11 Book Club Picks For October 2024, From Eclectix to NYPL’s Teen Banned Book Club
October means it is officially fall and spooky season! And a new month always brings the book club’s pick announcements. I really love seeing what these book clubs have picked, especially since they are all so different from each other. They also allow readers to participate as little or as much as is best for them. All the book clubs are either virtual or have virtual components, and at least two also have in-person meetings if you like to chat IRL. It’s once again a wonderful month to be a reader!
NYPL’s Teen Banned Book Club has a new pick covering October and November. I love to see that Reese’s Book Club has added a mystery YA title for the fall, and GMA’s Book Club is now also doing a bonus monthly YA pick — starting with a new series set in the same world of An Ember in the Ashes! There’s also a revenge thriller following the fathers of a murdered couple, a middle grade fantasy retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, a literary horror novel (’tis the season!), a PI mystery set in Jersey, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel now with an adaptation, a collection of essays centering Haiti and the Haitian diaspora, a fantasy inspired by the legend of Xishi, a past death and secret society mystery, a YA paranormal romance, and Louise Erdrich’s new novel! You will definitely be settling in with a good book this month!
Teen Banned Book Club at NYPL
Flamer by Mike Curato
About the book club: The NYPL is selecting young adult books that have been challenged or banned from schools and offering them free nationwide via digital access. The book club also hosts the authors for an event.
What The New York Public Library’s Teen Banned Book Club said about the book: “Our first Teen Banned Book Club pick of the season is Flamer by Mike Curato! To celebrate Banned Books Week, Flamer is available on Libby for unlimited download—no holds or wait times!—for NYPL cardholders through November 30. Plus, download our free discussion guide and register for our special event with the author!”
Author talk with Mike Curato: Thurs, Nov 21 | 3 PM ET | 2 PM CT | 12 PM PT | Online (Send your questions for Mike to freedomtoread@nypl.org.)
Follow The New York Public Library on social media: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram
Subtle Asian Book Club
Hamra and the Jungle of Memories by Hanna Alkaf
About the book club: Tiffany and Alexandra, longtime friends, created the Subtle Asian Book Club in 2020 with the goal of uplifting Asian voices and storytellers. You can read along with the monthly book pick, join in on discussions on social media, and watch videos of their live author interviews.
About the book: If you’re in the mood for a middle grade fantasy retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood”, this is your book club this month!
Follow Subtle Asian Book Club on social media: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Discord
Sapph-Lit
Chlorine by Jade Song
About the book club: Born from TikTok, Sapph-Lit is a safe space book club for sapphic women and nonbinary readers to come together and chat books and life as well as offer each other support. One book a month is selected, alternating between fiction and nonfiction.
What Sapph-Lit said about the book: “A powerful, relevant novel of immigration, sapphic longing, and fierce, defiant becoming that blurs the line between a literary coming-of-age narrative and a dark unsettling horror tale.”
The Audacious Book Club in 2024
We’re Alone by Edwidge Danticat
About the book club: Author Roxane Gay (Bad Feminist, Ayiti, The Banks) selects a book every month with the goal of uplifting “authentic and necessary perspectives from writers who fearlessly share their stories.”
What Roxane said about the book: “Next month in the Audacious Book Club, we’re talking about We’re Alone by Edwidge Danticat. I hope you’ll join us at The Audacity to discuss this wonderful collection throughout the month of October and on October 30 when we’ll be in conversation with Edwidge. Register here or at the link in my stories: https://ow.ly/s3XM50T1oW4“
Follow Roxane Gay on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads
Mocha Girls Read
Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby
About the book club: Mocha Girls Read is a monthly book club of Black women who love to read. They currently have chapters in 14 cities across the United States. Starting in 2024, anyone can join an “IG Live every first Saturday of the month at 5 pm PT. Alysia, our founder, will chat about our current book club selection.”
Mocha Girls reading schedule: “7 days of nominations! 7 days of voting! And one tiebreaker!
We have a winner, by just one vote for our October Monthly Book Selection.
The Mocha Girl Read October 2024 Monthly Book Selection is Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby.”
Follow Mocha Girls Read on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, MeetUp, Goodreads, Pinterest
Eclectix The Book Club
Trouble in Queenstown by Delia Pitts
About the book club: Dawnshaeé Reid is a self-proclaimed eclectic blogger who created this book club with Black authors as a priority. It aims to highlight a wide range of genres. There’s an in-person, once-a-month meeting option if you’re in Louisville, KY, and a virtual option that meets the last Tuesday of every month.
What Eclectix The Book Club said about the book: “💙 October Pick: Trouble in Queenstown by Delia Pitts (@deliapitts50) — we’re sleuthing our way through spooky season alongside private investigator Vandy Myrick in a powerfully thrilling mystery that blends grief, class, race, and family.”
Follow Eclectix The Book Club on social media: Instagram, Discord, TikTok
Good Morning America‘s GMA Book Club
A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang
About the book club: Read along with Good Morning America Book Club, which aims to “showcase book picks from a wide range of compelling authors.”
What GMA said about the book: “OCTOBER: “A Song to Drown Rivers” by @AnnLiangWrites is this month’s #GMABookClub pick! 💙✨
Liang’s new novel is a love story that transcends time and place, and is inspired by the legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China.”
BONUS: “🥁 INTRODUCING GMA BOOK CLUB YA PICKS🥁 We’re so thrilled that @AabaaTahir’s Heir is our inaugural #GMABookClub Young Adult pick for October! 👑
Each month, we will announce a new YA book that we love in addition to our original #GMABookClub pick.
This ruthless romantic new fantasy from #1 New York Times bestselling and National Book Award winning author Sabaa Tahir introduces a new generation of characters set in the same world as the unforgettable An Ember in the Ashes series.”
The Stacks Book Club
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
About the book cub: Hosted by Traci Thomas, The Stacks is a podcast that chats all about books, and there’s a monthly book club! The book chosen for the month is discussed on the podcast the last week of the month with a selected special guest.
What The Stacks Book Club said about the book: “You’ve all been waiting for our October book club pick. We are going to be reading the 2019 novel, The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead. It is a gripping story of injustice, resilience and survival, set against the backdrop of a corrupt reform school during the Jim Crow era. The book won the Pulitzer Prize. It is being adapted to a film that comes out on october 25 and our episode will drop on October 30. You have to listen to our October 2 episode to find out who our guest will be for this discussion.”
Follow The Stacks on social media: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok
TODAY Book Club, #ReadWithJenna
The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich
About the book club: Jenna Bush Hager — current co-host of Today with Hoda & Jenna — independently chooses a book each month that she personally loves. (“Jenna was not paid to mention these items and is unaffiliated with the authors and publishers“)
What Jenna said about the book: “This is a book about family and community. It is a book about upward mobility and finding our true passions. You will love Kismet.”
Follow Read With Jenna on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Read With Jenna Goodreads group
Reese’s Book Club
Society of Lies by Lauren Ling Brown
About the book club: Every month, Reese Witherspoon picks a book for Reese’s Book Club that centers a woman in its story.
What Reese said about the book: “#SocietyOfLies by @LaurenLingBrown is our October @ReesesBookClub pick! 🤗📚 This gripping thriller follows Maya as she returns to Princeton for her sister’s graduation, only to be thrust into a chilling mystery surrounding her sister’s death and a secret society she knows all too well. If you’re looking for a page-turner that keeps you on the edge of your seat this spooky season, this one is a must-read!”
BONUS: “Autumn is officially here, which means there’s no better time to dive into a twisty whodunit that weaves loss, betrayal, and a very real issue together. 👀📖🔎
We can’t wait for you to start reading our Fall YA Pick Looking for Smoke by @KA_Cobell.”
Follow Reese’s Book Club on social media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube
Matzah Book Soup: A Jewish Own Voices Book Club for All
Night Owls by A. R. Vishny
About the book club: Lillianne Leight and Amanda Spivack created this book club with a focus on Jewish books and characters “with varying relationships to Judaism” that welcomes all readers — Jewish and non.
What Matzah Book Soup said about the book: “Hiiii Matzah Book Soup friends 🫶🏻 we are so excited to announce our OCTOBER PICK!!!! This month we’re reading NIGHT OWLS by @AR_Vishny 🦉
We’ll be chatting with A. R. on October 29th at 8 PM EST on zoom!
Here’s a brief synopsis of the book: Night Owls is a YA paranormal romance that brings all the ~spooky season vibes~ 🖤 with Jewish vampires! This story follows Clara, Molly, and Boaz as they work together to find Anat, a girl who’s gone missing.
This is an unputdownable read that is sure to keep you flipping the pages!”
Follow Matzah Book Soup on social media: Instagram, Facebook
If you want to know about past monthly book club picks, prepare your TBR shelf and take a look.
