Our favorite reads this year from the Adult and Children/Tweens/Teens Librarians:

The age of miracles: a novel by Karen Thompson Walker

The art forger: a novel by B.A. Shapiro

The dog stars by Peter Heller

Before I go to sleep: a novel by S.J. Watson

City of thieves: a novel by David Benioff

Every day by David Levithan

Read the book? See the movie. Throughout the month of November, Turner Classic Movies is featuring film adaptations of well-known novels. The films run 24 hours on Mondays and Wednesdays. A variety of themes are featured including Southern Novels, Adventure, American Literature, Westerns, Science Fiction and more. Stories for Children and Young Adults will be shown all day on Thanksgiving Day.

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann is like Harry Potter entering the Hunger Games, according to one Kirkus reviewer. Other reviews also rave about this new teen/tween Fantasy/Sci-Fi series. In the dystopic land of Quill, when you reach age 13, you are deemed Wanted, Necessary, or Unwanted. Alex is too creative and is thereby judged Unwanted and sentenced to be cast into the Lake of Burning Death along with the other Unwanteds.  His identical brother, Aaron, is rated Wanted, turns his back on his brother, enters Wanted University, and rises quickly, becoming the protege of High Priest Justine. Meanwhile, Alex is pleasantly surprised when instead of suffering a painful death, he is welcomed into the magical realm of Artime by the kindly mage Mr. Today. Here Unwanteds are trained in artistry, independence, and magic in a truly amazing mileau where talking blackboards, transporting tubes, fantastical creatures, and whimsical inventions abound. Action, suspense, humor, and captivating characters in a sparkling imatinative setting make this distopian fantasy a sure-fire hit.

If your book group is looking for a reading challenge--each of these books has been challenged by a parent or a community.  This year marks the 30th Anniversary of American Libraries Association's Banned Books Week, September 30 - October 6, 2012.
 

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald ; preface and notes by Matthew J. Bruccoli

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck ; introduction and notes by Robert DeMott

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston ; with a foreword by Edwidge Danticat and an afterword by Henry Louis Gates, Jr

The Chocolate War: a Novel by Robert Cormier

Has your book group tried any short story collections? You could choose an author to concentrate on or assign a story to each member, or simply assign a collection and let your members report back to the group.

Among the missing by Dan Chaon

Don't tell anyone by Frederick Busch

The PEN/O. Henry Prize stories. 2011 by chosen and with an introduction by Laura Furman; with essays on the stories they admire most by jurors A. M. Homes, Manuel Munoz, Christine Schutt

A day in the life of a smiling woman: complete short stories by Margaret Drabble; edited by José Francisco Fernández

Harry Harrison, an American science fiction author, died at 87. He is best know for his Stainless Steel Rat series and the novel Make Room! Make Room! which became the movie Soylent Green.

Unwholly by Neal Shusterman — The long awaited sequel to Unwind is almost here. Unwholly picks up where Unwind left off, introducing the reader to new characters and new questions about the practice of unwinding. If you haven't already read Unwind, now is a perfect time!

Bridge of time by Lewis Buzbee is a perfect book for older readers who are interested in earning the Time Travel badge. A wrinkle in time propels best friends Lee Jones and Jones Lee back to the summer Mark Twain spent in San Francisco. The class trip they were on was a total loser, so they snuck away to discuss the pending divorces of their parents. Upon awaking from a nap in a lighthouse they find the Golden Gate bridge has fanished, their cell phones don't work, and they are clueless as to how to get back to their class and/or time. Then they meet this young man named Sam Clemens who is on the run from a mysterious stranger, who soon is after Lee and Jone, too. A suspenseful summer, sci-fi, time-travel treat for all those who delve into its pages.

Brave new world by Aldous Huxley

A canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

The handmaid's tale by Margaret Atwood

Neuromancer by William Gibson

1984: a novel by George Orwell ; with an afterword by Erich Fromm

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's court by written by Mark Twain ; illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman

From time to time: a novel by Jack Finney

The house on the strand by Du Maurier, Daphne, Dame, 1907-1989

Hyperion by Dan Simmons

Life, the universe, and everything by Douglas Adams

Lightning by Dean R. Koontz

Making history: a novel by Stephen Fry