Oh my gosh I forgot how incredible the cold months are for reading but AHHH I am so excited about my upcoming reads!
Despite some travel and a whole lot of anxiety (hello TwitchCon was amazing but so draining haha) I actually got a lot of reading done in September! I even brought one book with me on my travels and did a little audiobook listening on days where I just didn’t have enough energy to read a physical book.
I started making an October hopeful reads list and was worried it would be too short because I thought I had fewer horror books on my radar this year but.. haha… I am a fool. I’ve got TEN books on my TBR for the month. Most of them horror. Some leftovers to finish from last month. All of them books I’m super super excited for. We’ll see how much I actually get through - I have more travel this month again so it’s hard to be sure. But regardless, this is one of my most favorite times of the year for reading! I’m so excited!
September Reads
- Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors ⭐ 4.5 ARC, published September 3rd
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller ⭐ 5
- Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell audiobook
- Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas ⭐ 4
- Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward ⭐ 4 September Discord Book Club selection
- They Never Learn by Layne Fargo ⭐ 4 The Dead Muses Society book club - September selection
- Chlorine by Jade Song ⭐ 5
September Numbers
📚 total: 7 books
📖 read: 2,059 pages
🎧 listened: 8.35 hours
October TBR
- The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna October Discord Book Club selection
- The Whispering Dark by Kelly Andrew The Dead Muses Society book club - October selection
- The Shining by Stephen King Affey’s community book club
- The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon buddy read with folks in the Discord community
- Slow Horses by Mick Herron continued from September
- The Manor of Dreams by Christina Li ARC, published March 11, 2025
- Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang ARC, published May 13, 2025
- Man Made Monsters by Andrea L. Rogers short story collection
- Gorgeous Gruesom Faces by Linda Cheng
- Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington
Bella’s Queer Book Recs
In June I participated in a reading raid train and shared a MASSIVE list of queer book recommendations with y’all live on stream and ever since then I’ve been promising to share the list. Well… I’m late, but it’s finally here! Mostly! You can click the title of this section (or this next part) to link to my ever-growing Notion site of queer book recommendations! At the time I’m sharing this post the site does not have 100% of the books I originally recommended, but keep an eye out because I’ll keep adding them to the database over in Notion! The site will allow you to filter by genre, queer identities represented, if I’ve read the book, and more! Enjoy, and please let me know if you add any new books to your TBRs!
Books with Pals
Books with Pals is on hold for October since I’ve got some travel happening this month! We’ll be back soon!
Saint Martin’s Press (SMP) Boycott
Social media influencers who create book content are currently boycotting Saint Martins Press (SMP) in response to their lack of accountability after an employer made harmful zionist, islamophobic, and racist statements. I encourage fellow book-focused influencers to join me in boycotting SMP!
More Book Stuff
You can watch the VOD of recent Books with Bella streams and keep an eye out for future streams on my Twitch channel. If you miss a Books with Bella stream you can catch up on all of them in this YouTube playlist. I also post regularly on my book-focused Instagram and recently also on my book-focused TikTok account.
Great places to get books:
- Audiobooks: Libro.FM (use my referral code: lfm461686)
- Free books: use the Libby app to get audiobooks and ebooks for free with your library card
- Public domain books: use the Project Gutenberg website to view ebooks and digital copies of books in the public domain
- Digital ARC books for reviewers: NetGalley