November's Alphakit - Y and H

November's letters are Y and H . Use them anyway you like.

Just on my phone so no fancy letters for a few days 🙂

Tentative plans: Adrian Tchaikovsky's One Day All This Will Be Yours and Holly Stars's Murder in the Dressing Room.

I think my most likely choice for H is "The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

My choice for Y will probably be The Devil's Flute Murders by Seishi Yokomizo

Edited to add the wiki: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2025AlphaKIT#Nov:_-Letters:_Y_and_H

Oh, Y is a bit more tricky. I'm sure there will be something, though!

I just bought Das Dorf der acht Gräber by Seishi Yokomizo.

Just a heads-up that I have created the 2026 Category Challenge group: https://www.librarything.com/ngroups/24919/2026-Category-Challenge. Stop by to get a head start on planning next year's challenge!

(Cross-posted to a bunch of threads; sorry if you see this a thousand times!)

I'm planning to read Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa and Neverhome by Laird Hunt.

I am thinking of reading The China Doll by Margaret Yorke and Mr. Bowling Buys a Newspaper by Donald Henderson

Can I get someone to take over the Alphakit? I keep ending up in hospital (like now) so don't want to worry about disappointing all of you.

I plan to read a selection from the Oxford tea shop mystery series by H.Y. Hanna.

>9 majkia: Hi, I replied in the 2026 discussion. I offered to do it with some backup and Vivienne has offered to back me up.

Did you need help for the rest of this year, as well? ETA: Feel free to message me, if you'd rather.

I have changed my mind about the books I am going to read for next month's Alphakit. I am now going to read Benediction by Kent Haruf and Infected Planet by Dennis Yates.

I have a few.

Currently Reading
✅ completed

Berried to the Hilt
Cat Got Your Tongs
Hearth Witch's Guide to Magic & Murder
Hems and Homicide
Home Fries and Alibis
Thanks for Muffin by Victoria Hamilton
Winemaker's Wife by Kristin Harmel

COMPLETED The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Starting The Stardust Grail by Yumei Kitasei

My first H book was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, a totally spontaneous re-read.

The next one is Tödliche Oliven by Tom Hillenbrand.

I read The Dough Must Go On by H.Y. Hanna.

COMPLETED The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei

I read Murder Begins at Home by Delano Ames for H.

Hi all, just an FYI that CAT voting is in progress over at the 2026 group! Polls close on Saturday, November 15, so be sure to submit your votes by then to help choose next year's CATs: https://www.librarything.com/topic/374659#8995115.

(Cross-posting this at a bunch of threads.)

I have finished The woodlanders by Thomas Hardy which was a bit of a slog.

For H: The Missionary Kids by Holly Berkley Fletcher

Did two Hs
H is for Homicide by Sue Grafton
Hidden Prey by John Sandford

December's thread is posted here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/375398

I have finished an H:
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

I finished City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita.

COMPLETED Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

I finished How Lucky by Will Leitch.

I have completed both my AlphaKit reads for November with the excellent Benediction by Kent Haruf and the trashy Infected Planet by Dennis Yates.

For Y, You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian.

I read A Scone to Die For by H.Y. Hanna a cute cozy mystery happily hitting both letters.

Another H: An Admirable Point by Florence Hazrat, a history (and defense) of the exclamation point.

Hollow Kingdom

How delightful! I'm not really a zombie apocalypse reader, but this book has a very refreshing take, being narrated by a crow with a colourful vocabulary. This book might have the strongest voice and some of the most creative and delightful prose I've read all year. Although the humans in the story are all dying, this is ultimately a story about family, hope, and healing.

Full review on my thread. Highly recommended.

I have finished Das Dorf der acht Gräber bei Seishi Yokomizo for Y.

Another H: Becoming a Nun in the Age of Aquarius by Helen Reynolds.

Starting "Six Tudor Queens: Katheryn Howard The Tainted Queen by Alison Weir, though I doubt I'll finish it before the end of the month.

My H books in November:

The Return of the Native, Thomas Hardy (1878)
The Labors of Hercules, Agatha Christie (1947)
Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories, Simon Winchester (2010)
Crooked House, Agatha Christie (1949)

Unfortunately, no Y books.

Finally read a Y book, Rest You Merry by Charlotte MacLeod. A fun mystery with some Christmas trappings; full review to come at my thread.

The Origins of You

This was a difficult and healing book about the ways our families, through situations outside their control, neglect/abuse, or their own unhealed wounds, cause us to have issues with safety, worthiness, belonging, feeling like a priority, etc. which affect our relationships in all corners of our lives, the way we communicate, navigate conflict, and our boundaries with others. Through accessible but emotionally trying exercises, Pharaon directs readers towards finding the origins of these wounds in their own lives, witnessing and grieving them, and finding new ways to move forward.

Recommended.

For another H, A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry

One last book for both letters: Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas, Alonso Duralde.

The Last House on Needless Street

This was a book bullet from lowelibrary and was basically impossible to put down. I think I ended up finishing it in two sittings. Like your average psychological thriller, it features unreliable narrator elements, (which I know is not everyone's cup of tea,) but that is really where the similarities end. It's hard to describe the experience of reading it without spoiling the best parts of the experience. Like April, I would recommend picking this book up without reading too much about it.

>44 KeithChaffee: Alonso Duralde! He's so fun on the Deck the Hallmark podcast.

>46 christina_reads: I don’t listen to that one, but I enjoy him on Linoleum Knife, the film review pod he does with his husband, Dave White. Both excellent critics, and such fun together!