What We’re Reading September 2026

Author:
Sarah Beth Durst

In Becar, who you are in this life will determine your next life. You can change your destiny with the choices you make, but for the darkest individuals there is no redemption: you come back as a kehok, a monster, and are doomed to be a kehok for the rest of time– unless you can win the Races. A professional trainer, Tamra’s confidence and reputation were shattered by a tragic accident. She needs the prize money to prevent the local temple from taking her daughter away from her. Raia is desperate to get away from her domineering family and cruel fianc?. As a kehok rider, she could earn enough to buy her freedom, but needs a first-rate trainer. They pair with a strange new kehok with the potential to win– if he can be tamed.

Author:
Bridget Thoreson

Come little children (and their grown ups), we’ll take thee away to a land of kitchen enchantment! Join the Sanderson Sisters in your own “torture chamber” and whip up some spellbinding treats in this first-ever Hocus Pocus cookbook designed for kid chefs. With over 50 recipes inspired by the two movies, these kid-friendly ingredients and easy-to-follow instructions are perfect for All Hallow’s Eve, Salem Scare Fest, or any time of year. Perfect for children of all ages and ’90s kids who now have children, nieces, and nephews of their own, these nostalgic recipes are so delectable that there will be no crumbs left behind. So store away those brooms and robot vacuums, unless of course it’s time to fly!

Author:
Robert Kolker

Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dream. After World War II, Don’s work with the Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their twelve children perfectly spanned the baby boom: the oldest born in 1945, the youngest in 1965. In those years, there was an established script for a family like the Galvins–aspiration, hard work, upward mobility, domestic harmony–and they worked hard to play their parts. But behind the scenes was a different story: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, hidden abuse. By the mid-1970s, six of the ten Galvin boys, one after another, were diagnosed as schizophrenic. How could all this happen to one family?

Author:
Nadia El-Fassi

As a skilled kitchen witch, Dina Whitlock knows her way around a pastry recipe. In fact, she runs her very own London café, serving magic-infused treats to her loyal customers. She is not as much of an expert on romance, thanks to the hex hanging over her head. It’s hard to fall in love when your partner is cursed with a string of bad luck. But who needs love when your best friend is getting married, right? Scott Mason has returned from global travels thrilled to embark on his new role as a curator at the British Museum. Having left London two years ago to recover from a devastating breakup, Scott has missed out on a lot. With his best friend’s wedding approaching, and Scott as best man, this is his chance to make up for lost time. Little does he expect to be enchanted by the magical maid of honor. During a romantic weekend filled with a peculiar hedge maze, palm readings by candlelight, and a midnight Halloween ritual, there’s no denying the chemistry between them. But the hex still holds, and Dina knows that Scott is in danger of more than just bad luck–because she’s falling, hard. Will Dina be able to undo the hex before it’s too late?

Author:
Elle Cosimano

Tori Burns and her family left D.C. for claustrophobic Chaptico, Maryland, after suddenly inheriting a house under mysterious circumstances. That inheritance puts her at odds with the entire town, especially Jesse Slaughter and his family — it’s their generations-old land the Burns have “stolen.” As the suspicious looks and muttered accusations of her neighbors build, so does the pressure inside her, and Tori returns to the pattern of self-harm that landed her in a hospital back in D.C. It all comes to a head one night when, to Tori’s shock, she witnesses a young man claw his way out of a grave under the gnarled oak in her new backyard.