The busy fall publishing season is underway, and October brings a slate of horror novels, new fiction by popular authors Celeste Ng, Barbara Kingsolver, Cormac McCarthy, Orhan Pamuk, Colleen Hoover, and much more.
10/4: The Hero of This Book by Elizabeth McCracken
A nameless narrator wanders around London remembering her recently deceased mother, recounting stories from her mother’s life and reflecting on how we tell the stories of ourselves and others. (general fiction)
10/4: Jackal by Erin E. Adams
Reluctantly returning to her Pennsylvania home town for her best friend’s wedding, Liz is pulled into a frantic search for a missing girl. Digging through the town’s history, Liz uncovers a pattern: children have been going missing in the woods for years, and they’re all Black girls. Can Liz discover and stop the evil? (horror)
10/4: Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
Escaping a bad marriage, Olivia returns to her family home with son Asher, where she takes over the family beekeeping business. But their new idyll is upended when Asher is questioned by police in the death of a classmate. (general fiction)
10/4: Nights of Plague by Orhan Pamuk
When a plague arrives on an imaginary island in the Ottoman Empire in 1900, the local population of Orthodox Greeks and Muslims are divided. Poorly followed quarantine orders, inept local government, and a murder complicate matters. (historical fiction).
10/4: Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
In a dystopian tale where PAOs (Persons of Asian Origin) are considered a threat to American culture, 12-year-old Bird goes in search of his Chinese American mother, who disappeared when he was a small child after publishing a rebellious poem. From the author of Little Fires Everywhere. (general fiction) A Peak Pick!
10/4: Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty
Murder and death seem to follow Mallory Viridian wherever she goes, which is fine since she’s an excellent detective. But it’s also made her a social pariah. A new life on a sentient space station, where her only company are alien beings, seems like the answer. When human guests start to arrive, so does murder, landing Mallory in the middle of an extraterrestrial whodunit. (mystery/science fiction)
10/4: Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison
Rory needs a change, but returning to her hometown and being attacked by an animal weren’t on her list. She survives, but feels … different. She’s strong, she loves the moon, she hates silver. Is this just the change she needed? (horror)
10/11: Daughters of the New Year by E.M. Tran
In New Orleans, Xuan Trung is obsessed with forecasting her daughters’ futures via their Vietnamese zodiac signs. But her three daughters are determined to follow their own paths, even as they begin to catch strange glimpses of long-buried family secrets. (general fiction)
10/11: Dinosaurs by Lydia Millet
Broken-hearted Gil walks to Arizona, and when new neighbors move into the glass-walled house next door, finds his life beginning to mesh with theirs in this exploration of the self and of community. (general fiction) A Peak Pick!
10/11: Illuminations by Alan Moore
In his first-ever short story collection, graphic novel master Alan Moore examines the fantastical underside of reality. (general fiction)
10/11: Little Eve by Catriona Ward
On a remote island off the Scottish coast, a clan is preparing a ceremony to welcome the end of the world, and its rebirth. But when a detective arrives to investigate a murder, the group’s plans go terribly wrong. (horror)
10/18: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
This coming-of-age novel follows the story of a boy born in the mountains of southern Appalachia with little beyond good looks, sharp wit, and a talent for survival. (general fiction)
10/18: It Starts With Us by Colleen Hoover
Lily, now a single mother, is caught between abusive ex-husband Ryle and first love Atlas in this sequel to It Ends With Us. (general fiction) A Peak Pick!
10/18: The Last Chairlift by John Irving
An extended family saga follows writer Adam, his entertaining and loving family, and his search through family history to discover his father. (general fiction)
10/18: Lavender House by Lev A.C. Rosen
In 1952 California, soap empire proprietor Irene Lamontaine presides over an estate that offers unique freedom to a sprawling, queer family and household staff. When Irene mysteriously dies, former detective Evander Mills investigates, only to be pulled into a game of old money, subterfuge, and jealousy. (mystery)
10/18: Liberation Day by George Saunders
A master of the form returns with a new collection of short stories. (general fiction)
10/18: Poster Girl by Veronica Roth
For decades the Delegation ruled the Seattle-Portland megalopolis with a strict moral code regulated by the Insight, which tracked every word and action. After the Delegation’s fall, former regime poster girl Sonya is imprisoned, but can gain her freedom by finding a missing girl stolen from her parents by the old regime. (dystopian fiction)
10/25: Anywhere You Run by Wanda M. Morris
In 1964 Mississippi, two Black sisters go on the run. Violet kills a man in self-defense, but knows there’s no justice in the Jim Crow South, and feels to Georgia. Marigold, unmarried and pregnant, flees north. But both have someone on their trail, with a motive for finding them both. (thriller)
10/25: The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy
Bobby, a salvage diver, is haunted by the demons of his past and by the death of his sister Stella. First in a duology, by the author of The Road. (general fiction) A Peak Pick!
10/25: The Singularities by John Banville
Characters from previous novels congregate in a drafty old house in Ireland, where they explore the nostalgia of their pasts and connections of the present. (general fiction)
~ posted by Andrea G.
Shelf Talk 