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Readers' Most Anticipated Books of November
At the beginning of each calendar month, Goodreads’ crack editorial squad assembles a list of the hottest and most popular new books hitting shelves, actual and virtual. The list is generated by evaluating readers’ early reviews and tracking which titles are being added to Want to Read shelves by Goodreads regulars.
Each month’s curated preview features new books from across the genre spectrum: contemporary fiction, historical fiction, mysteries and thrillers, sci-fi and fantasy, romance, horror, young adult, nonfiction, and more. Think of it as a literary smorgasbord. Check out whatever looks tasty.
New in November: Nita Prose follows up on her beloved mystery The Maid with The Mystery Guest. Toshikazu Kawaguchi explores further café time-travel possibilities in Before We Say Goodbye. And folklorist Michelle Porter profiles five generations of Métis women with A Grandmother Begins the Story.
Also on tap this month: Barbra Streisand's memoir, Ali Hazelwood’s first YA book, and the latest adventures of sci-fi’s most interesting cyborg: Murderbot!
Add the books that catch your eye to your Want to Read shelf, and let us know what you're reading and recommending in the comments section.
Each month’s curated preview features new books from across the genre spectrum: contemporary fiction, historical fiction, mysteries and thrillers, sci-fi and fantasy, romance, horror, young adult, nonfiction, and more. Think of it as a literary smorgasbord. Check out whatever looks tasty.
New in November: Nita Prose follows up on her beloved mystery The Maid with The Mystery Guest. Toshikazu Kawaguchi explores further café time-travel possibilities in Before We Say Goodbye. And folklorist Michelle Porter profiles five generations of Métis women with A Grandmother Begins the Story.
Also on tap this month: Barbra Streisand's memoir, Ali Hazelwood’s first YA book, and the latest adventures of sci-fi’s most interesting cyborg: Murderbot!
Add the books that catch your eye to your Want to Read shelf, and let us know what you're reading and recommending in the comments section.
Pulitzer Prize–winning author Michael Cunningham (The Hours) returns to bookshelves with this carefully observed novel about one family’s experience before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In a modest Brooklyn brownstone, Dan and Isabel try to hold their marriage together as time and proximity take their toll. Also in the mix: two scared kids, Instagram weirdness, and a brother stranded in a remote cabin in Iceland. Life is strange.
One of the season’s most intriguing novels, Ed Park’s Same Bed Different Dreams is difficult to even categorize. The story concerns a kind of alternate history in which the fate of Korea diverges, slightly but significantly, around the year 1919. Three different narrative voices take readers through the looking glass, revealing an echo-world of K-pop bands, political assassinations, Marilyn Monroe, Korean Air Lines Flight 007, civil war, and (just maybe) a UFO. Is it historical fiction or speculative fiction? The answer is yes.
As it happens, this highly anticipated debut novel from author and poet E.J. Koh also looks back on the history of Korea. In fact, The Liberators chronicles four generations of a Korean family, blossoming out into an epic saga of love and war. It all starts with the young couple Insuk and Sungho, who travel with their infant child to the burgeoning community of Milpitas, California. Early readers are loving the multiple-POV approach, which includes a chapter from the perspective of the family dog.
The fourth installment in the international Before the Coffee Gets Cold series introduces a new batch of customers at Tokyo’s magical Café Funiculi Funicula. Returning readers will already know the café’s secret: For the price of a cup of coffee, patrons can temporarily travel through time. Choices can be changed, and mistakes can be remedied, but each time traveler must return before their coffee gets cold. Translated here from the Japanese, author Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s vision is a heartwarming take on the time-travel tradition.
The new novel from New York City author Sigrid Nunez follows a young Generation Z narrator as she rides out the COVID-19 pandemic in a friend’s luxury apartment, looking after a parrot named Eureka. As with many of Nunez’s books, the narrative is less about story than lateral thinking and flow. The discourse ranges far and wide to ponder current events, literature, history, politics, climate, and the act of writing itself. Bonus trivia: Nunez won the 2018 National Book Award for Fiction with her novel The Friend.
Folklorist and journalist Michelle Porter comes from a long line of storytellers in the Canadian Indigenous community known as the Métis. She makes her fiction debut with this fascinating novel concerning five generations of Métis women, along with the land and the animals of their eras. That’s quite literal: Several chapters are written from the POV of bison and other species, and at least one human narrator chimes in from the afterlife. Early readers are praising the book’s huge heart and wry humor.
This contemporary novel follows a cast of characters led by Rio, a young Black mother who creates a (literally) underground utopian society after the loss of her newborn child. Equal parts satire and perceptive character study, The New Naturals examines the possibilities and limitations of community to provide meaning in the 21st century.
Ulysses S. Grant gets the fictional backstory treatment in this novel from American author Jon Clinch, who has previously written about historical figures both fictional and actual—Huckleberry Finn and Charles Dickens, to name two. The new book finds the former president and Civil War general reflecting on his life with his wife, Julia. Flashback chapters roam from the gilded towers of New York to the howling battlefields of war, then on to the Oval Office of the United States.
Good news this month for fans of The Maid, last year’s surprise whodunit sensation from the author with the best last name in the business. The Mystery Guest is both the official follow-up to the 2022 book and a standalone story with new sleuthing required. The gist: Famous author J.D. Grimthorpe has been found dead in the tearoom of the five-star Regency Grand Hotel. Housekeeper Molly Gray, now promoted to Head Maid, must solve the crime. The twist: It appears that Molly herself has some personal history with the decedent.
More meta trouble with writerly types this month: The latest from Jillian Cantor (The Lost Letter) follows the fate of novelist Olivia Fitzgerald, who has reluctantly agreed to ghostwrite a book with kazillionaire Henry Asherwood at his Malibu estate. Within days, Olivia is trapped in a labyrinthine mystery that includes dark secrets, dead grandmothers, and (weirdly) Daphne du Maurier. Beneath the surface narrative, Cantor ponders some tricky questions about who gets to tell the stories of others.
In the follow-up to her 2022 mystery debut, The Resemblance, Nashville author Lauren Nossett turns to the dark wilds of academia. When a student is found dead from apparent suicide, suspicion falls on his professor, Dr. Verena Sobek. Was it a romance gone bad? Something even darker? Former detective Marlitt Kaplan investigates and soon finds herself caught in the clockwork gears of institutional power—and the emerging power dynamics of the 21st-century campus. Bonus trivia: Author Nossett is a recovering professor herself.
From the author of Alice and The Girl in Red, this extremely twisty thriller follows three different women who find themselves trapped inside deadly stories straight out of the books they love. Celia, for instance, just woke up next to a husband she doesn’t quite recall. Allie finds herself on a camping trip that’s unfolding like a horror movie. And Maggie? You don’t want to know. Except, of course, you do. Veteran author Christina Henry has some wicked fun playing with the very architecture of storytelling.
Author Rebecca Yarros took over BookTok and bestseller lists earlier this year with her fantasy romance Fourth Wing. The highly anticipated sequel Iron Flame continues the adventures of Violet Sorrengail, whose experience at a dragon rider school gets more deadly every day. There’s a new commandant this year, for instance, and he’s got it out for Violet in the most lethal way. The upside: Violet knows the dark secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College. And she’s ready for her final exams.
Dystopian sci-fi crossed wrapped around the most high-stakes heist story ever, the latest from British author Naomi Alderman (The Power) presents an Orwellian vision of the future that’s both terrifying and entirely too plausible. The planet is dying, and the ultra-wealthy have figured out a way to monetize it all from their secret luxury bunkers. One ragtag group of friends plans a desperate final heist in a world where techbro plutocrats are determined to own everything.
The innovative 2022 fantasy Legends & Lattes made an outsize splash in the book world last year with its clever take on the cozy fantasy concept. The prequel story Bookshops & Bonedust chronicles an earlier adventure of battle-weary Viv the Orc, erstwhile soldier of fortune. Resting up in the sleepy beach town known as Murk, Viv finds a different kind of quest featuring a profane bookseller, a rowdy gnome, a suspicious traveler in gray, and (hey now!) a summer fling.
Murderbot! Murderbot! Author Martha Wells’ innovative sci-fi series features the most compelling cyborg protagonist since Johnny Mnemonic found a profitable use for neurotech wetware. Murderbot’s latest adventure pits our hero against another diabolical corporation in full psychosis, intent on stealing an entire colony of settlers for free labor. With its grim humor and surprising psychological depth, Wells’ series is state-of-the-art science fiction for our brave new world.
Chess nerds need love too, you know. Beloved romance author Ali Hazelwood (The Love Hypothesis) delivers her first YA love story with the saga of reluctant chess genius Mallory Greenleaf. The game and its rigors have cost Mallory her family. She decides to quit, but at her final charity tournament, Mallory meets (and defeats) the current world champ: notorious bad boy Nolan “Kingkiller” Sawyer. Plans change. Rooks fall. Sparks fly. Now Mallory must decide what to do with the rest of her life.
Over in the celebrity memoir aisle, the immortal Barbra Streisand finally issues her long-awaited memoir, which fans have been requesting for several decades now. By all reports, the memoir is generous and comprehensive, tracking Streisand’s life and career from her humble Brooklyn childhood through to her late-career political advocacy. Plenty of costars in this one, too, including Marlon Brando, Madeleine Albright, and the lovely Mr. Streisand: actor James Brolin.
In 2019, housekeeper-turned-journalist Stephanie Land filed an undercover dispatch from the front lines of the working poor with her bestselling autobiography Maid. (Subtitle: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive.) Land is back on bookshelves this fall with the follow-up Class, which expands on her harrowing return to college as a struggling single mother. The new book asks some tough questions about art, ambition, labor, and higher education.
Mother, Nature: A 5,000-Mile Journey to Discover If a Mother and Son Can Survive Their Differences
by Jedidiah Jenkins
by Jedidiah Jenkins
It’s safe to say that author and travel writer Jedidiah Jenkins (To Shake the Sleeping Self) has done his fair share of hiking. His new book takes things to another level as he joins his mom, 70-year-old Barbara Jenkins, on a quest to retrace the journey of her own famous travels in the Walk Across America book trilogy. The two don’t agree on much—she sees his sexuality as a sin, for one thing. But the mother-son bond is as strong as it is complex.
Which new releases are you looking forward to reading? Let's talk books in the comments!
Comments Showing 1-47 of 47 (47 new)
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Strzelba
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Nov 01, 2023 04:58AM
I’m waiting for Defiant :)
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Here's a clue; if TikTok's hyping about it, it's a trashfire.
I honestly thought The Maid and Maid (including the show) were the same thing until just now...
I’m so excited for Iron Flame and Check & Mate
Defiant by Brandon Sanderson and The Hunting Moon by Susan Dennard are two of my most anticipated November releases.
@Georgia S. and yet I see many 4 and 5 star reads in your read list that have been hyped/praised by TikTok! But sure, you're not like other girls ✌️
5 of these were on my look-out list, and frankly this article didn't add any more. But I've REALLY been waiting for a couple of these!
Another month, another month I've got barely 1 (The Fiction Writer by Jillian Cantor) on my list and have barely heard of so many as 2 others.Here's my own list, across decently wide range of genres:
The Shelter by G.N. Smith
The Wishing Bridge by Viola Shipman
The Innocent Angels by Alison Belsham
Kinfolk by Sean Dietrich
The Rural Voter by Nicholas F Jacobs and Daniel M Shea
Plot Twist by Erin La Rosa
Hello Goodbye by Kay Bratt
The Fiction Writer by Jillian Cantor
The Talk Of Coyote Canyon by Brenda Novak
Manipulating The Message by Cecil Rosner
The Trap by Gregg Dunnett
November is Michael Connelly's month for me.
Baumgartner by Paul Auster; can't wait!
@Katlix Katlix wrote: "@Georgia S. and yet I see many 4 and 5 star reads in your read list that have been hyped/praised by TikTok! But sure, you're not like other girls ✌️"And YeT YoU dO nOt ReAd OnLy BoOkS gOnE oUt oF PrInT in 1923. Curious.
Believe it or not, I don't think popularity makes a work bad. But TikTok hype and pandering to fanfic-addled seekers of instant gratifications is all Fourth Wing has going for it. And combined with the breakneck churning out of a sequel novel within the same year, it has the stink of being astroturfed - or under publishers with dollar signs in their eyes.
Georgia wrote: "it has the stink of being astroturfed - or under publishers with dollar signs in their eyes"You realize that is 99% of these GR "most anticipated" lists, right?
And one reason I've come to prefer competitors.
Rise of Shadows by K.C. Tagg definitely the most enjoyable new book I’ve come across in a while.
Georgia wrote: "Here's a clue; if TikTok's hyping about it, it's a trashfire."BWAHAHAHAHA
I have never interacted with BookTok, and I don't think I ever will.
Georgia wrote: "Here's a clue; if TikTok's hyping about it, it's a trashfire."Apparently, TikTok is forcing people to read all kinds of books! Albeit mainly by Colleen Hoover
there's no doubt about which book I'm most excited about: MY NAME IS BARBRA! I can't wait until Tuesday morning when I will start it. I'm looking forward to all 47 hours of it!!!
How can it be that not yet published books can receive ratings that are off the charts? Like f.e. IRON FLAME. It just spoils the whole rating game. Simple anticipation thrill does not make a five star novel. There should be a 24h rating suspension for after it published, as in they do it on metacritic for video games since THE LAST OF US2 received review bombing way in advance.
Olga wrote: "November is Michael Connelly's month for me."Yes! among others, but yes.
Marie wrote: "Baumgartner by Paul Auster; can't wait!"yesss
Thomas wrote: "How can it be that not yet published books can receive ratings that are off the charts? Like f.e. IRON FLAME. It just spoils the whole rating game. Simple anticipation thrill does not make a five s..."Advance Review Copies are a thing.
That noted, GR doesn't do a particularly good job of detecting or correcting review bombing - or review inflation, for that matter. (Of the two, inflation is generally much harder to detect, fwiw.) Note here that I'm using "inflation" simply because I lack a better term - there may be a term I'm not familiar with that is used more widely. Basically, I mean the opposite of review bombing, where the person *also* hasn't read the book but is praising the author/ book as a way to try to *increase* sales.
So excited for Iron Flame! So excited for all of the books! They may not all be for me, but someone out there will love them and I love that :-)
Georgia wrote: "Here's a clue; if TikTok's hyping about it, it's a trashfire."Preach👍
Georgia wrote: "Here's a clue; if TikTok's hyping about it, it's a trashfire."This ☝🏻
Looking forward to In the Pines by Mariah Stillbrook!
Jeff wrote: And one reason I've come to prefer competitors.
Which are the best ones, if you care to share...
Reader wrote: "Jeff wrote: And one reason I've come to prefer competitors.
Which are the best ones, if you care to share..."
I'm sure GR will eventually remove this comment (and possibly even ban me), but the three I work most closely with are Hardcover [dot] app, BookHype [dot] com, and TheStoryGraph [dot] com.
I'm actually a Librarian with each of the above, and the Head Librarian at Hardcover.
Each have their own strengths and weaknesses, all are better for most readers than this place tends to be. All *certainly* have better moderation schemes.
dany wrote: "I honestly thought The Maid and Maid (including the show) were the same thing until just now..."Me too! I've been a bit confused about these two books until this week ...
Excited to read Good Girl's Don't Die and Iron Flame!
hmmmm. not seeing anything super exciting.
Saved Fourth Wing until the sequel was out and I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to going on to Iron Flame.
All of these fox sounds really good
There is one book on that list that I am interested in Good Girls Dont Lie by Christina Henry
My List:
Where He Cant Find You - Darcy Coates 11/7
Everything is Temporary - Jon Cohn
The Lotus Tree - Jenny Allen 11/11
I am excited for Murtagh by Christopher Paolini!!
Georgia wrote: "@Katlix Katlix wrote: "@Georgia S. and yet I see many 4 and 5 star reads in your read list that have been hyped/praised by TikTok! But sure, you're not like other girls ✌️"And YeT YoU dO nOt ReAd..."
I honestly like your taste in books but why hate on others for theirs?? Let people enjoy what they enjoy and dont add toxicity to this community. :)
Kimi wrote: "Let people enjoy what they enjoy and dont add toxicity to this community. :) "Huh I think she was attacked first though? Like with the "not like the other girls" comment and even visiting her profile to look for ammunition? Georgia just commented that she thought the books themselves were trash, the other user made it personal.
In general I agree with you though, the book community is weirdly toxic.
My To Read List is just getting bigger and bigger! From the November releases I’ve got my eye on the following:My Name is Barbra by Barbra Streisand,
Class by Stephanie Land (also Maid by her too)
The Future by Naomi Alderman
Is there actually an app called BookTok? Lol, or is it just a part of TikTok itself? I deleted my TikTok because it took up too much GBs on an older phone (that I really need to replace). October/November reads for me:
Julia by Sandra Newman
The Future by Naomi Alderman
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
Not a lot of good nonfiction books this year it seems? Or maybe I’ve just missed them?
Megan wrote: "Is there actually an app called BookTok? Lol, or is it just a part of TikTok itself?"Just a region of overall tiktok. Same as any of the other "book"-socials ("booktwitter", "bookstagram", etc)
Megan wrote: "Not a lot of good nonfiction books this year it seems? Or maybe I’ve just missed them?"
I've encountered several:
Waco by Jeff Guinn,
Country Capitalism by Brett Elmore,
Our Tribal Future by David Samson,
Wasteland by Oliver Franklin-Wallis,
Silent Coup by Clare Provost and Matt Kennard,
Outrage Machine by Tobias Rose-Stockwell,
The Peer Effect by Syed Ali and Margaret M. Chin,
Catastrophic Incentives by Jeff Schlegemilch and Ellen Carlin, Losing Our Religion by Russell Moore,
Ira Hayes by Tom Holm,
Mass Supervision by Vincent Schiraldi,
Right Kind of Wrong by Amy C. Edmondson,
The Lost Supper by Taras Grescoe,
The Last Supper Club by Matthew Batt,
The Soul of Civility by Alexandra Hudson
... just to name a few :D
Georgia wrote: "Here's a clue; if TikTok's hyping about it, it's a trashfire."LOL! That's not all that true but I can see where you're coming from.
@katlix 1. Guess their comment hit you hard, huh? 2. Books that are hyped on tiktok can already be popular before that.
Georgia wrote: "Here's a clue; if TikTok's hyping about it, it's a trashfire."While I respect your opinion - please understand that TikTok specifically BookTok has done A LOT for the book community. Yes, certain groups are fans of just certain authors and that’s perfectly ok.
BookTok has allowed independent authors a place to receive reviews and to interact its readers.
I for one am incredibly grateful for discovering BookTok in 2020 during a pandemic that crushed my mental health - like so many others. I found my love for reading again and it pulled me from a dark place.
As I said - I respect your opinion, but free to disagree.
As a young girl growing up in a house without books I even read every word on cereal boxes. A library card introduced me to new worlds. Today, I’ll read anything and have often delighted in reading the “trash”. My house is covered in books that I may never get around to as, being human, I can’t read everything. Book snobs can be a little boring actually.
