Quick, before you scroll: how many of the top five most read books on Goodreads this month can you name? Here are some hints. Four are 2026 releases, and one has recently had a movie adaptation. The genres represented are thrillers, historical fiction, and romantasy. Okay, let’s see how you did!

3 New Books Out in October You Should Know About

Unfortunately, the most read books on Goodreads tend not to be diverse by any definition of the word. So, here are a few new books out in October that deserve wider readership.

Abandoning a Cat: A Personal Story by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel

This short memoir was born from a piece first published in The New Yorker in 2019. Murakami explores his relationship with his father, who might have been a priest like his own father, but became a soldier in WWII instead. He was then a successful writer of haiku, and later a teacher. You’d think these things would make him close to his son Haruki, but the two end up estranged for 20 years. They only reconnected, really, on his deathbed, hence this memoir, which examines what being a father and a son mean. —Erica Ezeifedi

The Occidental Book of the Dead by T. Geronimo Johnson

This is the thickest book on my TBR so far. PEN/Faulkner Finalist T. Geronimo Johnson’s previous novel, Welcome to Braggsville, got a lot of love in addition to being longlisted for the National Book Award. I’m readying myself for a deep, potent read with this book about a Black cop shaken out of his life of assimilation after a confrontation with a white teen turns violent. —S. Zainab Williams

Children of Owl by Darcie Little Badger and illustrated by Abigail Rajunov

Maisie, Joel, and Verona are three cousins who live in a trailer park that is surrounded by creatures, both safe and murderous. For Maisie, life’s never been the same since her best friend died and Owl, harbinger of ill tidings, made her a visit. Joel’s been forced into a summer of kitten fostering, thanks in part to some bad decision-making. Verona is so desperate to leave the trailer park that she’s willing to watch a haunted house. Then there’s Owl–despite who he is, he cares deeply about each of these kids.

Little Badger’s latest book weaves together four stories, illustrated by Rajunov, that play with good and evil, myth and reality. It looks SO good. —Kelly Jensen

The Most Read Books on Goodreads This Week #5:

The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett

This is the newest book from the author of The Help. The Help was a huge bestseller, made into a blockbuster movie, but it received a lot of criticism for its use of stereotypes of Black people and white saviorism, as well as its historical inaccuracies. This criticism didn’t prevent Stockett from snagging a lucrative book deal for her new novel, however, and it looks like it hasn’t hurt its sales. The Calamity Club was read by 79,000 users in October and has a 4.6 average rating.

#4:

Verity by Colleen Hoover

Verity was first published in 2018, but it’s back on the bestseller lists following the movie adaptation starring Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, which came out on October 2nd. The movie garnered a 33% Tomatometer rating from critics, but a 71% Popcornmeter rating from audiences. It was read by almost 100,000 users in October and has a 4.3 average rating.

#3:

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Still in the top five is Yesteryear, which came out in April. It’s one of several buzzy tradwife novels out this year. In this one, a tradwife influencer wakes up one day in the time period she’s been romanticizing, and real-life homesteading turns out to be much more difficult—and dangerous—than it looks on Instagram. Yesteryear was read by almost 107,000 users in October and has a 3.8 average rating.

#2:

The Witch by Freida McFadden

The reigning queen of thrillers is back, this time with an October-appropriate story. After losing her job, Julia moves in with her elderly grandmother in their family’s 17th-century estate in Massachusetts. Soon, she begins to suspect the house is haunted by a woman executed for witchcraft in 1692. It was read by almost 155,000 users in October and has a 4.0 average rating.

#1:

Threshing Day by Rebecca Yarros

The fourth book in the Empyrean series still doesn’t have a release date, so fans likely have a long time to wait. In the meantime, they can revisit the world in this new novella, which follows 13 characters on their Threshing Days, when they endure a deadly trial in attempts to bond with a dragon. It was read by a staggering 386,000 users in October and has a 4.5 average rating.

If you’re looking for more buzzy books, check out The Bestselling Books of the Week, According to All the Lists.

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