Whether we’re reading to escape the world or to better understand it, listening in the car or lounging on the couch with a paperback, this month (and every month!) we’re thankful for books. And thankfully, November has some great new releases. Put these on your reading list.
The following information is provided courtesy of the Arlington Public Library.
Fiction
The World We Make
By NK Jemisin
All great cities have a human avatar to represent their soul, and New York has several, although Staten Island has gone rogue. The second installment of NK Jemisin’s Great Cities series picks up where The City We Became left off. The Woman in White is now working through a new mayoral candidate to bring down New York and the rest of the world. To survive, New York may need to band together with the other Great Cities. // Available November 1. Library catalog link here.
Punishment of a Hunter: A Leningrad Confidential
By Yulia Yakovleva; Translated by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp
Yulia Yakovleva’s English language-debut kicks of a noir detective series set in 1930s Leningrad. A serial killer is staging victims’ bodies in elaborate scenes meant to invoke pre-Communist art. At the same time, a series of paintings is missing from the Hermitage. Inspector Vasily Zaitsev is on the case, but gathering evidence is difficult in a world where everyone is suspicious of everyone else. His problems are compounded when he falls under the suspicion of the secret police. // Available November 1. Library catalog link here.
Before Your Memory Fades
By Toshikazu Kawaguichi; Translated by Geoffrey Trousselot
Before the Coffee Gets Cold introduced readers to a magical café in Tokyo that allowed patrons to briefly travel back in time. In the third installment of this internationally bestselling series, Nagare, the proprietor of Funiculi Funicula, fills in at his father’s café in Hokkaido, bringing most of his staff with him. Café Donna Donna works the same way, and four new customers will explore what happens when you travel back in time for one cup of coffee. Toshikazu Kawaguichi’s series is bittersweet and heartwarming—a perfect cozy read for winter. // Available November 15. Library catalog link here.
Factory Girls
By Michelle Gallen
In the summer of 1994, Maeve is anxiously awaiting her exam results to see if she can go to university in London and finally escape her small Northern Irish town. To earn money for school, she and her two best friends get jobs at a shirt factory that employees both Catholic and Protestant workers. Caught on the brink between home and her adult life, as well as simmering violence and tension, and her smarmy English boss, she realizes this is the summer that will change everything. A great read if you’ve already finished Season 3 of Derry Girls. // Available November 29. Library catalog link here.
Nonfiction
The Ruin of All Witches: Life and Death in the New World
By Malcolm Gaskill
Forty years before the Salem Witch Trials, Mary and Hugh Parsons were accused and tried for witchcraft in Springfield Massachusetts. Author Malcolm Gaskill, a leading expert in British witchcraft history, crosses the Atlantic, bringing to life a hard world marked by the grueling struggle to survive, as well as Puritan notions of piety. Neighbors grew suspicious of the couple and accused Mary (who was probably suffering from post-partum psychosis), who in turn accused her husband. Through the lens of their lives and trial, Gaskill brings forth a vivid portrait of life in early America. // Available November 1. Library catalog link here.
Fatty Fatty Boom Boom: A Memoir of Food, Fat, and Family
By Rabia Chaudry
Podcaster and lawyer Rabia Chaudry was born in Pakistan but grew up in the U.S., eating a diet of fast food while being told her weight and body were somehow wrong. In this candid memoir, she details her struggles with body acceptance, disordered eating and an abusive marriage. Through the foods of Pakistan, she finds a way to fix her body image and her relationship with food. Filled with stories of her large family and growing up as a Pakistani immigrant, her memoir is filled with humor, truth and loads of recipes. // Available November 8. Library catalog link here.
The Lego Story: How a Little Toy Sparked the World’s Imagination
By Jens Andersen
With unprecedented access to the legendary company’s archives and interviews with key players, Jens Andersen tells the story of Lego, the iconic plastic building block upon which countless childhoods were built. Andersen’s cultural history chronicles not only the ups and downs of the business since its founding in 1915, but also how it tapped into shifting cultural philosophies about the importance of play. A fun read for fans. // Available November 15. Library catalog link here.
Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius
By Nick Hornby
Novelist Nick Hornby takes a lively look at two artists who inspired him, drawing surprising parallels between the two, despite their obvious differences. The prolific works of author Charles Dickens and musician Prince were groundbreaking and lasting, but the two also had similar life paths—difficult childhoods, notorious love lives, and an early death at the age of 58. Examining their lives and careers, Hornby’s tribute finds lessons what it takes to create great art. // Available November 15. Library catalog link here.
Middle Grade
Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston
By Esme Symes-Smith
In a kingdom with strict rules and rigid hierarchies, girls learn magic and boys become knights. Nonbinary Callie doesn’t fit into either category but wants to be a knight. Training in secret, they befriend the crown prince and the daughter of the lord chancellor. A threat to the kingdom is looming, but before Callie and their new friends can defeat it, they must first defeat bigotry at home. This uplifting adventure kicks off a groundbreaking new series. // Available November 8. Library catalog link here.
Teen
Whiteout
By Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon
Stevie knows she messed up. She now has one chance to show her girlfriend, Sola, how much she loves her, with a grand plan and several friends to help carry out her sweeping romantic gesture. But Atlanta is preparing for a once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm. As they battle the weather, Stevie and Sola aren’t the only couple to find love on a cold night in this heartwarming teen romance. // Available November 8. Library catalog link here.