Tricks, Treats & Plot Twists: My 14 October Reads

October has a lot competing for your attention. Football. Fall foliage. Those fun-size candy bars that apparently need to be purchased three weeks before Halloween—and replaced twice before anyone rings the doorbell.

And then there’s your reading pile, sitting there like it doesn’t know you have other responsibilities.

I finished 14 books this October. Were all my chores done? Everything checked off on my to-do list? Let’s not introduce irrelevant evidence.

It was a month for reading under a blanket, letting the afternoon slip away, and negotiating that familiar seasonal dilemma: either watch the next play or finish the next chapter? Football has instant replay. A captivating cliffhanger demands your immediate attention.

The Readers With Wrinkles Halloween book series helped set the mood. After all, October is spooky reading month. It's the one time of year when picking up a book called Witchcraft for Wayward Girls feels practically festive. Add The Bewitching, King Sorrow, and Girl in the Creek to the stack, and suddenly the perfectly ordinary noise outside deserves a little more scrutiny.

But I didn’t spend the entire month checking the locks. My reading also took me through Little Wonder, Dear Debbie, Partita, Transcription, More Than Enough, The Big Empty, Fagin the Thief, The Inheritance, Presumed Guilty, and Peck & Peck. Fourteen books, and plenty to talk about once the costumes went back in the closet.

Now comes the useful part for you: which ones deserve a spot on your nightstand? Because a title can catch your eye, but that doesn’t mean you want to give it your whole weekend. I'm sure you want to know what pulled me in, what tested my patience, and which books I'm itching to share with you.

So grab something warm—and whatever Halloween candy survived your household. Let’s sort through October’s stack and find your next “just one more chapter.”

Little Wonder by Sophie Chen Keller

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — 9 Stars
Genre: Fiction
About the Book
In Little Wonder by Sophie Chen Keller, a mother and her young piano prodigy son become separated in a crowded Beijing railway station and spend years searching for each other. Their story weaves together music, sacrifice, and the enduring hope of finding a way home.

Awards & Distinctions
Little Wonder was selected for Oprah’s Book Club in June 2026 and published by Jenna Bush Hager’s Thousand Voices imprint. These are notable distinctions rather than literary awards.

My Thoughts
An absorbing, heartbreaking read with plenty of reasons to hope, this novel earned 9/10 stars from me for its moving mother-son bond and the music woven through their story. I’d recommend it to readers who love emotionally rich, character-driven fiction and don’t mind having their hearts squeezed along the way.

Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐— 7 Stars
Genre: Fiction, Psychological Thriller, Mystery
About the Book
In Dear Debbie by Freida McFadden, advice columnist Debbie Mullen has spent years helping women navigate miserable marriages—until losing her job and suspecting her husband of keeping secrets pushes her past her breaking point. Done taking the high road, she decides it’s time for payback in this darkly comic revenge thriller.

Awards & Distinctions
Dear Debbie has appeared on USA TODAY’s Best-selling Booklist; I couldn’t verify any book-specific literary awards.

My Thoughts
I’d give this one 7/10: a wickedly entertaining revenge romp, though more of a fun escape than a lasting favorite. Readers who enjoy dark humor, morally questionable heroines, and domestic suspense with an outrageous streak will likely enjoy Debbie’s brand of justice.

Partita by Barbara Kingsolver

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐— 9 Stars
Genre: Fiction
About the Book
In Partita, Barbara Kingsolver introduces Livia Cable, a former gifted pianist whose quiet life in rural Tennessee is unsettled by a call from an old lover. Moving between past and present, the novel explores lost ambition, class barriers, and the enduring pull of love and music.

Awards & Distinctions
Partita is a New York Times bestseller, and Kirkus Reviews calls it “brilliant, affecting work from one of contemporary literature’s masters.” Kingsolver’s Pulitzer Prize was awarded to Demon Copperhead..

My Thoughts
9/10 — I loved the emotional richness of Livia’s story and the way music intertwines with questions of identity, sacrifice, and roads not taken. This is a wonderful choice for readers drawn to reflective, character-driven fiction—and book clubs eager to discuss whether making peace with the past means letting go of the person you once hoped to become.

Transcription by Ben Lerner

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — 8 Stars
Genre: Fiction
About the Book:
In Transcription by Ben Lerner, a writer arrives to interview his ninety-year-old mentor with a broken smartphone—and cannot bring himself to admit he has no way to record their conversation. That small deception opens into a thoughtful exploration of memory, friendship, fatherhood, and the ways technology shapes what we preserve and what we lose.

Awards & Distinctions
Transcription won the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction and was named one of The New York Times’ Best Books of the Year (So Far). It also received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Booklist.

My Thoughts
8/10 stars. I found this a slim but substantial novel, with thoughtful reflections on memory and human connection, though its shifting structure and philosophical detours occasionally kept me at a distance. It’s a rewarding choice for readers who enjoy language-driven literary fiction, big questions, and more reflection than plot.

More Than Enough by Anna Quindlen

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐— 8 Stars
Genre: Fiction
About the Book
When an ancestry test delivers an unexpected match, high school English teacher Polly Goodman begins questioning the family story she has always believed. With her own struggles over motherhood in the background, her close-knit book club becomes an anchor in this warm exploration of identity, friendship, and the families we choose.

Awards & Distinctions
More Than Enough is a New York Times bestseller and was Katie Couric’s March 2026 Book Club selection.

My Thoughts
I gave this novel 8/10 stars and especially loved the book-club angle—the way conversations about books become the starting point for friendships that carry us through life’s messiest moments. Readers who enjoy thoughtful, character-driven stories about female friendship, family secrets, and belonging will find plenty to connect with here.

The Big Empty by Robert Crais

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — 8 Stars
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
About the Book
In The Big Empty by Robert Crais, private investigator Elvis Cole takes on a young woman’s search for her father, who vanished ten years earlier. What begins as a missing-persons case turns into something far more sinister, drawing Cole and his formidable partner, Joe Pike, into a dangerous hunt for the truth.

Awards & Distinctions
The Big Empty won the 2026 Edgar Award for Best Novel and became a New York Times and USA Today bestseller.

My Thoughts
Sometimes you just need a good detective read, and Crais is a master at delivering one—this earned 8/10 stars from me. Readers who enjoy sharp investigators, dark secrets, and a cold case that grows increasingly dangerous will find plenty to keep them turning the pages.

Fagin the Thief by Allison Epstein

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐— 10 Stars
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction
About the Book
Allison Epstein’s Fagin the Thief reimagines Oliver Twist through the eyes of Jacob Fagin, tracing his journey from an impoverished Jewish childhood to his life as a master pickpocket and mentor to London’s abandoned children. Moving between his past and the events of Dickens’s classic, the novel gives a notorious literary villain a deeply human story of survival, prejudice, and makeshift family.

Awards & Distinctions
Fagin the Thief won the National Jewish Book Award for Fiction and the American Library Association’s Sophie Brody Medal. It also earned an Edgar Award nomination for Best Novel and recognition as an Association of Jewish Libraries Honor Book.

My Thoughts
10/10—Brilliantly written and structured, this novel weaves Fagin’s past and present into a moving portrait that made me reconsider a character I thought I knew. A wonderful choice for readers who love atmospheric historical fiction, morally complicated characters, and literary retellings that challenge the original story’s perspective.

Girl in the Creek by Wendy Wagner

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — 8 Stars
Genre: Fiction, Horror, Mystery
About the Book
In Girl in the Creek by Wendy N. Wagner, Erin Harper travels to the forests near Oregon’s Mount Hood to investigate her brother’s disappearance five years earlier. When she discovers a woman’s body in a creek, her search draws her into a chilling mystery involving buried secrets, missing hikers, and something sinister spreading through the woods.

Awards & Distinctions
Girl in the Creek was a finalist for the 2025 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel and the Dragon Award for Best Horror Novel.

My Thoughts
8/10 stars. I loved how the atmospheric forest setting and unsettling fungal horror turned a missing-person mystery into something much creepier—you will never look at mushrooms the same way! This is a great pick for readers who enjoy eerie wilderness settings, body horror, and mysteries where nature itself becomes part of the nightmare.

King Sorrow by Joe Hill

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐— 9 Stars
Genre: Fiction, Horror, Fantasy
About the Book
When six college friends summon a dragon to rid them of their tormentors, they discover that their supernatural solution comes with a terrifying price: a new sacrifice every year. Spanning decades, this dark blend of horror and fantasy follows the friends as they grapple with the consequences of a bargain they can’t easily escape.

Awards & Distinctions
King Sorrow won the 2026 Dragon Award for Best Horror Novel and earned nominations for the Bram Stoker Award and the Locus Award for Horror Novel.

My Thoughts
This one took me way outside my normal reading comfort zone, and I absolutely loved it—dragon and all! With its complicated friendships, unsettling moral dilemmas, and sinister supernatural twists, it’s a terrific pick for readers who enjoy immersive, character-driven stories and aren’t afraid to venture into the dark.

The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhlecha

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — 7 Stars
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
About the Book
A wealthy Indian family gathers on a private Scottish island, where their patriarch’s plans for his business empire turn a reunion into a deadly reckoning. Buried secrets, competing loyalties, and the promise of an inheritance make this a family gathering with far more at stake than money.

Awards & Distinctions
The Inheritance was nominated for the 2026 Edgar Award for Best Novel and selected for NPR’s 2025 Books We Love.

My Thoughts
I gave this book 7/10 stars for its unsettling exploration of family loyalty—it made me rethink how far I would go to protect my loved ones and where protection might cross a moral line. Readers who enjoy dysfunctional families, morally complicated characters, and psychological suspense in an isolated setting will find plenty to unpack.

The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno Garcia

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — 7 Stars
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Horror
About the Book
In The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, a Mexican graduate student researching an obscure horror writer discovers disturbing connections between a decades-old disappearance and her great-grandmother’s stories of witchcraft. Spanning three timelines in Mexico and New England, this atmospheric novel blends literary mystery, family history, and sinister folklore.

Awards & Distinctions
The Bewitching was a 2026 Locus Award finalist for Best Horror Novel and a 2025 Bram Stoker Award nominee. It also earned places on NPR’s Books We Love and Library Journal’s Best Books lists for 2025.

My Thoughts
I gave this one 7/10: living in Mexico, I especially appreciated its ties to Mexican folklore and witchcraft, which made the chilling family stories particularly compelling. The slow-burning mystery will appeal to readers who enjoy gothic atmosphere, interconnected timelines, and witches who are decidedly more frightening than charming.

Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — 9 Stars
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Courtroom Thriller
About the Book
In Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow, retired judge Rusty Sabich’s peaceful new life unravels when his fiancée’s son faces murder charges for killing his girlfriend. Returning to the courtroom to defend him, Rusty must confront family loyalties, racial prejudice, and whether the justice system he has served can deliver a fair trial.

Awards & Distinctions
Presumed Guilty earned starred reviews from both Booklist and Publishers Weekly, with the latter declaring that it “easily ranks among Turow’s best.” These are critical distinctions rather than literary awards.

My Thoughts
9/10 — I loved that Rusty, now in his late seventies, still possesses the energy and determination to face the world rather than withdraw from it. This is a wonderful pick for readers who enjoy intelligent courtroom dramas, morally complicated characters, and seasoned protagonists who still have plenty of fight left in them.

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — 10 Stars
Genre: Fiction, Horror, Historical Fiction, Fantasy
About the Book
In the summer of 1970, fifteen-year-old Fern is sent to a Florida home for unwed mothers, where adults control everything from the girls’ daily routines to their babies’ futures. When a librarian gives her a book of witchcraft, Fern and her fellow residents discover a chance to reclaim their power—but that power comes at a terrifying price.

Awards & Distinctions
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls won the 2025 Goodreads Choice Award for Horror and became an instant New York Times, USA Today, and Sunday Times bestseller. It was also a finalist for the 2026 Bram Stoker Award.

My Thoughts
10/10! This one snuck up on me and became my favorite read of the month—and, of course, my love for Grady Hendrix is still going strong! It made me want to be a groovy witch! With this one you come for the witchcraft and then stay for the girls. This is a great pick for readers who like their horror emotionally charged, fiercely feminist, and rooted in tongue-in-cheek real-world terrors.

Peck & Peck by Bonnie Garmus

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — 9 Stars
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction
About the Book
In 1982, New York City, aspiring poet Batter Gray lands a dream job at Peck & Peck, a prestigious poetry journal where literary ideals collide with workplace dysfunction. Caught between feuding twin editors and their eccentric staff, he discovers that championing beautiful words can be an awfully cutthroat business.

Awards & Distinctions
Peck & Peck earned a starred review from Booklist and a place on Oprah Daily’s Best Books of Fall 2026 list. These are critical distinctions rather than literary prize wins.

My Thoughts
9/10 — Ah, poetry versus the dog-eat-dog workplace: I loved that collision of lofty ideals and sharp elbows, and speaking of dogs, the canine Batter stole my heart. This is a treat for readers who enjoy quirky characters, literary satire, and heartfelt stories about finding your place without surrendering what you love.

Closing the Coffin on October

October stretched my reading comfort zone until the seams practically cackled. Many of the fourteen books took me well beyond my usual reading habits, and while I wouldn’t want to live in every world I visited, I had a wickedly good time dropping in. There’s something satisfying about discovering that a book you might normally sidestep is the very one you can’t wait to talk about.

The Readers With Wrinkles Halloween series made those literary detours even more fun. I embraced the eerie, entertained the unsettling, and gave the darker corners of the bookshelf their moment in the moonlight. Would I follow a mysterious noise into the woods? Absolutely not. Would I keep reading about someone making that spectacularly poor decision? Apparently, well past bedtime.

But now I’m ready to exhale. The witches have had their hour, the sinister secrets have been revealed, and the blood, guts, and gore can now exit the stage. Please don’t leave anything dripping on the carpet.

Am I hauling out the tree, untangling the tinsel, and decorating cookies just yet? Not quite. Let’s give the pumpkins a dignified exit before the gingerbread moves in.

Still, I can feel my reading mood shifting toward the holidays: a little more warmth, a little more wonder, and the lovely possibility of finding a book that makes the world feel brighter. October reminded me how much fun it is to read outside my comfort zone. Now I’m heading into November with that adventurous spirit intact—and considerably less interest in what’s lurking in the basement.

Here’s to fresh pages, good company, and a season with more reasons to cheer than things to fear.