by Jen Moyers (@jen.loves.books)
I had such a difficult time narrowing down this list, but here are just a few handfuls of amazing new releases coming out in November! While things slow down toward the end of the month, the beginning of the month will be hopping.
November 1
Blair Braverman's Small Game (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Description from Publisher:
"Four strangers and six weeks: this is all that separates Mara from one life-changing payday. She was surprised when reality TV producers came knocking at Primal Instinct--the survival school where she teaches rich clients not to die during a night outdoors--and even more shocked to be cast in their new show, Civilization. Now she just has to live off the land with her fellow survivors for long enough to get the prize money.
"Whisked by helicopter to an undisclosed location, Mara meets her teammates: The grizzled outdoorsman. The Eagle Scout. The white-collar professional. And Ashley, the beautiful but inexperienced one who just wants to be famous. Mara's unusual, rugged childhood has prepared her for the discomforts and hard work ahead. But trusting her fellow survivors? Not part of Mara's skill set.
"When the cast wakes one morning to find something has gone horribly wrong, fear ripples through the group. Are the producers giving them an extra challenge? Or are they wrapped up in something more dangerous? Soon Mara and the others face terrifying decisions as 'survival' becomes more than a game.
"A provocative exploration of the comforts, rituals, and connections we depend upon, Small Game is a gripping page-turner and a poignant story about finding the courage to build a new life from the ground up."
Why I want to read it:
I was blown away by Braverman's memoir Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube, and she's a great follow on Twitter, so I was thrilled when I saw she was delving into the world of fiction. The premise here is intriguing, and I can't wait to read more of this author's work.
Gillian French's Sugaring Off (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Description from Publisher:
"A dazzling and evocative novel about love and loss—with a dash of thrilling mystery—for fans of Mindy McGinnis and Courtney Summers.
"Left partially deaf by an early childhood tragedy that ended in her father’s incarceration, seventeen-year-old Owl is now a tracker, an explorer, a wildlife enthusiast, and always her freest self while hiking the steep forested acres surrounding her aunt and uncle’s maple sugar farm, now her home. Owl and her aunt and uncle never speak of the brutal attack that brought her to them. On the day she confronts a stranger trespassing among the maples, Owl’s sheltered existence is blown wide open by Cody—the magnetic, dangerous young man hired to help with the sugaring off. Cody seems to see her, the real her, in a way no one else does. Together, they challenge each other, learn to question their preconceptions, and risk a romance their families are desperate to stop.
"But when Owl learns that some part of Cody is compelled toward self-destruction, she must make a difficult decision about their relationship at the same time she’s grappling with her father’s recent release from prison. And when a seemingly motiveless local murder draws attention to Cody, Owl realizes that Cody is in far more serious trouble than anyone knows—and it’s followed him to her mountain."
Why I want to read it:
First, those comps (McGinnis and Summers) are two of my favorites. Next, the cover completely grabbed my attention. And then, there's the synopsis, which just sounds phenomenal. I'm looking forward to this one.
November 8
Kate Baer's And Yet (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Description from Publisher:
"The second full length poetry collection from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of What Kind of Woman.
"Kate Baer shot into the literary stratosphere with the publication of her debut poetry collection,What Kind of Woman, which became an instant #1 New York Times bestseller.
"Kate's second full-length book of traditional poetry, And Yet, dives deeper into the themes that are the hallmarks of her writing: motherhood, friendship, love, and loss. Taken together, these poems demonstrate the remarkable evolution of a writer and an artist working at the height of her craft, pushing herself and her poetry in a beautiful and impressive way.
"Intimate, evocative, and bold, Kate's beguiling poetry firmly positions her in the company of Dorianne Laux, Mary Oliver, Maggie Nelson, and other great female poets of our time."
Why I want to read it:
Ashley introduced me to Baer's work (check out her review of What Kind of Woman here), and ever since, I've been on the lookout for more of her poetry, which eloquently expresses her unique perspective. I can't wait!
Tracy Deonn's Bloodmarked (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Description from Publisher:
"The shadows have risen, and the line is law.
"All Bree wanted was to uncover the truth behind her mother’s death. So she infiltrated the Legendborn Order, a secret society descended from King Arthur’s knights—only to discover her own ancestral power. Now, Bree has become someone new:
"A Medium. A Bloodcrafter. A Scion.
"But the ancient war between demons and the Order is rising to a deadly peak. And Nick, the Legendborn boy Bree fell in love with, has been kidnapped.
"Bree wants to fight, but the Regents who rule the Order won’t let her. To them, she is an unknown girl with unheard-of power, and as the living anchor for the spell that preserves the Legendborn cycle, she must be protected.
"When the Regents reveal they will do whatever it takes to hide the war, Bree and her friends must go on the run to rescue Nick themselves. But enemies are everywhere, Bree’s powers are unpredictable and dangerous, and she can’t escape her growing attraction to Selwyn, the mage sworn to protect Nick until death.
"If Bree has any hope of saving herself and the people she loves, she must learn to control her powers from the ancestors who wielded them first—without losing herself in the process."
Why I want to read it:
Legendborn was a five-star read for me, and I pre-ordered this one as soon as I could. If you haven't delved into Deonn's series yet, get ready! I adored the way that she melded Arthurian legend with root magic and the seamless incorporation of social justice issues into her fantasy world building. (Here's my review of Legendborn.)
Priyanka Kumar's Conversations with Birds (Bookshop.org)
Description from Publisher:
"'Birds are my almanac. They tune me into the seasons, and into myself.'
"So begins this lively collection of essays by acclaimed filmmaker and novelist Priyanka Kumar. Growing up at the feet of the Himalayas in northern India, Kumar took for granted her immersion in a lush natural world. After moving to North America as a teenager, she found herself increasingly distanced from more than human life, and discouraged by the civilization she saw contributing to its destruction. It was only in her twenties, living in Los Angeles and working on films, that she began to rediscover her place in the landscape -- and in the cosmos -- by way of watching birds.
"Tracing her movements across the American West, this stirring collection of essays brings the avian world richly to life. Kumar’s perspective is not that of a list keeper, counting and cataloguing species. Rather, from the mango-colored western tanager that rescues her from a bout of altitude sickness in Sequoia National Park to ancient sandhill cranes in the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, and from the snowy plovers building shallow nests with bits of shell and grass to the white-breasted nuthatch that regularly visits the apricot tree behind her family’s casita in Sante Fe, for Kumar, birds 'become a portal to a more vivid, enchanted world.'
"At a time when climate change, habitat loss, and the reckless use of pesticides are causing widespread extinction of species, Kumar’s reflections on these messengers from our distant past and harbingers of our future offer luminous evidence of her suggestion that 'seeds of transformation lie dormant in all of our hearts. Sometimes it just takes the right bird to awaken us.'”
Why I want to read it:
I've been trying to read more work focused on nature and the environment, and this essay collection sounds like a powerful addition to that genre. I've seen positive reviews of this one already, so I'm looking forward to picking it up.
Dhonielle Clayton,Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon's Whiteout (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Description from Publisher:
"Atlanta is blanketed with snow just before Christmas, but the warmth of young love just might melt the ice in this novel of interwoven narratives, Black joy, and cozy, sparkling romance—by the same unbeatable team of authors who wrote the New York Times bestseller Blackout!
"As the city grinds to a halt, twelve teens band together to help a friend pull off the most epic apology of her life. But will they be able to make it happen, in spite of the storm?
"No one is prepared for this whiteout. But then, we can’t always prepare for the magical moments that change everything.
"From the bestselling, award-winning, all-star authors who brought us Blackout—Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon—comes another novel of Black teen love, each relationship within as unique and sparkling as Southern snowflakes."
Why I want to read it:
Another sequel to a phenomenal book! Blackout (one of our buddy read picks!) was such a fun short story collection covering an array of experiences, and I love the behind-the-scenes stories of these fantastic authors' collaboration. I can't wait to see what their work together produces this time.
November 15
Rebecca Roanhorse's Tread of Angels (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Description from Publisher:
"Celeste, a card sharp with a penchant for trouble, takes on the role of advocatus diaboli, to defend her sister Mariel, accused of murdering a Virtue, a member of the ruling class in the mining town of Goetia, in a new world of dark fantasy.
"High in the remote mountains, the town of Goetia is booming as prospectors from near and far come to mine the powerful new element Divinity. Divinity is the remains of the body of the rebel Abaddon, who fell to earth during Heaven's War, and it powers the world’s most inventive and innovative technologies, ushering in a new age of progress. However, only the descendants of those that rebelled, called Fallen, possess the ability to see the rich lodes of the precious element. That makes them a necessary evil among the good and righteous people called the Elect, and Goetia a town segregated by ancestry and class.
"Celeste and Mariel are two Fallen sisters, bound by blood but raised in separate worlds. Celeste grew up with her father, passing in privileged Elect society, while Mariel stayed with their mother in the Fallen slums of Goetia. Upon her father’s death, Celeste returns to Goetia and reunites with Mariel. Mariel is a great beauty with an angelic voice, and Celeste, wracked by guilt for leaving her sister behind, becomes her fiercest protector.
"When Mariel is accused of murdering a Virtue, the powerful Order of the Archangels that rule Goetia, Celeste must take on the role of Advocatus Diaboli (Devil’s Advocate) and defend her sister in the secretive courts of the Virtue. Celeste, aided by her ex-lover, Abraxas, who was once one of the rebels great generals, sets out to prove Mariel innocent. But powerful forces among the Virtues and the Elect mining barons don’t want Celeste prying into their business, and Mariel has secrets of her own. As Celeste is drawn deeper into the dark side of Goetia, she unravel a layer of lies and manipulation that may doom Mariel and puts her own immortal soul at risk, in this dark fantasy noir from the bestselling mastermind Rebecca Roanhorse."
Why I want to read it:
After devouring Roanhorse's duology Trail of Lightning and Storm of Locusts, I'm eager to read more of her books. Her world-building is detailed and believable, which sounds as if it will be a real feature of this new book.
November 22
Chloe Liese's Two Wrongs Make a Right (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Description from Publisher:
"Opposites become allies to fool their matchmaking friends in this swoony reimagining of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy, Much Ado About Nothing.
"Jamie Westenberg and Bea Wilmot have nothing in common except a meet-disaster and the mutual understanding that they couldn't be more wrong for each other. But when the people closest to them play Cupid and trick them into going on a date, Jamie and Bea realize they have something else in common after all—an undeniable need for revenge.
"Soon their plan is in place: Fake date obnoxiously and convince the meddlers they’re madly in love. Then, break up spectacularly and dash their hopes, putting an end to the matchmaking madness once and for all.
"To convince everyone that they’ve fallen for each other, Jamie and Bea will have to nail the performance of their lives. But as their final act nears and playing lovers becomes easier than not, they begin to wonder, what if Cupid’s arrow wasn’t so off the mark? And what if two wrongs do make a right?"
Why I want to read it:
Every Chloe Liese book has been a joy, and I'm a sucker for retellings. Add in Much Ado about Nothing—probably my favorite of Shakespeare's comedies—and I'm all in for this one.
November 29
Shea Ernshaw's A Wilderness of Stars (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Description from Publisher:
"An illness cursing the land forces a teen girl astronomer to venture across the wilderness in search of the stars’ message that will, hopefully, save them all.
"If magic lives anywhere, it’s in the stars…
"Vega has lived in the valley her whole life—forbidden by her mother to leave the safety of its borders because of the unknown threats waiting for her in the wilds beyond. But after her mother dies, and Vega sees the fabled twin stars in the sky, it’s an omen she can no longer ignore, forcing her to leave the protective boundaries of the valley. But the outside world turns out to be much more terrifying than Vega could have imagined. People are gravely sick—they lose their eyesight and their hearing, just before they lose their lives.
"What Vega keeps to herself is that she is the Last Astronomer—a title carried from generation to generation—and she is the only one who carries the knowledge of the stars. Knowledge that could hold the key to the cure. And so when locals spot the tattoo on Vega’s neck in the shape of a constellation—the mark of an astronomer—chaos erupts as the threats her mother warned her about become all too real.
"Fearing for her life, Vega is rescued by a girl named Cricket who leads her to Noah, a boy marked by his own mysterious tattoos. On the run from the men who are hunting her, Vega, Cricket, and Noah set out across the plains in search of the cure the stars speak of. But as the lines between friend and protector begin to blur, Vega must decide whether to safeguard the sacred knowledge of the astronomer. Or if she will risk everything to try to save them all."
Why I want to read it:
Ernshaw is another pod favorite—I've read all of her books, and at this point, I'd call her an auto-read author. The feminist thread that runs through her books always arises from an interesting angle, and I appreciate the way she incorporates magic into each story.
Jas Hammonds's We Deserve Monuments (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Description from Publisher:
"What’s more important? Knowing the truth or keeping the peace?
"Seventeen-year-old Avery Anderson is convinced her senior year is ruined when she's uprooted from her life in DC and forced into the hostile home of her terminally ill grandmother, Mama Letty. The tension between Avery’s mom and Mama Letty makes for a frosty arrival and unearths past drama they refuse to talk about. Every time Avery tries to look deeper, she’s turned away, leaving her desperate to learn the secrets that split her family in two.
"While tempers flare in her avoidant family, Avery finds friendship in unexpected places: in Simone Cole, her captivating next-door neighbor, and Jade Oliver, daughter of the town’s most prominent family—whose mother’s murder remains unsolved.
"As the three girls grow closer—Avery and Simone’s friendship blossoming into romance—the sharp-edged opinions of their small southern town begin to hint at something insidious underneath. The racist history of Bardell, Georgia is rooted in Avery’s family in ways she can’t even imagine. With Mama Letty's health dwindling every day, Avery must decide if digging for the truth is worth toppling the delicate relationships she's built in Bardell—or if some things are better left buried."
Why I want to read it:
I've seen some early reviews of this one, and they are all raves. No wonder, with that synopsis! And, once again, being a complete sucker for a great cover cements this one on my wishlist.
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