5 Fiction Releases to watch for in November

November is here and with it, the time to take a peek at some interesting and anticipated fiction releases that are due this month.

But before those new books, a quick aside. For the second month in a row, I've included a book from last month's Fiction-To-Watch post in my own reading: from the October list, I read and thoroughly enjoyed The Middlesteins (M) by Jami Attenberg. It's been getting even more buzz over the month since its release: if you haven't already added to your reading list, it's worth investigating. And would be a great addition for book clubs looking for something thoughtful while still a bit funny. Onward to November releases!

The Bracelet (M) by Roberta Gately (November 6th). The author of Lipstick in Afghanistan, this time moves to Pakistan with another story examining the life of an American woman working amid poverty and with refugees in a war-torn country.

Flight Behaviour (M) by Barbara Kingsolver (November 6). The 14th book from the well-known American author: sure to be a popular hit leading into the holidays. From the publisher: "Set in the present day in the rural community of Feathertown, Tennessee, Flight Behavior tells the story of Dellarobia Turnbow, a petite, razor-sharp 29-year-old who nurtured worldly ambitions before becoming pregnant and marrying at seventeen. Now, after more than a decade of tending to small children on a failing farm, oppressed by poverty, isolation and her husband's antagonistic family, she has mitigated her boredom by surrendering to an obsessive flirtation with a handsome younger man. In the opening scene, Dellarobia is headed for a secluded mountain cabin to meet this man and initiate what she expects will be a self-destructive affair. But the tryst never happens. Instead, she walks into something on the mountainside she cannot explain or understand: a forested valley filled with silent red fire that appears to her a miracle."

Boy in the Snow (M) by M.J. McGrath (November 13th). The second installation in a mystery series featuring in its lead Edie Kiglatuk, a half-Inuit Arctic guide from the North of Canada. The first in the series—White Heat—was praised for strong sense of setting and the suspenseful story: the second moves to Alaska with the Iditarod dog sled race in the background. A promising looking series.

The Trial of the Fallen Angels (M) by James Kimmel (November 13th). I'm always intrigued by this sort of thing: Publishers Weekly magazine panned this title, saying it "fails as both a theological treatise and a page-turner" (ouch!) but Booklist magazine gave it a starred review, raving "Raw, tender, and intelligent, The Trial of Fallen Angels is a fascinating glimpse into the judgment of lost souls and recovered memories." Who's right? You'll have to decide for yourself! The story of a successful lawyer, who finds herself on a train platform, covered in blood with no recollection of what has happened to her, only to discover that she has died and been brought on to work with a team of lawyers who present the cases at the Last Judgement.

A first novel. Heat of the Sun (M) by David Rain (November 13th). Fans of Madame Butterfly take note, this first novel is an imagining of what happened to the characters of Pucini's opera after its close. From the publisher: "An exuberant debut that sweeps across the twentieth century—beginning where one world-famous love story left off to introduce us to another. "