What Book Clubs Are Reading in October

This October, the actor Natalie Portman chose a mesmerizing novel by an acclaimed Chilean writer that stars the mathematical genius John von Neumann. “A fictionalized biography, Labatut’s novel explores the relationship between madness and reason. I also loved Labatut’s last book, When We Cease to Understand the World, in case you haven’t read it yet!“

Hailed as "the most beautiful dystopian novel since Station Eleven" by the LA Times, this Audacious Book Club selection stars a chef drawn into a secretive colony of rich folks in a food-deprived future. Host Roxane Gay called it “a stunning read, a book that deftly juxtaposes the insularities and immoralities of wealth against the degradations of capitalism and the encroachment of the climate crisis..."

The California Book Club chose a dystopian tech romp by a San Francisco-bred Pulitzer winner for its latest pick, and will host a free online discussion with its acclaimed author on October 19. A helpful note from the club: “While this novel can stand alone and double as social commentary, it also serves as a sequel of sorts to the earlier A Visit from the Goon Squad.”

Actor and comedian Lilly Singh gets her readers in the spooky mood with this Booker Prize-winning “self-detective-murder-mystery tale“ by an acclaimed Sri-Lankan author about a dead photographer trying to solve his own shocking murder.

In her Belletrist selection for October, actor Emma Roberts chooses one of fall's brand-new and most-anticipated novels. Elle magazine found this darkly humorous desert survival tale “funny, brilliant, gutting, and easily devoured over the course of one blissful afternoon.”

R&B singer Amerie’s October pick is the Pulitzer-nominated debut novel by a former tech reporter that’s set in a dystopian, corporate-run future. Start with this acclaimed novel and follow it with the author's recent collection of stories "This is Salvaged," that is also getting rave reviews.

Pop star Dua Lipa went with a classic of magical realism this month, which left her “reflecting on love and war, familial bonds, the consequences of modernity and of course, the many meanings of solitude.”

Jenna Hager Bush chose this Kirkus Prize-nominated book by an acclaimed Jamaican poet who reflects on her oppressive Rastafarian upbringing. “It's a book about freedom, choice, becoming who we're meant to be,” mused the Today show host.

Queen Camilla's newest pick is a whimsical historical tale from the bestselling author of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry about two British women on a quixotic adventure to the South Seas in the 1950s.

Reese Witherspoon also felt the spirit of the season with her October pick, which “has everything you could possibly want this fall ... a cursed town, a haunted house, a vivid & eerie setting — plus, characters willing to risk everything.”