What I read in November

1.  California (Edan Lepucki)--Another post-apocalyptic novel, set in the Western US, but not entirely in California.  Follows a couple who leave civilization and then decide to go back, sort of.  It was recommended in some magazine I read a while back.  Good book, pretty quick read.
2.  Redeemed (PC Cast and Kristin Cast)  Ah..and that's the end...no more Vampire Academy books.  Although it appears there might be a spin off, I'm not really clear on that.  Enjoyed the book, it was entertaining...glad I'm done with the (long) series and can read other things now.
3.  Moon Over Manifest (Clare Vanderpool) This is the first Newberry Award winner written in the last 15 years that I really enjoyed.  The Girl is going to read it with her class later this year and we listened to it in the car.  The kids and I loved it.  The main character is a 12ish year old girl who is sent to live with family friends while her dad looks for work during the Depression.  Lots of interesting characters, good story, nice resolution.
4.  The Blood of Olympus (Rick Riordan) Once again Rick Riordan swears this is the "last Percy Jackson book"...and it could be...but there are still a couple other series being published and who knows, Percy could reappear.  Typical Percy Jackson book, if you know what I mean...entertaining, quick read..
5.  Navigating Early (Clare Vanderpool)  Like so many other "second books", I didn't enjoy this one as much as Moon...but it could be the content or the characters--this was about a 12 year old boy at boarding school during World War 2.  It was good, but not as good as Moon over Manifest.  Again, it was a quick read--good book, I'm looking forward to seeing what Clare Vanderpool writes next.
6.  Inescapable (Nancy Mehl)  Interesting idea--although it has been done before. A young woman who grew up Old Order Mennonite returns to the small town she grew up in after living in Kansas City (St. Louis?) for five years.  There is a mystery, a bit of a love story.  It was interesting...it was free for Kindle when I picked it up, so it was a great weekend Kindle read.
7. Heroes of the Holocaust (Alan Zullo and Mara Bovsun) Interesting short collection of stories about teens who I hadn't heard of before who were instrumental in saving others during the WW 2 Holocaust.  I received it free from Scholastic when I ordered another WW 2 book and thought it was  a good addition to my World War 2 novel/picture book box.  I try to at least skim the books I put in my school box, so I have some idea what my students are reading.  This one was pretty good--short stories about several teens.