10 promising books to add to your reading list this November

Critic Bethanne Patrick recommends 10 promising titles—fiction and nonfiction—to consider for your November reading list.

“I have come to think of November as the October of the older, harder man,” wrote Henry Rollins, that old punk Californian. This month’s books, which include titles about vanishing wildlife, a devastating plane crash and murder, could reflect that perspective. But there is always hope: a ballerina’s redemption, a miraculous recovery in the ocean and… a little Ted Lasso.

Fiction

A Case of Matricide: A Novel
By Graeme Macrae Burnet
Biblioasis: 256 pages, $18.95
(November 12)

Starting with “The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau” and continuing with “The Accident on the A35”, Burnet’s trilogy ends with a mystery about what we put up with in mystery stories. Yes, it’s metafiction again, and fans of this Booker-nominated author will have a great time following Inspector George Gorski’s careful (read: slow) investigation into the latest assassination threats in the small town of Saint-Louis, France. It’s smart, quirky and fun.

Each arc bends its radial: a novel
By Sergio de la Pava
Simon & Schuster: 288 pages, $27.99
(November 12)

Riv del Río, a detective from New York City, returns to his native Colombia for a reprieve after a terrible event, but becomes embroiled in an investigation into the disappearance of a brilliant MIT PhD student, Angelica, involving a super-villainous crime lord named Exeter Mondragon. Between unctuous descriptions of Cali and its region, hilarious send-ups of noir tropes, and more than a touch of speculative horror, De la Pava sticks a highly unlikely landing.

Munich: a novel
By David Peace
WW Norton: 480 pages, $30
(November 12)

The 1958 plane crash that killed 23 people en route from Munich to Manchester had a major impact on that city’s Man United football team; eight players and three officials were killed. Peace’s novel digs into the trauma and shows how individuals, families, and a city regained trust in their community and its ability to reconnect with each other. If the book carries too much nostalgia and seems disconnected from the current world of commercial ‘footie’, perhaps that is intentional.

The Beautiful Ruins: A Novel
By Nayantara Roy
Algonquin: 448 pages, $29
(November 12)

Television director, playwright and now novelist Roy turns to India for this debut novel about an unexpected legacy. Main character Lila De lives in Manhattan and works in book publishing; she is moving to the next level in her American life and has no plans to return to South Asia until she finds out she is the new owner of her extended family’s estate. Will there be hijackings? Undoubtedly. But so do complications and tragedies as Lila learns to live honestly.

City of Night Birds: Novel
By Juhea Kim
Ecco: 320 pages, $30
(November 26)

Natalia Leonova, once a prima ballerina, returns to St. Petersburg a broken woman whose accident two years ago led to her substance abuse. When people from her past life reappear, she suffers more pain, this time emotionally, but also gets another unusual, perhaps even dangerous, chance at fame. Kim (“Beasts of a Little Land”) delves into Natalia’s past to show how hard she has worked and how important that work is to her psyche.

Nonfiction

Faith: the untold story behind Ted Lasso, the show that found its way into our hearts
By Jeremy Egner
Dutton: 368 pages, $32
(November 12)

In 2020, a TV show about an American football coach brought from Kansas to manage a British football team debuted – and took off. Jason Sudeikis, in the title role of Ted Lasso, turned a fish-out-of-water character into a folk hero, an Everyman who could inspire cranky young athletes one moment and bake superlative shortbread cookies the next. New York Times TV editor Egner takes his material and makes it shine with accuracy and admiration.

Arborists: the race for a wooded future
By Lauren E. Oakes
Basic books: 336 pages, $30
(November 12)

Planting trees to replace trees sounds like a simple positive step, but as author and scientist Oakes, a professor at Stanford, explains in this book, it takes more than planting a sapling somewhere to sustain our planet’s forests. to keep. Whether a tropical jungle or a northern forest, forests, like all ecosystems, require different types of growth, geology and climate interactions – and their creation and maintenance is critical.

Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extremely Endangered Creatures
By Katherine Rundell
Doubleday: 224 pages, $26
(November 12)

Step forward to see scientist Rundell’s parade of oddities: not just an afterthought, but a catalog of 22 endangered species, including sharks, raccoons, lemurs, seahorses, pangolins and frogs. While the author advocates conservation, she maintains an enthusiast’s passion for details, whether mating rituals, community politics, or anatomical oddities. And when it comes to saving animals, she shows that we can, like with the wood stork, which was once almost extinct and is now thriving.

Endurance: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Legendary Ship
By John Shears and Nico Vincent
National Geographic: 256 pages, $50
(November 5)

Other books will soon be published about the extraordinary discovery in March 2022 of the Endurance, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ship that was thought lost in Antarctica’s Weddell Sea from 1915. Shackleton’s survival and rescue of his 27 crew is legendary, and now, in this photographic chronicle written by the expedition’s leaders, we can all see the find from their perspective.

Citizen: My Life After the White House
By Bill Clinton
Knopf: 464 pages, $38
(November 19)

Leaving the White House as a former president can’t be easy — but for some, like Bill Clinton, it’s also the end of long years of public service. After three decades in office and still only 54 years old, Clinton knew he wanted to continue using his expertise. In this memoir, he describes his projects, volunteer work and advocacy around the world – as well as his attention to his family in recent years. decades. This sequel to “My Life” will inspire as well as inform.