11 of the Best Books to Read In October for Adults

I love a good spooky and atmospheric fall book to read during October. Each September I search the Internet to find my next October read, and sadly, I run into two problems. First, I see the same books recommended over and over and I've already read them. Second, the recommended books just don't interest me because I'm not a fan of the author or the subject matter. I decided to take matters into my own hands and write my own fall book list in the hopes that someone out there will find a great autumn book from this tiny little book blog of mine. All of these books are 5 stars for me but be sure to read to the end to find my absolute favorite fall book. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian

I found this little-known gem at bookstore specializing in scary books in Mystic, Connecticut while on a family vacation. Other than the fact that the store ambiance scared my then seven year old so badly he had nightmares for a week, I'm so glad I stopped by and asked for a book recommendation. Red Rabbit by Alex Grecian is a fun, scary book unlike any other. It's a supernatural horror wrapped up in a wild west setting. I loved this book and was thrilled when I heard it has a sequel, Rose of Jericho.

Read Red Rabbit if you're into westerns or want something unique and entirely different for your October book.

The September House by Carissa Orlando

Yes, I know. The title says September and this is an October book list. Hear me out. The September House by Carissa Orlando is a great haunted house story. It is unlike most horror books I've read because I recall it literally making me snort with laughter at times. (I may have a slightly inappropriate sense of humor.) This book is all the things you want in a book about a haunted house. 

Read The September House if you want a creepy book and just can't wait until it's officially October. 

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix is just pure fun. It's about a couple of high school friends growing up in the 80s and is like a ridiculous horror movie in all the best ways. And just look at that cover art! My husband wants me to add that he's the one who got this book for me and deserves full credit for me thoroughly enjoying it. 

Read My Best Friend's Exorcism if you love Stranger Things, the 80's, or reliving your high school friendships. 

The Secret History by Donna Tartt 

Okay, yes, I know The Secret History by Donna Tartt is on every fall book list that ever existed. But it actually deserves to be there. It's a classic. Donna Tartt is one of my favorite authors, and it blows my mind that this was her first novel. Only problem is she's not very prolific. I am eagerly awaiting news of a fourth novel; she's overdue.

Read The Secret History if you're in the mood for a big, well-written novel with a New England college setting. 

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer was everywhere (and nowhere—took me forever to get a copy) not too long ago. It's about a couple who bought a house and are visited by a family that used to live there. Once inside, the family just.won't.leave. It's a super creepy book, and it's filled with little secrets that you might not notice unless you're specifically looking for them. Don't do the audio version or you'll likely miss these little tidbits.

Read We Used to Live Here if you have a hard time saying no, like to feel uncomfortable, or are looking for a little mystery to go along with your horror. 

The Descent by Jeff Long

The Descent by Jeff Long opens with the scariest scene I've ever read in a book. It's been many years since I've read this one but it's stuck with me. (I still think about hadals and even named one of my mom's earring types after them. She sticks to calling them paddle earrings though lol.) The book is a little bit of everything rolled into one great horror novel. It's part of a series, but I felt like it was a great stand-alone and never felt the need to read the others. 

Read The Descent if you want to dive into hell or if you like your horror novels with a little bit of everything. 

The Caretaker by Ron Rash

Something about The Caretaker by Ron Rash just makes me think of cozy fall reading. Probably because it largely takes place in a cemetery in North Carolina during the 1950s. It is a quick read filled with the complexities of all varieties relationships and has some breathtaking deceit thrown in for good measure. 

Read The Caretaker if you don't have a ton of time to sink into a book but still want something cozy to read while wrapped in a blanket sipping tea on a chilly October morning. 

The Shining by Stephen King

Is it a scary book list without Stephen King? I don't think so. The Shining is my favorite Stephen King novel. The guy somehow made even topiaries scary. This is a great one to read towards the end of fall to help ease you into the winter months. And then watch the 1980 movie.

Read The Shining if you want a classically scary book or if you're new to Steven King.

The Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

The Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann is a nonfiction murder mystery more people should know about. This book screams October to me because it is such a chilling piece of US history. This book is well-written and interesting and infuriating. 

Read The Killers of the Flower Moon if you want a true-crime thriller during the month of October. 

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

If you want a grown-up magic school series that isn't Harry Potter or The Magicians, try the Scholomance trilogy. A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik is the first (and best) book in the series. It has magic and thrills and I loved it the whole way through. A book that takes me through a full school year will always be a fall book for me and fit in as an October read. 

Read A Deadly Education if you want to start a fantasy series this fall. Beware: it ends with a BIG cliffhanger, so have The Last Graduate on hand so you don't go mad.

The Cider House Rules by John Irving

The Cider House Rules by John Irving is my favorite fall read of all time. It's not a spooky book, but it is certainly atmospheric and immersive and thought-provoking and filled with emotion and unforgettable characters. I crave reading it in the fall months. It is one of the few books I've read more than once. When John Irving is at his best, as he is in this novel, he cannot be beat. And if you don't have time to read the book, the movie is pretty great, too. Although it can't hold a candle to the novel. 

Read The Cider House Rules if you want a long book you can deeply enjoy this October, one that will remain with you long after you finish it. 

Help a Girl Out!

Like I said at the beginning of this blog post, I spend my September looking for great October reads. Unfortunately, it's September 30th and I still haven't found one that's caught my eye for this October. Please help by recommending a book in the comments!

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Foe by Iain Reid

One Sentence Summary: This is a philosophical novel set in the future where a husband is selected to participate in a space mission while his wife stays home on the farm in the company of an interesting individual.

Number of Pages: 260

Rating: 4/5 stars

Review: Foe by Iain Reid is thought-provoking and unlike any book I've read before. It was advertised as a page-turner, which I can't say I agree with, but it is certainly an interesting, worthwhile novel that sticks in your head after you've completed it. The first half of the book starts slowly, but the second half makes up for it. Reid does a weird thing with punctuation throughout the book: the main character doesn't have quotation marks around his speech. Normally, I hate when authors mess with things like that. However, in this case, it is an excellent choice that makes the conclusion more powerful and adds meaning to the story. Only a talented writer can pull something like that off. Foe is the first book I've read by Reid, and now he's definitely on my radar of authors to watch.

The Invited by Jennifer McMahon

One Sentence Summary: A couple builds a haunted house in rural Vermont.

Number of Pages: 353

Rating: 5/5 stars

Review: The Invited by Jennifer McMahon is the perfect creepy October read. It's scary but not make-your-pants-brown scary, which is just what I was looking for. The story pulls you in right away and keeps you interested the whole way through while gradually getting eerier. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and always had trouble putting it down. I would have preferred a different ending, but the ending was suitable and doesn't ruin the book. If you're looking for a page-turner fit for October, this is your book.

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

One Sentence Summary: A young woman takes on a position as a live-in nanny in a creepy modern house in Scotland and is soon arrested for the murder of one of the children.

Number of Pages: 336

Rating: 4/5 stars

Review: I really enjoyed The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware and went back and forth over giving it a 4 or a 5. It was a solid book but didn't wow me. (Plus, a book has to be really special for me to give it a five-star review.) In the end, I gave it a 4/5 because it wasn't quite as spooky as I was hoping and the ending changed the whole feeling of the book in not a good way. (I don't want to spoil anything so I won't elaborate on that, but if you do read it I'm sure you'll know what I'm talking about.) The Turn of the Key is a good October read, especially if you want to be a little scared but not too scared. I'd definitely recommend it.

Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson

One Sentence Summary: A woman named Roux makes a game of blackmailing a woman named Amy but doesn't expect Amy to be such a challenge.

Number of Pages: 340

Rating: 4/5 stars

Review: Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson wasn't super exciting at first. (It started with a women's bookclub meeting getting catty and made me feel a little uncomfortable but not necessarily interested.) However, the book got better quickly and was fun to read. It had several big twists I didn't see coming, and the second half was way better than the first. The one dislike I had was this: why didn't the main character just tell the truth? I kept thinking that would immediately solve her blackmail problem, so that distracted and annoyed me some. If she told the truth then there wouldn't be much of a story though, so I get it. Never Have I Ever was a good read, and I'll be reading more of this author's books in the future.

Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller

One Sentence Summary: A woman in 1969 spies on a couple who is staying in the same dilapidated English mansion.

Number of Pages: 317

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

Review: Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller has some problems. The first third of the book suffers from being wayyyy too descriptive of the setting, which prevents any sort of momentum from being developed. The middle third of the book suffers from lack of events. The woman and the couple she spies on eat and drink and smoke together. A lot. In fact, that's pretty much all they do. The entire book suffers from just not being that interesting. The author does a good job of having gradual reveals and shocking little twists, but by the time those happen in the last third of the book I am just not invested in the characters or the storyline. Bitter Orange isn't unreadable, but I am pretty disappointed in what I thought would be a good read.

Cribsheet by Emily Oster

One Sentence Summary: Cribsheet is a nonfiction book that uses data to inform parents' best practices with their children under three.

Number of Pages: 291 (plus more with appendixes, notes, and index)

Rating: 5/5 stars

Review: The author of Cribsheet, Emily Oster, is all about data. In her book she delves deep into all sorts of research about babies and toddlers in order to help parents make the best decisions for their families. Oster presents the benefits and risks around common decisions parents have to make, including topics such as breastfeeding, baby led weaning, crying it out, where babies should sleep, and much more. This book is a helpful read for new parents who want to make informed decisions about their parenting.

The Last by Hanna Jameson

One Sentence Summary: Nuclear bombs exploded all over the world, leaving twenty people alive in a hotel together wondering who they can trust and how they will stay alive.

Number of Pages: 340

Rating: 5/5 stars

Review: The Last by Hanna Jameson is an excellent, fast-paced page turner. I have a hard time reading books in airports, but my mom recommended I take this one along with me on a recent flight. I'm glad she did. Starting with the very first page, I was drawn in and didn't want to stop reading. I find most post-apocalyptic novels to be depressing, but that wasn't the overwhelming tone of The Last. This book had one of the best female characters I've found in a long time. If you like Deb from the TV show Dexter, you'll love Tomi, too. I have zero complaints about this book. Check it out if you want a quick, entertaining read.

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews

One Sentence Summary: A 36 year old woman who has issues with her dad moves back to her hometown to work at his law firm and solves two murder mysteries by herself.

Number of Pages: 441

Rating: 3/5 stars

Review: While Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews is a good book to pick up and read on a beach during the summer months, it's just an okay read. My two biggest issues were with the main character and with the implausibility of her detective skills. I found the main character annoying and full of herself. She becomes obsessed with solving two murder mysteries but is not a detective or a lawyer or a part of the police force. And she doesn't have any training or experience whatsoever to qualify her to check into these cases. I literally had to roll my eyes at some parts in the book. It's an easy and a fast read, but I wouldn't recommend it.

The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth

One Sentence Summary: A difficult mother-in-law is found dead under peculiar circumstances.

Number of Pages: 340

Rating: 5/5 stars

Review: The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth is a fun, quick, entertaining read perfect for summer or a vacation. It's not a book that will change your world, but it is a perfect easy read, especially for anyone with a hard to love mother-in-law in her life. I have no criticisms of this book.

Cherokee America by Margaret Verble

One Sentence Summary: A one sentence summary is impossible to do for this book. I have no idea what it was about. I wish I did. The book took place in the 1800s and it was kind of about relations between blacks, whites, and Native Americans.

Number of Pages: 385

Rating: 2/5 stars

Review: I had high hopes for Cherokee America. A trusted source recommended it and Ron Rash (author of Serena, which I loved) talked it up. The book started with a solid 4/5 stars, but it lost me along the way. There were a bazillion characters, and 90% of them were forgettable. Somehow, there were almost as many plots and subplots as characters. I kept reading thinking the plots would link together and make sense, but they never conjoined and many seemed to get lost and left unresolved. Cherokee America was filled with interesting historical tidbits and the writing itself was actually good. However, the book had zero focus. Maybe it would be better as a set of short stories. Or perhaps trimmed of characters and plots to create a narrower focus. As is, though, the book was a big, swirling mess of a disappointment.

American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

One Sentence Summary: A woman writes to her sons about her past as a spy in Burkina Faso during the late 1980s.

Number of Pages: 289

Rating: a weak 3/5 stars

Review: American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson could have been a better book. It was an interesting subject, but the writing was difficult to follow and interfered with my understanding of the plot. The book left me with questions, not because I was moved by the story and couldn't stop thinking about it, but because there were many loose ends that weren't tied up. There were a lot of ideas that came together to make this book, and those ideas didn't seem to fit together in a cohesive storyline. This book was meh.

The Lake House by Kate Morton

One Sentence Summary: An unsolved missing child case in 1933 gets another look in 2003.

Number of Pages: 492

Rating: a strong 4/5 stars

Review: I really liked this book. The story gradually unfolded and had multiple mysteries and backstories that were enjoyable to read. The plot that occurred back during WWI and WWII was especially interesting to read.  I myself liked the descriptions of the lake house and the surrounding area, and there were plenty of those. I could see how another reader, though, would just want the author to get on with the story and lose a few details—it was a pretty lengthy book. However, the reason this book didn't earn a perfect review from me was because of the ineptitude of the police force; it was almost unbelievable at times. Also, the conversations wrapping up the story at the end of the book didn't seem to naturally fit in with the rest of the writing. Overall, I'd recommend this book.