Okay, so here’s the deal. If I decide a reading pile, I end up changing my mind every few days and don’t really go by the reading pile. If I don’t, I do really read much. Sure, circumstances were different in August 2026 and September 2026 but I couldn’t read the two books I carried with me, ended  up reading two very exhaustive books back to back.

And I have three new book hauls (~60 books in total, to be posted soon). So, this month, we’re doing the reading pile again. And, we’re going with popular titles, like even some award winning titles. Because some of these books are on lists, I like to finish as many reading challenges on Goodreads as I can.

September Reading Status

I read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. With work and life happening around, this was the only book I could finish.

October Reading Pile

This month’s pile is a bit of a mixed bag, but there is a method to it. Little Fires Everywhere and An American Marriage are here partly because they help me tick off Goodreads/Oprah reading lists. The Morisaki Bookshop books are here because, well, everybody seems to love them. And then there is Greg Heffley, who needs no justification because Greg is Greg.

So, here’s what I’m planning to read this month, and roughly in this order.

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

An American Marriage is another one I picked up partly for the reading challenge. It was Oprah’s Book Club pick, so it fits nicely into my attempt to work through some of those popular reading lists rather than simply reading whatever happens to catch my eye. Oprah herself has referred to it as her 78th Book Club pick.

The novel follows Roy and Celestial, a young married couple whose lives are turned upside down when Roy is arrested and sentenced to prison for a crime he says he did not commit. Celestial has to navigate life without her husband, while Roy’s absence changes their marriage in ways neither of them could have anticipated.

This sounds like a heavier read than some of the others on this month’s pile, but that’s probably a good thing. Otherwise I’d happily read nothing but cosy books and Greg Heffley.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

I picked up Little Fires Everywhere at the bookfair because I was looking for some popular books on my shelf; I usually go with authors I’ve known very well like Jeffrey Archer, John Grisham, Lee Child or I go wild and get every book I can get for Rs. 50. Being at a bookfair, my goal was to pick some booktok favourites and this was one.

The reason to pick this for October is because it appears on Goodreads’ Best Books of the Decade list, and I am trying to make my way through as many of these reading challenges as I can. It was also a Goodreads Choice Award winner in 2017, so this is very much one of those books that has been on my radar for a while.

The story is set in Shaker Heights, a very carefully planned suburban community, where everything seems to be orderly and under control. Then Mia Warren and her teenage daughter Pearl move in with the Richardson family as tenants, and things start getting complicated. There is family drama, secrets, motherhood, identity and, eventually, a custody battle that puts the two families on opposite sides.

I’ve heard enough about this book over the years that I feel like I already know of it without actually knowing the story. So I’m curious to see what I make of it after finally reading it.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

I have been seeing the Morisaki Bookshop books everywhere, and they seem to be very popular among readers who like books about books. Naturally, I bought them.

This one follows Takako, who has just had her heart broken and has basically withdrawn from life, until her uncle offers her a place to stay above his second-hand bookshop in Tokyo’s Jimbocho book district. She starts working at the shop and, slowly, gets pulled back into reading and into life itself.

It is short, bookish and apparently quite cosy, which is exactly the sort of book that can be dangerous when you are trying to stick to a reading pile. Because if I like it, I will immediately want to read the second one.

More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

And yes, I bought the sequel too. More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop picks up after the events of the first book, with Takako returning to the bookshop and continuing to navigate her relationships with her uncle, aunt and the people she has met along the way. Books and the Morisaki Bookshop remain at the centre of the story.

I usually prefer having the next book ready when I start a series, rather than finishing the first one and then having to hunt around for the sequel. So this was an easy decision. Also, these are both fairly short books, which makes the duology look much less intimidating on a reading pile than it actually sounds.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul by Jeff Kinney

And finally, we have Greg Heffley, because apparently I am not capable of making a reading pile without putting a Wimpy Kid book in it.

The Long Haul is the ninth book in the series, and this time the Heffleys are going on a family road trip. Naturally, things do not go according to plan. There are breakdowns, wild animals, terrible bathrooms and a runaway pig, because apparently a normal family holiday would be far too boring for Greg.

I added this one simply because Greg is one of my favourite characters and these books are ridiculously quick to finish. Sometimes you need a book that requires absolutely no intellectual preparation. Open book. Read cartoons. Laugh. Done.

And that is my October pile. Five books, three very different reasons for picking them, and hopefully five books crossed off the ever-growing TBR.

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Shabana Mukhtar