There’s nothing quite as enjoyable in the autumn.
Now that the nights are getting darker quicker and it’s gotten much, much colder, it’s hard to resist the temptation of curling up on the couch with a good book – especially when it goes perfectly with a cup of hot chocolate.
From mysteries to fantasy and everything in between, there’s been a number of incredible books hitting the shelves this season – and there’s even more to come.
So, here is our pick of the 7 best books to cosy up with this November.
Inside Black Mirror by Charlie Brooker, Annabel Jones and Jason Arnopp
Black Mirror has become a cultural phenomenon over the last few years – and with the technology anthology series due for a fifth season soon(ish), there’s no better time to delve into the world of Black Mirror.
The book – the first official one about the series – goes through the entire Black Mirror journey, from its origins in creator Charlie Brooker’s mind to its current status as one of the biggest cult TV shows.
Alongside a collection of astonishing behind-the-scenes imagery and ephemera, Brooker and producer Annabel Jones will detail the creative genesis, inspiration and thought process behind each film for the first time, while key actors, directors and other creative talents relive their own involvement.
You can get it here.
A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult
A lone gunman has taken the staff, patients and visitors at an abortion clinic hostage. Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins trying to make plans to communicate with the gunman when his phone vibrates with incoming text messages: to his horror, he finds that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside.
She is in the clinic with a number of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order to save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester, disguised as a patient, who now stands in the crosshairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the gunman himself, vowing to be heard.
The book unravels backwards, beginning with the tensest part of negotiations and counting the hours of the standoff backwards 0 revealing hour by urgent hour what brought each of these people to this point.
You can get it here.
River Bodies by Karen Katchur
A body has turned up in the small town of Portland, Pennsylvania – and it is eerily similar to another case, a cold case from 20 years ago: another victim, brutally murdered, found in the Delaware River. Lead detective Parker Reed is intent on connecting the two murders, but the locals are on lockdown, revealing nothing.
Becca Kingsley, Parker’s childhood love, gets drawn into the case when she returns to the town to be reunited with her estranged father, who is unwell. Her return brings something ominous to the surface—memories long buried, secrets best kept hidden.
Becca starts questioning all her past relationships, including one with a man who’s watched over her for years. For the first time, she wonders if he’s more predator than protector.
You can get it here.
The Dark Heart by Joakim Palmkvist
In late summer of 2012, millionaire landowner Göran Lundblad went missing from his farm in Sweden. His daughter, Maria, starts to point the finger at her sister, Sara – convinced she was somehow involved.
But with no body, there was no crime—and the case went as cold. For everyone except for Therese Tang, a mum-of-three and Missing People investigator.
For two years, this case was her obsession – and she was willing to put her own safety at risk to uncover the truth. What she found was a nest of depraved secrets, lies, and betrayal. All she had to do now, in her relentless and dangerous pursuit of justice, was prove that it led to murder.
You can get it here.
Those Who Knew by Idra Novel
On an unnamed island country, a decade after the collapse of a United States-supported regime, Lena begins to suspect that a powerful politician may be taking advantage of a young woman who has been introducing him at rallies.
And things take a turn when the young woman turns up dead.
Lena is forced to come to terms with her own history with the senator, whom she had been involved with in her student days, and the violent incident that ended ended their relationship.
You can get it here.
Limetown by Cote Smith, Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie
An explosive prequel to the #1 podcast of the same name, Limetown follows a teenager who learns of a mysterious research facility where more than 300 people have disappeared.
On a seemingly ordinary day, seventeen-year-old Lia Haddock hears news that will change her life forever: three hundred men, women, and children living at a research facility in Limetown, Tennessee, have disappeared without a trace. Among the missing is Emile Haddock, Lia’s uncle.
What happened to the people of Limetown? It’s all anyone can talk about. Except Lia’s parents, who refuse to discuss what might have happened there. They refuse, even, to discuss anything to do with Emile.
You can get it here.
The Adults by Caroline Hulse
Claire and Matt are determined that, despite their divorce, the best thing for their daughter, Scarlett, would be to have a “normal” family Christmas – one with everyone together.
This means that Claire is bringing her boyfriend, Patrick, a seemingly eligible Iron-Man-in-Waiting; and Matt brings the new love of his life Alex, funny, smart, and extremely patient.
Together the five of them grit their teeth over Organized Fun activities, drinking a little too much after bed-time, oversharing classified secrets about their pasts – but before they know it, their holiday becomes a powder keg which ends where the story begins: with a frightened phone call to the police.
You can get it here.
A good book can do just about anything; from taking you on a wild and fantastical adventure to making you feel like an all-knowing super sleuth (if you figure out the killer twist).
Every week at #Bookmarked, we will be taking you through some of our all-time favourite books – as well as the newest novels hitting shelves in Ireland.
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