Hey Bookworm friends! October was an unusual month because I watched more stuff than I read. I went on a trip and I had this fanciful idea that I was going to get so much reading done on planes and trains. But in reality, I was far too jet-lagged for any of that! I can never sleep on planes anyway so I just mindlessly watched movies. My partner and I chatted about our completely different mentalities for what we prefer to watch on a flight. He goes for big CINEMA movies like fancy dramas or popular horror films that he hasn’t had a chance to see yet. Whereas I just want complete comfort and I lean towards animated movies or rewatch old favourites to distract myself from anxiety. I’m curious, what are your travel movie preferences? In the meantime, let’s get into my October Wrap up!
October Highlights
- Went to Spain for my cousin’s wedding which was in Galicia so we explored various small towns in the area with my parents. It was mostly foggy while we were there except for the day of my cousin’s wedding where the sun came out and it was beautiful. The food was incredible and I already miss it. We ate so much jamón ibérico, tortilla, cheese, all kinds of sea food, and even the best mushrooms (with yuzu butter) that I’ll be dreaming about for the rest of my life🤤.
- We also spent a few day in Madrid, a four-hour train ride away and there I met a friend who lives in Spain. We had a wonderful day walking around El Retiro park and sitting down under a tree to play board games, eat and chat.
- While in Madrid we also had the chance to see a Flamenco show, I had seen one years ago and I really wanted my husband to get the chance to see one too! We were so impressed by the talent and artistry (their legs must be so strong!).
What I Read
October Reading Stats
Total Books Read: 7
| Format Read |
|---|
| 📱E-Books: 4 |
| 🎧 Audiobooks: 2 |
| 📗 + 🎧Immersive: 1 |
| Genre |
|---|
| 🐲Fantasy: 2 |
 😱Horror: 1 |
| 🖍️Children’s Lit: 2 |
| 🕵🏼♀️Mystery: 2 |
| Book Format |
|---|
| Graphic Novel: 3 |
| Novel: 3 |
| Manga: 1 |
📱E-Books 📱
🖍️ Winnnie-the-Pooh: The Graphic Novel adapted by Kevan Chandler & Joe Sutphin│Graphic Novel│4⭐
🐲 Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 14 by Kamome Shirahama │Manga│4⭐
🐲 The Long-Lived King by Dana Terrace & Mikki Crisostomo│Graphic Novel│5⭐
🖍️ Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Battle For Pumpkin King by Deborah Allo│Graphic Novel│2.5⭐
🎧Audiobooks & Immersive 📚
🕵🏼♀️Murder at Spindle Manor by Morgan Stang │Narrator: Shiromi Arserio│Novel│5⭐
🕵🏼♀️Murder on the Lamplight Express by Morgan Stang │Narrator: Shiromi Arserio│Novel│4⭐
😱Dracula by Bram Stoker│Narrator: Samuel James, Billie Fulford Brown│Novella│3.5⭐ – Reread
What I Watched
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)
I love the Super Mario Galaxy game from my Wii days so I was curious to watch this. Was it ground breaking? No. But it gave me a few laughs and I got to see Rosalina and the Lumas 🌠! A perfectly good plane movie.
Frankenstein (2025)
I finally started dipping into my Halloween watch-list for this year with this pick. I have really liked other Del Toro movies but this one didn’t suck me in as much as I hoped it would. The sections with the creature’s POV were my favourite, I wanted more of that.
When Harry Met Sally (1989)
I also watched this on the plane because I heard it was perfect for fall and I wanted cozy autumnal vibes. It certainly delivered on that score but romance-wise it didn’t woo me. I begin to wonder if maybe Nora Ephron films aren’t for me. I liked it more than You’ve Got Mail but that’s about it.
Re-Animator (1985)
Speaking of bringing the dead to life…there’s a slight accidental theme in my Halloween movies! I mistakenly thought this wasn’t going to be as scary at it was but those special effects were super gory! The true horror, however, turned out to be a lecherous old man. Yikes. Also, poor cat 😿.
Wendell & Wild (2022)
I loved this one, it was so delightfully weird in the best way! I enjoy stop-motion movies and I had the best time looking at all the details. Plus I love that it was about a community fighting against the prison complex, I was invested and on the edge of my seat…or rather standing up right by the screen 😂.
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Another plane watch; It’s been years since I’ve seen it so I decided to rewatch it and loved it even more than the first time. I forgot how funny and whimsical it is while still being plenty dark. The cast of eccentric mystery-style characters is so much fun and the film is also visually stunning. I can easily say this is a favourite of mine!
Werewolf by Night (2022)
This was a quick fun movie about a competitive monster hunt. It was fun and, seeing as I don’t really watch Marvel stuff anymore, I enjoyed how standalone it was. It’s in black and white and I liked the main character a lot. If Marvel made more stuff like this I’d watch it.
What I’m Currently Playing
I’ve been using this gaming section of my wrap-up to highlight my top video game and board game of the month but I’m going to change this going forward. In October I didn’t play much of any type of game so I don’t truly feel like I have a ‘top’ of anything. So I think instead I will just talk about any games I might be playing lately and how I feel about them.
My husband and I recently tried a new party game at our local board game cafe that I feel works really well with two people. It’s called From First to Worst and it’s all about knowing how your friends will rank random things. You’re given an array of five things such as: People Watching, Air Fryer, Racoons, Money, & Halloween. Then you take turns deciding how you would rank these things from 1 to 5 (best to worst) and the other person has to guess how you’ve ranked them. It’s interesting to see how the way that something is ranked depends entirely on what it’s being compared to. We’ve played twice but I definitely want to try this with more than two people now, too!
I also played The Murmuring Depths, which is a narrative game created by Hari Conner. They are the author of I Shall Never Fall in Love (a graphic novel I love) and it’s available for free on itch.io. I played it on Halloween which was perfect because it’s a creepy atmospheric game about the terrifying depths of the ocean. I’m going to need to play it again because, my first time around, bad things happened too quickly and I want to see if I can make different choices to save myself or if I’m doomed no matter what!😱
Let’s chat in the comments!
Have you read any of my October reads? Or, what was the best book you read in October?
