intertextu[allie]ties | issue 14

The best things I read, watched, and listened to in September and October 2025 (plus a recipe for the perfect fall!)

hello, dear reader.

The day after I sent out my last newsletter, my husband and I left for our long-awaited, two-and-a-half-week-long honeymoon in Japan. I’ve already written a short love letter to our time there but, suffice to say, it was everything we dreamed it would be and more – so much so that we’re already contemplating a return trip next year. 🏯🌸🎏

We came home midway through September, which made the transition back to reality a bit of a softer one since my favourite season, autumn, was already well underway. Between my usual time spent writing and reading, watching movies and television, and listening to music, I threaded in a variety of fall activities like nature walks, apple picking, and building a scarecrow. My love of all things autumn is actually what inspired this issue’s extra section, so keep reading for my no-fail recipe for The Perfect Fall. 🍁

As always, a few favourites have emerged over the past two months – like a classic novel sure to put you in the Halloween spirit and a movie that’s my top pick for the 2026 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature – and I am so excited to share them with you below!

✍️ Allie

Some of the best things I’ve read, watched, and listened to lately!

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has held me in its sway ever since I was introduced to it in my third-year Romantic Literature course. I wrote my undergraduate thesis on it and the novel occupies an unshakable place in my heart – even now, thirteen years after I first read it.

In anticipation of Guillermo del Toro’s film adaptation coming soon to Netflix, I invited my husband and a dear mutual friend to form a small book club with me and read Frankenstein together in time for the movie’s premiere on November 7.

They gamely agreed to a reading schedule I devised that divvied the book up into five 40-50-page sections. So far, we’ve met up four weeks in a row at various locations with our final discussion scheduled for this Thursday. To share this story with others and see Mary Shelley’s masterpiece continue to spark curiosity and conversation over two centuries after its original publication has been both deeply moving and meaningful to me. The language may feel dated, but the ideas within it are eternal: What is our responsibility toward the things we create? What makes one a monster? And what does it mean to be human?

If you’ve never read the novel often credited as the first work of science fiction and are in the mood for a classic, I would recommend Frankenstein wholeheartedly! 🫀

🍷 Pair it with: C. E. McGill’s 2023 debut, Our Hideous Progeny, for a queer, feminist continuation of Mary Shelley’s Gothic tale.

Since this is the most-watched movie in the history of Netflix, it’s likely you’re already obsessed with it, but sitting down to pen this issue, there was no way I could write about anything other than KPop Demon Hunters.

If, somehow, you haven’t seen it yet, just try watching the first ten minutes without getting hooked. That’s what happened to my husband and I. We thought we would give it a go, doubtful of the hype, but were spellbound by the first song.

A perfectly paced hour and a half, this movie is fun, funny, and deeply romantic – seriously, it features a love story I’m still thinking about. (#Rujinu forever! 😭💜✨) The animation is gorgeously kinetic with a subtle stop-motion feel that makes every fight or dance sequence a visual feast.

And then there’s the music.

I think the last time an animated film came out with a no-skip soundtrack on this level was 1999’s Tarzan. There is not a single song in KPop Demon Hunters that is anything less than a certified banger. “Golden” is the obvious favourite, but “How It’s Done,” “What It Sounds Like,” and “Your Idol” are constantly playing in our home.

KPop Demon Hunters for Best Animated Feature at next year’s Oscars! 🏆

If you’d like the complete picture of every movie I’ve watched recently, you can check out my Letterboxd diary for all my reviews.

As you likely intuited from the section above, the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack has been on a pretty consistent rotation for me but it’s been a strong season for music overall with big releases from industry names like Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter as well as new-to-me artists like Gatlin and Olivia Dean. 🎶

These are my top twelve most-played songs this fall:

🎤 Bonus track: I recently discovered this iconic live performance of “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls from 2004 and it changed my life a little. Arguably one of the best love songs of all time from the first lyric to the last, this rendition is not only vocal and instrumental perfection, but it’s all done IN THE POURING RAIN. 🌧️ If this doesn’t make you feel something, I don’t know what will.

My no-fail recipe for The Perfect Fall. 🍂

INGREDIENTS

• 1 candle with notes of cinnamon, pumpkin, or apple (I’m currently burning a delightful one called Foggy Day; or, if you prefer unscented candles, I am obsessed with these gourd-shaped ones)

• 1 warm drink you can make at home (I’m partial to the pumpkin chai from David’s Tea with a teaspoon of brown sugar and a splash of milk)

• 1 new restaurant or recipe to try (I’ve been eyeing this one and this one)

• 1 outdoor trail that features stunning fall foliage

• 1-2 favourite sweaters (my favourite one to throw on for an around-the-house day is an oversized cable-knit number I bought three years ago at Costco)

• 1-10 (or as many as desired) loved ones who never fail to make you smile

• 2 fall-coded movies, one cozy and one creepy (my go-tos would be Dead Poets Society for something cozy and Crimson Peak for something creepy)

• 2-3 books, physical or digital (I would recommend a campus novel like M. L. Rio’s If We Were Villains or R. F. Kuang’s Babel for peak autumnal vibes)

• 12 songs that either calm your soul or make you want to dance (the playlist linked above has been my personal mixtape for the season)

• A dash of whimsy

METHOD

1. Combine ingredients into different mixtures to taste. Sample combinations:

   1. 1 new restaurant + as many loved ones as desired for a fun brunch/lunch/dinner you don’t have to cook

   2. 1 candle + 1 warm drink + 1 book for some cozy “me time”

   3. 1 favourite sweater + 1 outdoor trail + as many loved ones as desired for a golden afternoon in nature

   4. 1 new recipe + 12 songs for a musical morning in the kitchen (singing at the top of your lungs optional)

   5. 1 fall-coded movie + as many loved ones as desired for a fun Friday night

2. Season liberally with whimsy.

3. Enjoy! 💛

The Perfect Fall.

What’s one no-substitute ingredient for your perfect fall? I want to know! Tell me about it in the comments. 🍃