It’s Netgalley November so I am hoping to focus on clearing as much of my virtual bookshelf as possible this.month. I have however added a couple of maybes to the pile as well.

October, October by Kayla Balen

As an Engkish teacher I try and read some MG and YA fiction every month. What better choice than the Carnegie winner.

What it’s about?

A classic in the making for anyone who ever longed to be WILD.

October and her dad live in the woods. They sleep in the house Dad built for them and eat the food they grow in the vegetable patches. They know the trees and the rocks and the lake and stars like best friends. They read the books they buy in town again and again until the pages are soft and yellow – until next year’s town visit. They live in the woods and they are wild.

And that’s the way it is.

Until the year October turns eleven. That’s the year October rescues a baby owl. It’s the year Dad falls out of the biggest tree in their woods. The year the woman who calls herself October’s mother comes back. The year everything changes.

Written in Katya Balen’s heart-stoppingly beautiful style, this book is a feast for the senses, filled with the woodsmoke smell of crisp autumn mornings and the sound of wellies squelching in river mud. And, as October fights to find the space to be wild in the whirling chaos of the world beyond the woods, it is also a feast for the soul

The Cancer Ladies’ Running Club by Josie Lloyd

This is one off the cart that also ticks off a Popsugar prompt- a book with a star sign in the title (loose connection I know!) I’m not going to finish the challenge but am still going to try and tick off a few more by the end of the year.

What it’s about?

From Goodreads:

Sometimes we need our friends to help us find our feet…

When Keira first receives her breast cancer diagnosis, she doesn’t want to have to tell her family, or step back from work. She doesn’t want to sit in a hospital, or be part of a group of fellow cancer patients. Cancer is not her club.

But as she accepts that her health is no longer something she can rely on, Keira finds herself embracing running. And running in the company of a group of brilliant, funny women each going through treatment unexpectedly gives Keira the hope she needs.

Because the C-word is not going to define Keira’s identity. And with the Cancer Ladies’ Running Club cheering her on, she’s going to reclaim her life.
One step at a time.

Life isn’t always the race we expected to run but this moving and uplifting novel is full of hope and about love, family, friendship and the power of finding your tribe.

The Bad Sister by J. A. Corrigan

This was went to me by a secret elf in a Halloween book swap and looks like a good read so though I would give it ago.

What it’s about?

One rotten apple can spoil the bunch

The Keane sisters grew up together at Raven House, a luxurious riverside home that their mother inherited. On the day of a party at the house, tension fills the air as Jess, Natalie and Teresa all fear the exposure of things they’re desperate to hide. The beautiful evening is marred by tragedy, and a celebration turns into a nightmare when a young life is lost. It is a haunting reminder of a shocking event five years earlier. As guests eye their companions with suspicion, it’s the family who have the most to hide. They turn on one another, with breathtaking malice and irrevocable consequences.

Years later, the sisters are barely hanging on to the scraps of their relationship. As another family celebration looms, long-held secrets come rushing to the surface. But someone is determined that the past will stay dead and buried, and will stop at nothing to prevent their mistakes being uncovered.

Which sister has the most to hide? A secret that they would kill to keep…

A compelling thriller about the secrets families keep that you won’t be able to put down. Perfect for fans of Shari Lapena, Gillian McAllister and B. A. Paris.