reviewing the 29 books I read this Fall 🎃👻 [September and October Wrap Up]

September and October Reading Wrap-Up

Gabby looks back on her September and October reading, a stretch disrupted by a 10-day trip to South Korea and a nasty cold afterward. She says she read 17 books in September and 12 in October, though she also refers to the total as 28. The months included plenty of DNFs, which she suspects may have nudged her toward a reading slump.

DNFs and Disappointments

Gabby abandoned six books: Please Enjoy Your Stay, Possession Island, What a Nightmare, Dearly Departed, Once Again, Always, and Scorpion Deep. Most simply failed to draw her in. She also found Dearly Departed too heavy on insta-love, disliked the characters in Once Again, Always, and thought Scorpion Deep was repetitive and overloaded with metaphors. That last one was especially disappointing because she loves the author’s Don’t Let the Forest In.

Her lowest-rated finished books were No Bones About It and Pictures of You, both one-star reads. No Bones About It features a woman falling for a giant lawn skeleton, but Gabby found the HOA feud even more ridiculous than the romance: one viral post somehow inspires fans to show up in handmade skeleton T-shirts. She wanted something silly and fun, but decided the book was just silly. Pictures of You was a major letdown from an author she usually loves; she found it dull, and its attempted twists underwhelming.

Other mixed reads included Call of the Dark, The House That Eats the Dead, and Mostly Human Resources. Gabby was also surprised to give Vengeful only 2.5 stars on reread after loving it the first time. By contrast, she still adored Vicious, while Victorious started strongly but left her frustrated with how its central character was sidelined.

Memorable Reads

Creepy, Strange, and Satisfying

She’s a Doll won Gabby over with its darkly funny revenge story about a murdered woman possessing a doll. She also loved Tradwife: its influencer protagonist wishes for a baby at a wishing well, and the story takes that premise into increasingly bizarre horror territory. Gabby joked that she would happily read a sequel.

Atmospheric Horror

The Meadows and Freida McFadden’s The Witch were easy to binge and had strong seasonal vibes, though both lost some momentum for Gabby. The novella Exit 8, set in a looping Tokyo subway station, delivered several eerie moments she still thinks about.

Big Swings in Horror

In Dive Bar at the End of the Road, strangers stranded after a series of crashes take shelter in a bar that is not what it seems. Gabby loved the shifting perspectives and disturbing body horror, though reading the grossest parts while eating was a mistake.

The Extra and The Other also stood out for their unsettling, subtle dread. Gabby especially liked The Other’s doppelgänger setup and jaw-dropping ending.

Standout Writing

Martyr impressed Gabby with its beautiful prose and unexpectedly touching queer love story. Hollywood Ending surprised her with its moving look at fame, grief, trauma, and the intimacy of sharing favorite movies.

Personal Favorites

Gabby loved Tananarive Due’s The Mazie Wood, particularly its intertwined stories of a Black actress in old Hollywood and her grandson, a modern-day film director. Solace House delivered disorienting, dark-academia-style existential horror, and Final Cut—a romance mixed with a murder mystery—had the snowy setting and romantic tension she was hoping for.

Top Pick: The Secret Dinner

Gabby’s top pick was The Secret Dinner by Raphael Montes. Set in Brazil, it follows four roommates struggling to pay rent who get involved in secret dinners for wealthy guests. She loved how the plot became more outrageous, dark, and gruesome than she expected, calling it an easy five-star read and a contender for her favorite thriller of the year.

What’s Next

At the end, Gabby mentions she’s still reading Deadlift and Public Access Afterworld, then teases that her next video will announce Winterween.