Have I read all the books listed in my September most anticipated post? No! Am I still going to get overexcited about October publications? Yes! Buckle up, because it's another massive month of releases.
What Feeds Below by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne (10/6) - For orphaned best friends Petra and Jade, guiding treasure-seeking tourists down into the Void is the only way to earn enough to pull themselves up out of the slums for good. Petra prefers to play it safe and take jobs only in the Void's upper levels, where the dangers are better understood, while Jade wants to risk a descent to the deepest and most mysterious Sixth Layer. Because the deeper they go, the better the payout, and the sooner their dreams can become reality. Bonus - this is a Bindery book, published by @Naomi Darling!
A Wall Is Also A Road by Annalee Newitz (10/6) - Gardenpath is a graduate student in biology who desperately wants to pass their exams with the highest honor possible: a prize given to scholars who discover something truly novel in the universe. Gardenpath also happens to be an amoeba from an ancient civilization that dwells in a vast network of towers between the stars. Seeking their prize, Gardenpath heads to a remote, dangerous planet that other researchers have dismissed as dead and uninteresting. There, they are surprised to discover a complicated ecosystem unlike anything they've ever encountered.
Strange Lights by Mira González (10/6) - Paranormal investigator and cryptozoologist Reggie has embraced her fate as parent to an adopted toddler, Eldi, a blood-sucking chupacabra with a fondness for goats. A rash of UFOs in the night sky and a couple of crop-circle-carving Roombas force Reggie into an investigation that attracts the attention of an old enemy, an anti-supernatural agency hunting for creatures like Eldi. To outwit them, Reggie must team up with Calvin: a podcaster-turned-werewolf whose charm is a real threat to Reggie’s rule against romantic attachments. Bonus - it's another Bindery fall release, from @Jaysen Headley!
The Girl Who Became King by Melissa King (10/6) - From award-winning chef, author, television personality, and activist Melissa King comes an intimate, captivating memoir about family, food, and finding her voice as a queer Chinese American chef.
The Four Wives And Five Deaths Of Richard Milford by Nafissa Thompson-Spires (10/6) - On the brink of the Great Depression and at the height of Prohibition, Richard Milford was an infamous moonshiner and womanizer who, it seems, finally crossed the wrong person at the wrong time. He’s dead and buried with only his women to mourn him, but a question remains: Who killed him, and why? Top suspects are his four “wives,” Lally, Sophronia, Georgette, and Vivianne. But as their stories burst to light, the very idea of a true story comes apart before our eyes.
As You Wake, Break The Shell by Becky Chambers (10/13) - Life on the resource-poor planet of Fortune is challenging, but for its inhabitants, it’s home. For two of them, Signy and Cora, this home might no longer be enough. Cora is a rorqual pilot, one of the few with the unique ability to navigate the massive, living ships that connect the scattered settlements of their solar system. Her bond with her rorqual, Colibri, is profound—a connection that is both her greatest gift and a threat to her career. It is that threat—the “mindbleed,” a dangerous side effect of her piloting—that brings her to Signy’s shop, and her appearance puts Signy in the danger she so fears.
Another Name For Red by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala (10/13) - Middle Sister is haunted by everyone in her community who has disappeared, as well as those who remain. With local authorities proving useless, Middle Sister decides to start an investigation of her own, beginning with the mysterious “Eric,” a white man from a neighboring town who Older Sister claimed to love, and who she swore loved her. Attempting to hunt down the correct white Eric in the haystack of Minnesota forces Middle Sister to seek help from the community from which she’s grown alienated.
Rottenheart by Kat Dunn (10/13) - Odette and her best friend, Cecilia, grow up between two grand homes, one in Hampstead and one in Suffolk, the ancient and imposing Herne House. Odette’s mother, Lydia, is almost parasitic in her neediness, but despite her, Odette and Cecilia come of age together—free to roam, to learn, and to love. When Lydia inexplicably sickens and dies, a dark veil falls. Odette’s father retreats to his study, while her aunt—the cold and cruel Claudine—increasingly takes charge of the household.
Stellar Smoke by Tanaïs (10/20) - Qamar is a musician hustling in a near-future metropolitan city. Struggling to pay rent and heartbroken after a breakup, she decides to return to the island ashram of her childhood. It’s time to finally settle the rift she has with her estranged mother, Veda—a brilliant scientist, actress, and one of the leaders of a now-dissolved cult called the Endless Temple. But when Qamar arrives, the land is verdant yet neglected, and, most troubling, there are no signs of her mother or sister, Palo. Behind a retina scan–locked door, Qamar encounters her mother’s last opus, a machine consciousness called VEDA (Virtual Experiences, Dreams and Afterlife), designed to reveal the story of Veda’s life.
