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Literature lovers have had a lot to digest in the book world over the last month. From super-buzzy fanfiction deals to a slew of book-to-film adaptations and a cover reveal for Emily Henry’s latest novel, it’s been stellar. Below, what’s new in the book world for November, including PureWow Book Club’s celebrity guest host and our latest read.
1. Emily Henry Cover Reveal
In mid-September, rom-com doyenne Emily Henry teased that her next book would be titled Modern Classic, and we’ve now got the tantalizing cover, which is seriously giving Roman Holiday vibes. Indeed, the plot of the forthcoming novel follows screenwriter Beckett, who, suffering from writer’s block, absconds to her newly-inherited home in Santa Barbara. Of course, she has a surly but charming neighbor who is going to help her write a script so iconic it becomes the next Casablanca.
2. Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep Heads to Netflix
My first introduction to the world of Curtis Sittenfeld, mastermind behind literary endeavors like Rodham and humorous love stories like Romantic Comedy, was when I read Eligible in high school. It was honestly the first book that really made me laugh. And now, Sittenfeld-fans are in for a new treat: Prep, her spot-on takedown of private schools and teen dynamics, is headed to Netflix over 20 years after it was first published. The news comes two years after Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine acquired the rights to Romantic Comedy, which is currently still in development. Release dates for both are still forthcoming.
3. PureWow’s November Book Club Pick: The Guest List by Lucy Foley
Following the launch of PureWow’s Book Club in October, where we read Jessica Knoll’s Helpless, we’re joined by guest host Olivia Ponton of the Booked, Blonde & Busy podcast to read her November pick, The Guest List by Lucy Foley. Check back at the end of the month for Olivia’s hot take.
4. Everyone on Substack Is Talking About Bad Words
While Henry’s Modern Classic may be the most anticipated romance novel of 2027, this year’s buzz was all about Rioghnach Robinson’s Bad Words. After selling for seven figures at auction, Robinson’s first adult novel was published at the beginning of October and has been racking up rave reviews. My Substack (think nice, glory days of Twitter for English majors) feed is basically a bunch of people who are just starting or making their way through the literary rom-com. Personally, it’s one of my two 5-star reads for this year (and Henry, who is Robinson’s friend, called it a “once-in-a-lifetime read”).
5. Celebrity Book Club Update
In November, Reese’s Book Club will read The Great Wherever by Shannon Sanders, Dua Lipa’s Service95 will read White Teeth by Zadie Smith, the Laufey Book Club will read Music Against the Night by Yiyun Li, Jenna Bush Hager’s Read With Jenna will read Sweet Pea by Kit de Walland and Natalie Portman’s book club will read Heart the Lover by Lily King. Which one are you going to pick up?
6. Sarah Snook Will Star in a New Adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s The Birds
For fans of both Daphne Du Maurier and Alfred Hitchcock, Sarah Snook is leading the limited HBO series of Du Maurier’s 1952 horror short story. Deadline reports that it will be a contemporary adaptation with the addition of a murder mystery and new female character, Myra Massey (Snook). Massey returns to her hometown with her young daughter in tow amid a custody battle. She’s also secretly investigating the disappearance of her childhood friend, an event that seems strangely linked with deadly bird attacks. Now’s a great time to brush up on Hitchcock’s 1963 black-and-white film starring Tippi Hedren.
7. According to Ann Patchett, This Is the Great American Novel
Ann Patchett, who published her 11th adult fiction title, Whistler, in June, went on record saying that East of Eden is not the Great American Novel. Rather, she steers customers of her Parnassus Books store in Nashville away from what Steinbeck considered his magnum opus and towards The Grapes of Wrath. But if she had to choose a contemporary title, her money’s on Buckeye by Patrick Ryan, which Patchett calls “sweeping.” The 2025 novel is, like the aforementioned Steinbeck tomes, a generational saga of epic proportions.
8. This Famous Harry Potter Fanfiction Is Being Published as a Trilogy
From the Anne Hathaway-led The Idea of You (a Harry Styles fanfiction) to Fifty Shades of Grey (Twilight), it’s not uncommon to see fanfiction jump from community servers into the mainstream. The next mega-franchise seeing fan work turned into something official: All the Young Dudes, MsKingBean89’s Harry Potter fanfic, is being published as a trilogy titled Wolfboy, secured in what was reported to be a seven-figure deal.
9. Book 7 of Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses Gets a Release Date
A Court of Splintered Harmony may have just dropped, but fans are in a tizzy knowing they won’t have to wait long for Sarah J. Maas’s seventh installment in the series. A Court of Forgotten Melody drops January 12, 2027.
10. Jane Fonda Is Set to Lead an Adaptation of The Correspondent
Virginia Evans’s highly acclaimed novel, The Correspondent, is getting a film adaptation. Lionsgate emerged victorious after a seven-studio bidding war. Jane Fonda will produce and star as Sybil Van Antwerp, a retired lawyer trying to bring order to her chaotic world via epistolary correspondence. When a letter from her past resurfaces, she’ll have to confront old guilt, grief and regret.
11. Mandylion Press Reissues Love Days by Ettie Stettheimer
Mandylion Press, a NYC-based independent publisher that reissues lost 19th-century literature by female authors, has just released Love Days by Ettie Stettheimer. The novel focuses on Susanna Moore, described as a “ravishing Greek scholar” who is incredibly book smart but completely lost when it comes to love and feelings.
