The 10 Best Books Of October Are Witching Hour-Ready

One minute, Charlotte was planning the perfect prom. The next, she wakes up from a fall off a ladder, age 30 and married to her high school nemesis Renner. The two have been transported into their older selves and now they are trapped, together. Can they make their way back to 17 or are they stuck in adulthood from here on out?

Haunted by the ghost of his lover and on a path of self-destruction, Cam flees Los Angeles for the comfort of Houston. There he finds his estranged best friend TJ. The two find their way back into each other’s lives, but there is damage to unravel and mutual wounds to heal. At the heart of this raw story is so much love, but also grief, drugs and food.

Lesley and her husband Robert welcome their friend, a failing writer named Maugham, into their home in 1921. Maugham needs a new story idea as he is on the edge of financial ruin, his marriage of convenience failing along with his health, his freedom to travel with his secret lover and secretary Gerald threatened. He finds his muse in Lesley, who seems to have secrets including an affair and a relationship with a Chinese revolutionary. As he digs even deeper, he finds tales of murder and justice, war and scandal emerge, all based on true events, in this historical story longlisted for the Booker Prize.

Boyd is a journalist turned online troll. Angie is a bank teller who crosses paths with Boyd when he robs the bank. Boyd needs to settle a score and get away from the cops, so he takes Angie with him. As they race across the country avoiding hitmen, jealous exes and a billionaire, O’Brien holds a mirror up to America in a vicious but fun satire of the world we live in.

Ruth lives in a small Louisiana town with her fire-and-brimstone-preaching father. When a skull is found in a swamp, the godfearing townspeople suspect it is a victim of the Low Man, a vampiric local myth. Ruth and her friend Everett realize there’s more going on and retreat to the dark underbelly of society to reveal the true cause, putting their own lives at risk.

Jasmine is on the run from China to New York, away from her controlling husband, in search of her daughter who was taken from her at birth because of China’s one-child policy. Jasmine is running out of time to get her back. Meanwhile, wealthy Rebecca’s world in Manhattan is crumbling from a professional scandal and her failing marriage. Clinging to her adopted daughter, she’s about to collide with Jasmine, a woman who is so different from Rebecca yet so alike.

In a follow-up to John Grisham’s blockbuster novel, we find Mitch and Abby, living in Manhattan fifteen years after the conclusion to “The Firm.” Mitch is a partner at one of the world’s top law firms, but after a mentor in Rome asks Mitch for a favor, the McDeeres and everyone in their orbit are thrown into turmoil once again.

In this queer, feminist retelling of the Hercules myth, we don’t focus on the hero, but instead the silent characters around him, from his mother Alcmene and his wife Megara. Fans of mythology and retellings like “Circe” alike will love this perspective into the world that surrounds a legend.

Banned as a teenager by the World Council of Witches, Jessica receives shocking news from handsome WCW member Derrick Winters – she is the chosen one. Jessica and Derrick must team up to save West Harbor as sparks fly between them, but then Jessica finds out Derrick may not be what he seems. Should she choose to save her town with Derrick or protect herself?

Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howard are back with more tales of the richest families in America, This time, they're looking beyond the Vanderbilts and Cooper's own family tree to the other toast of New York society – the Astor family. From an immigrant amassing a fortune in beaver pelts in the 1780s to present-day family drama, Cooper and Howard explore the people behind the legendary name.