November Reading Recommendations

Even though I'm no longer participating in the Off The Shelf Challenge, I'm still reading lots of books and, as you all know by now, one of my favorite things to do is talk about the books I recently read and loved. So, here are my...

Standouts in November:

Every Day by David Levithan - Every day, our protagonist - 'A' - wakes up in the body of someone else. 'A' has gotten used to it - going so far as to set up rules, such as do no harm and don't get attached. It's all good until the day he wakes up in Justin's body . . . and falls in love with Justin's girlfriend.

Now I know some of you are shaking your head and saying it's not your genre or your kind of thing but please, please don't dismiss it so quickly. I don't care if you never read YA, PLEASE READ THIS BOOK. It is smart and fresh and complicated, and 'A's voice is so clear and true you'll think 'A' is in your head. The ending is both perfect and heartbreaking, and it will stay with you long after the book is done.

Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes - This is a fantastic mystery/thriller in a similar vein to S. J. Watson's Before I Go to Sleep. One of the things I like about this book is the way Haynes tells Catherine/Cathy's story in alternating timelines, one in the present and one three years before. Even though it's the same POV character, Catherine/Cathy changes so much over those three years it almost feels like we're reading about two different people. Also, we're able to trace what happened to Catherine then to how and why Cathy does what she does now. Oh, and for you all you NaNoWriMos out there - this book started as a 2008 NaNo novel!

*****

Books read in November:  7

Total Books Read 2012 (so far!):  69

Have you read either of these two and if so, what did you think? What are you reading and loving - or maybe not loving so much - right now? What's next in your TBR pile?