The October Issue

A monthly dispatch on romanticizing your life, including my favorite seasonal recipes, 20+ books releasing this month, playlists for the perfect vibe, and more.

Click here to read in the Substack app or on your browser for the best experience.

Dear Friend

“So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

– You’ve Got Mail (1988)

Ah, October. My favorite month, in my favorite season. October always feels like an exhale for me, the start of the most magical time of the year. If September is the warm-up act, October is the main event in all her sparkling, ruby-hued glory.

I have even more cause than usual to be excited about this October. Two of my all-time favorite artists are releasing new albums – Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl comes out Oct. 3rd, and Florence & the Machine’s Everybody Scream comes out on Oct. 31st. On top of that, my husband and I are sneaking off for a weeklong vacation in NYC at the height of autumn.

I wanted to put together a primer on my favorite ways to live seasonally, slowly, and intentionally this month. Below you’ll find playlists to evoke specific autumn moods, 20+ new books releasing this month, a handful of comfort creators to follow, some fun cozy Switch games, and a whole meal plan’s worth of seasonal recipes (plus plenty more along the way).

Happy October-ing!

To Do List

• Plan a solo date. Maybe it’s the only child in me, but I love being by myself. And more than that, I love doing things by myself – no need to worry about the other person getting bored as I sift through another stack of treasures at the thrift store. No compromising on how many bookstores I can stop into. Just me, myself, my playlists, and my every whim.

• Go to an apple orchard. Duh, right? But when was the last time you went to a good-old-fashioned, side of the road apple orchard. Preferably one that also offers hayrides, pick-your-own pumpkins, a corn maze, and cider donuts. I’m a midwest gal born and raised (okay actually due to a cruel twist of fate I was born in Florida, technically speaking, but the midwest has my heart forever). I will always love a hayride and a corn maze, and I will never turn down cider and cinnamon sugar donuts in a giant barn.

• Reconnect with your inner child. My favorite way to do this, personally, is to read a book that you loved as a child. This year I’d love to re-read either Anne of Green Gables or Little House on the Prairie. There’s something so nostalgic and sweet about reading a book you loved so much when you were little and seeing all the ways it shaped your thoughts and tastes as you got older.

• Go thrifting. At this point I probably get a good 75-80% of my wardrobe secondhand, typically from ThredUp online, or by scouring thrift and resale shops like Buffalo Exchange, Ragstock, or local charity-linked shops like the Brown Elephant or Village Discount Outlets here in Chicago. With so many of this season’s styles taking cues from 90s and 2000s fashion, it’s super easy to find secondhand pieces that are on-trend and way higher quality (and more affordable!) than their modern-day counterparts.

• Paint some pumpkins. Want your pumpkins to last way longer? Instead of carving them up, try painting them! I personally am planning to try painting plaid pumpkins this year, but The House That Lars Built has a ton of cute ideas to try.

• Read some spooky stories. Obviously I’ve posted a lot of ideas for fictional books to read this season, but I’m talking about the “real” ghost stories that proliferate the internet. One of my favorite things to do every October is obsessively read the comments on Jezebel’s annual Scary Story Contest. Every October 1st, they post a call for their readers to share the scariest true stories they’ve got. At the end of the month, the Jezebel editors choose ten winners, but I personally like to read all the comments and decide for myself. They’ve got nearly a decade’s worth of comments on past articles, but if you’re craving more, I love reading through the spooky requests on the r/AskReddit forum. For me, it’s more fun reading stories that are supposedly true, as opposed to the fictional excerpts on r/NoSleep or similar.

• Play a cozy Switch game. If you’re into gaming at all, boy do I have some cozy game recs for you! I’ve played all these on Switch, but a lot are available on Steam as well if you prefer using a computer or other console. Some favorites include Cult of the Lamb (creepy AND adorable), Tiny Bookshop, Wytchwood, Night in the Woods, Oxenfree, and A Little to the Left.

• Find a new comfort creator. I’ve been on a quest to consume content more intentionally, and while it might seem a bit counter-intuitive, I’ve been enjoying finding new comfort creators that make cute content (bonus points if they’re not constantly trying to get me to buy stuff I don’t need). My Instagram favorites include: cozygames, Savannah K. Barry, Faith Connally (@thesunalsoreads), @cozyinchicago, @coffeewithmaggie (aka Maggie), Ainsley DuRose, @livviejane, and Daniella Pardo. Some others I’ve been watching on Youtube include:

Monthly Menu

October is peak soup season, and I always crave everything gooey, cheesy, warm and comforting. There’s nothing better, in my opinion, than cozying up to a movie night with a steaming bowl of soup or seasonal pasta. I also adore anything with spices, like cardamom, cinnamon, and clove. Below are the recipes I’m eating on repeat this month. Mix and match for a weekly meal plan!

Breakfast

• Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

• Pesto, Egg & Potato Skillet

• Cider Pumpkin Waffles with Salted Maple Butter

• Baked Feta Eggs

• Vanilla Earl Grey Overnight Oats

• Sweet Potato Breakfast Bowl

Lunch

• Homemade Sweetgreen Harvest Bowl

• Apple, Carrot, and Pumpkin Soup

• Autumn Harvest Honeycrisp Apple and Feta Salad

• Dill Pickle Chicken Salad

• Cheddar & Apple Veggie Sandwich

Dinner

• Chicken Pot Pie

• Turkey Meatballs in Pumpkin Sage Sauce

• One Pot Stove-Top Pumpkin Mac and Cheese

• Pumpkin & Gouda Stuffed Shells With Brown Butter & Sage Alfredo Sauce

• Marcella Hazan’s Bolognese Sauce

• Creamy Crockpot White Chicken Chili

• Lasagna Soup

Snacks

• Chai Cinnamon Rolls

• Apple Butter Zucchini Bread

• Taylor Swift’s Chai Sugar Cookies

• Spicy Chex Mix

Drinks

• Apple Cider Sangria

• Vanilla Rum Punch

• Grapefruit Cardamom Gin Fizz

• Pomegranate Thyme Spritz

• Maple Sea Salt Latte

• Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam

• Cardamom Orange Latte

• Pumpkin Spice Pecan Latte

Bookshelf

My October Reading List

I’m hoping to work through my backlog of physical TBR books (plus make a dent in my NetGalley shelf) this month. I’m such a mood reader, it makes it hard to plan these things in advance, but as of now, here is what I’m hoping to read this month.

• Heart the Lover by Lily King (eARC)

• Little One by Olivia Muenter (eARC – SO excited for this one!)

• The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

• Audition by Katie Kitamura

• I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

October Book Releases

From a horror survival book set in a big-box craft store run by a religious cult, to lessons on craft from one of the best contemporary writers, to a story that asks the question “What happens when your favorite small town teen detectives are all grown up and traumatized?” – there are a TON of good titles set to release this month.

October 7th

• The Mind Reels by Fredrik DeBoer

• Mothers by Brenda Lozano

• Thin Places by Kay Chronister

• Herculine by Grace Byron

• Paper Girl by Beth Macy

• The Hearth Witch’s Guide to Magic & Murder by Kiri Callaghan

• Overdue by Stephanie Perkins

• Cover Story by Mhairi McFarlane

• All of Us Murderers by K.J. Charles

• Cinder House by Freya Marske (A gothic retelling of Cinderella with ghosts? Yes please.)

• Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Kiefer

• If the Dead Belong Here by Carson Faust

• The Salvage by Anbara Salam

• Enshittification by Cory Doctorow

• What a Way to Go by Bella Mackie

October 14th

• Happy People Don’t Live Here by Amber Sparks (have read and can confirm that this book is amazing.)

• Bog Queen by Anna North

• We Had a Hunch: A Mystery by Tom Ryan (this one sounds so good!!!)

• And Then There Was the One by Martha Waters

October 21st

• Big Kiss, Bye-Bye by Claire-Louise Bennett

• Girl Dinner by Olivie Blake

• Backslide by Nora Dahlia

• Writing Creativity and Soul by Sue Monk Kidd

• Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines (Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Golden Girls? Sign me up.)

October 28th

• The Devil is a Southpaw by Brandon Hobson

• The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

---

Need more reading inspo? I’ve been curating autumnal reading lists all month:

• Witchy Women

• Cozy & Creepy

• Dark Academia Murder Mysteries

• Haunted Houses

Playlists

Having the perfect playlist for every occasion is a deeply important ritual to me. I walk nearly a mile to work and back home again most days, so I love choosing the vibe for each morning and afternoon and turning it up wayyyy too loud. Below are some of my favorite autumnal playlists, both that I’ve created and found over the years.

• Your general all purpose, mostly sad girl indie/pop Autumn vibe:

• A very specific playlist I found on Tiktok that is a favorite in my office right now:

• Moody indie-folk vibes for staring out the window of a car and pretending you’re in a coming of age film, from the queen of vibes Elle:

• Must be the season of the witch…

• Songs about leaving (or not leaving) your small hometown:

• Basically every song from the Twilight soundtracks. Eyes on Fire and I Caught Myself, without fail, catapult me instantly back to freshman year of high school every time. :’)

• “I can’t help it when people are frightened,” says Merricat. “I always want to frighten them more.” – Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in the Castle

If you enjoy reading Parenthetical (thank you!!!) and want to show your support for my work:

• Like or leave a comment on this post.

• Share this post with someone who might be into it.

• Upgrade to a paid subscription.

• Follow me on Instagram.