Best-Selling Books for October 2023

Many people associate October with the Halloween season, and readers start looking to add a bit of magic to their lives this month. It's no surprise that The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic has risen to the top of the charts of the New York Times Bestsellers and the USA Today Bestsellers. Breanne Randall makes a sharp debut with the story of Sadie Revelare, who is given magic under the condition that she endures the curse of four heartbreaks. She’s always been willing to pay this price until she discovers that her grandmother has cancer, consequential family secrets are at play, and her first love has returned to town. For anyone looking for a dash of magic, this book is a fantastic story about love, family, and sacrifice. Readers love the poignant prose dashed with whimsy, the fascinating characters, and the cozy town of Poppy Meadows.

This book is the perfect coffee-table book for lovers of fashion, design, and home decor. It was made in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the home collection. This is a book focused on creating a visual tribute to Ralph Lauren’s work as a lifestyle designer. Ralph Lauren’s influence on design is apparent throughout this collection, and this book explores his use of materials in new and innovative ways.

Murdle started off as a humble online mystery game that gained immense popularity. G.T. Karber created daily murder mystery logic puzzles for fans to solve and hone their skills of logic and deduction. Now, for the first time, Murdle hits print as a clever collection of 100 original murder mystery puzzles. Accompanying these clever logical traps are fun visuals, codes, and maps for readers to study and solve. This unique kind of interactive book is missing from most shelves, but it’s extremely engaging and the best kind of book for amateur sleuths.

In the Distance reached the finals for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction competition. It is an emotional tale of a Swedish immigrant with no money and no prospects in California. Author Hernan Diaz, who also penned Borges, Between History and Eternity, explores this boy’s travels as he looks for his brother and meets all sorts of characters on his journey. Diaz uses this story to craft a compelling character and an equally compelling exploration of the concept of being foreign. Although the work is historical fiction, it pushes and pulls at the typical trappings of the genre to create something new and riveting.

Not content to settle for finalist, in 2022, Hernan Diaz debuted his novel Trust, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and hit the New York Times Top Ten Books of 2022, as well as its bestsellers list. Esquire described it as, “A riveting story of class, capitalism, and greed.” Trust is another historical fiction novel set in the 1920s and following Benjamin and Helen Rask. Benjamin Rask dominates the world of Wall Street, while Helen Rask is the daughter of rich and powerful aristocrats. Together, they are a power couple and their excesses and scandals capture the speculation of many. Trust elegantly weaves an exploration of the many competing stories surrounding this couple and how they acquired their wealth. This is a story about how power can manipulate the truth.

Author Annie Grace works to tackle the problem of alcoholism by looking at the psychological and neurological components behind heavy drinking. Her work also looks at the cultural, social, and corporate factors at play that draw the nation collectively towards drinking. She has a personal relationship with drinking and alcoholism that she draws on and talks about throughout the book. She also tackles the stigma of alcoholism and how society needs to overcome it to truly help recovering individuals.

Broken Toys is a psychological thriller written by Neel Latchman about a man named Galan Rain, who falls in love with Aria Scarlet at first sight. His love is more of a dangerous obsession, as he stalks her and studies everything she does in an attempt to win her love. This novel takes many twists and turns as both of their pasts have secrets that catch up with them.

For fans of Russian history, Always with Honor: The Memoirs of General Wrangel is an excellent book to read in October. This book focuses on Russia in 1917 as World War I brought new political issues to the Empire and the Czar abdicated. The country fell into rebellion and the Bolsheviks launched their revolution that resulted in a deadly civil war. Pyotr Wrangel was the leader of the anti-Bolshevik “White” forces against the “Red” army, and this book is a translation of his memoirs, which were published in 1928 before his death.

Cassidy Hutchinson worked in the Trump administration at only twenty-four. She worked at a desk only a few feet away from former President Donald Trump. Hutchinson was raised as an idealist with a hunger to work in the government. On January 6th, 2021, she found herself in the middle of an unprecedented insurrection. She became one of the key witnesses in the House January 6 investigations about what she saw and heard. Enough is not just a political insider story, but the journey of Hutchinson’s life and the challenges she’s faced.

Erin Sterling made the New York Times Bestseller list with The Ex Hex, which is a humorous and charming romance with witches. This novel is all about how Vivienne Jones and Rhys Penhallow have to come together to solve a seemingly silly curse she had placed on her boyfriend years ago that is now wreaking havoc on their town.