I couldn’t put it down.. She wrote School of Ingredients too.
-Barb at Byron Center

Vivid imagery and just enough creepiness to give me goosebumps.
-Sam at the Service Center

Forging a deep friendship with a Wampanoag chieftain’s son on the Great Harbor settlement where her minister father is working to convert the tribe, Bethia follows his subsequent ivy league education and efforts to bridge cultures among the colonial elite. By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March.

Recommended by Laura at Plainfield

I loved Once Upon a River by Bonnie Jo Campbell. It’s the story of a 16 year old girl who essentially becomes orphaned and decides to take control of her life. With her grandfather’s handmade boat and her uncle’s stolen rifle, she takes to the river behind her childhood home. The author lives in Kalamazoo and our young lady ends up on the Kalamazoo River.
-Sara Lee at Caledonia

I just finished The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson and really enjoyed it – very cool setting similar to medieval Spain (but with a fantasy twist), a great heroine, and a plot that keeps you on your toes so that just when I thought I knew where the book was heading, the author would throw a surprising twist and it would go in a totally different direction.
-Sheri at the Service Center

A book I recently read that I really enjoyed was Outlaw by Angus Donald. It was a new twist on a Robin Hood tale, and as an avid Robin Hood fan it checked all the boxes for me and did the classic Robin Hood sagas justice.
-Craig at Gaines

A 5-year-old narrates a riveting story about his life growing up in a single room where his mother aims to protect him from the man who has held her prisoner for seven years since she was a teenager.

Recommended by Marlys at Wyoming

My pick for November is: To Be A Runner: How Racing Up Mountains, Running with the Bulls, or Just Taking On a 5-K Makes You a Better Person (and the world a better place), written by Martin Dugard. This author, who has also written a book about Lance Armstrong, is a track and cross-country coach and writes about his many races, both the professional ones and the ones just for fun! The places he discovers, the people he meets, the kids he coaches, the animals (rattlesnakes, oh my!) he trips over – these all mesh together to form a great motivational book to read. Mr. Dugard challenges himself each day to do just a little better than he did the day before! Who knows? You may be inclined (pun intended!) to jog to the mailbox and back!
-Robin at Spencer

Dead End in Norvelt in Norvelt by Jack Gantos. 12-year-old Jack Gantos spends a summer grounded, but is allowed outside to help an elderly neighbor write obituaries for the local paper. The mystery develops as the senior citizens of Norvelt begin dropping at an alarming rate. The story is humorous, historical, and a little gross, as Jack is prone to bloody noses when his adrenaline kicks in. Definite boy appeal!
-Liz at Gaines

I’m loving Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith. I thought it would be silly, but I am loving the tidbits of history about the 16th president of the United States combined with a fictional account of his run-ins with creatures of the night. I am listening to the audio version, and reader Scott Holst provides different voices for various characters, making it a delightful listen.
-Liz at Caledonia

I finally read Game of Thrones by George Martin. I do not agree that he is the American Tolkien, but I enjoyed the book very much. Many different houses fighting for power in a slightly mystical and very cruel world. “Winter is coming.”
-Penni at the Service Center

A Monster Calls : a novel by Patrick Ness, illustrations by Jim Kay.
The cover is deceiving… this is a devastating look at the monster inside us all.
-Sam at the Service Center

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness – When author Siobhan Dowd died at age 47 from breast cancer, she left behind this idea and beginning of a teen novel; Patrick Ness ran with it and created a yew tree monster who teaches a young teen how not to let go of his mother as she dies.
-Helen K. at Spencer

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta. Dealing with The Sudden Departure, Guilty Remnant, Holy Wayne and The Barefoot People this book has subtle humor, message about loss. Audio version was very good.
-Shaunna at Grandville

My pick for November is the new Chet and Bernie mystery by Spencer Quinn, The Dog who Knew Too Much. Chet the dog knows quite a bit, but it’s hard to communicate with his detective partner Bernie, epecially when Bernie’s being held by the crooks and Chet is kidnapped. This story is told from the dog’s point of view, and it’s…ooh, a rabbit! What was I saying??
-Deb D. at Cascade

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs – His grandfather’s death and a lot of peculiar pictures set 16 year old Jacob on the exploration of a mystery in which he must finally choose which world to live in.
-Helen K. at Spencer

I’d like to recommend Ghost Hero by S.J. Rozan. This is the 11th book in the Bill Smith/Lydia Chin private eye series, and the setting is New York CIty with remembrances of Tianaman Square. Lydia Chin is hired by a man who has heard rumors that new works by Chau Chun, an exceptional Chinese ink painter, exist—and he wants to acquire them, no matter the cost. The trouble is that Chau Chun died 20 years ago during the Tianamen Square uprising. The dialog in this novel is quick and witty, and along the way Lydia and Bill assume disguises and interact with an assortment of oddball characters, including American Born Chinese (ABC), art professors, art students, gangsters and spies. This book is an armchair traveler’s delight.
-Amy at Kentwood

Greg at Kentwood recommended Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor to me, so we’re both adding it this month. :) Ms. Taylor keeps the reader in just as much suspense as Karou, the blue-haired protagonist of the story. I can’t wait for the sequel.
-Sarah at the Service Center

Also recommended by Morgan at Walker

Irish Country Doctor (and other Irish Country books) / Patrick Taylor
It’s not a big-name-author’s-another-best-seller-in-two-months-but-not-worth-paying-big-buck” book, it’s not a big-plot-action-packed book, it’s just a general fiction, but oh my, what a good book! If you have time, I strongly recommend you the audiobook . John Keating did a wonderful job creating the character and it’ll make you want to visit Dr. Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly in the little village of Ballybucklebo.
-Yuko at the Service Center

I strongly recommend this series to anybody who loves Japanese food! Even I (I’m Japanese) learned a lot of things about Japanese food (and make you want to eat them too!) As part of the celebrations for its 100th anniversary, the publishers of the Tozai News have decided to commission the creation of the ‘Ultimate Menu,” a model meal embodying the pinnacle of Japanese cuisine. This all-important task has been entrusted to journalist Shiro Yamaoka, an inveterate cynic who possesses no initiative, but does have an incredibly refined palate and an encyclopedic knowledge of food. Each volume of Oishinbo follows Yamaoka and his colleagues through another adventure on their quest for the Ultimate Menu. Now, the best stories from the hundred-plus volume series have been selected and compiled into A la Carte editions, arranged by subject.
-Yuko at the Service Center