What does your October reading list look like? Ours, it’s safe to say, covers a lot of ground. If you’re looking to see NYC through new eyes or revisit the work of an iconic filmmaker, we have you covered; if you’d prefer a trip into space or a jaunt into history, we have those angles covered as well. Read on for some literary recommendations to ease you into fall.

Kay Chronister, The Bog Wife
(Oct. 1, Counterpoint)

We were big admirers of Kay Chronister’s previous book, the sprawling and surreal Desert Creatures. With this new one, Chronister shifts gears somewhat from the speculative realm and into the fantastical, but keeps her focus on all things ecological. This one’s about a haunting family tradition and a mysterious bog, and promises to be a welcome blend of immersive and thought-provoking.

Yuri Herrera, Season of the Swamp
(Oct. 1, Graywolf Press)

In the second half of the 19th century, Benito Juárez spent 14 years as Mexico’s head of state. With his new novel, Yuri Herrera ventures into Juárez’s past, drawing inspiration from the time Juárez spent in New Orleans years before his time in office. The result is a compelling and wide-ranging tale of history in the Americas — and a tale that revisits the familiar in new ways.

Barry Gifford, Disappearances
(Oct. 8, New Pony)

If you’re looking to explore the works of Barry Gifford in retrospective mode, you have plenty of options, including the omnibus of his Sailor and Lula books published a few years ago. But prose and poetry aren’t Gifford’s only means of artistic expression; he also has a penchant for drawing. Disappearances is the first collection of his visual work, and shows off a different side of this cult writer.

Rob Hart and Alex Segura, Dark Space
(Oct. 8, Blackstone Publishing)

Rob Hart and Alex Segura have been writing some of the best, smartest crime fiction out there over the course of the last decade and change. Both have also ventured into other genres along the way, so it’s not that shocking that the two would team up for an out-and-out science fiction novel. Dark Space is a story of espionage, conspiracies, and interstellar exploration — a combination that looks to be a thoroughly compelling read.

Luis Jaramillo, The Witches of El Paso
(Oct. 8, Atria/Primero Sueno Press)

Do you enjoy multigenerational family stories packed with secrets and mysteries? Do you enjoy narratives where the fantastical and the mundane can coexist? We’re happy to report that Luis Jaramillo’s new novel The Witches of El Paso fits neatly into all of those categories, telling the story of two generation of a family with uncanny abilities — and the challenges those powers hold.

Kathe Koja, Catherine the Ghost
(Oct. 15, CLASH Books)

Few writers chart out the borders between this world and the metaphysical with the sheer verve of Kathe Koja. Her new book is described as a “modern gothic punk remix of Emily Bronte’s classic Wuthering Heights” — and honestly, that description has us thoroughly hooked.

Daniel M. Lavery, Women’s Hotel
(Oct. 15, HarperVia)

In a recent interview, Daniel M. Lavery described some of the books he used as influences for his new novel Women’s Hotel, including The Group and The Best of Everything. In telling the story of a women’s hotel in the 1960s but applying a contemporary sensibility, this looks to be a fascinating and eminently readable blend of old and new.

Emily Schultz, Brooklyn Kills Me
(Oct. 15, Thomas and Mercer)

We quite enjoyed Sleeping with Friends, Emily Schultz’s first foray into the world of crime fiction, which blended fraught personal dynamics with a cinephile’s attention to detail. Now, she’s returned to that setting for another tale of troubling interpersonal relationships, long-buried secrets, and the unnerving possibility of lethal acts. It’s a return trip we’re thrilled to take.

Dino Enrique Piacentini, Invasion of the Daffodils
(Oct. 18, Astrophil Press)

Set in California during the Korean War, this novel focuses on a man whose plan to sell daffodils – a relatively easygoing flower, as such things go – takes a very surreal turn when the flowers show signs of behaving in chaotic and unpredictable ways. Erika T. Wurth called this ” like if One Hundred Years of Solitude was conceived of on the California coast,” which is an enticing recommendation.

New York Nico, New York Nico’s Guide to NYC
(Oct. 22, Dey Street Books)

There’s something eminently compelling about a book that gets you to look at New York City with fresh eyes. Recent work by the likes of Robert Sietsema, Lucy Sante, and Jeremiah Moss has accomplished this feat; it’s to this shelf that you can add New York Nico’s Guide to NYC, an exploration and celebration of the five boroughs and the notable spots to be found therein.

Ilana Kaplan, Nora Ephron at the Movies
(Oct. 29, Abrams)

We’re big admirers of Nora Ephron’s work as a writer and director, and so we’re thrilled to see Ilana Kaplan’s new book, an in-depth look at Ephron’s filmography featuring conversations with several of her collaborators. And hey, you’ll also note that Vol. 1 Brooklyn founder Jason Diamond contributed the introduction here, which is a fine thing indeed.

Damion Searls, The Philosophy of Translation
(Oct. 29, Yale University Press)

If you’ve read books by the likes of Jon Fosse and Elfriede Jelinek in English translation, you’ve probably encountered Damion Searls’s work as a translator. With his new book, he takes a step back to consider the thought process and aesthetics behind translation — offering readers a welcome new perspective on something they might not have previously considered.

Note: all cover art and release dates are subject to change.

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