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.…