October is always a great month for new speculative fiction releases, but this year seems better than ever. These are all books I’d love to read this month, although I won’t be able to get to all of them. I’ve also got some must-read September books that I’ll be trying to fit in as well. Can I take a month off work just so I can read everything, please?? (Click on the titles to read the full Goodreads description)
Lute by Jennifer Thorne. “Wicker Man meets Final Destination in Jennifer Thorne’s atmospheric, unsettling folk horror novel about love, duty, and community.”
Ghostwritten by Ronald Malfi. “Four brand-new horror novellas from “a modern-day Algernon Blackwood” all about books, stories, manuscripts – the written word has never had sharper teeth…”
Station Eternity (Midsolar Murders #1) by Mur Lafferty. “From idyllic small towns to claustrophobic urban landscapes, Mallory Viridian is constantly embroiled in murder cases that only she has the insight to solve.”
Little Eve by Catriona Ward. “From Catriona Ward, the international bestselling author of The Last House on Needless Street comes Little Eve, a heart-pounding tale of faith and family, with a devastating twist.”
The Witch in the Well by Camilla Bruce. “The Witch in the Well is a dark Norwegian thriller from Camilla Bruce, author of You Let Me In. When two former friends reunite after decades apart, their grudges, flawed ambitions, and shared obsession swirl into an all-too-real echo of a terrible town legend.”
The Hollow Kind by Andy Davidson. “Andy Davidson’s epic horror novel about the spectacular decline of the Redfern family, haunted by an ancient evil.”
Lavender House by Lev A.C. Rosen. “A delicious story from a new voice in suspense, Lev AC Rosen’s Lavender House is Knives Out with a queer historical twist.”
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler. “Humankind discovers intelligent life in an octopus species with its own language and culture, and sets off a high-stakes global competition to dominate the future.”
Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison. “A young woman in need of a transformation finds herself in touch with the animal inside in this gripping, incisive novel from the author of Cackle and The Return.”
It Rides a Pale Horse by Andy Marino. “From a new star in horror fiction comes a terrifying novel of obsession, greed, and the shocking actions we’ll take to protect those we love, all set in a small town filled with dark secrets.”
Will Do Magic for Small Change by Andrea Hairston. “Andrea Hairston’s historical fantasy Will Do Magic for Small Change presents a tale of alien science and earthbound magic and the secrets families keep from each other.”
Dark Room Etiquette by Robin Roe. “Sixteen-year-old Sayers Wayte has everything—until he’s kidnapped by a man who tells him the privileged life he’s been living is based on a lie.”
Wrath by Shäron Moalem & Daniel Kraus. “In a future much nearer than you think, where scientific experimentation is exploited for commercial profit, unwisely under-supervised cutting-edge technology creates a menace that threatens the very fabric of human existence.”
The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal. “Hugo, Locus, and Nebula-Award winner Mary Robinette Kowal blends her no-nonsense approach to life in space with her talent for creating glittering high-society in this stylish SF mystery, The Spare Man. “
Living Memory by David Walton. “When paleontologists Samira and Kit uncover dinosaur skeletons in northern Thailand, they also find the remains of an ancient genetic technology that nations will kill to control.”
Top five most viewed reviews in September (based on page views):
Oops I forgot to list my top five last month.
I really enjoy analyzing the reviews on my site that seem to be the most popular, and I’m always surprised at those reviews that keep getting hits month after month or even year after year. So I’ve started listing the top five reviews for the previous month. Maybe I’m the only one who finds this interesting, lol, but oh well. I’m adding the year the review was posted as well, so you can see that book reviews do indeed have “legs.”
My old nemesis A Winter’s Promise is back, lol. I’m thrilled to see Daisy Darker on the list, and sort of surprised at the number one spot, Hidden Pictures. Southern Fried & Horrified is a fantastic memoir, and I’m very happy it cracked the top five!
There is a good, intriguing list to explore indeed! But the one that most calls out to me is the book from Ronald Malfi: I literally devoured his Black Mouth and look forward to reading more from this author 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…NETTLE AND BONE, by T. Kingfisher
Agreed! He can do no wrong in my book:-)
You have a wonderful selection for October! I am reading a bunch of fellow bloggers’ books this quarter, starting with October. Of course I’ll get to throw in special (to me, anyway) new releases like The Hollow Kind!
Priscilla Bettis recently posted…One-Sentence Reviews: My 3rd Quarter 2022 Reads
Your month sounds like a lot of fun:-)
I’m looking forward to so many of these! Great list and happy reading!
Thanks Lauren, you too!
ooh, so many good ones this month! Living Memory sounds really up my alley too! Can’t wait for your reviews.
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…The Looooong and the Short of It with a Giveaway: September 2022 Wrap-Up Post and What to Expect in October
Doesn’t Living Memory sound like fun?
Station Eternity and Such Sharp Teeth are at the top of my list. I’ve been wanting more Lafferty since Six Wakes. Living Memory I think I’m gonna add too.
Have a nice weekend!
Greg recently posted…Sunday Post #472
Thanks Greg, you too!
Ghostwritten caught my eye. I’d not heard of this one but I really enjoy Malfi’s work and I love stories about books, stories and manuscripts. Perfect combo!
I’ll read anything he writes, even if it’s not a full novel:-)
Oh oh, another by Ward!
And I still need to read The Calculating Stars by Kowal!
That looks like a lot of good things on your October plate, enjoy!
Exceptionally, I’ll post my October plans this Sunday
Emma @ Words And Peace recently posted…Six degrees of separation: from scandals to pancakes
So far Ward hasn’t disappointed me:-)
You have my permission to take a month off and focus entirely on reading! Sadly, I doubt it’s mine that you needed:/
My most popular post of each month for the last year is the book I hated the most, followed by one that I absolutely loved—which makes no sense to me, but I do find interesting! Honestly, the fact that you only hated one of these is the most surprising of the five;)
Thank you Will! I’ll let my boss know;-)
Lavender House is on my TBR! I’ll also have to check out The Hollow Kind and It Rides a Pale Horse.
Jenna @ Falling Letters recently posted…September 2022 Month In Review
I hope we both get to read them all:-)
So many good ones! There are at least 5 here that I’m already planning to read… and a few others that look really tempting!
I hope we both get through our TBRs!
I want to read a lot of horror and dark fantasy this month, and I’m spoiled for choice! I think I’ll go with either Lute or Such Sharp Teeth next!
There is a ton to choose from!
Looks like you have a good October reading list lined up.
I like the sound of Lavender House, hadn’t heard of that one before. Looking forward to your thoughts on Ghostwritten, that cover looks pretty creepy 😀
Pages and Tea recently posted…Monthly Summary: September 2022
I’m excited for Lavender House!
I love your review stats round-up, find it personally and professionally really interesting! It reminds me of books that I *meant* to read but forgot, thanks Tammy!
Thank you Caroline, I’m fascinated by stats like that! I love when older reviews keep getting hits on the blog:-)
I hope you’ll get to Lute because “Wicker Man meets Final Destination” sounds wonderfully weird to me. I’m curious.
Yes yes I will for sure!
Having really enjoyed Cackle I find myself very keen to pick up Such Sharp Teeth.
I love that you take a look at your stats. My really unusual stat is for The Sanatorium which gets hits all the time. Also I created a book tag called the Meaning of Colour which has had a few thousand hits.
Lynn 😀