October means scary movies, pumpkin-flavored everything, decorative scarves, creative costumes, and most importantly, and obviously for this post, National Book Month.  It’s the feel good month. The “Hey, it’s almost winter, but we’re not going to think about that right now” month.  I’m excited for so many things, including this year’s costume, but alas that is for another post. Instead let’s talk about books. Here’s my list of  most anticipated titles for October, in honor of National Book Month.

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides: Eugenides is my sail in a sea of pages. He’s the writer who gets down deep and gets your soul. A wordsmith at the very least, he knows how to perfectly surmise the human condition. So of course, I am going to read his dissertation on marriage. Meet Madeline, a disenfranchised beatnik of the 80s falling in love and lust with two very different suitors who make her question everything she’s ever known. Eugenides calls on the likes of Updike, Cheever and even Austen to explain exactly why it is we fall in love.

10^th Grade by Joe Weisberg: High school was in a word, painful. You learn more in those four years about yourself then you ever will anywhere else. It’s what I like to call the suffering years. For those of you who think you had a
glorious, made-for-TV-movie existence, you didn’t. High school is where you feel everything for the first time and even the best moments change you forever, because no matter what, that intensity, that-end-of-the-world angst, fades over time. Revisit those suffering years with 15-year-old Jeremiah Reskin, who explains it the best way any kid can, with heartbreaking honesty.

Damned by Chuck Palahniuk: Welcome to Hell. To your left you will find the Desert of Dandruff and after that be sure to note the Mountain of Toenail Clippings. It’s Palahniuk’s version of Hell, so I can safely assume he probably nailed it on the head. His narrator is 13, dead, and desperate to get the heck out. She makes friends with the most perfect collection of sinners: a cheerleader, a jock, a nerd and a punk rocker. It’s the “Breakfast Club” meets “The Prince of Darkness” with a doozy of an opening line: “Are you there Satan? It’s me, Madison.”

Dearly Departed by Lia Habel:  Alright, normally I don’t buy into the whole Young Adult romance series thing. I don’t get all fan-girl over anything; it requires too much energy. However, I might have posted on a forum in all caps about this particular series. A girl falls in love with a zombie! A zombie! It’s also set in the future in some Neo-Victorian period where everyone is prim, proper and corset-ed. Perfect.

*Geographic rights may vary.

Christina Bernecker is a training associate at OverDrive.