The 10 must-read October books

01 of 10

I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness by Claire Vaye Watkins

A captivating cover with an even more captivating title, Watkins' novel (that inches quite close to autofiction) about a new mother struggling with the weight of her future and the restrictions that motherhood places on womens' lives is dark and edgy — but also dazzling. (Oct. 5)

02 of 10

Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo

At the beginning of Onuzo's third novel, protagonist Anna is searching through her late mother's belongings and discovers the student diary of the father she never knew. In reading through its pages, she learns he was a student activist in her native London and is now the extremist ruler of a country in West Africa. Still in the throes of grief over her mother's death and grappling with her status as a divorcée empty-nester, she flies across the world on a whim to track down her father — and her past. (Oct. 5)

03 of 10

Reprieve by James Han Mattson

This eerie novel about a death inside a full-contact escape room stretches the horror genre to eye-opening degrees. As Mattson fills out the backstories of the witnesses, he probes racial fetishism and far-right radicalization — among other topics far more terrifying than the frights inside the central haunted house. (Oct. 5)

04 of 10

Crossroads by Jonathan Franzen

Jonathan Franzen has done it again. And by "it," we mean written an epic multi-narrator novel about a deliciously dysfunctional family whose own personal strife serves as a metaphor for our fraught, real-life cultural and political woes. This time it's the Hildebrandts, a liberal, suburban, church-going group overseen by patriarch Russ (a pastor, of course) as they each descend into the madness of the early 1970s. Oh, and it's the first in a trilogy, so gird your loins. (Oct. 5)

05 of 10

We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza

For those who've read their share of stories about female friendship, trust that you've never experienced anything like this dual-perspective novel — from author Jo Piazza and her former editor (now author) Christine Pride — that follows childhood best friends who find themselves on opposing sides of a deadly police shooting. (Oct. 5)

06 of 10

Concepcion by Albert Samaha

Fans of Sarah M. Broom's (National Book Award-winning) The Yellow House will instantly connect with this tale of a Filipino-American family. Samaha examines his mother's decision to abandon a sturdy middle-class existence in Manila for life in the States, and traces their history as it relates to colonialism and other geopolitical strife. (Oct. 12)

07 of 10

On Animals by Susan Orlean

The beloved writer (and tweeter!) turns to nonfiction with this essay collection that profiles — and meditates over — the human-animal relationship. (Oct. 12)

08 of 10

State of Terror by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny

Anything Bill Clinton can do, Hillary can do better — including teaming up with a prolific crime writer (Penny instead of James Patterson) to publish a political thriller. Terror follows a secretary of state rushing to thwart an attack and a moronic former president with troubling connections to the far right. The real-life inspiration is clear, but this version is way more fun. (Oct. 12)

09 of 10

Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout

Strout's beloved protagonist Lucy Barton is back, and this time she takes readers into her conscious uncoupling with her husband from the 2016 novel My Name Is Lucy Barton as the titular William suffers through a late-midlife crisis. It is, like every Strout novel, completely delightful. (Oct. 19)

10 of 10

Silverview by John le Carré

The esteemed spy author passed away last year, but a final posthumous novel will be released to the public on the week that would have been his 90th birthday, thanks to help from his longtime publisher and editor, his agent, and his son Nick Cornwell — who writes under the name Nick Harkaway and delivers a powerful afterword for his late father. (Oct. 12)