I’m writing this update from the depths of one of the worst colds that I’ve had in years. Everyone warned us that sending your kid to daycare for the first time would mean an endless round of illness but wow, you really can’t grasp what that’s like until you’re in it. I haven’t been healthy since September began, but this is the worst it’s been.

Colds and flus aside, October was a great month. I travelled to Frankfurt for work, which was equal parts exciting and exhausting, and we had baby girl’s first real Halloween! She was only a month-old last year, so we mostly stayed in where it was warm, but this year we got to see her little face light up every time she saw another kid in a costume. It was so wholesome. 

Book wise, it’s possible this was my best reading month of all of 2025 so far. I only read 4 books, but they were all 5-star reads, and one was nearly 1,000 pages, so go me! 

Here’s a breakdown of the month in reading:

Books Read in October 2025

1. A Day Of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon: this prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree is at least as epic as the first book, quite possibly more so. I loved sinking in and already having a feel for what I first felt was an incredibly dense world, but Shannon somehow manages to expand the scope of the landscape, the magic, and the characters so exponentially it also feels wholly new. This took me over a month to read because of the sheer size of it but I genuinely loved every single second of the story. An easy 5 star read for me with a full review to come.
2. Katabasis by R.F. Kuang: this was one of my most anticipated book releases of the year and it did not disappoint. It was intellectual and academic in the ways that you expect from Kuang, but also took me on an emotional rollercoaster that I wasn’t expecting. There was a surprising degree of wit, and a large degree of relatability for a book about two PhD’s trekking to Hell. This one won’t be for everyone, but I adored it. Another easy 5 star read with a full review to come.
3. The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig: with this book, Gillig became an auto-buy author for me. I loved One Dark Window for its originality and character work, and that was displayed even more so in this new series. The magic associated with the Omens and objects felt extremely unique, the characters were achingly loveable, it had the most well-executed slow burn, and THE TWIST AT THE END?! Loved this one so much, another 5 star read with a full review to come.
4. Among the Burning Flowers by Samantha Shannon: this is another Roots of Chaos prequel, just released this year, that leads directly into the events in Priory. It continues to astound me how much more Shannon has to say about this world and the people in it because once again, these new perspectives and events felt like an absolute homerun. I loved how much more of the ROC world we got to see, and how it primed the stage so perfectly for Priory. I have so much more of an appreciation for the feat that first book was now that I’ve seen some of the others unfold. Another 5 star read with a full review to come. 

TBR List

I only managed to add one new book to my TBR this month, which was I, Medusa by Ayana Gray. Billed as a Medusa retelling full of rage, heartbreak, and love, this Greek mythology-based story sounds like such a unique take on a familiar character that I’m really looking forward to picking it up. 

What I’m Loving Right Now

Other than reading, I don’t actually feel like we got up to much over the last month, in part because we were all constantly sick and in part because we were so busy. Trying to balance a tiny human’s schedule on top of two careers and a host of illnesses is no joke, but we squeezed in a few moments of joy where we could. 

Here are a few of October’s highlights:

Rediscovering all of the Disney gems

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: one of the best parts of having a kid is getting a redo of all of the fun stuff from your childhood. Because we’ve been running through so many sicknesses lately, the TV has been on more than it ever is in our house and we’ve all been enjoying a foray through Disney classics. Baby girl is still a little young to really care about most of these movies, so instead my husband and I are the ones enjoying ourselves while she toddles around the living room. I mean, who wouldn’t enjoy a Little Mermaid rewatch in the middle of the week just because??

A quick trip through the German countryside

While work travel is generally a little grueling, it can have its perks. In October I was fortunate to travel to Germany for meetings and while the days were incredibly busy, the location was a little ways outside of the city and afforded us the opportunity to spend a good amount of time out in nature. Casual strolls through the forest are not something I almost ever get when it comes to work travel, so it was an utter delight to get to enjoy fresh air while struggling through the jet lag.  This is my second time to Germany in so many years and it never feels like long enough to really explore, so perhaps one of these days I’ll extend the trip to see more of the countryside, which I really enjoyed this time around.

Building new holiday traditions

While baby girl is still little and doesn’t really grasp the concept of a holiday, she is old enough to enjoy in the activities that special seasons now come with. For Halloween this year, we let her pick her own costume (a sparkly baby shark that could not have been cuter), she helped us carve pumpkins (by being chief pumpkin gut thrower), and we brought her out on a tour of the neighborhood in her wagon so she could see all the other kids and their costumes. It was so much more fun than any Halloween we’ve had before, and it makes me incredibly excited for the Christmas season, which is going to seem exponentially cooler to her. I’m already excited and we will definitely have our tree up before the second week of November arrives!

Given that it’s already November 8 and I’ve barely picked up a book so far, I’m not sure how reading will go this month, but here’s hoping it’s half as good as October was!