OrderOfBooks October 2026 Newsletter
Welcome to October! My apologies for the delay in this month’s newsletter, and thanks to everyone for checking in.
The delay was book-related. Last Wednesday, we launched the brand-new Author Genre Search on our sister site, Book Notification.
This was a massive job, and unfortunately, due to some miscommunication, the majority of it fell into my lap, and all at the last minute. So I spent about 9 days straight working almost exclusively on that, 12 hours a day, expanding our genre selection to over 650 genres, assigning genres to over 6500 authors, etc.
It was a heck of a job, but I am really proud of it. Unlike other sites, we don’t rely on basic publisher and author data. My team and I carefully handpicked these, which really makes the results stand out and feel unique.
And now the fun part begins: analyzing the search data and building it out as appropriate. It’s silly how excited I get when I see a genre with a low authors-to-search ratio, then choose to build it up and apply more genres to authors.
So if you are looking to check out some new authors, be sure to check out our Author Genre Search. So many cool features to it.
Here’s a quick screenshot of it in action:
So many little things I love about it. For example, the “Recommend If You Like” section will account for authors you follow and show them first. I love that little personal touch.
That work caused me to get backlogged with the rest, so since it’s launch Wednesday, I’ve been battling my backlog. Still feeling a bit underwater, but getting there and just glad I have now got to the point where I get to write this newsletter to you lovely people – always a highlight of my month.
It’s been a sad week for author deaths with both Jeffrey Archer and Peter May passing. I’m a big fan of Peter May in particular, and have been slowly working my way through his bibliography over the years. I’ll continue to do so, but there’s always that little bit of extra sadness when you read them and know there’ll be no more.
And if you want some fun – last month we launched the Book Notification Games & Puzzles section. I’ve been having a lot of fun with that.
Let’s fly through my reading log for the month – also, as a quick side note, I do a weekly Currently Reading video where I discuss what I’ve been reading, give ratings, etc.
I know many of you are cat lovers, so I think you’ll get a kick out of the episode I just recently recorded.
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah: Second Kristin novel I’ve read after The Women. A family saga/coming-of-age story about a family who seeks a new beginning in Alaska in the 70s. I loved this even more than The Women. It was such an entertaining story, with great characters. The only con was that it felt like a few really big time skips, but other than that, I highly recommend it.
Looking forward to reading more books by Kristin.
Falling by T.J. Newman: A pilot’s family is kidnapped, and he is told he has two options: crash the plane, or let his family die. This was an all-action thriller that was fun and an easy read. It did get silly at times, and became a bit too hard to suspend disbelief, but still an entertaining read, and I plan to read more novels by T.J. This was actually one Debra Why wrote in to recommend that she read in one sitting – and I can see why!
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi: I read this for the I Care About Books Book Club. You can watch us chat about it in detail here. Overall, I really enjoyed it despite a very abrupt ending and some unreliable narration. One thing I would say is that it is the perfect book club book. Whether you like it or not, it leads to a lot of discussion.
The Unwilling by John Hart: It feels like I’ve had King of Lies on my TBR since the beginning of time. I spotted it on Libby and decided to listen. Superb narration. It takes place in the South at the height of the Vietnam War, and it’s a wonderful story. One I would recommend listening to over reading.
She Didn’t See It Coming by Shari Lapena: Another top-notch psychological thriller by Shari, and one of her best. If you’re a fan of standalone psychological thrillers, I can’t recommend Shari enough.
The Silent Woman by Minka Kent: Listened to this one. I actually stumbled upon it while working on the genre search. Story of a new couple, and the man’s ex-wife, after a horrible accident, lives on the grounds and can’t speak. Then she hands the new wife a note that says, “RUN.” This one bothered me a bit, since it was billed as a thriller, and it 100% was not. It was pure domestic suspense. Despite that, it was an easy listen with good characters and well-written prose. I’ll check out more by Minka.
(And why it annoyed me that it wasn’t a thriller is that I do long-distance running, and I much prefer those fast-paced thrillers with twists and turns, so I felt misled. But it says something about the book that I enjoyed it despite that!)
The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold: This was billed as the “ultimate time-travel novel” and is the story of Daniel Eakins, who inherits a time machine. It was written in the 70s, so maybe it blew everyone’s minds then; but even with that in mind, I didn’t enjoy this book at all. It felt like both the protagonist and the author spent the entire book battling the concept of time travel and never really got into the story. If you’re a time-travel fan like me, I wouldn’t recommend it.
I also finished the new Reacher season. Mixed feelings on it. It strayed from the source material a lot more than previous seasons, which disappointed me, and it verged a bit too much into ‘silly’ territory for me. Still, I enjoyed it. Nothing will ever top season 3, though.
That’s about it for me. As always, if you want:
- 25x the authors as OrderOfBooks
- Get notified of new books by your favourite authors
- A Personalized Book Release Calendar
- Track Your Reads and TBR
- Clean Printable book lists
- The ability to discover new authors by genre
- And much, much more….
- …then check out our sister site Book Notification
Each month, we give away 5 $25 Amazon gift certificates to random subscribers.
To win, all you have to do is subscribe. Nothing more! When we click “Publish,” we take a list of all our subscribers, put them into a random draw, and those are the winners.
Our winners this month are:
Zelna M. from Lincoln, CA
Val from Sacramento, CA (email begins with digg)
Don B. from Fullerton, CA
Pat Mit. from Jefferson WI
Sean from Katy, TX (email begins with stm)
All of you have been e-mailed. If you don’t see anything, check your junk folder or contact me.
Whew – you have no idea how good it feels to get this newsletter out. Thank you for your patience!
Until the next chapter,
Graeme
OrderOfBooks.com
Book Shop Cats
I know a lot of the readers of this newsletter own and love cats. While in The Strand bookstore in NYC, I came across a book titled “Book Shop Cats”. The author’s name was Daphne Du Meowier. I thought – this would be perfect for the newsletter!
So each month, I’ll share a picture of the cat from the book, followed by the excerpt they wrote. Hope you enjoy! If you like these, you can buy the book.
PAGE AND MYLAR (Although only one is shown!)
AGE: Two and a half
BREED: Domestic Shorthair, tuxedo
BOOKSHOP: Shelf Life Books, Richmond, Virginia, USA
ARRIVAL STORY: We adopted Page and Mylar as a bonded pair from the Richmond SPCA.
TEMPERAMENT: Page will stop at nothing to hunt shoelaces, biscuits and flowers! Mylar’s primary interests are chin scratches and worm-on-a-string toys!
Page and Mylar are typically calm, friendly and loving. The only things louder than their purrs are their meows demanding pets and treats! Despite not being able to read (yet), they love to help give recommendations and help customers find books.
FUN FACT: Page and Mylar are managers. Page is the ‘knocking-things-off-the-desk’ manager, and Mylar is in charge of enforcing mandatory ‘snuggle-with-Mylar’ time.
LITERARY ALIAS: No doubt about it, they’d be Merry and Pippin from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings! Big appetites, big hearts, a strong sense of whimsy and so full of love.
Book Recommendations
In this section, I give 3-5 random book recommendations from readers of the newsletter. They can be old books, they can be new. Feel free to e-mail suggestions to me. Just hit reply. If you wish to add a description for the book around the same size as the ones below that’d be great too!
This month I am using the “Surprise Me” feature from the Book Notification Author Genre Search to pick the five books/authors. Thank you for any recommendations sent in – they’ll feature again next month!
Top Producer by Norb Vonnegut: This suspenseful financial thriller is the first of three stories in the Grove O’Rourke series by Norb Vonnegut.
After his best friend Charlie is murdered in front of hundreds of party guests, investment broker Grove O’Rourke agrees to help Charlie’s widow.
But she is hiding a dark secret, and Grove soon discovers how money and friendship can conceal dangerous truths.
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley: This book received a lot of noteworthy acclaim upon its release in 2024, so it was nice to see it pop up.
It’s essentially a time-travel romance and spy thriller rolled into one, with some comedy, too.
A civil servant is assigned to live with an Arctic explorer brought forward from 1847 and help him adjust to modern life. As she falls in love with him, the truth behind the government’s time travel project forces her to question their future and her role in shaping it.
Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie: Craig has quite the bibliography, but this is by far his most popular novel on Book Notification.
If you are a fan of horror and psychological suspense, and enjoy those “found-footage” movies, this one is right up your alley.
Matt and Claire Kirklin take their ghost-hunting TV crew to an abandoned mansion where bizarre paranormal experiments took place in the 1970s. As they investigate, the team discovers that finding proof of an afterlife may come at a terrible cost.
A Quiet Life in the Country by T E Kinsey: If you’re a fan of historical fiction, this cozy historical mystery series might be right up your alley. The first book begins in 1908 in rural Gloucestershire. It’s the first of 14 novels in the Lady Hardcastle Mysteries series, which is still ongoing.
Lady Emily Hardcastle and her maid Flo move to the countryside hoping for a quiet life, only to find a body in the woods. Convinced the police are on the wrong track, they investigate local rivalries and uncover secrets that reach far beyond the village.
The Doctor’s Wife by Daniel Hurst: I’ve never read Daniel, but I have a few of his books on my TBR, including this series. Hopefully get to that this month! The Passenger is one I really want to read.
This is the first book in a current five-book series and a psychological thriller. A doctor’s wife discovers that their move to an isolated seaside home hasn’t stopped her husband from lying and abusing his position. While he trusts her to keep his secrets, she begins making her own plans.
October Book Of The Month
Life Out of Order by Audrey Niffenegger: This month was a tough one to pick from. I mean, we’ve got a new Lee Child, Freida McFadden, Stephen King, Michael Connelly, M.C. Beaton, Louise Penny. So many to choose from! We readers have the best problems.
I have to go with Life Out of Order because it’s so notable: a sequel companion to The Time Traveler’s Wife, set 23 years after the fact. That is impressive, and I have to feel it’s an inspired story.
Alba DeTamble travels unpredictably through time, torn between Zach, who lives in the present, and Oliver, who can travel through time like her. As she moves between troubled pasts and uncertain futures, she struggles to build a meaningful life and navigate her love for them both.
10 More Notable Books Releasing in October
10 More Notable Books Releasing in October
- Adam and Eve by Jeffrey Archer
- Ender’s Tribe by Orson Scott Card
- Chain Reaction by Lee & Andrew Child
- The Hollow by Michael Connelly
- Where the Road Ends by Brian Freeman
- Partita by Barbara Kingsolver
- The Witch by Freida McFadden
- Miss Wolcott’s Ghost by Louise Penny
- Bark Humbug by David Rosenfelt
- The Fires of December by Brandon Sanderson
Brought to you by BookNotification.com where you can get updated on all the upcoming books by your favourite authors with your own personalized calendar!
Pictures of the Month
Thanks to Norma for the first 2 and Carla for the rest.
Send in your own to site@orderofbooks.com or by replying!
Images, jokes, etc. We’ll take it all!
Your Thoughts!
Last month, we asked which books you had read in one sitting. The answers are later in the newsletter.
For this month, I’m asking:
What are your favourite genres?
A nice and simple one. Feels a bit fitting considering I can’t shut up about the author genre search 😜
For me, my favourite two are standalone psychological thrillers and believable sci-fi. The latter isn’t really a ‘genre’; it’s more a category in my head, where it’s science fiction I believe can happen.
For example – all those space operas with flying spaceships, etc.? I’m out. But a secret time-slip portal that lets someone travel back to September 9, 1958? Oh yeah, I believe that can happen!
I also love psychological thrillers because they’re just so easy to read. With the amount of work I have, it can be difficult to get reading in at times, but they draw me in and are easy to finish in a couple of sittings. And even if I end up not liking them and give them a low rating, they usually have enough twists and turns and move fast enough that I still get enough enjoyment out of them.
Spy Thrillers or “Lone Badass” books are a close third. Jack Reacher, Mitch Rapp, The Gray Man, John Wells, Victor the Assassin, etc.- I can’t get enough of them!
What about you – what are your favourite genres?
E-mail us your feedback to site@OrderOfBooks.com or just reply to this e-mail, and we’ll pick the best comments and feature it in next month’s newsletter. Five people will also randomly win a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.
Reader Mailbag!
John Grisham’s book- The French Allusion
Have read most of John Grisham’s books & Loved Them. Absolutely “hated” The French Allusion. Read about 99 pages before giving up.