The LibraryReads list for books published in October was just released with plenty of good titles to add to your toppling pile.  You can find the entire list here, and while you can’t go wrong with rushing to the library catalog to place holds on anything listed, here are my top picks.

I read November Road by Lou Berney about two months ago and couldn’t stop turning pages. With the JFK assassination front and foremost, this fast-paced and suspenseful novel takes us on a road trip across the Southwestern U.S. with bad guys chasing bad guy (and that includes Frank, the main character), a woman and her young daughters looking to get away from a bad marriage, and lots of nonstop action and suspense. It was terrific and the crystal ball that my librarian colleagues and I view daily predicts it will be big so watch for it in October.

Susan Orlean writes absorbing nonfiction, and while I haven’t read it, early reports are positive for The Library Book, a chronicle of the 1986 fire at Los Angeles Public Library with a history of public libraries in the U.S.

Kate Morton weaves involving gothic-toned sagas and The Clockmaker’s Daughter with its whiff of supernatural has been well-liked by advance readers. If you haven’t read anything by this author, try the intriguing historical The Secret Keeper.

Barbara Kingsolver’s last few books have been bestsellers but some readers have found them a little “preachy.” However, her next book, Unsheltered, is receiving mostly rave reviews. I found her last two books rather tough going but read part of the new title and it appears to be a bit more accessible–if that makes sense.

I read Leif Enger’s first book, Peace Like a River, and adored it, as did most of the library’s book group members. His second book, So Brave, Young and Handsome, also received great reviews and was on the Salem Library’s best books list of that year. Readers of Virgil Wander are already saying this is a great book for discussion groups.

Diane Chamberlain has always been one of my favorite “go-to” authors for “women’s fiction” and Dream Daughter is a wonderful weave of past and present involving time travel. My favorite book is difficult to get but if you can find it, try Secret Lives. The Kiss River trilogy is also an absorbing tale of family dynamics. Start with Keeper of the Light.

That’s it for today. I’ll return in a few days with a post featuring my latest library stacks. I can’t wait to tell you about a new historical novel by an Oregon author.