10 books to add to your reading list in October

Critic Bethanne Patrick recommends 10 promising titles — fiction and nonfiction — to consider for your October reading list.

As leaves fall elsewhere in the country, leaves of new books will be turned eagerly in Los Angeles, given this month’s variety of subjects. From mental illness to modern horror, and Greek mythology to gonzo world-building, novelists provide plenty of perspective. Meanwhile, nonfiction authors roam from the grandeur of monarchy to the magic of movies, from voracious reading to voracious eating.

Fiction

Shred Sisters: A Novel
By Betsy Lerner
Grove: 272 pages, $28
(Oct. 1)

(Grove)

Lerner, a great literary agent and nonfiction author (“The Forest for the Trees”), debuts as a novelist with a story of sisters whose relationship is tested by the older one’s mental illness. Ollie and Amy grow up in Connecticut, in a stable suburban home, but Ollie’s unpredictable and dangerous exploits affect everyone — especially quiet, high-achieving Amy, who holds the family’s vulnerable, beating heart in her all-too-capable hands.

The Great When: A Long London Novel
By Alan Moore
Bloomsbury: 336 pages, $29.99
(Oct. 1)

(Bloomsbury)

What happens when a brilliant graphic novelist relies on words alone? Moore, the acclaimed creator of “Watchmen,” plans a “Long London Quintet” of which “The Great When” is the first volume. Long London exists as an alternate city that affects the IRL version, and it’s populated by characters who must cope with World War II’s vicissitudes (on both sides). Is it over the top? Maybe. Will Moore’s fans love it? Absolutely.

Model Home: A Novel
By Rivers Solomon
MCD: 304 pages, $28
(Oct. 1)

(MCD)

Ezri Blackwell, a Black, queer and neurodiverse student at Oxford University, is estranged from her family of origin in Dallas. But Ezri and their daughter Elijah return to Texas when that family goes radio silent — and it turns out Ezri’s parents are dead. Was it a murder-suicide? Or, as Ezri and siblings suspect, is it attributable to supernatural forces inside their house? Solomon (“The Deep”) weaves psychological and atmospheric horror into a compelling story.

Dogs and Monsters: Stories
By Mark Haddon
Doubleday: 288 pages, $28
(Oct. 15)

(Doubleday)

If you’ve been watching the excellent Greek mythology-based “Kaos” on Netflix, run, don’t walk, to pick up this new collection from Haddon (“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time”), in which some of the same gods and goddesses of Olympus appear. With a combination of compassion and authority, the author shows that his command of short fiction continues to keep pace with his novels and dramas. Don’t miss the one titled “D.O.G.Z.”

Don’t Be a Stranger: A Novel
By Susan Minot
Knopf: 320 pages, $28
(Oct. 15)

(Knopf)

Minot has long written well about lust — consider her 2002 novel “Rapture,” which takes place during an act of oral pleasure. She even titled a story collection “Lust.” But in her new book, Minot chronicles obsession, as middle-aged single mother Ivy negotiates an affair with the younger Ansel. It’s deliberately lopsided, with readers hearing only from Ivy, never truly knowing her lover’s purposes, a portrait of how little control any of us has over our desires.

Nonfiction

Q: A Voyage Around the Queen
By Craig Brown
Farrar, Straus and Giroux: 672 pages, $35
(Oct. 1)

(Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Brown’s “Ma’am Darling: 99 Glimpses of Princess Margaret” was a new kind of public biography, using the author’s experience as well as newspapers, diaries, biographies and interviews. In “Q,” he approaches the throne, revealing facets of Queen Elizabeth II, from her celebrated arrival to her ceremony-laden departure. If “Q” remains inscrutable, that would make Her Royal Majesty veddy veddy happy indeed.

The Black Utopians: Searching for Paradise and the Promised Land in America
By Aaron Robertson
Farrar, Straus and Giroux: 400 pages, $30
(Oct. 1)

(Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

The author begins his own search for his homeplace of Promise Land, Tenn., an intentional town dating back to Reconstruction, for those who had been enslaved. He considers Detroit’s Shrine of the Black Madonna community, the Black Christian Nationalism movement and Mtoto House as he demonstrates the universal yearnings for safety and belonging.

Sonny Boy: A Memoir
By Al Pacino
Penguin Press: 384 pages, $35
(Oct. 15)

(Penguin)

From rough beginnings in the South Bronx to iconic fame in Hollywood, Pacino has lived several lives, all of which inform his unforgettable performances in movies such as “The Godfather,” “Serpico,” “Dog Day Afternoon” and “Scent of a Woman.” His volatile but beloved mother called him Sonny Boy, and he takes his intimate, casual tone from that nickname, bringing readers immediately into his worlds as he recounts building a life around his chosen craft.

What I Ate in One Year: (And Related Thoughts)
By Stanley Tucci
Gallery Books: 368 pages, $35
(Oct. 15)

(Gallery)

Forget “Big Night’s” timpano — Tucci’s got other food to share with you, all of it top-notch and some of it with recipes too. However, this is more of a diary than a cookbook, a long-craved glimpse into how Tucci cooks, eats, entertains and travels, sometimes with family and friends, sometimes tutto solo. Come for the Carmelite nuns’ duck à l’orange, stay for the emotional nourishment this connoisseur can derive from the smallest cup of espresso.

Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me
By Glory Edim
Ballantine: 288 pages, $28
(Oct. 29)

(Ballantine)

The founder of the literary community Well-Read Black Girl, Edim here chronicles her bookish Virginia childhood, in which her Nigerian-born mother encouraged her to read as much and as widely as possible. The author’s discovery of African American writers such as James Baldwin and Toni Morrison helped her as she grew, graduated from Howard University and struggled with deep depression. All of this led to her mission to help others see that “reading is reparative.”