October's recommendation: The Lives of Christopher Chant, by Diana Wynne Jones.
I fear that, were I to go looking in bookstores for the most recent reprint of this novel, I would find cover copy likening it to Harry Potter. And then I would have to throw things.
I have nothing against Harry Potter, but this has nothing in common with it save that a boy is learning magic in England. The entire setup is different, in such a way that Jones has been able to write five radically different novels with Christopher Chant in them (the others being Charmed Life, Witch Week, The Magicians of Caprona, and the recent Conrad's Fate, which I didn't like as much as I wanted to). (Side note: Huh. I didn't realize before now that Lives is apparently the fourth in that series, not the first. Makes sense, I suppose, as all the rest other than Fate show him as a grown-up.)
The setting, broadly speaking, is an alternate-world one, both in the sense that the England Christopher lives in is not our England (not even our England from the earlier twentieth century), and in the sense that there are many different worlds, all related to one another by turning points in history. They're organized into Series based on their similarities (Christopher's in Twelve-A, we're in Twelve-B), and here's a little quirk which comes from that: you have analogues of yourself in all the other worlds of your series.
Unless you're Christopher.
The other eight versions of him in Series Twelve were never born. Therefore, the eight lives that didn't happen in other worlds all got packed into him. It's a pretty rare occurance, as you might expect, and it means that he has a very powerful gift for magic -- enough to put him into the "enchanter" class, as his people measure such things. It would be pretty cool for him, except that there's a governmental office called the Chrestomanci, whose holder polices magic throughout his world and sometimes the rest of Series Twelve, too, and Chrestomanci has to be a nine-lifed enchanter. These being thin on the ground, Christopher is told he has to take the job next.
That's the main unifying thread of the plot, but really it's more about Christopher growing up. You start with him as a small boy, and follow him through the long series of nurses and governesses who hire on and then quit because Christopher's parents are so unpleasant to work for, then to school, then to Chrestomanci Castle, a gloomy and governmental sort of place. Along the way, though, you get to go a lot of other places with Christopher, since he has something of a bad habit of traveling to other worlds in his sleep. Though the other Chrestomanci books play with this a bit, taking place in some of those other worlds (which is why they're all so different), none of them has done as much to explore this concept, which I rather regret, since they're one of my favorite parts of this book. In particular, there's an extended plot involving a temple, a girl who's the living avatar of a goddess, and a nasty and highly magical cat named Throgmorton, who I'm convinced is the literary ancestor of Crookshanks, whatever J.K. Rowling says about her neighbor's cat. (Okay, so there's another similarity beyond a boy learning magic in England.)
Christopher's a good example, in my opinion, of an author managing to pull off the "reluctant hero" motif, probably because, although he doesn't want to be Chrestomanci, his method of not wanting to be Chrestomanci involves running off and doing other interesting things. The process of him learning magic is also highly entertaining, especially the incident with the esteemed Dr. Pawson -- I shall resist the urge to say more. Suffice to say that some of the bumps in Christopher's road are larger and more startling than others.
As occasionally happens with these recommendations, I feel I've done a poor job of conveying why I like this book. Mostly it comes down to Christopher, really, though some of it is Tacroy, his friend in his wanderings between worlds, and some of it is the Living Goddess. (And Throgmorton.) Christopher's undeniably a snot on occasion, but not always, and there's a point in the latter part of the book where he really hits his stride. I just don't know how to describe it without giving plot spoilers, I'm afraid. Saying that I really want someone to make this into a movie so I can see those scenes come alive doesn't clear things up. This month, I think, is one of those "trust me on this one" months. If you've liked my recommendations before, particularly the Diana Wynne Jones stuff, then give it a shot.