Sneak Peek Saturday: Our November Reading Pile

Every Saturday we share a sneak peek at the books on our nightstand, with the premise and why we picked them up. Full reviews follow in our Book Reviews section. Here is the November pile.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (2022)

A brilliant chemist in 1960s California is pushed out of her research career and ends up hosting a television cooking show, which she treats as a science lesson. It is funny, angry and very much about being taken seriously as a woman and a mother. We picked it for the cooking show alone; anyone who has tried to put a real-food dinner on the table in a hurry will relate.

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (2020)

Four friends in an English retirement village meet weekly to look into old unsolved cases, until a real murder happens on their doorstep. Gentle, witty and a perfect palate cleanser after something heavy. Fans of Agatha Christie, whose And Then There Were None we reviewed, will enjoy the puzzle.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (2022)

Two childhood friends become video game designers and spend decades building worlds together, and sometimes tearing each other apart. It is a big, absorbing novel about creative partnership and friendship.

Book club pick: Casino Royale by Ian Fleming (1953)

Our grown-up book club is going old school this month. Ian Fleming's first James Bond novel is shorter, colder and stranger than most people expect from the films. Its centrepiece is a long, tense game of baccarat in a casino in the fictional French resort of Royale-les-Eaux, where Bond has to beat a villain who is gambling with someone else's money. Fleming describes the cards, the stakes and the nerves in such detail that you could almost learn the game from it.

We discuss it properly, alongside modern poker memoirs and a blackjack classic, in our roundup of casino thrillers and poker books for grown-ups. Planning a themed book-club evening? A few decks of cards and a box of chips turn the discussion into a game night; our guide to hosting a poker night at home has everything you need.