28 British Books For Your October TBR List!

Whether your autumns are cold and rainy and blanket-worthy, or still just about warm enough for outside reading, October is a great reading month. It’s also traditionally the biggest publishing books in the UK — with Super Thursday, the first Thursday in October, being the biggest of all in preparation for Christmas shopping. Hence this bumper list of notable books for you to choose from for yourself and those you love.

Wherever you can, if you’re US-based, please use bookshop.org to buy books published in the US — you’ll be supporting independent bookshops, who really need you right now. For UK published books, or if you’re anywhere besides the US, Blackwells.com is the way forward. Plus, if you follow my links, whether to Bookshop or Blackwells, you’ll be sending a few affiliate pennies my way, too, which is much appreciated — and is at no extra cost to you.

More British books can be found here:

As always, I take the titles for these monthly posts from a number of sources, including the highlighted books on The Bookseller, my own knowledge of authors to watch, and various lists around the web, and while I can’t claim to have read them all, they definitely seem to have merit — or, at least, buzz. Unless indicated otherwise, descriptions are taken from Goodreads, Amazon, or the publisher’s site.

Failosophy, by Elizabeth Day (UK, 1st October, non-fiction)

Buy it in the UK and the US here

Listen to Elizabeth Day’s interview on the Brit Lit Podcast here

In Failosophy Elizabeth Day brings together all the lessons she has learned, from conversations with the guests on her award-winning How to Fail podcast, from stories shared with her by readers and listeners, and from her own life, and distils them into seven principles of failure.

 Practical, reassuring and inspirational, these principles offer a guide through life’s rough patches. From failed exams to romantic break-ups, from career setbacks to confidence crises, from navigating anxiety to surviving loss, Failosophy recognises, and celebrates, the fact that failure connects us all. It is what makes us human.

Nadiya Bakes, by Nadiya Hussain (UK, 1st October, cookbook)

Buy it (signed by the author!) in the UK and the US here

Our beloved Bake Off winner has created your ultimate baking cookbook to conquer cakes, biscuits, traybakes, tarts and pies, showstopping desserts, breads, savouries, and even ‘no-bake’ bakes.

All I Want for Christmas, by Beth Garrod (UK, 1st October, teen fiction)

Buy it in the UK and the US here

US-based Elle is a social-media influencer. But sometimes online attention isn’t all it seems from the outside; with a family who are constantly on the move, and so-called friends putting pressure on her to increase her following, she decides to swap places with one of her followers for the holidays. 

Holly lives in a small village in England, and LOVES christmas more than anything else. Nothing is going to get in the way of this year being the BEST Christmas ever . . . Nothing! But when her mum announces she’s selling their house, and Woody decides they should go on a “break”, her plans for the perfect Christmas start to crumble like overbaked gingerbread people.

Will swapping with Elle be Holly’s perfect opportunity to escape? And far from home, will they both find all they want for Christmas?

Mantel Pieces, by Hilary Mantel (UK, US, 1st October, essays)

Buy it in the UK here

Buy it in the US here

From the twice Booker Prize winner and internationally bestselling Hilary Mantel, a collection of writing – essays, book reviews, memoir – from over thirty years contributing to the London Review of Books.

The Devil and the Dark Water, by Stuart Turton (UK, 1st October, US, 6th October, historical fiction/thriller)

Buy it in the UK here

Buy it in the US here

 It’s 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world’s greatest detective, is being transported from the Dutch East Indies to Amsterdam, where he is facing trial and execution for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Travelling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent, while also on board are Sara Wessel, a noble woman with a secret, and her husband, the governor general of Batavia. But no sooner is their ship out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. A strange symbol appears on the sail. A dead leper stalks the decks. Livestock are slaughtered in the night. And then the passengers hear a terrible voice whispering to them in the darkness, promising them three unholy miracles. First: an impossible pursuit. Second: an impossible theft. Third: an impossible murder. Could a demon be responsible for their misfortunes? With Pipps imprisoned, only Arent and Sara can solve a mystery that stretches back into their past and now threatens to sink the ship, killing everybody on board…

The Little Library Christmas, by Kate Young (UK, 1st October, cookbook)

Buy it in the UK and the US here

Listen to Kate Young’s interview on the Brit Lit Podcast here

The Little Library Christmas is a collection of 50 festive recipes from Kate Young, the Little Library cook, including 20 favourites and 30 brand new creations. From edible gifts and cocktail party catering, to the big day itself and ideas for your leftovers, this book will guide you through the Christmas period with meals, treats, tipples and – of course – plenty of reading recommendations.

With beautiful photographs throughout and in a gorgeous, giftable format, this is the perfect book to put under your tree this Christmas.

The Night the Reindeer Saved Christmas, by Raj Kaur Khaira and Kasia Nowowiejska (UK, 1st October, picture book) 

Buy it in the UK and the US here

It’s almost Christmas Eve and the rockets on Mr Claus’s sleigh have exploded! With just hours to go, Mr Claus sets out to find a creature that can help him deliver Christmas gifts across the world. The polar bears are strong, but they’re too sleepy. The narwhals are fast, but the presents get too wet. The reindeer might just be the perfect creature to help… especially when Mr Claus discovers that the females have a secret… they can fly! Illustrated by Kasia Nowowiejska, this charming picture book was inspired by the little known fact that Santa Claus’s reindeer are female, as only female reindeer keep their antlers during the winter!

A Life On Our Planet, by David Attenborough (UK, 1st October, US, 6th October, non-fiction)

Buy it in the UK here

Buy it in the US here

“As a young man, I felt I was out there in the wild, experiencing the untouched natural world – but it was an illusion. The tragedy of our time has been happening all around us, barely noticeable from day to day – the loss of our planet’s wild places, its biodiversity.

I have been witness to this decline. A Life on Our Planet is my witness statement, and my vision for the future. It is the story of how we came to make this, our greatest mistake – and how, if we act now, we can yet put it right.

We have one final chance to create the perfect home for ourselves and restore the wonderful world we inherited.’

All we need is the will do so.”

Me, Family and the Making of a Footballer (UK, 1st October, autobiography)

Buy it (signed by the author!) in the UK and the US here

For the Redknapp clan, football is a family concern; it’s the family business. Me, Family and the Making of a Footballer is a deeply moving, heartfelt and beautifully personal account of growing up as the second son of Harry Redknapp, and also an enchanting love letter to football.

A Secret of Birds and Bones, by Kiran Millwood Hargrave (UK, 9-12 years fiction, 1st October)

Buy it in the UK and the US here

In an Italian city ravaged by plague, Sofia’s mother carves beautiful mementoes from the bones of loved ones. But one day, she doesn’t return home. Did her work lead her into danger? Sofia and her little brother Ermin are sent to the convent orphanage but soon escape, led by an enigmatic new friend and their pet crow, Corvith.

Together they cross the city underground, following clues in bones up to the towers of Siena, where – circled by magpies – the children find the terrible truth …

A Song for Dark Times by Ian Rankin (UK, 1st October, US, 13th October, thriller/mystery)

Buy it in the UK here

Buy it in the US here

When his daughter Samantha calls in the dead of night, John Rebus knows it’s not good news. Her husband has been missing for two days. Rebus fears the worst – and knows from his lifetime in the police that his daughter will be the prime suspect. He wasn’t the best father – the job always came first – but now his daughter needs him more than ever. But is he going as a father or a detective? As he leaves at dawn to drive to the windswept coast – and a small town with big secrets – he wonders whether this might be the first time in his life where the truth is the one thing he doesn’t want to find…

Cane Warrior, by Alex Wheatle (UK, 1st October, US, 20th October, teen fiction)

Buy it in the UK here

Buy it in the US here

Nobody free till everybody free. Moa is fourteen. The only life he has ever known is toiling on the Frontier sugar cane plantation for endless hot days, fearing the vicious whips of the overseers. Then one night he learns of an uprising, led by the charismatic Tacky. Moa is to be a cane warrior, and fight for the freedom of all the enslaved people in the nearby plantations. But before they can escape, Moa and his friend Keverton must face their first great task: to kill their overseer, Misser Donaldson. Time is ticking, and the day of the uprising approaches . . . Irresistible, gripping and unforgettable, Cane Warriors follows the true story of Tacky’s War in Jamaica, 1760.

Loud Black Girls, by Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené (UK, 1st October, US, 2nd February 2021, essays)

Buy it in the UK and the US here

From assessing the cultural impact of Marvel’s Black Panther, to celebrating activism in local communities. From asking how we can secure the bag while staying true to our principles, or how we can teach our daughters to own their voices, to reclaiming our culinary heritage, the essays in Loud Black Girls offer funny touching and ultimately insightful perspectives on the question of ‘What’s Next?’

The Fire of Joy, by Clive James (UK, 6th October, poetry)

Buy it in the UK and the US here

Clive James read, learned and recited poetry aloud for most of his life. In this book, completed before just before his death, he offers a selection of his favourite poems and a personal commentary on each.

The Windsor Diaries, by Alathea Fitzalan Howard (UK, 8th October, memoir)

Buy it in the UK and the US here

Alathea’s home life was an unhappy one. Her parents had separated and so during the war she was sent to live with her grandfather, Viscount Fitzalan of Derwent, at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park. There Alathea found the affection and harmony she craved as she became a close friend of the two princesses, visiting them often at Windsor Castle, enjoying parties, balls, cinema evenings, picnics and celebrations with the Royal Family and other members of the Court.

Alathea’s diary became her constant companion during these years as day by day she recorded every intimate detail of life with the young Princesses, often with their governess Crawfie, or with the King and Queen.

Written from the ages of sixteen to twenty-two, she captures the tight-knit, happy bonds between the Royal Family, as well as the aspirations and anxieties, sometimes extreme, of her own teenage mind.

Symona’s Still Single, by Lisa Bent (UK, 8th October, women’s fiction)

Buy it in the UK and the US here

Symona Brown is a 37-year old Jamaican British woman living in South London looking for her Mr. Right whilst her biological clock loudly ticks on. She announces to her close girlfriends after a boozy Sunday brunch, that she is ready to up her game and start actively dating, to their surprise and delight. After being consciously single for a number of years, Symona remembers what worked and what definitely did not in the dating arena. This time, she knows who she is and what she wants.

As Symona reflects through her memories from one Mr. to another, she reveals her sensual, hilarious and downright frustrating encounters. She finds herself asking, “What does it mean to be a Black woman trying to exist, date and find love?” In her pursuit of love, she learns new lessons and different answers. Will these new revelations get her what she wants?

Trio by William Boyd (UK, 8th October, US, 19th January 2021, literary fiction)

Buy it in the UK and the US here

Pre-order it in the US here

It is summer in 1968, the year of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. There are riots in Paris and the Vietnam War is out of control. While the world is reeling our three characters are involved in making a Swingin’ Sixties movie in sunny Brighton.

All are leading secret lives. Elfrida is drowning her writer’s block in vodka; Talbot, coping with the daily dysfunction of making a film, is hiding something in a secret apartment; and the glamorous Anny is wondering why the CIA is suddenly so interested in her.

But the show must go on and, as it does, the trio’s private worlds begin to take over their public ones. Pressures build inexorably – someone’s going to crack. Or maybe they all will.

The Night Bus Hero, by Onjali Q Raúf (UK, 15th October, 9-12 years fiction)

Buy it in the UK and the US here

Told from the perspective of a bully, this book explores themes of bullying and homelessness, while celebrating kindness, friendship and the potential everyone has to change for the good.

Ghosts, by Dolly Alderton (UK, 15th October, fiction)

Buy it in the UK and the US here

Listen to Dolly Alderton’s interview on the Brit Lit Podcast here 

Nina Dean has arrived at her early thirties as a successful food writer with loving friends and family, plus a new home and neighbourhood. When she meets Max, a beguiling romantic hero who tells her on date one that he’s going to marry her, it feels like all is going to plan.

A new relationship couldn’t have come at a better time – her thirties have not been the liberating, uncomplicated experience she was sold. Everywhere she turns, she is reminded of time passing and opportunities dwindling. Friendships are fading, ex-boyfriends are moving on and, worse, everyone’s moving to the suburbs. There’s no solace to be found in her family, with a mum who’s caught in a baffling mid-life makeover and a beloved dad who is vanishing in slow-motion into dementia.

Dolly Alderton’s debut novel is funny and tender, filled with whip-smart observations about relationships, family, memory, and how we live now.

Because of You, by Dawn French (UK, 15th October fiction)

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The old millennium turns into the new. In the same hospital, two very different women give birth to two very similar daughters. Hope leaves with a beautiful baby girl. Anna leaves with empty arms. Seventeen years later, the gods who keep watch over broken-hearted mothers wreak mighty revenge, and the truth starts rolling, terrible and deep, toward them all. The power of mother-love will be tested to its limits. Perhaps beyond . . .

I Wish It Could be Christmas Every Day, by Milly Johnson (UK, 29th October, women’s fiction)

Buy it in the UK and the US here

Read the Brit Lit Blog’s interview with Milly Johnnson here

It’s nearly Christmas and it’s snowing, hard. Deep in the Yorkshire Moors nestles a tiny hamlet, with a pub at its heart. As the snow falls, the inn will become an unexpected haven for six people forced to seek shelter there…

 Mary has been trying to get her boss Jack to notice her for four years, but he can only see the efficient PA she is at work. Will being holed up with him finally give her the chance she has been waiting for?

 Bridge and Luke were meeting for five minutes to set their divorce in motion. But will getting trapped with each other reignite too many fond memories – and love?

 Charlie and Robin were on their way to a luxury hotel in Scotland for a very special Christmas. But will the inn give them everything they were hoping to find – and much more besides?

The Windsor Knot, by SJ Bennett (UK, 29th October, US, mystery/humour, 9th March 2021)

Buy it in the UK and the US here

The morning after a dinner party at Windsor Castle, eighty-nine-year-old Queen Elizabeth is shocked to discover that one of her guests has been found murdered in his room, with a rope around his neck. When the police begin to suspect her loyal servants, Her Majesty knows they are looking in the wrong place. For the Queen has been living an extraordinary double life ever since her coronation. Away from the public eye, she has a brilliant knack for solving crimes. With her household’s happiness on the line, her secret must not get out. Can the Queen and her trusted secretary Rozie catch the killer, without getting caught themselves? 

The Illustrated Child, by Polly Crosby (US, 1st September as The Book of Hidden Wonders,  UK, 29th October, literary fiction)

Buy it in the UK here

Buy it in the US here

Romilly lives in a ramshackle house with her eccentric artist father and her cat, Monty. She knows little about her past – but she knows that she is loved.

When her father finds fame with a series of children’s books starring her as the main character, everything changes: exotic foods appear on the table, her father appears on TV, and strangers appear at their door, convinced the books contain a treasure hunt leading to a glittering prize.

But as time passes, Romilly’s father becomes increasingly suspicious of everything around him, until, before her eyes, he begins to disappear altogether.

In her increasingly isolated world, Romilly turns to the secrets her father has hidden in his illustrated books, realising that there is something far darker and more devastating locked within the pages…

The truth.

Troy, by Stephen Fry (UK, 29th October, literary fiction)

Buy it (signed by the author!) in the UK and the US here

In Troy you will find heroism and hatred, love and loss, revenge and regret, desire and despair. It is these human passions, written bloodily in the sands of a distant shore, that still speak to us today.

Troy is a myth in which we seek the truth about ourselves, which Stephen Fry brings breathtakingly to life for our modern age.

Between the Covers, by Jilly Cooper (UK, 29th October, non-fiction)

Buy it in the UK and the US here

Jilly Cooper’s observations from her days as a much-loved newspaper columnist cover everything to do with sex, socialising and survival – from marriage, friendship and the minutiae of family life, to the tedium of going to visit people for the weekend, the stress of hosting dinner parties and the descent of middle age.

Entertaining and full of heart, this classic collection of journalism from the legendary author explores the highs and lows of everyday life with wit, wisdom and warmth.

Love Your Life, by Sophie Kinsella (US, 27th October, UK, 29th Octoberber, rom com)

Buy it in the UK and the US here

Call Ava romantic, but she thinks love should be found in the real world, not on apps that filter men by height, job, or astrological sign. She believes in feelings, not algorithms. So after a recent breakup and dating app debacle, she decides to put love on hold and escapes to a remote writers’ retreat in coastal Italy. She’s determined to finish writing the novel she’s been fantasizing about, even though it means leaving her close-knit group of friends and her precious dog, Harold, behind.

At the retreat, she’s not allowed to use her real name or reveal any personal information. When the neighboring martial arts retreat is canceled and a few of its attendees join their small writing community, Ava, now going by “Aria,” meets “Dutch,” a man who seems too good to be true. The two embark on a baggage-free, whirlwind love affair, cliff-jumping into gem-colored Mediterranean waters and exploring the splendor of the Italian coast. Things seem to be perfect for Aria and Dutch.

But then their real identities-Ava and Matt-must return to London. As their fantasy starts to fade, they discover just how different their personal worlds are. From food choices to annoying habits to sauna etiquette . . . are they compatible in anything? And then there’s the prickly situation with Matt’s ex-girlfriend, who isn’t too eager to let him go. As one mishap follows another, it seems while they love each other, they just can’t love each other’s lives. Can they reconcile their differences to find one life together?

60 Years of Coronation Street, by Abigail Kemp (UK, 29th October, TV companion)

Buy it in the UK and the US here

Celebrating 60 years since the show’s creation, this book is an exhaustive, compelling and entertaining history packed full of features and long forgotten imagery. It takes you through every year in a unique timeline that highlights key plot lines, significant production events, together with an impressive amount of photography. You’ll discover features on characters, famous actors, royal visits, births, deaths, marriages and murders, together with interviews with key actors, producers and production staff. 

Hungry, by Grace Dent (UK, 29th October, memoir)

Buy it in the UK and the US here

From an early age, Grace Dent was hungry. As a little girl growing up in Currock, Carlisle, she yearned to be something bigger, to go somewhere better.

Hungry traces Grace’s story from growing up eating beige food to becoming one of the much-loved voices on the British food scene. It’s also everyone’s story – from treats with your nan, to cheese and pineapple hedgehogs, to the exquisite joy of cheaply-made apple crumble with custard. It’s the high-point of a chip butty covered in vinegar and too much salt in the school canteen, on an otherwise grey day of double-Maths and cross country running. It’s the real story of how we have all lived, laughed, and eaten over the past 40 years.

 Warm, funny and joyous, Hungry is also about love and loss, the central role that food plays in all our lives, and how a Cadbury’s Fruit ‘n’ Nut in a hospital vending machine can brighten the toughest situation.