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Readers' Most Anticipated Books of November
Is there anything better in this world than reading a book in front of a fireplace? We submit that there is not. November, month-wise, offers the perfect time to try outthis scenario. Give it a go, if you have a fireplace. If you don’t, try .
New in November: A time-traveling Scotsman brings his family to 18th-century America in Diana Gabaldon’s new Outlander installment, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone. A Minneapolis bookstore worker encounters ghosts both real and figurative in Louise Erdrich’s The Sentence. And sci-fi godfather Neal Stephenson conjures an unsettling image of our ecological future in Termination Shock. Also this month: corporate intrigue, Edwardian secret societies, and Hindu mythology.
Each month the ŷ editorial team takes a look at the books that are being published in the U.S., readers' early reviews, and how many readers are adding these books to their Want to Read shelves (which is how we measure anticipation). We use the information to curate this list of hottest new releases.
Veteran author Jodi Picoult has established a kind of one-woman industry for writing wildly popular commercial fiction that grapples directly with contemporary issues and complex moral dilemmas. See if you can spot the real-world inspiration for her new one, Wish You Were Here: Art world professional Diana O’Toole finds her vacation interrupted when a viral pandemic closes the borders and puts the entire island under quarantine. Future American lit grad students will have fun parsing this era of books.
The ninth book in Diana Gabaldon’s beloved Outlander series spins the historical fiction time-travel dial once again, settling in the early days of the American Revolutionary War. Claire and Jamie are reunited with their daughter Brianna and her family in backcountry North Carolina. Fleeing the present for the past seems like a good idea, until you remember those pesky details about disease, primitive medicine, smoothbore muskets, and average life expectancy.
The debut thriller from author Wanda M. Morris follows the quickly unraveling life of Ellice Littlejohn, a Black lawyer who runs into serious trouble when her boss turns up dead with a gunshot wound to the head. Complication #1: Ellice was secretly dating her boss. Complication #2: A sinister corporate conspiracy is revealed. Complication #3: Ellice has her own secrets to hide. All Her Little Secrets is recommended for fans of Attica Locke, Alyssa Cole, Harlan Coben, and Celeste Ng.
It’s an intriguing premise: As the city of Minneapolis deals with a year of tragedy and reckoning, voracious reader and ex-con Tookie finds that her small independent bookstore is haunted by the ghost of a former customer. Pulitzer Prize winner and member of the Anishinaabe nation (also known as Chippewa), author Louise Erdrich is regularly counted among the best of a literary movement that's sometimes called the Native American Renaissance.
In the realm of cerebral speculative fiction, author Neal Stephenson has a daunting curriculum vitae: Cryptonomicon. The Diamond Age. Snow Crash. Zodiac. Now he’s back again with a rigorously researched cautionary tale on the impending catastrophe of climate change. The forecast is grim: global flooding, lethal heat waves, rampant disease, and some seriously heavy weather. Sounds great. I’ll be under the bed.
Set in Edwardian Britain (think Downton Abbey), A Marvellous Light presents an interesting mashup of historical fiction, urban fantasy, queer romance, and straight-up adventure yarn. Harried minor noble Robin Blyth finds his orderly world suddenly shattered when he encounters a secret magical society in the shadows of London. Bonus trivia: Debut author Freya Marske cohosts the Hugo Award–nominated podcast Be the Serpent.
Author Kirthana Ramisetti’s debut novel is built around one woman’s dubious-but-kind-of-fascinating idea. When billionaire matriarch Dava Shastri receives a terminal cancer diagnosis, she arranges to have news of her death break early—so she can check out her own obituaries. Tempting, isn’t it? The plan goes sideways in a hurry, though, when the news exposes not one but two critical secrets she’d hoped to keep hidden forever.
From the acclaimed author of 2017’s Marriage of a Thousand Lies, S.J. Sindu’s Blue-Skinned Gods starts in Tamil Nadu, India, and winds up in the underground rock clubs of New York City. Born with blue skin, young Kalki is heralded as the latest incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, earning—or perhaps enduring—a life of worldwide fame. Crossing traditional fantasy with magical realism, Sindu’s book explores themes of gender, ethnicity, sexual identity, and faith.
The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning �1619 Project”—a bold reassessment of American history and the legacy of slavery—is widely acknowledged as one of the most significant works of journalism of the 21st century. This ambitious new collection expands on the original publication by updating the original Pulitzer Prize–winning lead essay and weaving together more than 50 new essays, poems, and works of fiction from a variety of authors.
Writer, researcher, and storyteller extraordinaire, Brené Brown has made enormous contributions to the cultural conversation in recent years. Her new book takes readers on a notional trip through 87 of the emotions and experiences that define the human condition. Brown is terribly good at what she does, combining psychology, spirituality, and academic research to direct our attention to the important stuff: understanding, empathy, and connection.
In 2015, veteran journalist Sam Quinones sounded a DEFCON 1–level warning with the publication of Dreamland, a startling investigation into the opioid and meth epidemics with ground-level reports from across the U.S. and Mexico. His follow-up book finds glimmers of hope in the wreckage: “In a time when drug traffickers act like corporations and corporations like traffickers,� he writes, “our best defense, perhaps our only defense, lies in bolstering community.�
Which new releases are you looking forward to reading? Let's talk books in the comments!
Check out more recent articles, including:
November's Hottest New Romances
The Biggest New Young Adult Books of November
New Books to Read This Native American Heritage Month
Check out more recent articles, including:
November's Hottest New Romances
The Biggest New Young Adult Books of November
New Books to Read This Native American Heritage Month
Comments Showing 1-19 of 19 (19 new)
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Lisa of Troy
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Nov 02, 2021 06:08AM
NetGalley approved me for Wish You Were Here. Can't wait to dig in! Happy reading, everyone!
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Jesus these covers are awful. They all look like something you buy in a grocery store. And yes, I can judge a book by its cover.
Bobby wrote: "Jesus these covers are awful. They all look like something you buy in a grocery store. And yes, I can judge a book by its cover." You're right!!!!!
Bobby wrote: "Jesus these covers are awful. They all look like something you buy in a grocery store. And yes, I can judge a book by its cover."Geezuz your name is awful. Cover > Book.
Bobby wrote: "Jesus these covers are awful. They all look like something you buy in a grocery store. And yes, I can judge a book by its cover."I always thought the cover was a form of advertising for the book. Attractive cover = more people buy the book.
Elentarri wrote: "Bobby wrote: "Jesus these covers are awful. They all look like something you buy in a grocery store. And yes, I can judge a book by its cover."I always thought the cover was a form of advertising..."
Agreed. An attractive cover can go a long way towards making a positive first impression.
Bobby wrote: "Jesus these covers are awful. They all look like something you buy in a grocery store. And yes, I can judge a book by its cover."I was thinking the same thing. They're all terrible!
How come Leviathan Falls is not on this list??? Sci-fi fans have been chewing their fingernails for this one for more than a year.
The books coming out this month that I am looking forward to are on not on this list:The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly
Leviathan Falls by James S. A. Corey
I've been burned by "pretty covers" where the energy's put more on the front than on the page.
Going to check out Leviathan Falls. Always look forward to the comments for the best reading! Thanks friends!
Brock wrote: "The books coming out this month that I am looking forward to are on not on this list:The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly
Leviathan Falls by James S. A. Corey"
Thank you, I didn't know about the new Connelly book!
Wish You Were Here was a good story in and of itself, but COVID is integral to it - and I DO NOT WANT TO READ ABOUT COVID!!!!!!! Seriously, I can NOT emphasize this enough. One sentence mentioning it to establish a connection to the "real" world, *maybe*. But this one, the plot completely revolves around it.Several other solid November releases did not get mentioned here:
The Passing Storm by Christine Nolfi
Wholehearted Faith by Rachel Held Evans and Jeff Chu
The Extinction Trials by AG Riddle
From Parchment To Dust by Louis Michael Seidman
The Library by Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen
Mind Bullet by Jeremy Robinson
Her Silent Husband by Sam Vickery
Dead Mercy by Noelle Holten
Audience-ology by Kevin Goetz
The Hostage by John Ryder
Nanny Dearest by Flora Collins
Forever Home by Elysia Whisler
An Unexpected Distraction by Catherine Bybee
A Little Bird by Wendy James
Of that list, we've got a bit for most everyone. Several women's fiction books, all great in their own ways. A few nonfiction, both Christian and not. And a couple of action tales.
Mind Bullet was arguably my favorite, and shows the clearest indications yet that The Modern Day Master of Science Fiction is gearing up for a second crossover event - and has one of the more badass opening scenes I've ever encountered in a book.
I am looking forward to the 1619 project.
Jeff wrote: "Wish You Were Here was a good story in and of itself, but COVID is integral to it - and I DO NOT WANT TO READ ABOUT COVID!!!!!!! Seriously, I can NOT emphasize this enough. One sentence mentioning ..."Thanks for the list. I spent the last half hour looking them up, and found several that made it to my TBR list. Can't say the same for the OP list.
Jeff wrote: "Wish You Were Here was a good story in and of itself, but COVID is integral to it - and I DO NOT WANT TO READ ABOUT COVID!!!!!!! Seriously, I can NOT emphasize this enough. One sentence mentioning ..."I mean, GR's list is kinda meh, but your's was downright dull. "Something for everyone"? Do you think all women read is chick lit?
Kate (Feathered Turtle Press) wrote: "Jeff wrote: "Wish You Were Here was a good story in and of itself, but COVID is integral to it - and I DO NOT WANT TO READ ABOUT COVID!!!!!!! Seriously, I can NOT emphasize this enough. One sentenc..."There are several things other than chick lit there. Including a couple of kick ass action books, a female-led British police procedural mystery, and a few nonfiction books.
IOW, no, I don't think that "all women read is chick lit". :D
November was actually a light month for me, but Aug- Oct were fairly insane.
Brock wrote: "The books coming out this month that I am looking forward to are on not on this list:The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly
Leviathan Falls by James S. A. Corey"
Never by Ken Follett.
