Reading Roundup: October 2025

I got through a lot of audiobooks in October. In large part, this was because Husband was away for a week, so they made the house feel less quiet, and I could listen while cooking and cleaning. This also contributed to my slow reading on my Kindle because I resubscribed to Netflix and got into the habit of watching TV in bed (Nobody Wants This! 🔥) instead of reading!

Everything I read/listened to was four stars or above, so it was a good month! Less so in my comic book reading, where I’ve entered a rough new era in 1991 for X-Men.

I also decided this month I’m going to be more intellectual and read vintage classics, and a literary journal.

6 books read: 5 audiobooks and 1 ebook!

Thorn in My Side (Sweetpea #4) by C.J. Skuse ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This series continues to surprise me! They really strike just the right balance with humour, intrigue and character, and each one sees Rhiannon grow and understand herself better.

Witches Abroad (Discworld Witches #3) by Terry Pratchett ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I am having so much fun with these audiobooks! Indira Varma is an amazing narrator, and she’s made me love the characters ever more than I did reading them on the page. This one was a fun spin on fairy tales!

Uprooted by Naomi Novik ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was a re-read inspired by the dire experience I had with ACOTAR, which had my craving a well-written fairy tale-inspired fantasy – because they do exist! It was interesting to re-read this and see how my thoughts and feelings about it have changed in the last three years as I have grown more as a reader, and I am trying to engage with more close reading. I first read it in 2022 and absolutely loved it (5 Stars), but re-reading it now, I can feel its flaws. It is not a perfect book, but when it’s on form, it really hits my sweet spot – I love the magic battles! I think I will re-read this again!

Lords and Ladies (Discworld Witches #4) by Terry Pratchett ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I didn’t love this as much as the previous ones in the series, but that was just because I love it when all three witches are together, and this has them separated for much of the action. It did see the return of Casanunda, and he is a lot of fun. The “martial arts” book also made me laugh a lot.

The Bad Seeds (Sweetpea #5) by C. J. Skuse ⭐⭐⭐⭐

It was time to say goodbye to Rhiannon! She is a really memorable character, I loved being on her fucked up journey, and this final book was a satisfying conclusion. A very rare series that keeps – even improves – the quality for the whole run. The audiobooks are wonderful, and Georgia Maguire does an amazing job narrating!

Ayoade On Top by Richard Ayoade ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I have mentioned this book previously on my 10 Books I’d Like To Re-read list (I do follow through on TBR lists sometimes!). I ended up re-listening to it now because I wanted something soothing to listen to in my musicosy headphones when I was struggling to sleep last week, and I do find Richard Ayoade’s tones soothing! It is such an absurd and silly book that I didn’t know how to rate it other than 5 Stars because it brings me joy that it was ever published in the first place. I just finished it a couple of days ago, so I now need to work out how I review it!

Marvel Unlimited: 28 issues of X-Men

I got through 46 issues last month and only 28 issues this month, which really reflects the fact that I have passed the Claremont Era, the mutant titles are all at a reset point in 1991, and things are rough. Things are also confusing because there are two parallel X-Men books, with them split into the blue team (X-Men) and the gold team (Uncanny X-Men). I’ve just had to do a lot more admin in my comic book notes in Obsidian to try to keep track of this. It’s the exact details I will never remember but will find useful to be able to pull up!

Blue team is led by Cyclops and comprises Psylocke (Betsy Braddock), Beast, Wolverine, Jubilee, Rogue and Gambit.

Gold team is led by Storm and comprises Jean Grey, Colossus, Iceman, Archangel/Angel, and Bishop, who just arrived from the future.

Last month, I read X-Men (1991) issues #1-9, which were after the first three, which have lingering Claremont input, all written by Jim Lee and Scott Lobdell. I read Uncanny X-Men (1963) issues #278-290, which was the very end of Claremont and then written by various combinations of Jim Lee, John Byrne, Whilce Portacio and Scott Lobdell.

Blue team focused on Wolverine stuff (Omega Red and Strucker twins), which was fine, and is just now getting into some Gambit backstory as his wife has shown up and they had to go to New Orleans to deal with The Brood attacking the clans. However, annoyingly, most of this story happened in Ghost Rider, and I don’t think I can be bothered to have to track that down, too. Gambit, and the slowly growing relationship with Rogue are the only things keeping me interested in Blue Team. The writers also seem to be trying to jam in a frisson between Cyclops and Psylocke, which is very forced, and I hate it. Also, a really marked increase in the female characters in bikinis and other skimpy outfits – it really annoys me that they had Rogue one step off naked for her picnic with Gambit when previously she’s been very careful about covering her skin – you know, because of her very dangerous powers!!

Gold team was mainly focused on Bishop’s arrival from the future (in pursuit of Trevoer Fitzroy) and Storm trying to get him to chill the fuck out. I was finding this very repetitive, but I think we’ve settled now. I am sad now because Forge just left after she took like a minute too long to accept his marriage proposal – that did feel very abrupt and clumsily written. He’s gone off to help Mystique, who’s lost her grip following Destiny’s death.

Jean Grey was also dead again for about 5 minutes right at the start of this run – when Fitzroy first arrived and attacked the Hellfire Club. Prof X was able to save her because she’s put her consciousness in Emma Frost’s body at the point of death (or some such comic book nonsense). Emma Frost is also now kind of “dead” but is obviously not, so assume she’ll pop up again soonish.

Iceman and Archangel continue to just be background characters with no interesting storylines. They sometimes have a girlfriend, which causes some drama. Iceman has Opal, his Japanese girlfriend, and there is some stuff with her family clan and honour, and they’re always trying to kidnap her, but I don’t care. Colossus’s older brother Mikhail (did we know he had an older brother who was a cosmonaut that supposedly died?) is not dead; he was just in another dimension. So he’s just come back, but it’s also not interesting to me.

In general, this era is really boring me; if it doesn’t find its feet soon, I will give up.

I also – at great pain – read X-Factor (1986–1998) #67-71 skipped a few then #78-79 because I have to if I want to read more Mr Sinister (and I think there is a crossover with him coming for all 3 titles).

During this time, X-Factor’s lineup changed as the old team split into Blue and Gold X-Men, and from #71 the rejects became X-Factor. This comprises Polaris, Havok, Guido, Multiple Man, Wolfsbane and (kind of randomly) Quicksilver. Government agent Val Cooper leads them.

From #71 X-Factor is written by Peter David and drawn by Al Milgrom, and I absolutely hate both. The writing is juvenile and going for (I think) cute and quirky, but I just find it incredibly irritating, boring and insulting to all the characters. I was aware that Polaris ends up a badly written mess that wastes all of her potential, and I guess this is where that starts. The art style matches this, and I find it very ugly and sloppy! I know Mr Sinster is going to show up soon, and that is the only reason I’m powering through!

Currently Reading

I’m reading I Cheerfully Refuse by Lief Enger, and I am really enjoying it. I’ve just not been spending enough time reading at night for various reasons (one of which is Celebrity Traitors being on twice a week at 9pm!).

I’ve just started listening to Maskerade, the next Discworld Witches book.

Adding to TBR

I bought a lot of books in October – 15 in total!!

Two were 99p eBooks: The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey and American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. Both of those were inspired by: 10 Books recommended by Mona Awad.

I also gave in and bought all 9 of the Vintage Classic Weird Girls paperback editions. The Penguin shop never got back to me about their broken bundles, but spent weeks thinking about how I wanted them, so I found another online bookshop that sold them as a bundle with a bit of a discount. (If you’re in the UK this is: Mr B’s Emporium). They seem to be an independent book shop, so I can feel good about that too!

So these books are:

• Apple and Knife by Intan Paramaditha
• Autofiction by Hitomi Kanehara
• Black Magic by Marjorie Bowen
• Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh
• The Diving Pool by Yoko Ogawa
• The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez
• Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
• Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter
• The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

I have read The Yellow Wall-Paper and Nights at the Circus before, but over 15 years ago! I love the covers on these editions.

And then last night I also succumbed to the Audible 2-for-1 credit sale and got The Unfinished Harauld Hughes by Richard Ayoade and Les Misérables By Victor Hugo. The former is what caught my eye because I’ve just loved re-reading Ayoade on Top and want to check out more of his audiobooks, but also, it is only 4 hours and that sometimes a full credit makes me feel shortchanged! Half a credit it for it, along with a 167-hour audiobook for Les Misérables, seems more comfortable, and audio is the only way I’m ever going to read that beast!

I also decided to trial subscribing to The London Review of Books after getting Instagram ads for months and repeatedly returning to considering it! I did a bit of Reddit research, and the consensus from people who read this type of thing is that this is one of the best ones, even if it is very snobby and Oxbridge in tone! They also published Tom Crewe’s famously harsh critique of Ocean Vuong, which I felt validated by because I could not get through 20 minutes of the audiobook for On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, yet I see nothing by hype around it (but yeah, if you read that piece, you get the snobby tone!)

My aim is to read each issue through and keep notes in Obsidian, and I also get access to the online archive so I can search back on topics that interest me. The introductory offer is 12 for £12, so it seemed worth a punt.

We will see how this goes because I am always trying to do more hobbies than I have time for… and I also decided this month I want to learn how to do cryptic crosswords!

Book Tag/TTT!

I’m really loving joining in with Top Ten Tuesday! I’ve now added a category to my blog for these posts to make them easier to find. It is a really fun way to find new blogs and potential book friends.

1. 10 Satisfying Series
2. 10 Board Games I actually like
3. 10 Books Mona Awad has Recommended
4. 10 Books That Haunted Me