What Book Clubs Are Reading in November

We’re thrilled to announce a new partnership with the Belletrist book club, kicking off with their November pick! To get every Belletrist pick sent directly to your doorstep, sign up today at Tertulia.com/Belletrist. Our initial selection explores the complex relationship between literary icons Joan Didion and Eve Babitz. Journalist Lili Anolik reveals new dimensions to the famously engimatic Didion by delving into Babitz’s personal letters. Sign up now for Belletrist x Tertulia and you’ll get invited to a special session with Belletrist founders Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss in conversation with the author.

This month, Reese Witherspoon selected an “unforgettable memoir about fighting for your home and your heart,” written by an Indigenous activist, author, and member of Ecuador’s Waorani Nation, which reflects on her courageous fight to protect her people and the Amazon. "I was deeply moved by this story," Reese confessed.

In her November Audacious Book Club selection, Roxane Gay picked a hilarious debut novel inspired by New York’s famed Barbizon Hotel for Women written by Slate’s former "Dear Prudence" advice columnist, which The Boston Globe called a “little jewel of a novel.”

Can we still love a Picasso painting despite the undeniable pain he caused women, or groove to MJ in light of the sexual abuse claims against him? In the #MeToo era, separating art from artist feels harder than ever—a question the author of Natalie Portman’s latest book club pick explores while examining how modern audiences wrestle with the legacies of “monstrous” geniuses like Woody Allen, Miles Davis, and Roman Polanski.

GMA’s November book club pick is the latest blockbuster from the author of The Girl on the Train. Set on a remote Scottish island with just one house and a single inhabitant, the novel kicks off when a shocking discovery at a London gallery unearths dark, long-buried secrets. The Guardian hails it as “an intelligent, propulsive thriller… Hawkins’s best novel yet.”

“If you’re a Jane Austen fan (and who isn’t?), you’ll adore this reimagining of Mansfield Park,” announced Jenna Bush Hager when revealing her November book club pick. The novel follows a young Nigerian girl thrust into a new life in England, where she must navigate family secrets, culture clashes, and a haunting legacy. “It’s a journey of self-discovery and belonging,” Jenna shared, “with writing that’s both witty and warm, blending humor and compassion. More than just a coming-of-age story, it’s a celebration of resilience, love, and the power of finding people who truly see you.”

“This beautiful book had me hooked right from the title. Although it’s a novel, Ocean Vuong’s poetic language dances on every page,” declared Dua Lipa of her November pick, a nominee for the 2019 National Book Award for Fiction. “It’s told in the form of a letter written by a young man named Little Dog to his illiterate Vietnamese mother… As much as it is a commentary on the dark side of the American Dream, it is also a tender testament to the unbreakable love between a mother and son.”

For November, actor Dakota Johnson chose a “luminous novel about erotic obsession and the hunger for intimacy.” In the Evening author’s latest erotic romp, a 52-year-old woman’s well-organized life is thrown into chaos when a younger, ex-con musician sweeps her into an intense love affair. As she juggles motherhood and gives in to raw desire, she’s torn between her stable reality and the irresistible pull of passion in this steamy novel about the thrill of breaking all the rules.

This month, The New York Times Book Review selected a classic that “has captivated readers for more than half a century with its enchanting magical realism and sharp exploration of imperialism.” With a major Netflix adaptation arriving in December, now is “the perfect time to revisit this iconic work.”

This book club devoted to memoir, founded by writer and journalist Melisse Gelula, has selected for November “an ode to the world's most complex relationship.” It’s an anthology collection that recently shot to fame on BookTok and “goes straight for the jugular on one of the most enduring themes in memoir (is anyone NOT writing about their mother?), and harnesses the superpowers of brilliant writers to do it, i.e., Sari Botton, Alexander Chee, Melissa Febos, Kiese Laymon, Carmen Maria Machado, and more.”