The Most Read Books on Goodreads in October 2026

Quick, before you scroll: how many of the top five most read books on Goodreads this month can you name? Here are some hints. Four are 2026 releases, and one has recently had a movie adaptation. The genres represented are thrillers, historical fiction, and romantasy. Okay, let’s see how you did! 3 New Books Out in October You Should Know About Unfortunately, the most read books on Goodreads tend not to be diverse by any definition of the word. So, here are a few new books out in October that deserve wider readership. Abandoning a Cat: A Personal Story by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip GabrielThis short memoir was born from a piece first published in The New Yorker in 2019. Murakami explores his relationship with his father, who might have been a priest like his own father, but became a soldier in WWII instead. He was then a successful writer of haiku, and later a teacher. You’d think these things would make him close to his son Haruki, but the two end up estranged for 20 years. They only reconnected, really, on his deathbed, hence this memoir, which examines what being a father and a son mean. —Erica Ezeifedi The Occidental Book of the Dead by T. Geronimo JohnsonThis is the ...