Recreational Reading

2024 Reading Challenge Update: October Winner and What You Read This Month

This month’s Reading Challenge winner is Berke Maltepe, who will be enjoying a digital gift card to Trident Booksellers & Café! Trident is an independent bookstore and a beloved institution on Newbury Street in Boston, where it’s celebrating its 40th anniversary. Congratulations, Berke!

Big congratulations, as well, to everyone who read a book this month and told us about it. There are two months left in the 2024 Reading Challenge, so keep reading! Hint: for more chances to win, make sure to track your reading with the Massachusetts Center for the Book, too.

The October theme was “a book about a time in history that you’d like to know more about.” Here are some of the history and historical fiction books that readers listed this month:

What You Read in October

Cover of I Must Betray You

I Must Betray You, Ruta Sepetys
Find it at Snell Library

“Ruta Sepetys writes historical novels that illuminate historical events that might not be so familiar to some readers. I Must Betray You is set in Romania in 1989 at the time when Communism was being overthrown in eastern Europe. A 17-year-old student named Cristian struggles to do the right thing when he is coerced into becoming an informant for the secret police just as the dictatorship that has oppressed his country for decades begins to fall. Like many of the author’s grim stories, this gripping novel ends on a hopeful note.” — Linda

Cover of Last Night at the Telegraph Club

Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Malinda Lo
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F. W. Olin Library

“Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo is a coming-of-age story in 1950s San Francisco, set against the backdrop of the Red Scare. Lily Hu is a Chinese American girl who is starting to question her sexuality after she reads a dime-store novel. She goes to a mysterious club, based on real bars in San Francisco, called the Telegraph Club.” — Galen

Cover of Doomsday Book

Doomsday Book, Connie Willis
Find it at Snell Library | Read the e-book

“The story follows Kivrin, a history student at Oxford who travels back in time to study life in the 14th century. However, due to some miscalculation, she arrives during the time of the plague, which is a period of devastation and mayhem in European history. Willis has written the book with detailed research and emotional depth. The Doomsday Book examines the resilience of humans when we come in contact with a catastrophic event, which makes time-travel both an adventure and also a poignant reflection on how we survive.” — Navya

Cover of The Book Thief

The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F. W. Olin

“What I liked most about the book is that it’s written from the perspective of Death. It gives great insight into the atmosphere in WWII, but is still heartwarming, as it mainly describes the situation of a little girl. It also highlights how people risked their lives to uphold humanity in this time of hatred and injustice. It’s a book that really goes to the heart and is so well written—it’s a bit like art.” — Mirjam

Cover of My Brilliant Friend


My Brilliant Friend, Elena Ferrante
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F. W. Olin

“Absolutely loved it!.” — Nicole



And What to Read in November

November is a time to relax, with “a relaxing or soul-soothing book.” Here are some soothing suggestions. Need more ideas? Check out Northeastern’s curated selections of e-books and audiobooks! And if you’re in Boston, you can stop by the Snell Library lobby in person on November 19th and 20th for Reading Challenge stickers, bookmarks, and books to check out, and friendly librarians who love talking about books!

Covers of Legends and Lattes, What You Are Looking for is in the Library, Rest is Resistance, and The Psalm of the Wild-Built

Legends & Lattes, Travis Baldree
Find it at F. W. Olin Library | Read the e-book
Legends & Lattes is a cozy fantasy novella following Viv, an orc who has decided to set aside the barbarian lifestyle in favor of opening a coffee shop in a bustling magical city.

What You Are Looking for is in the Library, Michiko Aoyama (translated by Alison Watts)
Find it at F. W. Olin | Read the e-book
Tokyo librarian Sayuri Komachi has a gift: her book recommendations are able to provide readers with exactly what they need. What You Are Looking for is in the Library is a relaxing love letter to libraries, books, and readers.

Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto, Tricia Hersey
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F. W. Olin Library | Read the e-book
While it may not be a relaxing read, Rest is Resistance is an ode to rest and the transformative power of opting out of grind culture. Author Tricia Hersey connects our current obsession with productivity to systemized patterns of racism, misogyny, and anti-humanism.

A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Becky Chambers
Find it at Snell Library | Find it at F. W. Olin Library | Listen to the audiobook
A self-aware robot meets a space monk, and together they set off on a journey to answer the question: what do people need?

As always, happy reading and good luck in the November Reading Challenge! Make sure to tell us about your book before the end of the month for a chance to win the prize drawing. And for additional chances to win, log your reading with the Massachusetts Center for the Book, too!

Recreational Reads Available Through New OverDrive Subscription

Looking for your next great read? Northeastern University Library is proud to announce our new OverDrive platform, which offers a dynamic collection of e-books and audiobooks to all members of the Northeastern community. Enjoy curated selections of new fiction, popular nonfiction, classic works, and audiobooks.

You can explore the full OverDrive collection at northeasternuni.overdrive.com. We’re adding new materials all the time, so be sure to check back frequently! Northeastern’s OverDrive platform connects seamlessly to the free Libby app for iOS and Android, which allows you to place holds, check out books, and read or listen on your tablet or smartphone. If you’re a member of a public library that supports Libby, you can quickly switch between library accounts to maximize your reading experience.

E-books and audiobooks in the OverDrive collection are also linked directly from Scholar OneSearch, our library catalog, so you can do all your searching in one place!

Users are currently able to check out three titles at a time for up to two weeks, and can place a maximum of three simultaneous holds. When accessing materials on OverDrive, you’ll be prompted to log in with your Northeastern/Mills or NCH London credentials.

Northeastern’s OverDrive instance replaces our previous membership to the SAILS OverDrive platform, and allows Northeastern librarians greater control over the materials in the collection. This means that we’re able to respond to your requests! If there’s something you’d like to see in the library’s collection, just fill out the Recommend a Purchase form to let us know.

Here are some recommended reads to help you get started…

The cover of the book Persuasion by Jane Austen


Persuasion: The recent Netflix adaptation of this Jane Austen novel may have been a bit of a flop, but the original story is a classic for a reason. Austen’s final work is a romantic meditation on love and duty.




The cover of Book Lovers by Emily Henry



Book Lovers: This New York Times bestseller is a love letter to books and reading, and a romance between two very different—but maybe not so different?—readers.




The cover of Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad

Between Two Kingdoms: At twenty two, Suleika Jaouad has just graduated from college and has her whole life ahead of her. Then, without warning, she’s diagnosed with leukemia. But this is not a book about surviving cancer. It’s a book about what comes after: learning to live in the world again.

The Alibi

I read The Alibi by Sandra Brown.  This is the first book by her that I’ve read, though she’s a pretty popular mystery author.  I actually read an excerpt of it in a magazine many years ago, and it stuck in my head-so when I saw it on the recreational reading shelf, I knew I had to check it out! It’s set in a very sultry Charleston, South Carolina and opens with the murder of wealthy, sleazy real estate magnate, Lute Pettijohn.  Hammond Cross is the young attorney of sterling character and pedigree, who hopes to use the case to cement his ascent to lead prosecutor.  (We learn that in South Carolina, “County Solicitor” is the correct term, in place of “District Attorney”).  Brown weaves together a tangled web of over-the-top Southern characters.  There are intersecting love triangles involving Hammond Cross, his cut-throat professional rival, Pettijohn’s drunken socialite widow, and the obsessive investigating detective.  But the story’s real tension revolves around “the alibi”-Hammond’s rendezvous with a mysterious stranger, who becomes the prime suspect in the Pettijohn case.  And neither she nor he, are about to reveal their relationship.  It’s a legal ethics minefield and probably pretty far-fetched, but I still found The Alibi to be absorbing and exciting. Pick it up to enjoy over the last weekend of summer!