Today I’m sharing some of the October 2026 books on my radar. These are books that are releasing in October that I’m excited about, interested in reading, or just wanting to share with others. New book releases are slowing down for the year, but that’s ok with me since I have lots to catch up on! This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase after clicking on my link, I may receive a small commission. To see these directly on my Amazon storefront, click here.
Life Out of Order by Audrey Niffenegger (10/6) – The multi-million copy bestselling author of The Time Traveler’s Wife returns with an exhilarating speculative story set in a dystopian future where virtual reality and real life converge
Alba DeTamble has never lived a life in order. Born with the same rare Chrono-Displacement Disorder as her father Henry, she slips unpredictably through decades, haunted by the secrets of a future she can witness but cannot change. As Alba strives to maintain a normal life with Zach, her safe, supportive anchor, she forms a tight-knit community of artists and activists who fight to take care of each other in an increasingly unstable world.
At once intimate and expansive, Life Out of Order plunges readers into a world of Niffenegger’s dazzling imagination: from the riot-torn streets of a dystopian Chicago, to a digital museum for forgotten memories and lost artifacts. Curating this ever-expanding museum is Isadora, Alba’s mysterious stepsister and an unsettling presence in their family – whose fate may be intertwined with Alba’s in more dangerous ways than she knows.
Told through a kaleidoscope of perspectives, the story moves through a boundless, unfolding universe of virtual reality, skimming the wildest reaches of technology and our natural world. The result is a testament to the power of art and community to sustain us in these fractured times—and an epic tale that’s set to define an entirely new genre in a way only Niffenegger can.
Dasia (Forever) by Nic Stone (10/6) – From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin comes a standalone spin-off novel, written in prose and letters-in-verse, about a thirteen-year-old girl navigating cancer, family challenges, and newfound friendship—and discovering hope in the most unexpected places.
“Absolutely incredible—I read it in one sitting and finished in tears. Stone shows so much care and nuance here. Dasia will stay with me forever.” —Andrea Beatriz Arango, author of Newbery Honor book Iveliz Explains it All
“Unflinching, fearless, and strikingly original.” —Soman Chainani, author of the bestselling School for Good and Evil series and Young World
After nineteen days of “induction chemotherapy,” Dasia Monae Riley knows no one else should be in her hospital room . . .
But there she is: Jameson “Jimmy” Jeffs. Another cancer patient who’s seemingly everything Dasia is not: rich, well cared for, and a smidge childish (in Dasia’s opinion).
However, Dasia soon discovers that their commonalities go beyond a random, incurable disease . . . like older brothers who are gone, baby brothers who need them, and struggles with friends at school.
As Dasia and Jimmy chat, Dasia’s memories unfold in the unsent “letters” (read: poems) Dasia wrote to her incarcerated older brother. And over the course of one life-changing night, two girls who are at their lowest fight to keep each other uplifted. When you hit rock bottom, what does it take to survive and allow yourself to hope again?
In a spin-off to the Dear Martin series, New York Times bestselling author Nic Stone delivers a heart-wrenching story of resilience, connection, and the fight to stay alive.
An Octopus Named Houdini by Zana Fraillion (10/20) – Odder meets Growing Home in this “tender and insightful” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) illustrated middle grade novel in verse about an octopus named Houdini, her unexpected friendship with the aquarium owner’s daughter, and her deep yearning to return to the sea.
All day long we can hear
that Sea howl prowling wild
inside our brains and every part of us is straining
to feel it taste it twirl it whirl it swirl it
inside our body
again.
Houdini the octopus lives in an aquarium, but she misses her home in the wild Sea. She doesn’t like the visitors who bang on her tank. Or the way she can’t feel the sun on her skin or the wind rippling the water. It’s a dull existence for a creature with nine brains.
Then one day she meets someone who is different than the others. Juno’s busy brain buzzes with so many questions and thoughts that Houdini’s skin tingles with wonder.
But the singing of the Sea is growing stronger and harder to resist. Can Houdini make Juno understand what she needs before it’s too late?”
Now That We Don’t Talk by Rachel Pologe (10/20) – A commitment-phobe finds herself stuck spending Hanukkah with her childhood best friend turned nemesis, only for holiday chaos to ensue and complicated feelings to resurface, in this emotionally resonant debut romance.
Norah Gold is a bolter. She avoids emotional situations at all costs, doesn’t do meaningful relationships, and when things get a little too real, she runs. She hasn’t let herself fall in love in nearly a decade, not since her whole world fell apart when her dad suddenly passed away. Desperate to escape a friends-with-benefits situation gone clingy, she returns home to Chicago for the holidays. Her one goal? Avoid Henry Cole, the boy who blew up her life and broke her heart back in high school. Easier said than done when she discovers that their mothers are dating and insist on celebrating the holidays together.
A decade later, Henry Cole is all custom suits and condescension. He is order to her chaos and absolutely insufferable about it. When Norah and Henry get snowed in together and learn just how serious their moms’ relationship is, they call a truce to make it through all eight nights of Hanukkah without setting each other on fire. As they begin to rediscover the foundation that made them so close growing up, Norah is desperate to keep her distance—the last thing she can handle is reopening decade-old emotional wounds. But even though they’ve tried to escape the past, Norah and Henry have unfinished business too pressing to ignore. Can Norah shake off her deep-seated impulse to bolt, or are they destined to flame out just like they did as teenagers?
Eights Ways To Say I Love You by Amanda Elliot (10/27) – A spark of attraction burns brighter each year between childhood friends in this sweeping Hanukkah romance by USA Today bestselling author Amanda Elliot.
This Hanukkah, Shira Levinson is returning home to New Jersey riding the high of achieving major milestones. Though she only just graduated from college, she’s got her dream job and a perfect Los Angeles apartment—an actual miracle in the city of dreams.
Life has not been quite as kind to Leo David. Not only did he fail out of college, he was forced to move in with his estranged dad, who he still hates for cheating on his mom years ago. The only silver lining? Getting to see Shira, his childhood friend (and crush, though he’ll never tell her that) while she’s home for her family’s holiday party.
But that’s just the beginning. Over the next eight years, Shira’s and Leo’s lives spin them in all sorts of directions as they grow and change, taking them places they never imagined going. Sometimes those paths take them farther away from each other, and other times closer together. If they can only time it right, they might uncover a love that burns forever.
Will you add any of these to your to be read list?
