I know this post is weeks late, but nevertheless I wanted to give all of the October Book releases the attention they deserve. There’s so many incredible books coming out and it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t take the time to scream about them! For the most part, all of the books on the list are contemporary fiction, although there are a couple of thrillers mixed in there for your enjoyment.
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My Darling Girl
Author: Jennifer McMahon
Release Date: October 3rd 2023
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Find the Book: Goodreads | StoryGraph | Bookshop
The first book on the list is a non-holiday holiday read, which is perfect for easing into the winter season. In My Darling Girl, Alison agrees to return home to her mother, Mavis, an alcoholic woman who’s currently dying of cancer. Despite the violent abuse endured at her mother’s hands as a child, Alison is confused by who her mother is when she’s arrived. As things become even more nightmarish, she must decide whether she wants to protect herself or her family.
The List
Author: Yomi Adegoke
Release Date: October 3rd 2023
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Find the Book: Goodreads | StoryGraph | Bookshop
I’m honestly very confused how this book is on the list! Everything I’ve read says The List came out October 3rd, but I purchased a copy at the airport far earlier this summer. Regardless, This book was an incredible look into what happens when we can anonymously accuse people on the internet. Told from the dual perspective of a man falsely accused and the woman who’s set up to marry him, the book takes on the reason it’s important to believe victims, even if some of them might be making it up.
The Leftover Woman
Author: Jean Kwok
Release Date: October 10th 2023
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Find the Book: Goodreads | StoryGraph | Bookshop
Jasmine Yang flees her controlling husband in China for New York City, where she hopes to find the daughter taken from her at birth. Rebecca Whitney lives her high powered career with her husband and adopted Chinese daughter. This book, which sounds like a similar base premise to Little Fires Everywhere, sets these two women on a collision course as scandal shakes their lives and threatens deadly results. I have high hopes for this novel. I spent a lot of my free time last year studying the private adoption industry and the unethical ways it preys on foreign and poor families to essentially child traffic “desirable” children, and given that this book is written by a Chinese woman, I hope this will further lift the veil on the adoption industry for people unaware.
What We Kept to Ourselves
Author: Nancy Jooyoun Kim
Release Date: October 10th 2023
Genre: Mystery / Historical Fiction
Find the Book: Goodreads | StoryGraph | Bookshop
In 1999, the Kim family is struggling after their mother, Sunny, vanishes unexpectedly. In 1977, Sunny is pregnant and unhappy, with an aloof husband and intense loneliness. What We Kept to Ourselves spans the decades as we explore the Kim family and the consequences of secrets that have been kept across generations.
Family Meal
Author: Bryan Washington
Release Date: October 10th 2023
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Find the Book: Goodreads | StoryGraph | Bookshop
Bryan Washington is an icon, and he’s back with another book that’s sure to be equally emotionally devastating and beautiful. Two men, both of whom are self-destructing and tortured spirits, come together to find a way past their differences, and hopefully save each other in the process.
The Christmas Swap
Author: Talia Samuels
Release Date: October 10th, 2023
Genre: Holiday Romance
Find the Book: Goodreads | StoryGraph | Bookshop
The second, and most real, holiday book on the list! Margot Murray agrees to pose as Ben Gibson’s girlfriend in exchange for a holiday trip to a beautiful manor. She isn’t in the mood for love, but this is the movies. She’s going to fall in love for real. But not with ben! His sister, Ellie, ends up being the one catching her eye. I’m so excited! I love queer holiday romances!
10 Things That Never Happened
Author: Alexis Hall
Release Date: October 17th, 2023
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Find the Book: Goodreads | StoryGraph | Bookshop
You may remember Alexis Hall as the author of Boyfriend Material and the sequel, Husband Material. They’re back with a whole new series, “Material World”, and a whole new cast of characters. Sam Becker works at a bed and bath retailer, and while he loves his job, he hates is boss. Jonathan Forest, his boss, has the opposite problem. He really likes Sam. So much so that he calls Sam down to London to set things right. When Sam trips, he makes the split second decision to fake amnesia, and now he has to deal with knowing Jonathan’s feelings without Jonathan knowing he remembers. How complicated!
Iris Kelly Doesn’t Date
Author: Ashley Herring Blake
Release Date: October 24th, 2023
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Find the Book: Goodreads | StoryGraph | Bookshop
For her third book in the “Bright Falls” series, Ashley Herring Blake takes us into the mind of Iris Kelly. Iris, the lovable but chronically single best friend of Delilah Green and Astrid Parker, gets caught up in a fake dating scheme, and soon the lines between real and fake begin to blur. Herring-Blake always writes delightfully lighthearted queer novels, and I’m excited for another read that will make me smile and laugh.
The Search for Us
Author: Susan Azim Boyer
Release Date: October 24th, 2023
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance
Find the Book: Goodreads | StoryGraph | Bookshop | Review
Stay tuned later this month for a full review of Susan Azim Boyer’s lovely YA romance novel from Maxx! Two half siblings embark on a search to meet their father, an Iranian immigrant and US Army vet who neither of them ever knew. They also don’t know each other, and over the course of the novel Samira Murphy and Henry Owen get to know their siblings, their family, and themselves.
What books are you looking forward to reading this month?
