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Books in November - Book Recommendations
Hello Book Dragons, we are in autumn and we know lots of you are happy with this change of weather. All cozy with a cup of hot chocolate/tea, a book, some snacks, what more do we need? Here’s our little selection for the month, we hope you’ll see something you’d loooove to read this season of falling leaves.
Contemporary/Fantasy/Thriller/Sci-fi adults
Fallen City by Adrienne Young (3 November)
Because this just sounds great
Luca Matius has one purpose—to carry on the family name, maintaining its presence in the Forum once his powerful and cruel uncle dies. But his noviceship with the city's Philosopher places him in the middle of a catastrophe that will alter the destiny of his people. Maris Casperia was raised amidst the strategic maneuvers of the Citadel's inner workings, and she knows what her future holds—a lifetime of service to a corrupt city. But her years of serving as a novice to the last Priestess who possesses the stolen magic of the Old War has made her envision a different kind of future for the city. When she meets Luca, a fated chain of events is set into motion that will divinely entangle their lives…
Loba by Valentina Cano Repetto (10 November)
Because Brazil and Uruguay changes a bit and stories about lighthouses are always good reads
Delmira Torres knows fleeing to Brazil is the only way she’ll be free of her abusive husband. But to get there she’ll need money; it’s why she takes a posting at a lighthouse in Cabo Polonio, Uruguay, a small town where time doesn’t seem to move quite right. There, she has only a month until her husband and her secrets catch up to her. But the position comes marred by the legend of La Loba, who stalks the lighthouse and the nearby fishing village, and by the spiraling visions that begin to plague Delmira. A century earlier, Amalia arrives at the same lighthouse. Held captive and desperate to escape her dire situation, her story may hold the answers to Delmira’s torment. Both of them, desperate for freedom and determined to survive, must find a way to outlive the horrors of Cabo Polonio.
A Midnight Pastry Shop Called Hwawoldang by Lee Onhwa & translated by Slin Jung (12 November)
Because I already listened and enjoyed it
Twenty-seven-year-old Yeon-hwa has inherited a neighborhood bakery from her grandmother. Curiously, her grandmother’s will spells out two conditions: Yeon-hwa must keep the shop going for at least another month and only open it to customers from 10 PM until midnight. Yeon-hwa is hesitant at first; her grandmother was always distant, raising Yeon-hwa after her parents died in a car accident. But she agrees to the terms, hoping that running the bakery will help her to finally understand her grandmother after all these years. Yeon-hwa soon learns that the Hwawoldang—the name means “flower moon temple” —is not an ordinary dessert shop. The customers who arrive late at night are spirits, there to attend to unfinished business before being reincarnated. The sweets they crave hold some deep significance in their earthly lives, and they expect Yeon-hwa to meet their requests, as her grandmother did. With each customer who arrives, Yeon-hwa learns which special desserts live in their memories and will help them on their way. Aided by the shop’s resident black cat, Yeon-hwa learns how to find closure for her customers—and begins to unravel her own family’s secrets as well.
The Insomniac's Guide to Love by Anna Bell (19 November)
Because we need a bit of romance this season
By day, Bec supports her boyfriend Matt with his incurable illness. Matt’s always had a passion for life, and his illness has only made him more determined to make the most of everyday, ticking off bucket list items and making memories whilst he can. Bec’s by his side supporting him and putting on a brave face, but by night, it’s a different story. Elliot hasn’t slept properly since his footballing career came to an abrupt end before it had really begun. When the marriage he’d thrown himself into in a bid to create a new plan for his life falls apart, he finds himself struggling to cope. But after dropping off a parcel at a neighbour’s flat after a nighttime run, he meets Bec, who he assumes is Molly who the parcel is addressed to, and she doesn’t correct him. The next time Bec sees him running she asks him if she can go with him, and a nightly routine begins, striking up a friendship. Before long they swap running for trips to all-night cafes, and chats into the small hours. As Bec begins to question her relationship with Matt, and battles the impending mortality of his illness, she finds herself seeking comfort with Elliot, who in turn, begins to open up himself to her too. Only the longer it goes on, the more she feels like she’s lying to everyone, and soon Bec must face the reality of her life and what it is she really needs to move forward and find her own happiness.
YA Book Recommendations
Recruitment by K.A. Riley (3 November)
Because this slightly older dystopian is just now available and the next in the series already announced
In the Valta, no matter what month you were born, everyone is assigned the same birthday. November 1st. It's the anniversary of the day when the government declared war on the Eastern Order. The day you turn seventeen, the Recruiters come to take you away. And no one ever hears from you again. It’s October 31st. Today, Kress is sixteen years old. Tomorrow, she’ll be taken. The good news? So will her best friend Cardyn, and Brohn, the handsome, enigmatic boy she’s avoided all her life. The bad news? Recruitment isn’t what any of them expected. Weeks of training await. Military and psychological tests, escape rooms, hand-to-hand combat. The Recruits are told they're the key to winning the war. But with each day that passes, things begin to make less sense. If only Kress had been able to bring her trained raven, Render, with her. If only none of them had ever had to come to this place.
Spellwright by Heather Kassner (5 November)
Because libraries, magic, and a bit of romance
No one is allowed past the gargoyles guarding the doors of Thistledown Library. Spellwright Fia Ives should know—for months she’s hoped to be admitted inside to find a magic powerful enough to locate her late mother’s spellbook. One midnight, she finally breaks in, only to discover three mysterious figures already searching the forbidden stacks. When the library announces the theft of a dangerous grimoire, suspicion falls on Fia. The only way to clear her name is to root out the thieves she spied that night. However, solving a magical theft isn’t easy while running her inherited spellshop alone. So Fia hires the first person who applies to help—the insufferably charming Penbrook Madbury, who is as sleepy as a cat and just as stubborn. Fia isn’t sure she can trust him with her reckless plan (let alone her beloved shop), but there’s something about the secretive magician that tempts her to try. As a strange magic curls through town, Fia must risk her own heart to unravel a string of curses before they claim both her and Penbrook. And if some of those curses require kisses to break them, well, that’s just the whimsy of magic.
The Same Backward as Forward by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (19 November)
Because we know you like the author and her books!
Hannah Rooney knows how to be invisible. At twenty, she keeps her head down and her eyes open, and so far, she’s managed to avoid being pulled into the dealings of her notorious criminal family. Hannah lives her life in countdown mode, biding her time in nursing school as she waits for her beloved sister, Kaylie, to turn eighteen so Hannah can get them both far, far away from Rockaway Watch and start a new life. Tobias Hawthorne II acts every inch the entitled heir that he is. As the only son of one of the country's richest men, there isn't a door that isn't open to him. Yet behind his razor sharp cheekbones and devil-may-care attitude, Toby is guarding a nest of deadly secrets and a fiery anger fierce enough to burn everything in his path. Their lives collide in one tragic, stormy night, where an act of arson and nature leave Kaylie and two others dead and Toby just barely alive--with no memory of who he is. The fisherman who pulls him from the ocean enlists Hannah to help save the very person who she knows took away her sister. Fueled by her hatred, Hannah is determined to deny Toby's death wish by keeping him alive. He is the last person that she should ever develop feelings for, and she is the first thing he ever remembers seeing. Some things cannot happen—and some things cannot be stopped.
This Wild Wanting by Sophie Gonzales (19 November)
Because first fantasy of this romance author
Declan has everything money can buy except the one thing he wants most: to resurrect the woman who raised him. Calla is fae and a prisoner to her own father, who sells potions worth far more than gold. She dreams only of her freedom. After he saves her life, Calla helps Declan steal a potion. Unbeknownst to her, he doesn't take just one… Too late, they discover Declan must pay the price of each potion consumed, from the memory of his first kiss to a year of his life. But what will be the cost of falling in love?
Children’s Books
The Pug who wanted to be a Detective by Bella Swift (5 November)
Because this sounds fun and cute
There's a mystery afoot, and there's only one pug who can solve it!Peggy the pug's family are having a game night, and they're trying out a new detective game. At first it's just for fun, but when things start to go missing from the back garden, Peggy has got a real life mystery on her paws! She'll have to look for clues and follow a few hunches to find the culprit. But with lots of suspects, will Peggy be able to sniff out the thief? (age 5-7)
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (5 November)
Because this is “a gorgeous flapped paperback edition of Charles Dickens' famous Christmas tale”
It is Christmas Eve and while the rest of the world celebrates, Ebenezer Scrooge is being haunted. A ghost has come to deliver a dire warning: Scrooge must change his ways before it is too late. For the old man has grown so cold and uncharitable that he has forgotten how to feel joy. As the night unfurls, Scrooge is visited by three ghosts. Each spirit shows him a vision from his past, present and future, forcing Scrooge to confront the man he has become: cruel, greedy and above all, alone. Can Scrooge cure his bitterness in time for Christmas Day, or will his heart be frozen for good? (age 8-12)
Granny is a Rockstar by Issy Emeney (5 November)
Because stories about family and music are important
A soulful story about the power of music and a sensitive exploration of memory, told through Issy Emeney's heartfelt rhyming text and brought to life through Sandhya Prabhat's rich and endearing illustrations. Bonnie thinks her granny is a ROCKSTAR - she's always ready for fun and adventure. Together, they sing karaoke, ride rollercoasters and play dressing up. And then one day, Bonnie finds some FUNKY clothes and discovers something unbelievable… A long time ago, Granny really WAS a rockstar in an ACTUAl rock band called THE PEARLS!So when Granny starts to forget things, and sometimes feels grumpy and doesn't want to play, Bonnie wonders if music from the past will help remind Granny of the rockstar she truly is… (age 4-7 )
Protest by Steve Cole (19 November)
Because this collection has great stories and is adapted for kids who have some difficulties reading One friend’s passion for saving the planet clashes with another’s lust for likes in this super-short read for struggling teen readers from bestselling author Steve Cole. Determined to make a stand against climate change, two friends start out small, with cardboard signs and low-budget videos. But when they start to gather an online following, their ambitions grow, leading them to plan an ambitious stunt at a packed art gallery. Although the soup never hits the painting, they still go viral. But the thwarted stunt reveals a split between them. Who will win in the battle of passion vs. popularity? (age 11+ but reading age 6)
We hope you enjoyed our little list and that it gave you some book inspiration!
Looking to pre-order one of these books? Just follow the path! 👇
This blog post is written by The Little Bookshop, your bookshop for English books in Rennes.
