The book for December is The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson. It is the end of England’s brief Edwardian summer, and everyone agrees that the weather has never been so beautiful. Hugh Grange, down from his medical studies, is visiting his Aunt Agatha, who lives with her husband in the small, idyllic coastal town of Rye. Agatha’s husband works in the Foreign Office, and she is certain he will ensure that the recent saber rattling over the Balkans won’t come to anything. And Agatha has more immediate concerns; she has just risked her carefully built reputation by pushing for the appointment of a woman to replace the Latin master. When Beatrice Nash arrives with one trunk and several large crates of books, it is clear she is significantly more freethinking—and attractive—than anyone believes a Latin teacher should be. For her part, mourning the death of her beloved father, who has left her penniless, Beatrice simply wants to be left alone to pursue her teaching and writing.

The Midnight Lockj: a Lincoln Rhyme novel by Jeffery Deaver

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

Never by Ken Follett

Go Tell the Bees That I am Gone by Diana Gabaldon

Kings County by David Goodwillie

Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers

The Party Crasher by Sophie Kinsella

We are the Brennans by Tracey Lange

The Cave Dwellers by Christina McDowell

Bewilderment by Richard Powers

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

Flying Angels by Danielle Steel