The Best Books Out in October to Read with Your Book Club

An Erdrich release is always going to start a lot of great discussions, and her latest plops us right down into the muck of climate change and the 2008 recession.

Gary is a young man about to inherit two farms, and is set on marrying lapsed Goth Kismet Poe, while Hugo’s messy, red-headed behind wants to steal her for himself. Amidst the drama, the people of the Red River Valley try their best to survive, while things like visions of angels and drastic changes complicate things.

I’ve already mentioned these first two books in my round up of the biggest book club-friendly books coming out this season. Since October is their actual release month, here they are again.

I’ve actually only read one book by Coates’ books—it was Between the World and Me, and it was for a discussion I was leading for a library I worked at in the D.C. Metropolitan area. And let me tell you, that thing was dense. It was also very depressing, but real. The language was beautiful, and I found myself relieved by how well Coates explained aspects of the Black experience, even if I was also saddened by the reality of it. That’s the thing though—discussing the reality of Blackness in America can be depressing, but Coates does it so well. At the risk of sounding clichéd, his latest is so timely. It’s a collection of essays that explores how the stories we construct distort reality. He travels to Senegal, South Carolina, and Palestine, contending with myth and reality in each place.

This already made an appearance in my roundup of the best mysteries and thrillers to read with your book club, so of course, I had to mention it during its actual release month.

Paula Hawkins thrillers are a good time, and this one takes place 20 years ago, on the isolated Scottish Eris island, in one house. The same house where an artist’s cheating husband disappeared. Now, it’s home to the solitary Grace, who gets a visit after a discovery is made in London.

First of all, Tahir’s 2022 award-winning All My Rage had me in shambles, and I’ve since become a devotee. I just know I will inhale this 500-page bad boy.

In it, Tahir returns to YA fantasy with a story that follows three young people—an orphan, an outcast, and a prince— as they try their best to navigate what is, at times, a brutal empire. Sirsha is a tracker who speaks to the elements, and who was banished from her tribe for a terrible crime. Desperate to survive, she takes on a job hunting down a child killer. Aiz on the other hand, is from the slums, in prison, and her wrath is brewing. Finally, there’s the empire’s crown prince, Quil, whose reluctance to take on the responsibility of leading the empire is quelled by the emergence of an enemy threat. All three must contend with the darkness of the empire, treacherous love, and moral grayness.

Benito Juárez will become the first Indigenous head of state in the postcolonial Americas in 1858. Before that, though, he lives in swampy exile. The swamp in question is in New Orleans, where he arrives in 1853. He and his group of exiles melt into the city—by working odd jobs, catching yellow fever, falling in love with the food and music, and almost literally because of the heat. And, in his 18 months spent in the Crescent City, he also witnesses the horrors of human trafficking.

I, for one, know next to nothing about Benito Juárez and look forward to seeing the city of New Orleans come alive around him right before he goes on to make history.

I appreciate how this M/M queer romantasy is cheekily titled. It seems to be the perfect romantic escape for those of us who appreciate the fantastical. In it, Matti is preparing for his arranged marriage and needs to hire a swordsman to be his best man. But his family’s business has been struggling for a minute, and all he can afford is the low-key con artist, Luca. Now, Luca is trying to reinvent himself after some unsavory dealings he was involved in in his hometown, and certainly didn’t see being blackmailed into giving sword lessons to the likes of Matti—who happens to be inconveniently cute. Neither of them is quite what they first seem to be, and what each of them is struggling with—Matti’s family business woes and Luca’s secrets—may doom their romance and their chance at a happily ever after.

I do love a good witch story, and this one gets bonus points for partially taking place in 1943 and for this sentence in the blurb: “If you call to the witches, they will come.” Phew.

In 1943 El Paso, the teenage Nena cares for her young nieces and nephews, and longs for freedom and exploration. But her fainting spells and premonitions are getting worse, and she wonders if she’s doomed to a life of obscure shamanism. Then Sister Benedicta arrives one night, as if in response to her prayers, and the two traverse space and time. Soon enough, Nena comes into her power. Decades later, in the present day, the 93-year-old Nena is being cared for by her grandniece, Marta, who struggles with a legal aid practice and motherhood. Marta agrees to look for a daughter of Nena’s that was left in the past, and Marta’s own powers surface, but they threaten to upend the life she’s made for herself.