Five new releases that need to be on your reading list this October

The year is coming to an end, and there is an urgent rush to get some reading in. You just cannot let your reading list say "2 for 2024". And picking the right book is all it's going to take to get the ball rolling. We, personally, cannot wait for these five books launching this month. 

‘Be Ready When the Luck Happens: A Memoir’, by Ina Garten

We do have a soft spot for everything food when it comes to literature and this one from Ina Garten—"aka the Barefoot Contessa, author of thirteen bestselling cookbooks, beloved Food Network personality, Instagram sensation, and cultural icon”—is almost a seat at her table we have been dying for. “Do what you love, because if you love it you’ll be really good at it,” she said, and the book traverses decades of finding her love for food and navigating it while enrapturing hearts and stomachs of people the world around. 

‘Paper Boat: New and Selected Poems’, by Margaret Atwood

There really isn’t much that Atwood can’t do. Over the years, she’s written crime novels, science fiction, short stories, essays, children’s books, dystopian fiction… But poetry has been consistent for her. She’s written 18 poetry books so far! And just in case you have missed out, you may want to pick up this one. Because, with this, “Atwood gives voice to remarkably drawn characters—mythological figures, animals, and everyday people—all of whom have something to say about what it means to live in a world as strange as our own.”

‘Heir’, by Sabaa Tahir 

Sabaa Tahir is back with another fantasy fiction that is going to keep you on your toes and leave you wanting for more. In Heir, the National Book Award-winning author brings together three—Aiz, an orphan on a mission of vengeance; Sirsha, a tracker hired to hunt down a killer across the Empire; and Quil, the Empire's crown prince making sense of inheritance and power—and teaches the “burdens of power, the treachery of love, and the devastating consequences of unchecked greed”. 

‘Nora Ephron at the Movies’, by Ilana Kaplan

Who wouldn’t want a peek into the life of the woman who significantly defined the romcom genre in Hollywood—from classics When Harry Met Sally (1989), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), and You’ve Got Mail (1998), to more recent hits like Bewitched (2005) and Julie & Julia (2009). Kaplan delves into the world of this beloved journalist, essayist, screenwriter, author, producer, director, and feminist, including interviews with some of her key collaborators, including Andie MacDowell, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, and Lynda Obst.

‘What does it feel like’, Sophie Kinsella

“What Does It Feel Like? is fiction, but it is my most autobiographical work to date. Eve’s story is my story,” Kinsella said. And this novella from one of our favourite romance writers has been on our list ever since it was announced in June, closely after her cancer diagnosis. It traces Eve as she recovers from a surgery to remove a malignant tumour in the brain, and how she navigates the journey with her children and husband. An exploration of the “challenges of dealing with grief and celebrate life through all its ups and downs”.

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