October 2025 TBR list:  Hello, dear readers, I’m so excited about my TBR for spooky month. I have some reads by new authors to me, as well as some ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies). I completed 10 books last month. I have an ambitious list of 11 books.

This month I’m going to more book signings (yes, I’m addicted). I’m going to the Southern Festival of Books. Jason Reynolds, Brian McAuley, Alix E. Harrow, and Kevin Wilson are the authors I have read who are going.  Lots of great reads to look forward to this month.

TBR September 2025:

ARC Books:

Coach by Jason Reynolds is about Coach Brody before the events of the track series. We will find out how he became an Olympic athlete and how his dad betrayed him for drugs. Jason Reynolds writes family drama so well. Throughout the series, we have learned tidbits of Coach’s life before. I’m looking forward to reading the whole story. Coach is book 5 in the middle grade Track series.

Man F*ck This House (and Other Disasters) by Brian Asman is an anthology that features the novella Man F*ck This House and 6 short stories. I know Brian Asman only from interviews where he is hilarious. He did have a deal. If Man F*ck This House sold so many copies, he would buy a haunted house. But that was when it was just a novella. I’m 5 percent in, and the book has a very messed-up mother-son relationship. Where the son absorbed his twin in the womb, and the mother never got over it. Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for giving me a copy early. Man F*ck This House (and Other Disasters) comes out on October 7, 2025.

Library Book:

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid tells the story of a professor of physics and astronomy. She sees an advertisement seeking the first woman scientist to join NASA. I have read the last four Taylor Jenkins Reid novels, starting with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I have been in love with her writing ever since. The buzz has been great for this story.

Physical Books:

King Sorrow by Joe Hill is my most anticipated book left in 2025. It has been 8 almost 9 years since Joe Hill has published a full-length novel. King Sorrow is said to be a doorstopper at over 800 pages. I tried hard to get an advanced reader’s copy, but it was not in the cards. I will buy King Sorrow on release day. I’m hoping to find a signed copy since the closest signing is 8 hours away. Reviewers that I follow are saying it is Joe Hill’s version of It. I don’t want to know too much going in about the plot. But I do know there is a Dragon somewhere in the book. That is not a spoiler since it is on the cover.

Sunny by Jason Reynolds is the third book in the Track series. The story is about Sunny. He is a great distance runner. However, his passion in life is not to run, but to dance. Sunny has to choose between dance and his team.

Lu by Jason Reynolds is the fourth book in the Track series. The Story is about Lu, a black albino short-distance runner, but hurdles are going to get in his way literally. Lu is slowly becoming one of my favorite characters in the Track series.

Candy Cain Kills by Brian McAuley is the second book in the Killer VHS Series. The Killer VHS series is described as an adult Goosebumps. The covers look like old VHSs. The Plot: When Austin’s parents drag him and his little sister Fiona to a remote cottage for Christmas, he’s less than thrilled about the forced bonding exercise. But after learning that their holiday getaway was the site of a horrific crime, this family on the rocks will have to fight for their lives against a legendary killer… because Candy Cain is slashing through the snow with a very long naughty list. – From Goodreads

Candy Cain Kills Again: Second Slaying by Brian McAuley is the only sequel in the Killer VHS series. This book is 5 in the series. The Plot: A slasher sequel that picks up immediately where the first book left off, with the festive killer coming to town on Christmas morning to punish a parish full of sinners. – from Goodreads. I have read and loved Brian McAuley’s short fiction. I’m excited to read his longer stuff. I will be reading his new novel, Bleed in, Bleed Out, in November.

Widow’s Point by Richard Chizmar and W.H. Chizmar is about a haunted lighthouse. The lighthouse was constructed in 1838, and since then, deaths have occurred in or around it for decades. The lighthouse was shuttered in 1988, and a security fence was placed around it. The lighthouse is now a supernatural cornerstone. No one has entered until now. I received an ARC copy only a couple of days before its release. Unfortunately, I was not able to get to it. I read Memorials by Richard Chizmar earlier this year and really enjoyed it. Widow’s Point was published on September 30, 2025.

Fiend by Alma Katsu is about a family that runs the largest import-export companies in the world. They’ve always been lucky. Natural disasters will harm the competitors but not them. The father always told his son and two daughters that they were blessed. After his death, they fight to control the company. During this struggle, they find out the family was not blessed. Instead, they were cursed by a thousand-year-old demon. I have read two books by Katsu: The Hunger and The Deep. Fiend is her first contemporary horror, since she usually writes historical horror. The plot sounds awesome. I’ve liked Katsu Novels but have not loved them. I hope Fiend does it for me.

Play Nice by Rachel Harrison is about an influencer who lives a picture-perfect life. However, when she was younger, she lived in a haunted house. At least, that’s what her mother claimed and even wrote a book about it. After her mother’s passing, the house fell to her and her sister. They want to refurbish it, but will the house let them? I have never read Rachel Harrison before. I’ve heard great things from the reviewers I follow. The plot sounds similar to Home Before Dark by Riley Sager.