Books 20 new books to read in October By David Canfield David Canfield David Canfield is a Staff Editor. He oversees the magazine's books section, and writes film features and awards analysis. EW's editorial guidelines Published on September 30, 2018 12:00PM EDT Trending Videos Close this video player 01 of 21 A little something for everyone Catapult; Dutton; Blair; Viking; Jonathan Cape Ltd This October has tantalizing mysteries, hilarious celeb memoirs, prescient apocalyptic dramas, and some of the most anticipated fiction of the year. In other words, chances are you'll find something you'll like on this list. 02 of 21 All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung Catapult The former Toast editor beautifully tells her life story, from growing up with adoptive white parents to uncovering the truth of where she came from. (Oct. 2) 03 of 21 Dry by Neal Shusterman & Jarrod Shusterman Simon & Schuster This timely thriller about a teen forced to fight for her family’s survival after a California drought turns deadly is the YA blockbuster of the fall: Paramount Pictures optioned it well before publication, in a multi-studio bidding war. (Oct. 2) 04 of 21 The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman Dutton One of the funniest celeb couples around gives readers an intimate, hilarious, appropriately strange window into their dynamic. Along with gorgeous photographs and illustrations, the two chat in unedited conversations about a range of random topics. (Oct. 2) 05 of 21 Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller Tin House Books Fuller (Swimming Lessons) weaves between two timelines in this story of a love triangle hurtling toward tragedy. Set predominantly in the English countryside circa 1969, Bitter Orange explores attraction, obsession, and the power of storytelling. (Oct. 9) 06 of 21 Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami Knopf No one can deny Murakami’s range. The beloved Japanese novelist (Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore) has written near-1,000-page epics and intimate slices of life to equal praise, peppered as they always are with his humane surrealistic flourishes. His latest, Killing Commendatore, is an homage to The Great Gatsby, centered on a lonely painter who hits the road to find inspiration. Murakami fans can likely guess it’s no ordinary trip; get ready for a wild ride. (Oct. 9) 07 of 21 The Other Wife by Michael Robotham Sphere The best-selling thriller writer is generating quite a bit of buzz for his latest, which depicts a seemingly picture perfect married couple, together for 60 years, before their son finds their father brutally attacked. Stephen King raved back in August that this was a "terrific book." (Oct. 9) 08 of 21 What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera HarperTeen Two of queer YA fiction’s best writers — Silvera (More Happy Than Not) and Albertalli (the mind behind Love, Simon) — join forces for an infectiously sweet story of young love, set against New York’s bustling backdrop. This is the gay rom-com you’ve been waiting for. (And good news: It's headed to the big screen.) (Oct. 9) 09 of 21 White Dancing Elephants by Chaya Bhuvaneswar Dzanc Books Bhuvaneswar's debut story collection, already eliciting praise from the likes of Lauren Groff and Jeff VanderMeer, explores urgent themes of sexual harassment and racial violence through a poetic lens, exploring a cast of marginalized characters and infusing them with bracing life. (Oct. 9) 10 of 21 The Witch Elm by Tana French Viking Best known for her Dublin Murder Squad series, French is back with her first stand-alone mystery. “I wanted to try something completely different,” she says of The Witch Elm, a spooky tale of a man who unearths terrifying secrets at his family’s ancestral home. “I’ve always had detectives for narrators; I liked the idea of seeing the story from the other side.” (Oct. 9) 11 of 21 Heavy by Kiese Laymon Scribner Laymon provocatively meditates on his trauma growing up as a black man, and in turn crafts an essential polemic against American moral rot. (Oct. 16) 12 of 21 The Lake on Fire by Rosellen Brown Sarabande Books If you don’t know this name, get familiar: Brown is one of our best living fiction writers, spending much of a career well under-the-radar. Her new novel, remarkably her first in nearly 20 years, is an epic that questions the American dream in a 19th-century immigrant saga. (Oct. 16) 13 of 21 The Library Book by Susan Orlean Simon & Schuster An investigation into the still-unsolved Los Angeles Public Library fire of 1986 becomes a love letter to book centers everywhere and a poignant reminder of how desperately we need these institutions. (Oct. 16) 14 of 21 Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver Harper Collins In a story of two families living on the same corner during two different centuries, both surviving periods of tumult, Kingsolver explores the question of what shelter really means in her first novel since 2012. (Oct. 16) 15 of 21 Everything Under by Daisy Johnson Jonathan Cape Ltd Here's an author to watch: This novel has been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, making Johnson the youngest author ever to carry that honor. Everything Under offers a gender-bending reimagining of Oedipus Rex. (Oct. 23) 16 of 21 Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Mariner Books One of the most anticipated literary debuts of the fall, Friday Black veers between the surreal and the satirical in its bold take on being young and black in America. For this book, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah was named a prestigious "5 Under 35" honoree by the National Book Foundation. (Oct. 23) 17 of 21 Little by Edward Carey Riverhead Books Carey's sparkling, bizarre foray into Revolutionary Paris was several years in the making. Filled out with original illustrations, it tells the story of an orphan who, through a series of unbelievable adventures, transforms into Madame Tussaud. (Oct. 23) 18 of 21 Red Moon by Kim Stanley Robinson Orbit The acclaimed spec-fiction author previously imagined New York as an underwater city in New York 2140. In his equally fascinating follow-up, he envisions an intriguing, political future in which we've colonized the moon. (Oct. 23) 19 of 21 Useful Phrases for Immigrants by May-Lee Chai Blair The author of 10 books, May-Lee Chai's latest is a slim volume featuring a collection of tales which interrogate immigrant identity in unique and surprising ways. (Oct. 23) 20 of 21 Family Trust by Kathy Wang William Morrow Money and family make for a potent mix, and the Huang family proves just that as they butt heads over an inheritance that is haunted by long-held resentment, cultural expectations, and a possibly exaggerated amount of wealth. (Oct. 30) 21 of 21 Well-Read Black Girl by Glory Edim (ed.) Ballantine Books Edim expands her breakout Brooklyn Book Club with this vibrant anthology celebrating black women in literature. The beyond impressive list of contributors includes Jesmyn Ward, Jacqueline Woodson, Tayari Jones, and Gabourey Sidibe. (Oct. 30)