What I read in October

Happy Halloween!

Oct 30, 2025

Hello!

My mummy surprised me by coming to visit for a couple of weeks, AND Daniel came home from a month away AND I signed a new lease(!) so not a lot of reading time this month, but I *did* read some bangers (and one I was really just along for the ride on…).

Books

Allegro Pastel, by Leif Randt

I picked up ALLEGRO PASTEL when Daniel left me to my own devices in Sydney last month. It’s Leif Randt’s fourth novel, but the first to be translated into English (by Peter Kuras), and feels kind of similar to Vincenzo Latronico’s PERFECTION (which I read in July). A millennial couple, Jerome and Tanja, are navigating a long distance relationship across Frankfurt and Berlin, uncertain of whether they actually want it to work or not.

Their text messages, emails, and voice notes to one another make up a solid portion of the novel. They break up after Tanja has a mild panic about turning 30, and get back together “unofficially” six months later; they go to lots of parties and take lots of drugs, and send lots of text messages about both, but Jerome and Tanja never really completely feel like real people. Their motivations stay hidden, despite conversations with psychoanalyst parents (Tanja) and taxi-ride introspections (Jerome), and they’re generally content in their lives — they earn more than enough money, they live where they want, work for themselves, party when they like, have large and engaged friendship circles, and they have almost no interaction with any kind of politics at all (there’s a moment almost halfway through where it looks like there might be some commentary on the Antideutsch movement, but they merely comment on it as “confused” and move on with their evening). After their relationship comes to an end for a second time, and Tanja reaches out to reconnect, Jerome’s shocking reveal doesn’t really come as a surprise at all.

I enjoyed reading ALLEGRO PASTEL, but I wanted more from it. It’s ultimately, and obviously on purpose, kind of vapid, and I felt a bit deflated in the end. Maybe I’m over “European millennial” novels.

May We Feed The King, by Rebecca Perry

I love reading books by poets. Gorgeous gorgeous.

The narrator works in historic buildings, dressing rooms in as close to a realistic way as she can. She starts work at a medieval palace, and then the line between the past and present blurs. As she begins to research, the narrative tips back to the time of a reluctant king; the third-born son, never expected to take the throne. His attendants worry that he does not have the drive to rule, that he doesn’t eat enough, is not hungry for food nor power, and that if outsiders find him lacking, there will be worse consequences. As the novel progresses, rumours abound, and Perry dives completely into a world built for her room-dressing protagonist.

This one isn’t out till January, but at least it’s not long to wait!!

Will There Ever Be Another You, by Patricia Lockwood

I should preface what I’m about to say with: I did like this, because honestly for a lot of this book I had no clue what was going on.

Annie Magdalene, by Barbara Hanrahan

Originally published in 1985, this new edition is republished by lovely Adelaide-based indie,

Pink Shorts Press

. An Australian classic, it follows the life of titular Annie as she grows up in wartime Adelaide, deciding early on that the norms of the time are not for her. It’s such a little gem - told like an autobiography as Annie grows up, gets a job at a button factory, sets herself up in business as a seamstress, and grows older. Throughout, it’s full of details that seem small at the time, but add up to give Annie - an ordinary woman living an ordinary life - a timeline bursting with life.

Slanting Towards The Sea, by Lidija Hill

Bookclub pick for November (in London) and December (in Brisbane) (thank wonky publication dates for that one), this is the debut from Croatian book coach, Lidija Hilje.

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