Your October 2025 TBR: The New Books You Can’t Miss -

Autumn is officially in full swing, and what better way to celebrate the coziest of seasons than by curling up with a fantastic new book?

October is always a big month for publishing, with many of the year’s most-anticipated titles hitting shelves just in time for the holidays. This year is no exception, with a stack of new releases that will have every reader’s TBR pile overflowing. From long-awaited sequels by blockbuster authors to genre-bending debuts and thought-provoking non-fiction, we’ve got the scoop on the books you’ll be seeing everywhere this month.

Get your reading glasses ready and your library card handy—here are the must-read books of October 2025.

Books at the top of my TBR…

Below you will find the top ten books I’m adding to my TBR list.

The Hong Kong Widow

by Kristen Loesch
Release Date: October 7
Genres: Historical Fiction, Horror

Hong Kong, 1953: In a remote mansion, witnesses insist a massacre took place. The police see nothing but pristine rooms and declare it a collective hallucination. Until decades later, when one witness returns…from the Edgar®-nominated author of The Last Russian Doll.

In 1950s Hong Kong, Mei is a young refugee of the Chinese Communist revolution struggling to put her past in Shanghai behind her. When she receives a shocking invitation—to take part in a competition in one of the city’s most notorious haunted houses, pitting six spirit mediums against one another in a series of six séances over six nights, until a single winner emerges—she has every reason to refuse.

Except that the hostess, a former Shanghainese silent film star, is none other than the wife of the man who once destroyed Mei’s entire life.

It is promised the winner will receive a fortune, but there is only one prize Mei wants: revenge.

Decades later, the final night of that competition has become an infamous urban legend: The police were called to the scene of a brutal massacre but found no evidence, dismissing it as a collective hallucination. Mei knows what she saw, but now someone else is convinced they know what she did. She must uncover the truth about the last night she ever spent in that house—even if the ghosts of her past are waiting for her there. . . .

Description from the Publisher: Berkley

Yours for the Season

by Emily Stone
Release Date: October 7
Genres: Holiday, Romance

Could a fake relationship with your ex over Christmas in Scotland be the perfect opportunity for revenge—or a second chance at love? One woman is about to find out in this charming holiday romance from the author of Always, in December and A Winter Wish.

Melanie hasn’t had a good year. Her work life isn’t what she dreamed it would be, her best friend has moved to the other side of the world, and Finn, the man she was sure was the love of her life, dumped her. In front of everyone. At his sister’s engagement party.

So when Finn shows up at Mel’s doorstep two weeks before Christmas, asking if she’ll help him, her first instinct is to slam the door in his face—or punch him.

But he has a proposal for her: Spend the week of Christmas with him and his family in a vacation cottage in the Scottish Highlands. His mother is obsessed with the idea of a perfect Christmas—and to make this dream come true Finn told his mother that he and Mel are dating again. All Mel has to do is come with him and pretend they’re back together.

Mel may hate Finn, but she loves his mom. So she agrees—on one condition. At the end of the week, Finn will allow Mel to publicly dump him so that she can get her dignity back and he can experience the same humiliation she felt.

It’s only a week. Mel can pretend to still be in love with Finn for one week, surely. Except as the festivities bring her closer than ever to Finn and his family, Mel starts to lose track of which feelings are fake and which are for real.

Description from the Publisher: Dell

Alchemy of Secrets

by Stephanie Garber
Release Date: October 7
Genres: Fantasy

It starts with a class in an old movie theater. Folklore 517: Local Legends and Urban Myths, taught by a woman called the Professor. Most students believe the Professor’s stories are just fiction, but Holland St. James has always been convinced that magic is real. When she tracks down a local legend named the Watch Man, who can supposedly tell you when you’ll die, the world finally makes sense. Except that the Watch Man tells her she will die at midnight tomorrow unless she finds an ancient object called the Alchemical Heart.

With the clock ticking, Holland is pulled deeper into this magical world in the heart of Los Angeles—and into the path of a magnetic stranger. Everything about him feels like a bad idea, but he promises Holland that her sister sent him to protect her. As they chase clues and stories that take them closer to the Alchemical Heart, Holland realizes everyone in this intoxicating new world is lying to her, even this stranger. And if she can’t figure out whom to trust, not even the Alchemical Heart will save her.

Description from the Publisher: Flatiron Books

Twice

by Mitch Albom
Release Date: October 7
Genres: Literary Fiction, Magical Realism

What if you got to do everything in your life —twice? The heart of Mitch Albom’s newest novel is a stunning love story that dares to explore how our unchecked desires might mean losing what we’ve had all along.

When he is eight years old, Alfie Logan discovers the magical ability to get a second chance at everything. He can undo any moment and live it again. The one he must accept the consequences of his second try—for better or worse.

He grows up correcting his mistakes and saving himself from adolescent embarrassments. He even takes foolishly dangerous risks, just to see what it’s like to come close to death, before tapping back to safety.

Eventually, Alfie turns his gift to his love life, studying his crushes and going back to make himself more appealing. In time, he falls deeply in love with Gianna, the woman he believes is the one. He seems to find contentment.

But as the years pass, Alfie’s eye begins to wander. Which is when he learns a lone caveat to his once he undoes a love, that person can never fall in love with him again. Knowing if he gives into to temptation, he will risk losing what he has with Gianna, Alfie makes a choice that changes his life forever.

The book begins many years later, after an ailing Alfie is arrested for allegedly cheating and winning millions at a casino roulette wheel. As a curious detective interrogates him, he slowly uncovers Alfie’s incredible story, and its most unlikely conclusion.

In Twice, America’s favorite storyteller, Mitch Albom, is at the top of his powers. A love story that is enchanting, probing, and clairvoyant in matters of the heart, Twice will make you think, weep, and overflow with love from beginning to end.

Description from the Publisher: Harper

The Intruder

by Freida McFadden
Release Date: October 7
Genres: Thriller, Mystery

There’s someone at your front door – should you let them in? Find out in a riveting new thriller from global sensation and #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Housemaid, Freida McFadden!

Who knows what the storm will blow in…

Casey’s cabin in the wilderness is not built for a hurricane. Her roof shakes, the lights flicker, and the tree outside her front door sways ominously in the wind. But she’s a lot more worried about the girl she discovers lurking outside her kitchen window.

She’s young. She’s alone. And she’s covered in blood.

The girl won’t explain where she came from, or loosen her grip on the knife in her right hand. And when Casey makes a disturbing discovery in the middle of the night, things take a turn for the worse.

The girl has a dark secret. One she’ll kill to keep. And if Casey gets too close to the truth, she may not live to see the morning.

In this taut, deadly tale of survival and desperation, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden explores how far one girl will go to save herself.

Description from the Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Girl Dinner

by Olivie Blake
Release Date: October 21
Genres: Horror, Thriller

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six, Girl Dinner is a darkly-fun novel about power, lust, and eating your fill, as wealthy moms and sorority girls practice a sinister new wellness trend .

Good girls deserve a treat.

Every member of The House, the most exclusive sorority on campus, and all its alumni, are beautiful, high-achieving, and universally respected.

After a freshman year she would rather forget, sophomore Nina Kaur knows being one of the chosen few accepted into The House is the first step in her path to the brightest possible future. Once she’s taken into their fold, the House will surely ease her fears of failure and protect her from those who see a young woman on her own as easy prey.

Meanwhile, adjunct professor Dr. Sloane Hartley is struggling to return to work after accepting a demotion to support her partner’s new position at the cutthroat University. After 18 months at home with her newborn daughter, Sloane’s clothes don’t fit right, her girl-dad husband isn’t as present as he thinks he is, and even the few hours a day she’s apart from her child fill her psyche with paralyzing ennui. When invited to be The House’s academic liaison, Sloane enviously drinks in the way the alumnae seem to have it all, achieving a level of collective perfection that Sloane so desperately craves.

As Nina and Sloane each get drawn deeper into the arcane rituals of the sisterhood, they learn that living well comes with bloody costs. And when they are finally invited to the table, they will have to decide just how much they can stomach in the name of solidarity and power.

Description from the Publisher: Tor Books

Good Spirits

by B.K. Borison
Release Date: October 21
Genres: Romance, Holiday, Paranormal

The USA Today bestselling author of Business Casual, B.K. Borison is back with a whimsical new holiday romance—this time with a magical twist—that will have everyone falling in love with the Ghost of Christmas Past.

He’s the Ghost of Christmas Past. She’s not exactly Scrooge.

Ghost of Christmas Past Nolan Callahan intends to spend this holiday haunting like every other—get in, get out, return to his otherwise aimless existence as a ghost awaiting the afterlife. But when he’s faced with Harriet York, the sweetest assignment he’s ever had, he suddenly finds himself wishing for a future.

Harriet York has no idea why she’s being haunted. She’s a good person—or, at least, she tries to be. A people pleaser to her core, she always does what’s expected of her. But as she and Nolan begin to examine her past, they discover there are threads that bind them together— and realize there might be more to moving on than expected.

With the deadline of Christmas Eve fast approaching, will they find the key to their futures in each other’s pasts? Or will they stay firmly in the present, indulging in their unexpected, spirited connection?

Filled with magic, mayhem, and cozy holiday charm, this swoony romance is B.K. Borison’s best yet!

Description from the Publisher: Avon

Wreck

by Catherine Newman
Release Date: October 28
Genres: Literary Fiction

The acclaimed bestselling author of Sandwich is back with a wonderful novel, full of laughter and heart, about marriage, family, and what happens when life doesn’t go as planned.

If you loved Rocky and her family on vacation on Cape Cod, wait until you join them at home two years later. (And if this is your first meeting with this crew, get ready to laugh and cry—and relate.)

Rocky, still anxious, nostalgic, and funny, is living in Western Massachusetts with her husband Nick and their daughter Willa, who’s back home after college. Their son, Jamie, has taken a new job in New York, and Mort, Rocky’s widowed father, has moved in.

It all couldn’t be more ridiculously normal . . . until Rocky finds herself obsessed with a local accident that only tangentially affects them—and with a medical condition that, she hopes, won’t affect them at all.

With her signature wit and wisdom, Catherine Newman explores the hidden rules of family, the heavy weight of uncertainty, and the gnarly fact that people—no matter how much you love them—are not always exactly who you want them to be.

Description from the Publisher: Harper Collins

The White Octopus Hotel

by Alexandra Bell
Release Date: October 28
Genres: Historical Fiction, Fantasy

Journey to a magical hotel in the Swiss Alps, where two lost souls living in different centuries meet and discover if a second chance awaits them behind its doors.

“Have you travelled a long way?” she asked carefully..
A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. “Well, yes,” he said slowly. “Yes, you could say that. But it was worth the wait.”

London, 2015. When reclusive art appraiser Eve Shaw shakes the hand of a silver-haired gentleman in her office, the warmth of his palm sends a spark through her.

His name is Max Everly—curiously, the same name as Eve’s favorite composer, born one hundred sixteen years prior. And she has the sudden feeling that she’s held his hand before . . . but where, and when?

The White Octopus Hotel, 1935. In this belle époque building high in the snowy mountains, Eve and a young Max wander the winding halls, lost in time.

Each of them has been through the trenches—Eve through a family accident and Max on the battlefields of the Great War—but for an impossible moment, love and healing are just a room away . . . if only they have the courage to step through the door.

Description from the Publisher: Del Ray

The Everlasting

by Alix E. Harrow
Release Date: October 28
Genres: Fantasy, Romance

From the New York Times bestselling author of Starling House, Alix E. Harrow, comes a moving and genre-defying adventure through time, as a reluctant lady knight and a historian with dreams of being a hero, will fight to rewrite their tragic fates and finish the greatest legend ever told. Download a FREE sneak peek today!

It begins where it ends: beneath the yew tree—a girl not yet a knight, and a boy without a story.

That is where she pulls a sword from the heartwood and becomes a legend.

And it is where, more than a thousand years later, he will find her—and lose her—and find her—and lose her again.

It is where a new story will be written—but whose will it be?

Description from the Publisher: Tor Books