Welcome to November!

My apologies if this newsletter feels a little disjointed. I’m travelling to the wonderful city of Columbus, Ohio, right now. So I’m writing it in bits and pieces aboard multiple trains, at the airport, on the plane, and, of course, in the bars I no doubt frequent during my day of travel.

One thing I always love about travel is associating a book with a trip. I’ve started reading Chain Reaction by Andrew Child, the latest Jack Reacher novel. Curious to see how this one goes. I feel he’s settled well into the role now, and they’re going to keep falling into the “decent, not great” category.

I’ve mentioned it before, but I think his writing and storylines are perfectly fine even if they get into the weeds at times. I think he captures Reacher very well. I don’t think he has as much FUN writing Reacher as Lee did. If you go back and read most Reacher books, you can see how much fun Lee has writing that character.

Speaking of fun – have I mentioned the new Games & Puzzles section we launched at Book Notification? If not, be sure to check it out. It’s a lot of fun with great games such as fill in the missing word from a book title, and a book match game. I get a lot of ideas from these when out for lunch or coffee with my daughter, as we play games like that and brainstorm new book-related games we can play.

Okay, let’s do some quick-hit reviews here of what I read in October:

Carrie by Stephen King: An interesting one I read for the I Care About Books Podcast, and I am looking forward to discussing it because I want to dissect it more. Very different type of book, and I enjoyed it overall.

I’m looking forward to watching the film adaptation(s) at some point. I’m currently watching the new TV show adaptation and LOVING it. It fits more into the ‘loosely based on / inspired by’ category from the second episode onwards, but I am really liking the direction it’s taken.

The Witch by Freida McFadden: A bit different from Freida, as it was a thriller set in two timelines centuries apart. I enjoyed this one a lot – the older timeline from the times of Witches really actually added a lot to this book. I’d love to see Freida tackle more in that category as opposed to her usual thrillers.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers: Read this one for the I Care About Books Podcast, which you can view here on YouTube. I loved this story, actually – I gave it a 9/10 on the podcast. It started very flawed, but once the robots showed up, I was romanticised by it. I will hopefully get to the sequel soon.

It Should Have Been You by Andrea Mara: Tremendous book I listened to about a woman who accidentally sends a message to a neighbourhood WhatsApp group she meant for her sisters, mocking one of the women in the group and exposing a few of her family secrets. And this small snowball causes an absolute avalanche. I couldn’t get enough of this book and would highly recommend it. The narration was fantastic as well and really covered all the UK dialects.

No One Saw a Thing by Andrea Mara: A thriller about a woman standing at a Tube station in London with her kids. After an incident, two of her young kids get on the train without their mother. She meets up with them at the next stop, but… one of the kids isn’t there! It was a dual timeline between the present and 3 days ago, and it took a bit to get going. The past timeline was very dull initially, but it all clicked halfway through the book and was a very solid listen.

My Life by David Jason: The first of like 5 books by him. I grew up with David as ‘Del Boy’ in Only Fools and Horses. Someone asked me to add him to Book Notification, and when I saw all the memoirs he had written, I knew I had to dive in. Plus, hey, let’s be honest; there’s a fair amount of rumours flying around about what will come out after his death. Here’s hoping it’s unfounded, but I’d rather read it now before it gets tainted.

And hey – I ran a full marathon in October. That was quite the experience as I usually only run halves. Very proud of that. I did, of course, record an episode of Currently Reading while running it.

I also went two months sober in the build-up for that. I surprisingly really enjoyed that, though I am enjoying the freedom of accepting invites for “a quick pint” from friends again.

On that note, I’ve reached the “stop at a bar to have lunch” portion of my travels!

That’s about it for me. As always, if you want:

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  • …then check out our sister site Book Notification

A quick heads up: if you print author/series lists at OrderOfBooks later this month, that function will be removed and only available at Book Notification.

Long story short; my team and I work extremely hard curating our lists. It takes up a lot of time, and costs a lot of money. We build all our lists from scratch, going through every author’s bibliography thoroughly. And there are crappy people out there using scraper bots and AI who are taking our hard work and stealing it all and then displaying it on their own sites.

I know for a fact they are directly stealing from us, because I insert little things into the code that no one would notice, and they always show up. We have done what we can to block them or cause issues, such as sending their bots on wild-goose chases that cost them money, but many of them can circumvent it via our printable lists.

So printing will be turned off sometime in November, and if you attempt to print, it will revert you to Book Notification instead. Unfortunately, it has to be that way, but it’s the only way I can combat these thieves.

Each month, we give away 5 $25 Amazon gift certificates to random subscribers.

To win, all you have to do is subscribe. Nothing more! When we click “Publish,” we take a list of all our subscribers, put them into a random draw, and those are the winners.

Our winners this month are:

[Due to my travels I don’t have the time to do this this month. I will do ten next month.]

Whew – you have no idea how good it feels to get this newsletter out. Thank you for your patience!

Until the next chapter,

Graeme
OrderOfBooks.com

Book Recommendations

In this section, I give 3-5 random book recommendations from readers of the newsletter. They can be old books, they can be new. Feel free to e-mail suggestions to me. Just hit reply. If you wish to add a description for the book around the same size as the ones below that’d be great too!


Because of travel time constraints, I am copy/pasting some recommendations our regular recommender, Keith, sent in. Thanks so much to Keith for these!

And hey, speaking of travel – have you read The Traveler by Joseph Eckert yet? If not, do so – you are missing out. It is my best book of 2026.

Sheriff Bill Gastner series by Steven F. Havill: Heartshot” is labeled #1 in the Sheriff Bill Gastner series by Steven F. Havill, read by Rusty Nelson. Undersheriff Gastner is a Korean War veteran who left the Army after 20 years and then worked in law enforcement for another 20 years in southern New Mexico. A skilled and dogged investigator, Bill Gastner has risen to the rank of Undersheriff in rural Posadas County. Pushing 60, Bill is dealing with a newly elected Sheriff, a long-abused body that is becoming a liability, a sudden spike in serious crime, and some not-so-subtle hints about retirement. However, after his wife died and children grew up and moved away, being a cop is his entire life.

A car crash results in the death of five teens and the subsequent discovery of a kilo of cocaine under the front seat. Grieving parents, panicked politicians, and concerned citizens are looking for someone to blame.

Soon, another teen dies, supposedly suicide. However, police suspect otherwise and Bill pushes himself hard to find answers – until his heart gives out and he lands in the ICU. I really enjoyed the story and could empathize with the characters. Nice twisty mysteries and a skillful narration. 8/10

Hank Thompson Series by Charlie Huston: “Six Bad Things” and “A Dangerous Man” are the second and third in Charlie Huston’s Henry (Hank) Thompson trilogy. The first is read by Jay Myers, while the second by Charlie Thurston.

Hank is an accidental serial killer. He doesn’t usually want to kill anyone, but people near him have a way of ending up dead. After a series of violent incidents in New York, Hank walks away with $4.5M belonging to a (dead) Russian gangster. Hank lives off the map in Mexico, until one day a Russian backpacker shows up and starts asking awkward questions and threatening Hank’s family. What follows is a chaotic tour of Mexico and the American Southwest, with a trail of bodies in Hank’s wake.

The third book picks up three years later. I can’t say much about this book without giving too many spoilers. I recommend listening to this series, preferably in order. 8/10

Laws of Depravity by Eriq La Salle: “Laws of Depravity” is #1 in the Martyr Maker series written and performed by Eriq La Salle, an accomplished actor, author, director, and producer. Every ten years the Martyr Maker appears in a new city and dispatches a dozen clergymen in brutal fashion, mimicking the deaths of Jesus and his disciples.

In 2011 his hunting ground is New York City. Two NYPD detectives and a rogue FBI agent must track down the monster before he completes the cycle and disappears. All of Mr. La Salle’s talents are on display in this audiobook and the characters, plot and politics all ring true.

However, the story felt a little compressed – like this was a TV script that just grew. The audiobook also includes a prequel novella “Laws of Innocence”. Overall, well done. 8/10

We Will See You Bleed by Ron Currie: “We Will See You Bleed” is second in the Babs Dionne series by Ron Currie, read by Lisa Flanagan. This book is a prequel to “The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne”, and could have been subtitled “The Rise of Babs Dionne”.

It’s 1984 and Waterville, MA is falling apart. A bitter strike against the town’s only major employer has been dragging on for more than a year. The paper mill’s management has brought in scab labor to keep the factory running, at sub-par wages and without undue concern about safety regulations. Most of striking men can’t feed their families and pay the bills without turning to crime or collaborating with the mill’s owner to break the strike. Then, a drug dealer from a neighboring town introduces hard drugs at low prices and the depressed men are easy targets – at least those not already lost to alcohol.

The final straw comes when Babs, who is a housewife and head of the union local, is informed by the national leadership that they won’t support the strike, the strike relief fund is depleted, and the strikers’ healthcare benefits are being terminated. Babs is under pressure to win the strike or settle it, but management refuses to negotiate and won’t rehire a union member at any wage. Both sides decide that violence is the only useful tactic to achieve a resolution. Excellent narration and I loved the story more than the original book – painfully realistic and period correct. 9/10

Pirata by Patrick Hasburgh: “Pirata” by Patrick Hasburgh, read by Charlie Thurston. Nick Lutz is a successful car salesman in California with a normal life. He has an expensive house in the suburbs, a fracturing marriage, and a 7-year-old son. One day Nick is taking a potential customer on a test drive, when the man pulls a gun and shoots Nick in the eye before stealing the car. From there, Nick’s life goes from tolerable to terrible. “Lucky” that the bullet went straight through, Nick “only” lost his eye, his job, his family, some memories, and his self-esteem.

Six years later Nick has abandoned his life in SoCal and lives on the beach in Sabanita, Mexico. He spends his days surfing and self-medicating with his buddy Winsor. Then, Winsor’s live-in girlfriend sinks a claw hammer into his skull and seeks asylum at Nick’s shack with her two 13-year-old sons in tow. Nick promptly takes on the roll of surf coach and surrogate father to the two boys and struggles against a growing attraction to his dead friend’s girlfriend.

Things get very weird when Nick enlists a few locals and fellow expats to dispose of Winsor’s body, only it turns out that Winsor wasn’t quite dead yet. The story, characters, phrasing, and detailed knowledge of surfing all strongly echoed Don Winslow’s novels – to the point where I would believe that Don had adopted a pen name for this release. Also, an excellent narration. 9/10

November Book Of The Month

The Heights by Ian Rankin: Ian Rankin, author of the long-running Inspector Rebus, returns this month with a brand new, twisty standalone thriller. Yes, please!

When a concierge is found dead at The Heights, London’s most exclusive luxury apartment building, Detective Sergeant Gillian Gish investigates its wealthy residents. A party that ended in a fight, a missing key, and a gap in security footage lead her to uncover dark secrets beneath their glamorous lives.

Rankin is one of the best crime writers going right now, so this looks like a must-read. The only question I have is: should I read or listen to it?

10 More Notable Books Releasing in October

Brought to you by BookNotification.com where you can get updated on all the upcoming books by your favourite authors with your own personalized calendar!

Pictures of the Month

Thanks to Carla for those!

Send in your own to site@orderofbooks.com or by replying!

Images, jokes, etc. We’ll take it

Your Thoughts!

Last month, we asked: What are your favorite genres? The answers are later in the newsletter.

For this month, I’m asking:

What’s the favourite book you’ve read in 2026 that would make a good Christmas gift?

A little bit different, but I thought it might be a nice extra thought with Christmas coming up – maybe some of you have readers in your life you’d like to buy a book for.

Bonus if you can say who would appreciate it most.

I have two:

The Traveler by Joseph Eckert: One of the best books I have read all-time, never mind this year. A guy is driving when suddenly he stumbles out onto the road, and the car isn’t there. He apparently time-traveled forward 24 hours. The very next day it happens again – but this time 48 hours. And then 96… and it just keeps doubling.

Perfect for… Fans of Blake Crouch, Andy Weir, people who love 11/22/63 by Stephen King.

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi: I thought this was a wonderful story overall, and while I did have some issues with it, it’s a great idea for a book and for discussion.

Perfect for… I feel like this one will definitely resonate more with people 50+. Especially people who enjoy literary fiction and that sort of thing. If you have people you discuss books with or a book club, I’d recommend it for all of that as well. I call it the perfect book club book. It’s just ripe for discussion.

What about you? What would you recommend as a Christmas gift based on a book you read this year?

E-mail us your feedback to site@OrderOfBooks.com or just reply to this e-mail, and we’ll pick the best comments and feature it in next month’s newsletter. Five people will also randomly win a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.

Reader Mailbag!

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Order of Books » Newsletter » OrderOfBooks November 2026 Newsletter

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