This Month in Adult Books: October 2022

Reading recommendations for adults
October 5, 2022
Featured Title
The Cloisters by Katy Hays
An art history student arrives in New York expecting to spend her summer learning and working at the Met but instead ends up at the Cloisters, a beautiful medieval museum and garden where she joins a research project for an upcoming exhibition on divination. She discovers a rare 15th century Tarot deck that may hold secrets to predicting the future. Curiosity soon becomes obsession which turns into an all too real tragedy. This gothic debut offers unique setting with plenty of atmospheric chills alongside glimpses behind the closed doors of museums and academia. This book from a vibrant new voice is definitely a must read to close out spooky season.



New & Upcoming
November brings some big name releases from some big name authors, but don’t miss the hidden gems. White Horse is a gritty debut by Erika T. Wurth, billed as perfect for fans of authors like Stephen Graham Jones. In the book, Kari, an Urban Indigenous woman, discovers a bracelet haunted by the spirit of her dead mother and is forced to reckon with a past she thought she left behind. Nonfiction readers have an opportunity to get a new version of the Old West with Brave Hearted: The Women of the American West by Katie Hickman, a well researched book that brings hidden stories to life and reveals details previously untold. In many cases, these details were suppressed to ensure stories conformed to stereotypes, assumptions and societal ideas.  
Check This Out!
A list of books, both fiction and nonfiction, about hurricanes and their aftermath.  
What We’re Reading
Ancestor Trouble: a reckoning and a reconciliation by Maud Newton
"I wasn’t sure this book was for me as I have very little interest in family history, but it was released earlier this year with a number of excellent reviews and it seemed to raise some interesting issues all of which made me curious. I am incredibly glad I picked it up because this is a fantastic book that takes a very personal story (memoir, identity) that helps frame larger societal and cultural topics (history, family, inheritance, structural racism…). Even for someone who has no interest in genealogy, it offers many opportunities for reflection and consideration. As one reviewer points out, the book asks questions that make the reader ask questions. I was left thinking on various topics days after I finished. If you are a reader interested in memoir, genealogy, history, reconciliation and reparations or general consideration of western culture and US society then this book is for you. Book groups should definitely take note too."

For More Reading Suggestions:
  • 30 of the Best Fall Fiction Books from 2022 from Oprah Daily
  • 20 of the Best Fall Nonfiction Books from 2022 from Oprah Daily
  • Speculative Fiction for September and October from Tor.com