Our Most Anticipated Books of October 2023

Jesmyn Ward is always brilliant, and this haunting, visceral novel — with its echoes of Dante’s Inferno and magical realism — is no exception. Devastating and uplifting, the latest from two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward (Salvage the Bones and Sing, Unburied, Sing) is an indelible story of love and grief, survival and resilience, told in gorgeous, lyrical prose. 

A profoundly moving novel told from the alternating point of view of two siblings, this is the story of a Mi’kmaq girl gone missing and the lasting effect it has on her family. Inspired by family stories and written in exacting prose, this debut will linger long after you put it down. 

Weaving together the stories of two musicians, The Refugee Ocean is a deeply affecting novel for fans of Isabel Allende’s A Long Petal of the Sea. It grapples with complex topics that will leave the reader deep in thought about the refugee experience and the way music connects us. 

Trek to the Klondike when you pick up The Prospectors, an expansive story of one family’s fight for gold — and their legacy. From the icy Canadian wilderness to California at the start of the 20th Century, this novel interrogates one family’s ambition, greed and loyalties as the effects of the Yukon Gold Rush ripple across generations. Pick up our exclusive edition for a unique jacket and endpapers, an author essay about how her own family inspired the book and a helpful reading group guide.   

National Book Award-winning author Alice McDermott (The Ninth Hour and Charming Billy) returns with a riveting story about women’s lives during the Vietnam War. A compelling story about two American women in Saigon, this elegant novel is a reminder that even the best intentions can’t absolve us from the hurt we cause. 

Former B&N Discover pick Bryan Washington (Memorial) returns with Family Meal, a tender story about food, family and finding a way back to friendship after loss. Washington is a master at writing the small moments that showcase our humanity, and you won’t be able to resist this delicious novel. 

From the author of Milk Fed and The Pisces comes a desert survival story. A woman flees to the desert as an escape from the grave illnesses of loved ones and comes across a towering cactus with a door-like gash in its side that beckons to her. Riddled with grief and isolation, Death Valley is a weird and wondrous bookish mirage. 

Pulitzer Prize-winner Jhumpa Lahiri (Interpreter of Maladies) returns with her first short story collection since Unaccustomed Earth. Translated from the Italian, these nine sharply drawn stories explore Lahiri’s adopted city and its culture as outsiders looking in. 

Jordan Peele has scared us on screen (Get Out, Us, and Nope), and now he looks to do the same on the page with this haunting anthology of Black horror stories. With an all-star roster of Black writers, Out There Screaming is a perfectly horrifying collection to prime you for Halloween.   

You never know what you’re going to find in the New York City subway system, but The Dead Take the A Train takes that idea to the extreme. The first of a duology by Richard Kadrey and Cassandra Khaw, this fast-paced adventure takes you straight into the city’s magical underbelly. 

A champion of romantasy, Kerri Maniscalco is back with her adult debut set in the same world as her massively popular Kingdom of the Wicked series. Centered on the Prince of Envy, this standalone novel will delight longtime fans and make new ones. Pick up our exclusive edition for a beautiful unique cover, a bonus chapter from Wrath’s point-of-view, and a Prince Envy-themed cocktail recipe.  

A remarkable debut fantasy novel inspired by Southeast Asian mythology, The Hurricane Wars features an enemies-to-lovers romance, incredible world-building and a unique magic system. It’s everything you love about romantasy in one delectable package, especially when you pick up our exclusive edition that has beautiful full-color endpapers and a bonus chapter.  

Alix E. Harrow’s (Once and Future Witches, a B&N Monthly Speculative Fiction pick) latest gothic fantasy is an unforgettable story of a dying town and the people living there. It’s also one woman’s search for a home, for a life, for anything other than what she was born into. Pick up our exclusive edition for unique printed endpapers, a dazzling foil design on the clothbound cover and an original bonus chapter. 

In an extraordinary new fable about the things mankind could never understand, Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes) teams up with renowned caricaturist John Kascht. Creating a style wholly new to both of them, Watterson and Kascht bring their artistic talents to The Mysteries in a fresh project that will excite longtime fans and make new ones. 

From the author of B&N Monthly Nonfiction pick Late Migrations, The Comfort of Crows is a glimpse into the way the natural world reflects our life’s personal changes. With 52 chapters that dive deep into nature and climate change, Margaret Renkl’s latest is a love letter to the world around us made complete by original art from her brother. 

This new book from Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns tells the story of the American buffalo alongside stunning illustrations that bring this work of natural history to life. Demonstrating how our rush for conquest both endangered the American buffalo and kicked off the conservation era in the hopes of keeping them alive, Blood Memory is an epic narrative that spans prehistoric times to today. Pick up this book, and then tune into the companion documentary, American Buffalo airing on PBS in mid-October. 

In 2015, Mary Beard gave us SPQR — an authoritative look at the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, and now her newest book takes us even deeper as she explores the power of the Roman Emperor’s office. Asking questions that go beyond the timeline, Beard brings her fresh perspective to Roman history, and it’s everything we could hope for and more. 

A set of sharp, witty and empathetic reflections on the past decade in America, Opinions is the first book in six years from bestselling cultural critic (Bad Feminist), New York Times contributing opinion writer, Dayton Peace Prize Finalist (for the novel An Untamed State), book publisher, podcaster and professor, Roxane Gay. 

Collecting the finest contributions to newspapers and journals from Hilary Mantel (the Wolf Hall trilogy), A Memoir of My Former Self spans four decades of Mantel’s work. From the personal to the political, these witty and wise essays reflect on this beloved writer’s life in her own words. 

Recently longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction, Man of Two Faces is a searing personal narrative of the refugee experience, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sympathizer. This is the story of a complicated relationship with America that will resonate with a generation. 

An unforgettable memoir of home and family, imperialism and identity from the poet Safiya Sinclair (Cannibal).  Born and raised in Jamaica, Sinclair’s home life was rigid and stifling — until she found refuge in poetry. A story of hope and resilience for readers of Educated by Tara Westover and Born a Crime by Trevor Noah.

Questlove launches his new book imprint with an unexpected memoir from rock legend Sly Stone that includes all of the details about all of the highs and lows of his life as a trailblazing musician, songwriter and performer, from his start in 1960s San Francisco to the dark days of Los Angeles in the 1970s and 80s and more. 

A love letter to emo music, Negatives: A Photographic Archive of Emo (1996-2006) takes fans on stage with and behind the scenes of their favorite acts. With never-before-seen photographs collected by Amy Fleisher Madden, founder of Fiddler Records, this is a celebratory archive of emo music and its influential bands like Jimmy Eat World, My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy.