Play 2026 Book Bingo
New Book Releases: October 2026
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.If you enjoy learning about highly rated new releases so you can add them to your library hold list or shopping cart, this series is for you! Below are our most anticipated novels being published in October of 2026.
Our Most Anticipated Book Releases of October 2026
We’ve organized our picks in order of publication date, so you can easily plan your holds and preorders. And since so many holiday books hit shelves in October, we’ve saved a special section at the end of this post to preview some of our most anticipated new Christmas books and Hannukah reads!
The Storyteller of Kraków
Book Summary
When Hana visits the care home where her mother works, she meets Lena, a Polish woman in her 90s with an incredible story to tell. As Lena opens up, she takes Hana back to World War II, when she survived a Siberian gulag and then joined the Free Polish Army on a journey across Asia all the way to Monte Cassino. Along the way, she meets Wojtek, a real-life brown bear who was made a corporal in the Polish Army.
Historical Context: Wojtek the Bear
It’s true that a Syrian brown bear named Wojtek served as an official soldier in the Polish Army during WWII. The orphaned bear was adopted by Polish soldiers in Iran in 1942. In order to get around the rules that banned animals on commerical transport ships, the soldiers enlisted Wojtek as an official member of their unit, complete with paperwork to back it up. During battle in 1944, Wojtek served his unit in battle, carrying heavy crates of artillery shells.
Bad Words
Book Summary
Expectations were high for Parker’s debut novel, but with one blistering review, a critic tanked not only the book, but also Parker’s career.
Four years later he finally has a new book, and once again, Selina is set to review it. It’s another takedown, but this time it ignites a viral feud. The literary world is abuzz over their public sparring, and it brings to the surface deeper issues within the publishing world about fairness, ethics, and the balance between art and profit.
What to Expect in This Novel
Author Emily Henry provided a blurb for this debut novel, calling it a “once in a lifetime read.”
Early reviewers praise this debut novel for offering up far more depth than a typical enemies to lovers romance, while striking a unique balance of intellect and spice.
Some readers really enjoy the dual narration of the audiobook, while others note that the emails and texts that the characters exchange get a bit tedious in the audio format.
Partita
Book Summary
Livia grew up in a small town in Eastern Tennessee farm country, where she honed her skills as a gifted pianist despite her difficult childhood. She uses her talent to leave her family behind and attend Indiana University’s music conservatory on a scholarship. At the school, she meets Sigurd, a political activist, who becomes her lover until an accident forces her to return home.
In the present day, Livia has made peace with her marriage and modest life back home. But when Sigurd calls out of the blue, she is shaken. She recounts all the good and the bad that have led her to her current self as she weighs whether or not to accept his invitation to reunite.
Once, Again, Always
Book Summary
Molly Graham wakes up in the hospital with a head injury, and if that wasn’t bad enough, her former boarding school rival, Aster Bishop, storms into the room calling her his wife.
Realizing she has amnesia and can’t recall the last six years of her life, she can’t fathom how she ended up falling in love with a person she despised so much. But her friends convince her to give her “new” reality and chance, so she returns home with Aster and starts trying to piece together the life she can’t remember.
She quickly discovers that Aster isn’t the same self-entitled boy she once knew. In fact, he’s sleeping on the couch every night to avoid making her uncomfortable. She now realizes that their chemistry is undeinable, so why is Aster being so frustratingly distant.
What to Expect in This Book
While many second chance romances are writen as romantic comedies, readers say this beautifully writen debut novel brings you into a world of confusion and grief that will repeatedly bring you to tears.
Book Summary
After losing both her job and her apartment, Julia decides it’s time that she check in on her aging grandmother on the family’s sprawling seventeenth century esate.
She’s hoping that Pemberton will turn out to be a great place for her to hide from her problems, but instead a disturbing new problem begin to keeping her up at night. Every day at exactly 3:41 am, the grandfather clock stops, the lights flicker, and Julia hears a voice crying for help.
Julia begins digging into the dark history of the house, and learns the story of a woman who was executed for witchcraft in 1692. Decade after decade of family lies start to unravel, and Julia concludes that Pemberton is haunted by women whose voices refuse to be silenced.
About the Author
Freida McFadden is the pen name used by the author to keep her writing career separate from her career as a medical doctor, and this title marks her third new novel of 2026, following Dear Debbie and The Divorce.
Under the Orchard’s Spell
Book Summary
After her fiancé and best friend leave her, and she learns that the pear orchard she inherited from her uncle is drowning in debt, Ali begins to wonder if she is cursed. Now, the picking season is looming, and she has no way to harvest all the fruit on her own before it rots on the branches.
In desperation, she turns to Logan, her first kiss, who she left behind fourteen years earlier. He agrees to move in and help, even though he was trying to avoid memories of the property.
As they harvest, old feelings are rekindled, but it’s hard to focus on their relationship when the orchard is becoming increasingly bizarre. Between unnatural storms, jewel-colored rabbits, and crystallizing pears, Ali and Logan are drawn into getting to the bottom of the orchard’s mysterious secrets.
About the Book
Readers say this perfect autumn book blends mystery, romance, and magical realism in a rich setting. One reviewer said she “laughed, smiled, and cried,” which sounds like a win to us. Additionally, we loved learning that the setting is based on the real pear orchard in Hood River, Oregon, where the author’s mother-in-law grew up.
Peck & Peck
Book Summary
Peck & Peck is the world’s most renowned but dysfunctional poetry journal, and they’ve just hired twenty-something Batter Gray. He had a rough start to life, losing his twin brother at birth and then being named after his mother’s heroic dog.
To Batter, poetry not only represents the power of humanity but holds the key to its survival. As he finds his footing among the eccentric Peck & Peck crew, Batter discovers the transformative power of language and a community he never knew he needed.
Thoughts on This Book
If your book club enjoyed Lessons in Chemistry, don’t miss this much-anticipated sophomore novel by Bonnie Garmus. Keep in mind that it’s a character-driven literary fiction, with a mix of emotion, humor, and absurdity.
The Mother-in-Law Book Club
Book Summary
Andi is a 37-year-old soon-to-be divorcée, so it’s not surprising she has strong opinions about the impossible expectations of mothers-in-law. But she definitely didn’t expect to get into an argument about the topic on a plane as she flew to Durham for her next big consulting gig. Equally unexpectedly, her adversary, a 70-something woman, invites Andi to come to her weekly book club.
Soon, Andi finds herself helping repair generational divides between the group of delightful, but fiesty, women and their adult children. The longer she stays in Durham, the more she thinks it should be her new home after her consulting assignment ends. But when someone from her past comes walking back into her life, it’s time for her wise older friends to share their wisdom with her.
Inspiration for the Book
Don’t miss the author’s note where she talks about the inspiration for this story, which includes her story of overhearing a real conversation on an airplane.
Like some real-life book clubs, you’ll find brief discussions of books during the weekly meetings, but also a heavier dose of gossip and chatting about families and dilemmas.
Another Name for Red
Book Summary
It’s been a year since Older Sister vanished from their Minnesota reservation, and Middle Sister can’t let go. With local authorities doing little to help, she starts her own investigation into “Eric,” the mysterious white man her sister claimed to love. However, her search pulls her back into a community she’s drifted away from, and into the unsettling attention of John Smith, a white man in red cowboy boots living on reservation land. With support from her grandmother Nookomis, her coworker Casanova, and a stray dog, Middle Sister must choose between drowning in guilt and fighting for justice and self-forgiveness.
About the Author
Amber Blaeser-Wardzala is an Anishinaabe writer, beadwork artist, and jingle dress dancer from White Earth Nation. You may also recognize her name from the bestselling horror anthology Never Whistle at Night.
Reviewers praise the book’s rich details of Anishinaabe life, from powwows to everyday moments on the reservation.
Consider This Before Reading
While this novel is being marketed as a thriller, early readers say it’s a character driven story that is better described as a literary family drama and mystery.
This book deals with a number of challenging issues, including domestic abuse, stalking, alcholism, suicide, and animal cruelty.
Queen of Lombard Street
Book Summary
In the Victorian era, women in London can’t even open their own bank accounts, let alone open a bank. But brilliant economist Reina Martin plans to change that.
With the backing of her mentor, powerful banker William Farlow, she’s working to open Britain’s first bank for women. While she’s busy working outside the home, she has a household staff made up of paroled prisoners who have become like family.
But her new butler, John Pembroke, isn’t who he says he is. He’s actually an undercover detective investigating Farlow for massive financial crimes. When Reina learns the truth, she faces an agonizing choice between betraying her mentor and abandoning thousands of working-class families who rely on the bank.
Based on Real Women
While Reina is a fictional character, the author based her character on some women who blazed the trail in the world of finance and economics. Mary Paley Marshall (1850–1944) was one of the first women to study at Cambridge and became Britain’s first female economist. Across the pond, Hetty Green (1834–1916) earned the nickname “the Witch of Wall Street” and became the most successful speculator of her era, male or female.
Other October Books We’re Keeping an Eye On
In addition to our recommendations below, there are two other upcoming release that we’ll be keeping a close eye on:
Life Out of Order
Twenty-three years after the publication of her hugely popular novel, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger has written a sequel titled, Life Out of Order. The early ratings for this sequel are significanly lower than we would have expected, so we’re holding off on recommending it until we have a chance to read it for ourselves.
Every Story is a Love Story
Having previously enjoyed Imbolo Mbue’s Behold the Dreamers, we’ve been highly anticipating newest novel, Every Story is a Love Story. However, the early ratings are fairly very mixed, so we plan to read it ourselves before including it on any book lists. Some reviewers find the pacing a bit too slow and say the timeline jumps make the story confusing and disconnected. Futher, some reviewrs feel the ending is too abrubt without enough closure. We look forward to the opportunity to explore this book ourselves after it’s October 20th publication.
Holiday Book Preview: October Releases
We’re highlighting three of the October Christmas book releases that we are most excited about here, as well two upcoming Hanukkah novels. If you love holiday reading like we do, then you’ll also want to check out our full list of New 2026 Christmas Books and our list of books set around Hanukkah and other winter holidays.
Murder on 34th Street
Book Summary
It’s 1932, and while Grace’s title at Macy’s is “assistant to the assistant,” she’s really the heartbeat of the famous store and keeps everything running smoothly behind the scenes. Three days before the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade, the store Santa leaves her a note saying he’s received a death threat. After talking to the store detective about parade security, Grace is confident everyone will be safe.
Unfortunately, on the day of the parade, a dead body is found. When the police seem to have the wrong idea about who’s responsible, Grace is determined to find the killer, both so the victim gets justice and to save the reputation of the iconic store.
What to Expect in This Book
This cozy historical mystery novel is full of Depression-era New York atmosphere, behind-the-scenes Macy’s history, and a hint of romance with the store’s prickly window designer.
Book Summary
The Chapman family is obsessed with looking impeccable and wealthy from the outside. They spend Christmases at their grand lakefront cottage on Mackinac Island, which comes with years of inflexible traditions.
This year, adult son Chris is on the verge of losing everything, from his role leading the family business to his wife’s respect. Kat is fed up with her critical in-laws and being forced to spend her holidays living by their rules. Much to the horror of the Chapmans, she decides to invite her working-class parents for Christmas. Everyone can see this will be a disaster…and that’s before the snowstorm traps them all together.
Thoughts on This Book
This 2026 Christmas novel is described by the publisher as Succession meets The Family Stone. We can’t wait to read it!
Book Summary
It’s been nearly a decade since Norah Gold last fell in love. After her father passed away suddenly her world fell apart, and ever since then she’s worked hard to avoid emotional situtations and meaningful relationships at all cost. When things start to get real, she bolts.
Recently she finds herself in a friends-with-benefits situation that has gotteen a little too clingy, so it’s time for her to run once again. She heads home to Chicago for the holidays, but that just brings about another situation to dodge. While she’s home, she has to avoid Henry Cole, the boy who broke her heart back in high school
But Henry Cole, her best friend turned nped in a snowstorm, they are forced to call a truce in order to in order to get through the eight nights of Hanukkah without driving each other mad. Will they be able to ignore all of the unfinished business from their past?
More Hanukkah Books
If you are looking for more Hanukkah themed reads, be sure to check out our winter holiday romance list.
A Married Little Christmas
Book Summary
In this collection of three holiday novellas, you’ll meet Anna, who knew the food would be a disaster at her Christmas dinner, but didn’t expect her high school ex-boyfriend to show up. Luckily, he also needs to save face with their families, so a last-minute fake-dating scheme seems like a good idea.
In the next story, Matty is stuck sitting in a diner all day dressed as a zombie Santa after losing a bet. But his funny (and cute) server might turn the day around.
Lastly, Lauren’s best friend has decided to get married after knowing someone for only three days. Her plan is to make her friend understand how ridiculous that is, but then Lauren meets the best man. Maybe there’s something special in the air in the town of Little Christmas.
About the Format
While A Married Little Christmas is available on Kindle and Audio, there is also a deluxe edition hardback with bonus recipes and full-page illustrations. It would make a great holiday gift!
Eight Ways to Say I Love You
Book Summary
Shira Levinson is going home to New Jersey for Hanukkah, proud to celebrate some major milestones. A recent college grad, she already landed her dream job as well as her dream apartment in LA.
For Leo David, life hasn’t been on quite the same trajectory. He failed out of college and was forced to move in with the dad he’s been estranged from ever since his dad cheated on his mom. The only thing he has to look forward to his seeing his childhood friend (and secret crush), Shira at her family’s annual Hanukkah party.
That’s just the beginning… over the course of eight holiday seasons, Shira and Leo’s lives take them in many different directions, sometimes with their paths converging, and sometimes leading them further apart. If they can ever get the timing just right, they might just find forever together.
Another Book by This Author
We really enjoy Amanda Elliot’s 2024 novel, Love You a Latke, so we’re really looking forward to reading her latest Hanukkah novel.
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