September Wrap-up + Journal Spread

“What does it mean to be a ghost, let alone to be there, or here? There are so many ways to haunt a person, or a life—”

Emily St. John Mandel, The Glass Hotel

Can you believe it’s already October? Time to bring out the spooks and thrills! Here in the Philippines, Christmas countdown starts as early as September so Halloween season for me has always been more festive than spooky. It means the start of pre-holiday office parties (those probably won’t be happening anytime soon, though); and the weather is so fine–cool but without heavy rains. I love it. I am excited to do a Halloween reads blog but before all that, let’s bid a proper farewell to September first.

September for me was spent slow reading and watching series. I temporarily dropped the books I thought I “should” be reading, and just picked up what called out to me from the shelves. ⁣Turns out I was craving for Asian women authors, so that was the unexpected reading theme for the month.

Here’s a quick rundown of the stories I loved: ⁣

Revenge by Yoko Ogawa ~5⭐ ⁣
Dark Hours by Conchitina Cruz ~4.5⭐ ⁣
The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto ~4⭐ ⁣
Human Acts by Han Kang ~5⭐ ⁣
I Still Remember by Priya Prithviraj ~4⭐ ⁣
The Glass Hotel by Emily St John Mandel ~4.25⭐ (buddy read with Annej of @trappedinsidestories) ⁣

Series I watched:
Voice (crime/ thriller/ Korean drama) 4⭐ ⁣
Say Yes to the Dress (bridal reality show that I absolutely love, I cry at almost every episode. Too bad only season 16 is available at VIU) ⁣4⭐

Currently watching and perfect for the season too:
Son The Guest (crime/ supernatural/ Korean drama) ⁣
Ratched (dark comedy/ American drama/ Netflix series)

Speaking of spooks and ghosts–the books Revenge, Human Acts and The Glass Hotel all talk about ghosts but in a nontraditional way. I love how the authors explored the different ways of haunting: whether through objects, memories, stories, or the decisions we make that map our fates. I highly recommend them if you’re looking for spooky reads that are not your stereotypical ghost story.

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SEPTEMBER JOURNAL SPREAD

It’s not a wrap-up without a journal spread, right?

I really enjoyed making this one. I feel it’s not as chaotic as the others I’ve done before, and if that’s any indication of my current state of mind then I guess that’s a good thing.

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What were some of your September favorites, bookish or not? 🍂