Thanksgiving Books to Read

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Thanksgiving is soon upon us once again and you might find yourself traveling to friends’ and relatives’ houses to sit down and have a great big feast! With all of that traveling, you will probably need something to read while you are waiting at the airport, traveling on the train, riding as a passenger on a long car ride, or relaxing after a busy day of cooking and eating. 

Luckily, Mercer County Library System has a plethora of books for you to read during this Thanksgiving season. So, as you are traveling over the river and through the woods this fall, don’t forget to bring a book along for the ride.

Book Recommendations

Thanksgiving Prayer by Debbie Macomber

Before Claudia Masters even meets Seth Lessinger, she leaves him a message from the Psalms: "May the Lord give you the desire of your heart." She knows there's something different about this man. Something special. And meeting him only confirms it. For his part, Seth, who is a new Christian, immediately recognizes that Claudia is the woman for him--the woman he wants to marry and take back to Alaska. But Claudia is torn between Seth and her life in Seattle. How can she give up everything familiar, everything she's always worked for? And yet, she can't bear the thought of losing this man she's come to love. Only when she acts with faith and hope does she find her true destiny.

Turkey Trot Murder by Leslie Meier

Besides the annual Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving Day, Lucy expects the approaching holiday to be a relatively uneventful one until she finds beautiful Alison Franklin dead and frozen in Blueberry Pond. No one knows much about Alison, except that she was the daughter of wealthy investor Ed Franklin and struggled quietly with drug addiction.

Finding Perfect: A Novella by Colleen Hoover

Friends Daniel, Six, Holder, Sky, and Breckin are planning to celebrate the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday with a Friendsgiving dinner at Sky's parents' house. But things have been off within the tightknit group and when Daniel reaches out to Six to ask the hard questions he hasn't dared to bring up since they last spoke about their shared secret, he's dismayed to learn that it's this very secret bringing a cloud over the holiday. Suddenly, Daniel must do everything he can to find answers for the one person he loves the most in the world, but will this search only lead to despair.

Want Not by Jonathan Miles

On Thanksgiving Day, a freegan couple living off the grid in Manhattan, a once prominent linguist struggling with midlife, and a New Jersey debt-collection magnate with a second chance at getting things right, randomly and briefly collide as the weight of their desires ultimately undoes each of them, leaving them to pick up the pieces from what's left behind.

Cold Turkey by Amy Patricia Meade

Literary caterer Tish Tarragon is looking forward to opening the new Cookin' the Books cafe the day after Thanksgiving, but before then she has the small matter of catering for the Thirty-First Annual Colonial Springs Turkey Trot, a highlight in the Hobson Glen calendar. With her food stall ready to go, Tish, the spectators and participating 'trotters' are eagerly awaiting the starter's pistol when they are confronted with the sound of rifle shots from the woods. Deputy Mayor Behrens is dead. But was he really the intended target, or could it have been Tish's ex, Mayor Schuyler Thompson? As Tish and Reade investigate, it seems there are no shortage of residents with an axe to grind against the town council and their controversial policies. Can Tish finish first in her race against the killer?

A Catered Thanksgiving: A Mystery with Recipes by Isis Crawford

The proprietors of A Little Taste of Heaven, their Longely, N.Y., catering company, prepare a Thanksgiving feast for Scrooge-like fireworks manufacturer Monty Field and his family at the Field mansion. When Monty comes into the kitchen to test the roasting turkey, Bernie and Libby watch in horror as Monty taps the pop-up button in the bird's breast and the turkey explodes, blowing off the top of his head. Libby fears their stuffing made the turkey explode, but they soon learn that there was plenty of rivalry among the assembled family members, any one of whom had reason to want Monty dead. A heavy snowstorm ensures the suspects stay put as the sisters start to investigate. That their father, Sean, was on bad terms with the victim complicates their task. The action builds to more fireworks and a dramatic rescue.

- by Rebecca, Hollowbrook Branch