We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we love.
As the air cools and the evenings stretch, November feels made for slowing down with a story that stays. This month’s list has a bit of everything — the quiet kind that lingers, and the ones that grab you fast and don’t let go. A Dark Forgetting by Kristen Ciccarelli draws you in with that old, uneasy magic that feels half-remembered. Oyinkan Braithwaite’s Cursed Daughters cuts sharp, almost funny, until it suddenly hurts. Both leave an echo after you close the book. You might even flip back a page, trying to catch what slipped past you. Some stories do that — they sit in your head long after. November’s books carry that same pull, a mix of feeling and edge that fits the season.
1
Books to Read This November
Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite
“I was completely consumed – this story was simply hard to break away from. I was laughing one minute at the idiosyncrasies of the matriarchal women and aching for Monife and Eniiyi throughout their journey. A sweeping family saga with a supernatural twist.” Kami Tei
Release Date: November 4, 2025
2
Son of the Morning by Akwaeke Emezi
Okay, so Akwaeke Emezi is taking us straight into the depths of the Black South — and Hell — with this steamy, supernatural ride. Galilee Kincaid’s world is full of secrets, whispers, and creeks that hum with old magic. Then comes Lucifer Helel — yes, that Lucifer — and everything unravels in the most seductive way. Expect family curses, forbidden attraction, and a power struggle between Heaven, Hell, and a woman discovering who she truly is.
Release Date: November 4, 2025
3
A Dark Forgetting by Kristen Ciccarelli
This is a dark romantic fantasy set on the edge of an enchanted forest. Emeline has always been afraid of the woods that border her home, but when her grandfather goes missing, she’s forced to face what she’s been running from. There, she meets Hawthorne — mysterious, brooding, and far too handsome for her peace of mind. As the two are drawn deeper into the forest’s dangerous magic, Emeline discovers that saving her family might cost her everything — including her heart.
Release Date: November 4, 2025
4
What She Saw by Mary Burton
She’s back on the trail! Mary Burton delivers another chilling page-turner with What She Saw. Cold case reporter Sloane Grayson returns to her hometown in the Virginia mountains to reopen the investigation into her mother’s disappearance—one of four women who vanished during a music festival thirty years ago. The alleged killer is behind bars, but with no bodies ever found, Sloane suspects there’s more to the story. As she digs deeper, the past begins to stir, and someone close will do anything to keep the truth buried.
Release Date: November 1, 2025
5
Books to Read This November
Deeper Than the Ocean by Mirta Ojito
Cara and Emmett have it all—success, passion, and the kind of love that turns heads. She’s a fearless entrepreneur, he’s a hockey star who’d do anything for her. But when their plans to start a family hit an unexpected wall, the fight becomes more emotional than anything they’ve faced before. What happens when love meets something it can’t fix? Becka Mack’s final Playing for Keeps novel dives into heartbreak, resilience, and what it truly means to stand together.
Release Date: November 4, 2025
6
Books to Read This November
An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister
“One of the most charming book Ive read this year, this rom-com elevates some of my favorite tropes to delightful new heights, including enemies to lovers and marriage of convinience, as two academices enter an arrrangment they think they can reason theier way out of but foolishly dont consider their hearts.” Abby Abell Amazon Editor
Release Date: November 11, 2025
7
The Restoration Garden by Sara Blaydes
Julia Esdaile takes on the restoration of an old country estate, a place tangled in its own history. Two sisters once lived there—one disappeared during the war, the other stayed behind, waiting. As Julia clears the overgrown paths and broken fountains, fragments of the sisters’ story start to surface. What she finds doesn’t just change how she sees Havenworth—it unsettles her own sense of what love and endurance really mean.
Release Date: November 1, 2025
8
Like Family by Erin O. White
“This debut featurs one of the most astute and heartbreaking depictions of complicated families and friendships thst ive read in a long time. Families, whether born or built, are messy, and this novel perfectly captures thst beautiful chaos.” – Sarah Gelman
Release Date: November 4, 2025
9
Bonds of Hercules by Jasmine Mas
If you want the book version of Greek mythology rewritten through power, passion, and revenge, this is the one. Hercules is stuck in a marriage with her rivals, caught in the middle of cult secrets and rising chaos. When a prisoner escapes from the Underworld, she steps into a deadly gladiator arena to reclaim her strength. Expect obsession, betrayal, and myth rewritten with fire.
Release Date: November 4, 2025
10
Books to Read This November
The Black Wolf by Louise Penny
“Picking up where The Grey Wolf ended, Chief Inspector Gamache-still recovering from his wounds-goes once more into the breach of high-level conspiracy, double-crosses, terrorist plots, and the Montreal mafia. Louise Penny’s dizzying twists kept me glued to the pages of this spectacular thriller.” – Seira Wilson
