Enoch Pratt Free Library

By Carla D. Hayden

It's that time of the year again when the temperature starts dropping and cuddling up in a blanket with a great book sounds like a relaxing and magical way to spend a quiet evening.

Regularly, I make book recommendations on the air to both WBAL-TV and WYPR's Maryland Morning. Here's my most recent book selection. Most of my November recommendations celebrate family and friends and the comfort of food.

• The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
• Elsewhere: A Memoir by Richard Russo
• Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat by Bee Wilson
• John Saturnall's Feast by Lawrence Norfolk

Steven Spielberg's new movie "Lincoln" has received a lot of high praises from audiences and critics alike. Its based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's bestseller, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. This season, another U.S. President is also dominating must read book lists, Thomas Jefferson. Here are several new books:

• Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham
• Master of the Mountain: Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves by Henry Wiencek
• Thomas Jefferson's Creme Brulee: How a Founding Father and His Slave James Hemings Introduced French Cuisine to America by Thomas J. Craughwell

Here are several more books that I hope you will enjoy.

• American Lady: The Life of Susan Mary Alsop by Caroline de Margerie and Frances FitzGerald
• My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop edited by Ronald Rice
• Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version by Philip Pullman
• The Cutting Season by Attica Locke
• Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan