11.06.2025 | October WRAP-UP

Hello, beasties!

How did your reading go last month?

I know I'm a week late. Life's been busy. But I really wanted to share my October reading wrap-up! I'm so happy with how it went! I definitely got over my reading slump. Now I don't want to stop reading! I've actually had to force myself to pause before jumping into a new book to write down my initial thoughts for my review.

Not only did I get over my reading slump, but I also surprised myself with how many books I ended up reading. I got through 22 books! I know, I'm shocked too!

Though if I'm honest, it feels like a lot less, especially as I reread Lore Olympus again to read the latest volume that came out at the beginning of October. Then, I also read the Amazon Original Collection - Scared Sexy, which featured 6 spicy novellas from different authors. Between these two alone, that's 15 books.

Either way, reading is reading, and I'm so happy with what I got through for October! Plus all those titles helped with my October reading challenge, Apothecary Readathon. The goal here is simply to gather ingredients by reading books! However, to add a bit of challenge, only one ingredient may be 'extracted' per book. Though the book must be finished in order to 'successfully collect' the ingredient, so if I DNF a book, I will lose out on whichever ingredient I was hoping to get. Luckily, I didn't have any DNFs this month! I will also note that I only gathered 19 ingredients instead of 22. There were a few that I just couldn't think of what to pull from them. I'll make a note as to why below.

So What did I read this month?

I finished the following books, and these were the ingredients I collected!

Bloody Black by Rhiannon Hargadon

Ingredient: shark teeth

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FUTURE by The Starset Society

This is a futuristic sci-fi. I didn't know what to pull for the apothecary readathon

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

Ingredient: bonedust

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Ingredient: vampire blood

The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

Ingredient: invisibility potion

Lore Olympus: Volume One by Rachel Smythe

Ingredient: divine blood (ichor)

Lore Olympus: Volume Two by Rachel Smythe

Ingredient: tears of a goddess

Lore Olympus: Volume Three by Rachel Smythe

Ingredient: water from River Styx

Hot for Slayer by Ali Hazelwood

Ingredient: vampire dust

Beautiful Nightmare by Katee Robert

Ingredient: succubus mutagen

Lore Olympus: Volume Four by Rachel Smythe

Ingredient: pomelias

Falling by Christina Lauren Ingredient: angel feathers

Space Vampire by Ruby Dixon

I read a total of 4 vampire books. I didn't know what else to pull from vampires

Lore Olympus: Volume Five by Rachel Smythe

Ingredient: butterfly wings

Lore Olympus: Volume Six by Rachel Smythe

Ingredient: mint

My Boyfriends Are All Monsters by Kimberly Lemming

Ingredient: hemlock

Spicy Little Curses by J.T. Geissinger 

Ingredient: voodoo dolls

Lore Olympus: Volume Seven by Rachel Smythe

Ingredient: pomegranates

Lore Olympus: Volume Eight by Rachel Smythe

This was the only volume for LO that I couldn't decide on what to pull from it

Lore Olympus: Volume Nine by Rachel Smythe 

Ingredient: moth wings

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King

Ingredient: vampire fangs

These Bodies Ain’t Broken by Madeline Dyer

Ingredient: essence of nightmares

This was such a fun little challenge, definitely one I would want to do again. I especially enjoyed trying to fit them all in my book journal!

Until next time!

Check out my last journal from October 01.2025 entry here!