“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it?”
L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
It’s October already. The leaves are turning yellow; kids are back in school, and we have an excuse to run out and buy a new wardrobe — yep, those are the signs that fall is settling in. What could go better with pumpkin spice lattes and chilly Sunday afternoons than a fresh new book?
October promises many literary knockouts to fill these blissful fall days — because before we know it, we’re going to be wrapped up in snowsuits and wading through ten feet of snow (I know, I know. I’m sorry). But honestly, October has it all. It is filled with a debut novel that caused a bidding war between ten publishers, suspenseful thrillers, a collection of short stories, a superb Y.A reads, historical reads, and a modern day version of Shakespeare. So throw on your new sweater, grab your favorite hot drink, (be it pumpkin-spiced or not), and get these October releases.
AMAZON RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 13, 2015
Cliché to say but this book is on fire – already. City on Fire is an astonishing debut novel. A book that is more than 900 pages long and one that caused a bidding war between ten publishers, which ended with an advance of nearly $2m, it is too tempting not to read. Set in New York City, 1976, meet Regan and William Hamilton-Sweeney, estranged heirs to one of the city’s great fortunes; Keith and Mercer, the men who love them; Charlie and Samantha, two suburban teenagers seduced by downtown’s burgeoning punk scene; an obsessive magazine reporter and his idealistic neighbor—and the detective trying to figure out what any of them have to do with a shooting in Central Park on New Year’s Eve. And then the infamous blackout of July 13th, 1977 happens. Plunging their world into darkness, and changing each of their lives forever.
AMAZON RELEASE DATE: RELEASED!
Okay, so technically this one was released on the September 29th. However, you cannotstop seeing this book everywhere, so I’m going to cheat and add it to the list of October reads.Pretty Girls is utterly gripping psychological thriller filled with dangerous secrets, cold vengeance, and unforgettable twists, in which two estranged sisters must come together.Claire Scott, thought she knew everything about her husband, Paul, but her luxurious Atlanta life is turned upside down when he’s fatally stabbed in an alley, and she uncovers a series of shocking videos on his computer. Paul’s dark side is what drove the final wedge between Claire and her sister Lydia eighteen years earlier and the sisters stopped speaking. Their family was already splintered when Claire and Lydia’s teenaged sister Julia disappeared without a trace. Now Paul’s death forces Claire and Lydia back together. Forming a shaky truce, the sisters begin peeling back the layers and unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family twenty years ago.
AMAZON RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 6th, 2015
Everyone is busy nowadays, so that being said if you don’t have enough time to sit down and read a novel, here is an honest and suspenseful short story collection. The women of Mothers, Tell Your Daughters are working-class protagonists that are vulnerable, wise, and funny, all at the same time. There is something about these hard, gritty stories that will keep you turning the page. In “My Dog Roscoe,” a pregnant new bride becomes obsessed with the idea that her dead ex-fiancé has returned to her in the form of a stray dog in need of adoption. In “Home to Die,” an abused woman takes revenge on her bedridden husband, while the mother in “Tell Yourself” drives away her new boyfriend after wrongfully accusing him of showing an interest in her teenage daughter. In these dark tales, Bonnie Jo Campbell has created characters that will, hopefully, leave you feeling strengthened.
AMAZON RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 6th, 2015
A Step Toward Falling is a young adult book –- don’t roll your eyes, they can be great and aren’t just for kids. This beautiful and unforgettable novel is about friendship, learning from your mistakes, and the power of forgiveness. We could all learn something from the characters in this novel. Told in alternating points of view, it is an emotional if not hopeful novel that will appeal to people of all ages. Emily tries to do the right thing—until one night when she does nothing at all. She sees Belinda, a classmate with special needs, being attacked at a football game. Thankfully, Belinda manages to save herself. But this isn’t just Emily’s story: it’s also Belinda’s and alternating passages allow us to follow Belinda as she recovers from the attack. When their high school finds out what happened, Emily and Lucas, a football player who was also there that night, must volunteer at a center for people with developmental disabilities. Eventually, Emily and Lucas deal with their guilt and begin to feel like they’re starting to make a difference. But is there anything they can do that will help the one person they hurt the most?
(A MOVIE-TIE-IN)
AMAZON RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 27TH, 2015
This book has a multitude of awards including: A New York Times Notable Book * Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction * Winner of the Rosenthal Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters * Finalist for the New York Public Library Young Lions Award * Finalist for the American Library Association Stonewall Book Award. Combined with the fact that it is soon to be a major motion picture starring Academy Award-winner Eddie Redmayne and directed by Academy Award-winner Tom Hooper. I could not, not add this book. Loosely inspired by a true story. It starts with a question; a favor asked which sets off a transformation neither husband or wife can anticipate. Mixing fact and fiction, The Danish Girl portrays the unique intimacy and understanding that defines their marriage. It tells the remarkable story of Lili Elbe, a pioneer in transgender history, and the woman torn between loyalty to her marriage and her ambitions and desires. The Danish Girl’s is a deeply moving novel about one of the most heart-wrenching and passionate love stories of the 20th century.
AMAZON RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 6th, 2015
Yes I know, but come on it is Shakespeare, and we should read it. So I’m adding it in, like it or not here it is and with the modern spin Jeanette Winterson has put on this story you might find yourself liking good old Shakey. The Winter’s Tale is one of Shakespeare’s final plays, and Winterson introduces it to us in a new and unique way in A Gap of Time. It is also the first installment of Hogarth’s historic Shakespeare series. Not only does Winterson update the story; she fills in its plot holes. Although, retelling of this tale needs to be used loosely, as the names are not the same, nor are all of the situations. But don’t worry, the themes love, revenge, jealousy, regret, and redemption are still here!
AMAZON RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 6th, 2015
An Inheritance of Ashes is an interesting and layered fantasy, and yes another young adult book. This story combines a wide variety of different plot elements to create a story that is unique and compelling. The story takes place right after a strange war, in a dark and grim future North America where civilization is roughly at a 19th-century level. Months ago sixteen-year-old Hallie’s brother-in-law, Thom, marched away from the farm to fight in the war but never returned. It is when Hallie hires a veteran to help her maintain the farm; the war comes back in ways she could never have imagined. Soon Hallie is taking dangerous risks—and keeping desperate secrets while slowly learning ugly truths about her family. Not only is An Inheritance of Ashes a dystopian, and coming of age story. It is about family, home, love and the danger secrets hold. It’s about learning to deal with the past without losing yourself. Even though this book is slow moving, it is not boring and readers who stay with it will be well rewarded. Also, who says you can’t judge a book by its cover when it is this amazing.
AMAZON RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 6th, 2015
I love history, anyone who knows me knows that! During the 1920s after the loss of tens of millions in the First World War and the Spanish-flu epidemic a yearning for communion with the spirit world occurred, causing a wave of self-proclaimed psychics to emerge. The Witch of Lime Street is set in 1924 when one woman labeled by the media as the blonde Witch of Lime Street emerged. To her followers, she was known as Margery. Her most vocal advocate was Sherlock Holmes’ creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who urged her to enter a controversial contest. The contest offered a large cash prize to the first medium declared authentic by its five-man investigative committee. Her supernatural gifts beguiled four of the judges, and there was only one left to convince, Harry Houdini. However, Houdini had posed as a medium early in his career and knew all the tricks of fake mediums. This story is gripping and deeply researched and the first book to capture Houdini’s and Margery’s public rivalry and the competition that brought them into each other’s paths.
AMAZON RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 13th, 2015
It is safe to say people love Brandon Stanton and his Humans of New York. Take a look at his blogs success, his Instagram followers and the skyrocketing success of his first book. Humans of New York, which is based on the blog and sat at the top of the NY Times Bestseller List for over forty-five weeks, a huge achievement in its own right. Now, Stanton is releasing Humans of New York: Stories and it sure to be everything his loyal followers have been waiting for. Humans of New York: Stories is filled with new, inspiring people, striking photographs and longer stories that are sure to stir something inside you.
AMAZON RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 20th, 2015
Anil is the son of a large family in rural India. He is also the first in his family to leave India, to attend college, and the first to become a doctor. Far away from India, Anil is determined to carve out a life in American and immerses himself into his new life in Dallas, Texas. He soon experiences all the temptations and freedom of American culture: he falls in love, and tastes alcohol for the first time. However, things begin to go wrong: Anil makes a medical mistake that has tragic results, things with his first love begin to change, and a devastating event makes him question everything he knows. On a visit home, Anil rekindles a friendship with Leena, his closest childhood friend, but their relationship is complicated by a fateful decision made years earlier. As the two friends discover each other again, Anil soon finds himself torn between his old world and his new one.
