There are some terrific authors releasing books in November, beginning with the first on the list. Let me know which books you’re anticipating.

Bestselling author Mitch Albom brings us his latest novel, The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto. Frankie Presto was a war orphan raised by a blind music teacher in a small town in Spain. When he’s only nine, he’s sent to America at the bottom of a boat. But, Frankie has a gift. He’ll eventually become the greatest guitarist ever, and his life is woven through the history of music in the twentieth century. But, that gift becomes a burden when he realizes his music has the ability to change lives. (Release date is Nov. 10.)

Another bestselling author, Isabel Allende, shares The Japanese Lover. It’s a novel that explores race and identity, the story of the relationship between a Polish girl sent to San Francisco at the time of the Nazi invasion and a Japanese-American boy sent to an internment camp run by the U.S. government. Their love can’t be shared publicly, but their devotion lasts a lifetime. (Release date is Nov. 3.)

Bohemian Gospel is Dana Chamblee Carpenter’s debut historical novel. It’s set in thirteenth-century Bohemia where a girl, Mouse, breaks church law to save young King Ottakar. She accompanies him to Prague to be his personal healer while the two young people search for answers. Who is threatening him? And what are the secrets to Mouse’s past? She was born with unnatural senses and an uncanny intellect. Some call her a witch; others call her an angel. Who is Mouse? (Release date is Nov. 15.)

Donis Casey’s Alafair Tucker mysteries are some of my favorites. The U.S. has finally entered the First World War, and it’s reached Boynton, Oklahoma in All Men Fear Me. Alafair is caught in the middle when her brother shows up, a union organizer fresh out of an internment camp for participants in an Arizona miners’ strike. Alafair’s oldest son enlists, while her German-born son-in-law finds his farm vandalized by a “Knights of Liberty” group. And, there’s sabotage at the factory where her youngest son works. (Release date is Nov. 3.)

In Charles Cumming’s The Hidden Man, two brothers seek justice for their murdered father. Christopher Keen, was once a master spy. When he’s murdered, his sons are drawn into this life, although they hadn’t seen him in twenty years. Now, they set out to find the truth and avenge their father’s death. (Release date is Nov. 10.)

The author of The Hours, Michael Cunningham, now has a collection of fairy tales for our time, A Wild Swan and Other Tales. There are stories of a girl whose long hair causes catastrophe, a house made of gumdrops deep in the forest, a poisoned apple. A gifted storyteller retells our bedtime stories into stories that are even darker. (Release date is Nov. 10.)

In Charles Finch’s Home by Nightfall, a death in the family brings gentleman sleuth Charles Lenox back to the country house where he grew up. And, he’s just in time to confront an odd, unsettling crime in a nearby village. (Release date is Nov. 10.)

We’re back to the world of spies in Brian Fremantle’s The Cloud Collector. It’s a thriller set in the world of cyber warfare as the U.S. and the UK recognize a global jihadist attack, and lead the counterattack. Now, government hackers must follow an elusive electronic trail to stop a global terrorist plot. (Release date is Nov. 3.)

The Mare by Mary Gaitskill is the story of a Fresh Air Fund girl from Brooklyn, her host family, and the horse that changes her life. It’s about people from different races and different socioeconomic backgrounds trying to meet each other honestly. (Release date is Nov. 3.)

Peter Golden’s Wherever There is Light is a sweeping novel of the twentieth century, chronicling the decades-long love affair between a Jewish immigrant and the granddaughter of a slave. Kirkus calls it “A love story of love, loss and reconciliation.” (Release date is Nov. 3.)

Detective Chief Inspector Konrad Simonsen returns in the latest thriller from Lotte and Soren Hammer, The Girl in the Ice. When a body is found in Greenland’s ice cap, hidden for twenty-five years, Simonsen is flown in from Denmark to investigate. He realizes the girl wasn’t the killers only victim, and his investigation uncovers truths that some powerful people would like to keep hidden. (Release date is Nov. 10.)

I have no cover art for Carolyn Hart’s romantic suspense novel, High Stakes. It’s set against the buildup to the Cold War. According to Hart, “Considering U.S.-Russian relations currently, it has a certain aura of deja vu. (Release date is sometime in November.)

Actor and author Ethan Hawke brings us a medieval tale, Rules for a Knight. In 1483, a Cornish knight, Sir Thomas Lemuel Hawke, is about to ride into battle, and he doesn’t expect to return. So he writes a letter to his four young children, sharing twenty virtues necessary to live a noble life, and the lessons as to how to live that life. (Release date is Nov. 10.)

Literary icon John Irving has returned to the themes that established him in Avenue of Mysteries. Juan Diego grew up with his younger sister in Mexico, a girl who thinks she can see the future. But, she can see the past. It’s a story of how, as we grow older, we tend to live in the past, in particular with what we remember and what we dream. Sometimes, the past is more vivid than the present. (Release date is Nov. 3.)

I’ve always found the Bible story of Esther to be fascinating. Now, Rebecca Kanner introduces Esther, the story of the young Jewish girl who married a Persian king. When the king’s most trusted advisor promises to pour vast wealth into the royal treasury if the king allows him to wipe out all the Jews, Esther must find the strength within to “violate the king’s law, risk her life, and save her people”. (Release date is Nov. 3.)

Adorable cover isn’t it? Beth Kendrick’s Put a Ring on It features Brighton Smith, an insurance actuary with a job all about assessing risk and avoiding bad investments. But, one night when her life takes an unexpected turn, she snaps. When she meets a man in a bar, she kisses him. And, by dawn, they’re exchanging vows. She’s in way over her head, and has to decide if she’s going to take a leap of faith, which is against everything she’s ever done. (Release date is Nov. 3.)

David Kirk’s Sword of Honor picks up where Child of Vengeance left off, telling the story of sixteenth century samurai Musashi Miyamoto. The historical novel brings the historical figure to life as he travels to Kyoto, hoping to deal a crushing blow to the traditional samurai dogma. But, when he falls in love, it makes him vulnerable. (Release date is Nov. 3.)

Woman with a Blue Pencil is Gordon McAlpine’s story within a story. On the eve of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Sam Sumida, a Japanese American academic, becomes an amateur PI, investigating his wife’s murder, a death ignored by the LAPD. But, Sam is actually a discarded, fictional creation, now on a collision course with the Korean American PI who replaced him in a novel by a young Nisei author. And, controlling all of them is the book editor in New York, the woman with the blue pencil. (Release date is Nov. 10.)

Lindsay Marcott’s The Producer’s Daughter is the story of Hannah Doran, a paparazzi’s dream. She’s the wild child of a charming Hollywood producer and a society woman who died mysteriously. Her Hollywood and celebrity friends are perfect fodder. And, then there’s her conviction for grand theft after a night of glamorous excess. Hannah insists she’s innocent, but everyone else has a stake in keeping her in her old role. (Release date is Nov. 10.)

Nancy Martin launches a new series with Miss Ruffles Inherits Everything. Meet Miss Ruffles, a Texas Cattle Cur who is suddenly a wealthy dog when her owner dies, leaving everything to Miss Ruffles. But, Miss Ruffles is left in Sunny Mckillip’s care. And, Sunny, who is concerned for Miss Ruffles’ safety, begins to suspect that Honeybee Hensley’s death might not have been natural. (Release date is Nov. 3.)

The Restoration of Otto Laird is Nigel Packer’s debut novel. It’s a story of a retired architect, Otto Laird, and his attempt to reclaim the past. He’s living a peaceful life in Switzerland when he learns that his most significant building, Marlowe House, a 1960s estate is South London is scheduled to be demolished. Outraged and determined to do everything he can to save the building, he returns to London, and embarks on a remarkable journey that will change everything he thought he knew. (Release date is Nov. 24.)

Actress Mary-Louise Parker makes her debut with Dear Mr. You. It’s the story of her life, told through letters to the men, real and hypothetical, who made her the woman she is today. It begins with a message to the grandfather she never knew, includes a letter to a beloved priest, notes to former lovers, and a letter to the uncle of the infant girl she adopted. (Release date is Nov. 10.)

“Is it better to forget our greatest mistake or to remember, so it’s never repeated? James Renner asks that question in his novel, The Great Forgetting. Renner blends science fiction and conspiracy thrillers with a touch of fantasy. Meet Jack Felter who reluctantly returns to Franklin Mills, Ohio because it’s there he fell in love, but his girl ran off with his best friend, Tony. Now, Tony is missing. It’s a search that takes him from Manhattan to secret facilities under the Catskills to a forgotten island in the Pacific, the final resting spot for a missing plane. (Release date is Nov. 10.)

White Collar Girl by Renee Rosen takes readers to 1950s Chicago where a female journalist struggles to make it in a man’s world. Jordan Walsh comes from a family of esteemed reporters, and she’s eager to make her name in the field. But, in 1955 at the Chicago Tribune, she’s relegated to the society news. Everything changes when she connects with a source in Mayor Daley’s office. Now, careers and lives hang on every word from Jordan. (Release date is Nov. 3.)

Meet Ben Sanders, a New Zealand author whose American debut, American Blood, has been sold to Warner Brothers, with Bradley Cooper scheduled to star and produce. His character, Marshall Grade, is an ex-NYPD officer forced to enter the witness protection program. Grade is now living in Santa Fe with instructions to keep a low profile. But, when he investigates the disappearance of a local woman, word of his efforts spread. It isn’t long before the worst elements of his former life close in on him. (Release date is Nov. 17.)

Something here must tempt you. Donis Casey? Mitch Albom? Ben Sanders? Nancy Martin? Which books do you want to read in November?