A cream coloured graphic with the header "October 2025 Reading Wrap Up".
Next to the cover of Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro: “A wishful rumour. That’s all it ever was.”
This is a breathtaking ethical exploration and an equally touching story about the quality and essentiality of relationships. Ishiguro has such a touch with his prose. The world is engaging, lived-in. Halisham and its students felt real to me. The behind the scenes politics felt real to me. But above all else, Kathy, Tommy, and especially Ruth felt real to me. The behaviours displayed, especially as children, captured something I’d almost forgotten. A masterpiece.
Suggested media pairing: Pantheon.
Next to the cover of Pick a Color by Souvankham Thammavongsa: This was a great character study. I enjoyed spending time in the shop and in the mind of Ning, the nine-fingered nail salon owner and former boxer. The characters were fleshed out and compelling. It’s a rich text, there so many lenses one could use to think about it and discuss it.
I, who am not a high-vibes, low-plot kind of reader, did want more to happen in this well-drawn, intriguing space.
A cream-coloured background that reads "October 2025 Reading Wrap Up".
Next to the cover of Sloppy by Rax King: This collection of personal essays was a strange one for me because this author and I apparently have a lot in common down to the analogies we use and observations we make. Bit bizarre as an experience, and perhaps biases me as a reader for the more and less favourable (relatability is like that, right?).
I loved her prose. The similes especially felt crips, fresh, and spot on. Sloppy is a good, funny collection of essays about grief, addiction, ADHD and mental illness, bad spending habits and temporary jobs, the fuck uppery we inherit and perpetuate, and being an all-around outsider weirdo.
Next to the cover of Bunns Rabbit by Alan Barillaro: When I saw this book in the store, I was struck by the visuals. The illustrations in this book were so gorgeous, so alluring and inviting that I knew I’d have to revisit them again and again. Having read it, I will indeed be going back to page through Bunns Rabbit. All throughout, the art consistently moved me.
October #Reading wrap up! Delved into some genres I don't usually check out: #PersonalEssays, #YoungAdult, and #EarlyReaders in addition to my more classic literary and speculative #fiction.
