Happy first day of November! I thought it was supposed to be getting chilly but all last week here in Massachusetts we had some days that were over 70 degrees! How the heck did that end up happening?!? Well the beginning of a new month marks the release of new books and new choices for three different book subscription boxes. At the beginning of every month, I am going to be posting what books are in the three types of monthly book subscription services I am a part of and sharing which ones I end up picking up. Since this is my first time doing this, let’s talk about what each of these services are!
Book of the Month — For years, readers have had the opportunity for new books to arrive to their front steps from new and emerging authors that have been curated by their selection of readers to see what book works best for you from a variety of genres, some of which become some of the most read books of the year!
To try it out for yourself, check out my referral code! https://www.mybotm.com/6js2u6tz50q?show_box=true
Aardvark Book Club — The first international monthly book subscription and the new kid on the block, featuring books from popular authors and those you may not have heard of before.
Amazon First Reads — For those who have a subscription to Kindle Unlimited, get early access to new books across a variety of popular genres and have it sent right to your Kindle.
Book of the Month November 2023 Picks
1. The Helsinki Affair by Anna Pitoniak (Spy Thriller)
CIA agent Amanda Cole is thrust into an international conspiracy involving high-profile assassinations and Russian blackmail. It’s the case of her lifetime, but solving it might require her to betray another spy — who just so happens to be her father.
2. The Last Love Note by Emma Grey (Contemporary Fiction)
You may never stop loving the one you lost. But you can still find love again.
3. Again and Again by Jonathan Evison (Contemporary Fiction)
From one of America’s greatest, most creative novelists comes “Again and Again”, a poignant and endlessly surprising story about love lost, found and redeemed.
4. What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez (Young Adult)
Bolivian-Argentinian Inez Olivera belongs to the glittering upper society of nineteenth century Buenos Aires, and like the rest of the world, the town is steeped in old world magic that’s been largely left behind or forgotten. Inez has everything a girl might want, except for the one thing she yearns most: her globetrotting parents — who frequently leave her behind.
5. This Spells Love by Kate Robb (Romance)
Reeling from a recent breakup, a young woman tries to heal heartbreak with a spell — only to wake up in an alternate reality where she’s lost more than she wished for — in this witty, whimsical friends-to-lovers debut rom-com.
6. Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward (Literary Fiction)
“Let Us Descend” is a reimagining of American slavery, as beautifully rendered as it is heart-wrenching. Searching, harrowing, replete with transcendent love, the novel is a journey from the rice fields of the Carolinas to the slave markets of New Orleans and into the fearsome heart of a Louisiana sugar plantation.
Aardvark Book Club November 2023 Picks
1. Midnight is the Darkest Hour by Ashley Winstead (Horror)
From the critically acclaimed author of “In My Dreams I Hold a Knife” and “The Last Housewife” comes a gothic Southern thriller about a killer haunting a small Louisiana town, where two outcasts — the preacher’s daughter and the boy from the wrong side of the tracks — hold the key to uncovering the truth.
2. The Good Part by Sophie Cousens (Contemporary Fiction)
By the New York Times bestselling author of “Just Haven’t Met You Yet”, a downtrodden twenty-six-year-old wakes up to the life she’s always wanted, but is it really a dream come true?
3. The Favorites by Rosemary Hennigan (Mystery)
A graduate student plots a takedown of the popular professor who wronged her sister in this provocative campus novel about privilege, power and obsession.
4. Love Interest by Clare Gilmore (Romance)
A sparkling adversaries-to-lovers romcom set at a magazine publisher in Manhattan. When Casey and Alex are forced into proximity, they soon realize falling for each other is just as much of a risk as it is a reward.
5. The Reformatory by Tananarive Due (Literary Fiction)
A gripping, page-turning novel set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he’s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.
Amazon First Reads November 2023 Picks
1. Night Owl by Andrew Mayne (Thriller)
A shocking act of sabotage draws a retired spy into a deadly conspiracy in an explosive thriller by an Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author.
2. When We Were Enemies by Emily Bleeker (Historical Fiction)
Camera-shy Elise Branson is different from the other women in her matriline. Her mother is an award-winning actress. Her late grandmother, Vivian Snow, is a beloved Hollywood icon. But when Elise’s upcoming wedding coincides with a documentary being made about Vivian, Elise can’t escape the camera’s gaze. And even in death, neither can her grandmother.
3. Please Tell Me by Mike Omer (Psychological Thriller)
After a year in captivity, a kidnapped child escapes — only to reveal horrific truths that lead her psychologist on a race against time in this thriller from New York Times bestselling author Mike Omer.
4. Never Meant to Stay by Trisha Das (Romance)
A bighearted romantic comedy about family and finding the perfect match set against the exuberant backdrop of contemporary Delhi.
5. Salt and Broom by Sharon Lynn Fisher (Historical Fantasy)
A gifted healer unravels the mysteries of a cursed estate — and its enigmatic owner — in a witchy retelling of Jane Eyre.
6. The Last Caretaker by Jessica Strawser (Book Club Fiction)
Katie’s divorce was, in a word, humiliating. So when her friend Bess offers a fresh start — a residential caretaking job at a nature preserve — Katie accepts. No matter that she’s not exactly a “nature person.” How hard can it be?
7. Same Time Next Year by Tessa Bailey (Short Story)
From New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey comes a steamy novella full of hope and humor tracking a couple’s fake marriage for a year after the wild New Year’s Eve when they first say “I do.”
8. The Daughters of Block Island by Christa Carmen (Suspense)
In this ingenious and subversive twist on the classic gothic novel, the mysterious past of an island mansion lures two sisters into a spiderweb of scandal, secrets and murder.
9. Leave It to Us by A.C. Arthur (Women’s Fiction)
After inheriting Grandma Betty’s beloved beach house, Lana, Yvonne and Tami must return to the island of their most memorable summer vacations to renovate the property before deciding what will become of its future.
10. Simon Says Good Night by Orit Bergman (Children’s Picture Book)
Simon didn’t say go to sleep…did he? After he’s tucked into bed, Simon and his favorite toys get ready to play…Simon Says!
