Today I’m sharing some of the November 2024 books on my radar. These are books that are releasing this November that I’m excited about, interested in reading, or just wanting to share with others. Publishing is slowing down for the year, so this is a shorter list than usual. Maybe I can catch up on some older books I received recently?! This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase after clicking on my link, I may receive a small commission.
All The Best Dogs by Emily Jenkins (11/5) – For anyone who loves a dog–and anyone who loves a laugh, comes this sensitive (and silly!) story about growing up and mending fences. An enduring message of friends, community, and the joy of pets.
Ask anyone who has a dog and they’ll tell you that their dog is the best. Really, truly, the best dog in the world. Theirs is the best dog that ever lived, ever, ever, in the history of the known universe.
Welcome to the dog park! It’s a playground for dogs in the big city. Here, four sixth graders (and their dogs!) overlap on one hilarious and important June weekend.
Ezra needs to find his lost dog.
Cup-Cup needs a friend. (She also needs to learn to walk on a leash.)
Mei-Alice wonders if anyone will ever understand her.
Panda wonders what will happen if she breaks the rules.
Kaleb is covering up a terrible mistake.
Grover and Lottie are making lots of terrible mistakes. (Some of them are disgusting.)
And Jilly needs to make a new life in a newplace.
On this almost-summer weekend, a series of surprises, mishaps, and misunderstandings will end up changing all of their lives.
The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri (11/12) – Family secrets come to light as a young woman fights to save herself, and others, in a Nazi-run baby factory―a real-life Handmaid’s Tale―during World War II.
In a sleepy German village, Allina Strauss’s life seems idyllic: she works at her uncle’s bookshop, makes strudel with her aunt, and spends weekends with her friends and fiancé. But it’s 1939, Adolf Hitler is Chancellor, and Allina’s family hides a terrifying secret―her birth mother was Jewish, making her a Mischling.
One fateful night after losing everyone she loves, Allina is forced into service as a nurse at a state-run baby factory called Hochland Home. There, she becomes both witness and participant to the horrors of Heinrich Himmler’s ruthless eugenics program.
The Sunflower House is a meticulously-researched debut historical novel from Adriana Allegri that uncovers the notorious Lebensborn Program of Nazi Germany. Women of “pure” blood stayed in Lebensborn homes for the sole purpose of perpetuating the Aryan population, giving birth to thousands of babies who were adopted out to “good” Nazi families. Allina must keep her Jewish identity a secret in order to survive, but when she discovers the neglect occurring within the home, she’s determined not only to save herself, but also the children in her care.
A tale of one woman’s determination to resist and survive, The Sunflower House is also a love story. When Allina meets Karl, a high-ranking SS officer with secrets of his own, the two must decide how much they are willing to share with each other―and how much they can stand to risk as they join forces to save as many children as they can. The threads of this poignant and heartrending novel weave a tale of loss and love, friendship and betrayal, and the secrets we bury in order to save ourselves.
Pickleballers by Ilana Long (11/12) – A pickleball newbie looking to recover from life’s swings and misses crosses paddles with love in this debut romantic comedy.
Meg Bloomberg is in a pickle. When Meg’s ex turns out to be a total player, she and her bestie take off for a mood-lifting pickleball excursion to Bainbridge Island. It’s supposed to be an easy lob, a way to heal, not the opening serve to a new courtside romance that’s doomed to spin out.
No matter how Meg tries, she can’t shake her feelings for Ethan Fine. A charismatic environmental consultant and Bainbridge local, Ethan seems like the real dill. But when Meg discovers that Ethan is sabotaging her home court, she decides the match is over.
It’s time for Meg to take control of her own game. And maybe, just maybe…love will bounce back.
Toto by A.J. Hackwith (11/12) – The true hero of The Wizard of Oz takes center stage in this brilliant, delightfully snarky reimagining from the author of The Library of the Unwritten.
I was mostly a Good Dog until they sold me out to animal control, okay?
But if it’s a choice between Oz, with its creepy little singing dudes, and being behind bars in gray old Kansas, I’ll choose the place where animals talk and run the show for now, thanks.
It’s not my fault that the kid is stuck here too, or that she stumbled into a tug-of-war over a pair of slippers that don’t even taste good. Now one witch in good eyeliner calls her pretty and we’re off on a quest? Teenagers.
I try to tell her she’s falling in with the wrong crowd when she befriends a freaking hedge wizard made of straw, that blue jay with revolutionary aspirations, and the walking tin can. Still, I’m not one to judge when there’s the small matter of a coup in the Forest Kingdom….
Look, something really stinks in Oz, and this Wizard guy and the witches positively reek of it. As usual, it’s going to be up to a sensible little dog to do a big dog’s job and get to the bottom of it.
And trust me: Little dogs can get away with anything.
A Queen’s Game by Katharine McGee (11/12) – The New York Times bestselling author of the American Royals series invites you to visit 19th-century Europe amid the glamour and intrigue of the Victorian era. In this historical romance inspired by true events, three princesses struggle to find love—and end up vying for the hearts of two future kings.
In the last glittering decade of European empires, courts, and kings, three young women are on a collision course with history—and with each other.
Alix of Hesse is Queen Victoria’s favorite granddaughter, so she can expect to end up with a prince . . . except that the prince she’s falling for is not the one she’s supposed to marry.
Hélène d’Orléans, daughter of the exiled King of France, doesn’t mind being a former princess; it gives her more opportunity to break the rules. Like running around with the handsome, charming, and very much off-limits heir to the British throne, Prince Eddy.
Then there’s May of Teck. After spending her entire life on the fringes of the royal world, May is determined to marry a prince—and not just any prince, but the future king.
In a story that sweeps from the glittering ballrooms of Saint Petersburg to the wilds of Scotland, A Queen’s Game recounts a pivotal moment in real history as only Katharine McGee can tell it: through the eyes of the young women whose lives, and loves, changed it forever.
Are any of these on your radar?
