9 October New Releases You Must Read
There is just something about the crisp, cool air...the ready availability of apple cider (which I, of course, spike with caramel vodka)...and the seasonal ubiquity of Ugg books… that makes me just want to hide in a nest of vibrant-hued — yet, dead — leaves and literally-fucking-devour a book.
Really, it’s always all-about-the-books for me. Even Halloween*, an objectively awesome holiday, doesn’t get me quite as excited as the prospect of oh-so-carefully opening a new book — as to not bend the spine, because I’m not a fucking savage — and fluttering through the pages full of promising prose.
*Of course, in fairness, this decked-out-for-Halloween cat is literally the best thing I have seen in two weeks.
And though I could — probably should — pull one of the many-as-of-yet-to-be-read books off of my already overflowing bookshelf, it’s hard to make myself do that when even-fucking-more epic reads are filtering their way onto shelves throughout this inarguably-pumpkin-spice-flavored month.
Check out the nine October new releases that I think you absolutely have to read, below.
The Chaos of Now
by Erin Jade Lange
Release Date - October 2, 2018
Genre - Young Adult
When I was in high school, I would get home and, via my dial-up internet, log on to AIM. It’s what the cool kids did — not that I was a cool kid, as anyone who knew me in high school can attest.
But while my generation had started to live online, the internet was nowhere near as pervasive and powerful as it is now.
The protagonist of this YA novel, though, didn’t grow up in my world — the one where you could only connect via the monolithic desktop computer kept in a communal family space and you had to log off if someone wanted to phone in a pizza order. No, Eli is coming of age in a world where the perceived cloak of anonymity provided by the internet emboldens people to say horrible things — things awful enough to induce a classmate to commit suicide.
Following this tragic death, Eli’s school does what schools do in such situations — they try to rein in control, monitoring everyone’s ever keystroke.
But, much like Liam Neison in the Taken films, Eli has a special set of skills. An expert hacker, he’s recruited by a group seeking to get around these new security features and regain the privacy that internet users once had. But when his work threatens to produce dire consequences, Eli realizes that he might be in over his head. And, worse yet, it might be too late to turn back.
Broken Things
by Lauren Oliver
Release Date - October 2, 2018
Genre - Young Adult Thriller
I’m the type of nerd who has favorite sayings. And one of them is, “We are the sum of our experiences.”
I just love the idea that each of us is made up of — and potentially irrevocably shaped by — all of the experiences that fill our unique histories on this planet.
But what if your unique history contained some inarguably dark elements?
That’s the reality that the dual protagonists in this Lauren Oliver novel must face. Mia and Brynn have long felt that their entire lives have been defined by one incident — the murder of their best friend, Summer — a murder that everyone in their town believes they committed at the age of 13.
For five years, the girls have been living under the shadow of suspicion and presumed guilt. But now, as the anniversary of the murder approaches, the long-ago-estranged girls reunite with one goal in mind. Together, they think, they can finally find out who really killed Summer — and, in doing so, recalculate the equations that currently define them as people.
Me and Me
by Alice Kuipers
Release Date - October 9, 2018
Genre - Young Adult
Protagonist, Lark, is enjoying a highly-anticipated day out with her crush, Alec, when everything goes spectacularly wrong.
The two are canoodling at a local lake when their intimate moment is interrupted by a terrifying sound, the screams of a young girl. The two go to the water’s edge and find Annabelle, a girl Lark used to babysit, struggling to escape the reeds. Alec dives in to try to free the trapped girl and, in doing so, hits his head on a rock.
This puts Lark in an impossible position. As the only able-bodied individual in sight, she can either save Annabelle, or save Alec.
Paralyzed by fear and split down the middle, Lark’s story continues from this point in two different directions.
One in which she saves Annabelle.
The other in which she saves Alec.
Bridge of Clay
by Markus Zusak
Release Date - October 9, 2018
Genre - Young Adult
*I didn’t need to know anything about this book to know it would be amazing. I mean, it’s by Markus-fucking-Zusak. That’s LITERALLY all you need to know.
But for those of you who don’t believe me… or who need a little bit of plot to hold on to...here you go:
The sweeping tale of a family complicated by life and loss, Bridge of Clay centers around the five brothers that make up the Dunbar family. Forced to raise each other after the disappearance of their father, life for the Dunbar’s hasn’t even been what you would call easy.
While some of the brothers are just content to survive, Clay wants answers. And he actively seeks them, digging in to the past in search of the resolution he and the rest of his brothers need to finally be whole.
Oh, and did I mention it’s by Markus-fucking-Zusak?
What If It’s Us
by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
Release Date - October 9, 2018
Genre - Young Adult
Some people meet their partners in charming, designed for Hollywood, ways.
Me, not to much.
I met my now-husband when I went to his apartment with his roommate, Tony — a co-worker with whom I was friends — and found him there, drunk and pantsless — in fairness, my husband tends towards pantslessness… drunk or sober. When Tony asked my now-husband if he was drunk, he responded, “Do rocking horses fuck wooden dicks.”
Clearly, that was the moment I knew I was in love.
Fortunately for the two protagonists in this co-written novel, their meet was decidedly more cute.
Temporary New-Yorker Arthur meets recently broken-hearted Ben at the post office, where Ben has ventured to mail a box of items to his ex-boyfriend. Unfortunately — or, maybe, fortunately because it’s cute AF — their meeting is interrupted by a flash-mob marriage proposal.
In the hustle and bustle, the two are separated without ever exchanging details. Fortunately — because this is a work of fiction, not a hard, bleak, factually correct book — the two manage to reconnect.
A touching representation of real, awkward love, it’s impossible to read this novel and not root for the protagonists — while simultaneously wishing you had a cuter how-I-met-your-grandfather story to tell your future grandchildren.
The Witch Elm
by Tana French
Release Date - October 9, 2018
Genre - Thriller
Generally, I have decent luck. But when things go wrong, they go wrong.
Like, if I twist an ankle, you better believe I’m also going to bust my elbow and break a nail as I fall to the ground.
It would appear that Toby, the protagonist in this novel, has a similar tendency towards compounding misfortune.
All is going well for Toby, until he returns home from a night out with friends and interrupts two burglars. Eager to escape, these thieves rough Toby up.
Trying to recover, and finding it harder than he would have hoped, he elects to flee the scene of the crime and take-up residency at his Uncle Hugo’s home. Along with regaining his strength and bravery, Toby will spend his time caring for old Uncle Hugo, who is close to death.
But, because Toby is on a things-going-shitty streak, things go shitty. Shortly after his arrival, a skull is found in the trunk of a tree on the property.
When law enforcement — logically — takes interest in this discovery, Toby is drawn into a mystery that threatens to upend everything he always thought he knew about the people he calls his family.
Christmas at the Chalet
by Anita Hughes
Release Date - October 16, 2018
Genre - Romance
A gorgeous ski chalet in St. Moritz should be an amazing place to spend Christmas. And it almost is, were it not for a few pesky problems standing in the way of ultimate happiness for the two leading women in this cozy Christmas romance.
For Felicity Grant, always-a-bridal-designer-and-never-a-bride, it’s her boyfriend’s unwillingness to pop the fucking question already that has her less than merry.
And for Nell, a top model currently in the process of planning her own wedding, the issue is her parents’ inability to get along — even on her big day.
Will these issues derail what would otherwise be a magical Christmas, or will the indefinable enhancement of the Swiss Alps provide just the nudge everyone needs to make this Christmas the best one ever?
Dear Santa
by Nancy Naigle
Release Date - October 16, 2018
Genre - Romance
Readers’ Digest Version - Think, “You’ve Got Mail” during the Christmas season.
Angela Carson has inherited her family’s beloved store, Heart of Christmas, and vows to keep it afloat despite the odds.
She soon discovers, however, that she might not make good on that promise, as the health of her family business is threatened by a new big-box store. Desperate for any help she can get, she begs Santa for assistance via the Dear Santa app. Though Angela knows she’ll just get a computerized response, sending her wish out into the world can’t hurt, can it?
Well, little does Angela know that it’s not some bot that answers these missives, but instead a real person. For years that person has been Geoff Paisley’s mother. But, since she’s fallen ill, Geoff has committed to taking her place and answering the app-delivered queries.
The problem - as it would turn out, Geoff is also the owner of the big-bad-big-box store that threatens to crush Angela’s beloved family business under its high-priced loafer.
You Were Always Mine
by Nicole Baart
Release Date - October 16, 2018
Genre - Literary Fiction
Jessica Chamberlain’s life hasn’t been as picturesque as she would hope, as of late. Newly separated, she’s busy redefining her ideal life. Thanks to her two sons, however, she manages to keep her spirits up.
But as she’s busy collecting the pieces and working to re-assemble her life, she takes another hit. She receives a call that something tragic has happened — something that, despite taking place in another state, is meaningfully connected to her life.
To make matters worse, as she pieces through the figurative rubble left in the wake of this new disaster, she finds that nothing is as it seems. Even more horrifying, she discovers that everything seems to be connected to seven-year-old adopted son, Gabriel — a boy who might not have come from her body, but has always had a place in her heart.
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