Diverse Books Coming Out in October That You Should Add to Your List

I’ve never been one for pumpkin spice lattes but changing leaves and cozy blankets are my jam. With October rolling in there are a few books on the top of my list to check out. 

And while I wish that I could personally read ALL the books, I can’t but of course your girl is committed to making sure to include all the diverse books coming out for the month, that I think you should add to your list. 

Anyway, there are tons of awesome books coming out this month, a few of which I’ve already read and LOVE. 

Here are the top 10 on my list: 

1. How to Say Babylon: A Memoire by Safiya Sinclair 

With echoes of Educated and Born a Crime, How to Say Babylon is the stunning story of the author’s struggle to break free of her rigid Rastafarian upbringing, ruled by her father’s strict patriarchal views and repressive control of her childhood, to find her own voice as a woman and poet. I’ve already started reading this one and it is quickly becoming a contender for my favourite memoir of the year. 

2. What We Kept to Ourselves by Nanvy Jooyoun Kim 

Both a riveting page-turner and moving family story, What We Kept to Ourselves masterfully explores the consequences of secrets between parents and children, hus­bands and wives. It is the story of one unforgettable family’s search for home when all seems lost, and a powerful meditation on identity, migration, and what it means to dream in America.

3. Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward 

I can’t imagine not loving something Ward writes, her poetic storytelling gets me every time. Let Us Descend is a reimagining of American slavery, as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching. Searching, harrowing, and replete with transcendent love, the novel is a journey from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation.

4. What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez

A divine exploration. A deadly secret. A desire she can’t escape. Think The Mummy meets Death on the Nile in this lush, immersive historical fantasy set in 19th century Egypt, filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race.

5. Sleepless in Dubai by Sajni Patel 

From Sajni Patel, the author of My Sister’s Big Fat Indian Wedding, comes this hilarious, smart, and swoon-worthy rom-com about two teens traveling to Dubai for Diwali.

In this hate-to-love teen rom-com, Nikki, an aspiring photographer, accompanies her family on a trip to Dubai to celebrate the five days of Diwali in style. It would be the trip of a lifetime if Yash, the boy next door—with whom Nikki has a rocky history—wasn’t also on the flight.

Oblivious to the tension, Nikki’s matchmaking family encourages Nikki to get better acquainted with Yash. It turns out a lot can change on a 12-hour flight beyond just continents. But can betrayals and conflicting ambitions be set aside long enough for the two teens to discover the true meaning of the Festival of Lights?

6. The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon 

The fates of two bitter enemies with opposing magical abilities are swept together in The Hurricane Wars, the spellbinding debut in a fantasy romance trilogy set in a Southeast Asia–inspired world ravaged by storms, perfect for fans of Fourth Wing and A Court of Thorns and Roses. 

7. Songs of Irie by Asha Ashanti Bromfield 

I loved Bromfield’s first book, Hurricane Summer so I have no doubt this one will be just as beautiful. Songs of Irie is a sweeping coming-of-age novel about a budding romance struggling to survive amidst the Jamaican civil unrest of the 1970s. It’s 1976 and Jamaica is on fire.

8. Three Holidays and a Wedding by Uzma Jalaluddin; Marissa Stapley 

From two bestselling Canadian authors comes a multi-faith holiday rom-com about the delightful havoc that occurs when Christmas, Ramadan, and Hanukkah all fall at the same time, and two strangers-turned-friends are snowbound in the small, charming town of Snow Falls along with the cast and crew of a holiday romance movie, nosy family members, and their lifelong crushes.

9. Speak Out by The Brixton Black Women’s Group 

Speak Out brings together the writings of Brixton Black Women’s Group for the first time, in a landmark collection. Established in response to the lack of interest in women’s issues experienced in male-dominated Black organizations, the Brixton Black Women’s Group’s aim was to create a distinct space where women of African and Asian descent could meet to focus on political, social, and cultural issues as they affected black women. BBWG published its own newsletter, Speak Out, which kept alive the debate about the relevance of feminism to black politics and provided a black women’s perspective on immigration, housing, health, and culture.

10. Remember Us by Jaqueline Woodson 

National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson brings readers a powerful story that delves deeply into life’s burning questions about time and memory and what we take with us into the future.

11. Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People’s Business by Roxane Gay

Since the publication of the groundbreaking Bad Feminist and Hunger, Roxane Gay has continued to tackle the big issues embroiling society. Opinions is a collection of Roxane Gay’s best nonfiction pieces from the past ten years, addressing a wide range of topics – politics, the culture wars, civil rights, celebrities, and much more. Offering nuanced analysis that never shies away from difficult topics, this sharp, thought-provoking anthology will delight Gay’s devotees and draw new readers to this inimitable talent.

Additional Diverse Books Coming Out in October to Add to Your List 

• A Man of Two Faces A Memoir by Viet Thanh Nguyen
• Love in Winter Wonderland by Abiola Bello
  
• Salt the Water by Candice Iloh
  
• Treasure Island: Runaway Gold by Jewell Parker Rhodes 
  
• Family Meal by Bryan Washington
• The Golden Voice: The Ballad of Cambodian Rock’s Lost Queen by Gregory Cahill, Kat Baumann
  
• The Hive and the Honey by Paul Yoon
  
• Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant by Curtis Chin
  
• Murder and Mamon by Mia P. Manansala
  
• The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng
  
• The Hero and the Whore Reclaiming Healing and Liberation through the Stories of Sexual Exploitation in the Bible by Camille Hernandez
  
• Everything Is Not Enough by Lola Akinmade Akerstrom
  
• A Night at the Tropicana by Chanel Cleeton
  
• Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People’s Business by Roxane Gay
  
• Murder in Drury Lane (The Lady Worthing Mysteries Book 2) by Vanessa Riley 

• The Vanquishers Secret of the Reaping by Kalynn Bayron 
• Doctor Who: The Monster in the Cupboard: a 2000s story by Kalynn Bayron
• The List by Yomi Adegoke
• The Sun Sets in Singapore by Kehinde Fadipe
• Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror
• The Other Princess: A Novel of Queen Victoria’s Goddaughter by Denny S. Bryce
• Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin): A Memoir by Sly Stone 
• Dirty Flowers: Lion and Mouse, Book 7.5 (The Lion and Mouse series) by Kenya Wright  
• Homeward: A Novel by Angela Jackson-Brown
• Roommates by Ola Tundun  
• Lulu Sinagtala and the City of Noble Warriors by Gail D. Villanueva
• In Their Shadows by Briana Cole
• A Boy from Baghdad by Miriam Halahmy
• Between Dystopias: The Road to Afropantheology by by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki; Joshua Uchenna Omenga
• The Feminist Killjoy Handbook: The Radical Potential of Getting in the Way
• The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts: The True Story of The Bondwoman’s Narrative by Gregg Hecimovich

If you’ve read any of these books, please let me know what you thought of them. And if you have any book recommendations, I’d love to hear them in the comments below. Happy reading, everyone!