating/CAWPILE: N/A
Page count: 160 pages
Day(s) read: 10.30
Final thoughts: N/A
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Total page count: 3,705 pages (7 hrs 12 mins total audio)
Favorite book of October: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
No DNFs this month
No unfinished books this month
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And that's all for spooky season! Don't worry though, horror is a year-round genre for me! I still have plenty of books left on my Autumn TBR that I want to get through before winter comes.
I'd love to know, what was your favorite book of October? Leave a comment below, or DM me on Instagram (link in sidebar under the heading "More Media").
Until next time, friends!
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