2026 Reading Challenge: November New Releases

We're almost at the end of 2026 and after the bumper release months of September and October there's so many incredible titles to choose from for this month's challenge.

This November we're celebrating new releases - the books engaging with the zeitgeist, speaking to contemporary issues, ideas and feelings, and by the living breathing authors walking amongst us.

To help get you started, we've created a list with three sections: Staff picks, bestsellers and newest releases. Check out the books released this year that our staff have loved, the books that have taken out bestseller status in store over the months, and the books that have only just recently hit our shelves that we think you're bound to love.

Staff Picks

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle – and her followers are sick with envy. Her charming farmhouse on her working ranch is artfully cluttered, her husband is a handsome cowboy, her homemade sourdough boules are each more beautiful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers and industrial-grade ovens behind the scenes? What her followers don’t know won’t hurt them, right? Then, one morning, Natalie wakes up in a strange, horrible version of reality. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off ... Natalie knows just two things for sure: this isn't her perfect life, and she must escape, by any means possible.

Recommended by Bri who says: "At once satire, psychological horror, a social critique, Yesteryear is a deeply unsettling portrait of womanhood under patriarchy. Natalie's obsession with perceived perfection - motherhood, femininity, submission, status - curdles into something frightening as reality itself becomes unstable around her. Burke, in her debut, writes brilliantly about anger, repression and the performance of the 'ideal' woman."

The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan

In 1785, Professor Sebastian Grave receives the news he fears most: the terrible Beast of Gevaudan has returned, and the French countryside runs red in its wake. Sebastian knows the Beast. A monster-slayer with centuries of experience, he joined the hunt for the creature twenty years ago and watched it slaughter its way through a long and bloody winter. Even with the help of his indwelling demon, Sarmodel - who takes payment in living hearts - it nearly cost him his life to bring the monster down. Now, two decades later, Sebastian has been recalled to the hunt by Antoine Avenel d'Ocerne, an estranged lover who shares a dark history with the Beast and a terrible secret with Sebastian.

Recommended by Latitia who says: "We follow a morally grey monster hunter with an indwelling demon try to navigate the first sightings of werewolves and love in the 18th Century. Full of personality and darkly funny, I absolutely loved The Red Winter! It was a fun, dark read that kept me guessing."

I remember everything by Fiona Wilkes

Beginning in Bristol and moving to 1980s London, this novel follows Billie, a young queer woman, as she navigates the highs and lows of life, coming out as queer, and finding her chosen family, only to lose them again during the AIDS epidemic.

Thirty years on, Billie picks up her pen to celebrate the lives of these friends- quixotic Robert, Tolstoy the photographer, soft-spoken Eleanor, sweet-eyed Sasha, uncompromising Aggie, and Ted the dreamer. And, of course, Laura - the girl who has always captivated Billie, and the one person she can't live without.

Recommended by Liv who says: "Incredibly striking and emotional, this deeply moving novel with a cast of such vivid, complex characters reminds why reading fiction and learning about the pas is so important."

Plant Lady by Minyoung Kang, translated by Shanna Tan

Yoohee has opened up her own Plant Shop to start afresh. Rows of pots thrive under her green fingers; sunlight filters through the windows at just the right angle making every leaf shimmer with health. It is a plant-lovers' sanctuary, where peperomias and marigolds bloom, while the air itself is like an elixir of peace.
Yoohee welcomes her customers, eager to share her tips, while scolding anyone attempting to caress an unfurling bloom, let alone snap off a stem. But as night falls, the soothing atmosphere transforms as Yoohee takes her shovel and hoe, and vanishes into her moonlit garden. In the shadows, she scatters the remains of the day - the bloody remnants of an unfortunate encounter.

Recommended by Jess who says: "A dark, clever horror-thriller exploring male violence against women through the lens of female rage and vengeance. The juxtaposition of violent murder amonst the cosy peaceful atmosphere of the plant shop, and of the detective intent on Yoohee even as the law and society fail the women she is helping, make this an usually hopeful horror."

The Society of Literary Marauders by Sasha Wasley

At Oxford University, 1928, four young women make a secret pledge: ‘I hereby undertake to take and read any book kept away from nice young ladies.’ 

They’ve come from unlikely corners of the British Empire: brickworker’s daughter Annie, wealthy flapper Ridley, refined Parsi aristocrat Dorelia and disheartened schoolteacher Norma. They call themselves the Society of Literary Marauders and the price of entry is having stolen a book.

Their illicit meetings rapidly become a lifeline in a world where knowledge is power, and women are fed lies and half-truths. They start with small misdemeanours – getting their hands on banned books, stealing back historical records claimed by the men’s colleges. But over time, they become aware of a true literary injustice – and they slowly formulate a plan to put this historical wrong to right.

Recommended by Laurena who says: "A great story, well written with Australian and world history, political and social themes, romance, friendship and comradeship all in one! Thoroughly enjoyable. 5 Stars Highly recommended."

Bestsellers

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe

In 2019, teenager Zac Brettler mysteriously fell to his death from a luxury apartment balcony into the Thames. As his grieving parents investigated his final days, they were shocked to learn that he’d been posing as the son of a wealthy Russian oligarch.

This unsolved case is at the heart of Patrick Radden Keefe's brilliant and riveting London Falling – a family tragedy, a psychological portrait of a young fabulist, and an indictment of the greed for extreme wealth that has transformed London.

In his inimitably gripping and forensic style, the Baillie Gifford winner and New Yorker staff writer explores what brought Zac Brettler to the balcony that night – and how he became involved with some of London’s most notorious gangsters. Following Zac’s parents on a dark journey of investigation, London Falling unearths the unsettling truths they discovered about the sinister underworld on their doorstep and their son’s secret world.

Famesick by Lena Dunham

For the last decade, as she's spent countless hours in doctor's waiting rooms searching for diagnoses, treatments and relief, being the owner and operator of Lena Dunham's body has felt, as she puts it, 'like towing a wrecked car across town at midnight.' It's not easy dragging a wrecked car anywhere, much less to the Met Gala while sewn into a gold lame corset.  Or to the set of the hit show that you - as a twenty-five-year-old - are writing, directing, producing and starring in.  Or to the White House, the Golden Globes, or your publicist's office to discuss the latest internet disaster.

But Dunham does it - even if it means interminable hospital stays, vomiting in the bathroom when she's meant to be meeting Oprah, or terrifying those closest to her - because she can no longer tell the difference between fighting to do what she loves and being a servant to her own ambition.  All the while, she is holding out for a love that can withstand her personal and public challenges and, more than anything, yearning to feel like herself again - if only she could remember who that self was.

Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash

The Flynns are not alright. It's been disastrous since Bud and Catherine opened up their marriage, and none of the Flynns can remember the last time a meal was cooked, a load of laundry done, or a social code abided by. Their daughters spiral in their own chaotic orbits- Abigail, the eldest, is dating a man in his twenties nicknamed War Crime Wes; Louise, the middle child, maintains a secret correspondence with an online terrorist; the brilliant youngest, Harper, is being sent to wilderness reform camp due to her insistence that someone - or something - is monitoring the town's citizens.

Casting a shadow across their lives, and their small coastal town, is Paul Alabaster, a nefarious local billionaire. Rumours of corruption circulate, but no one dares dig too deep. No one except Harper, whose obsession with Alabaster's machinations sends the family hurtling into a criminal conspiracy - one that may just, finally, bring them closer together. Rippling with humour, warmth and style, Lost Lambs offers a stunning portrait of the perverse pleasures and perils of our most intimate reality- our family.

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

The year is 1348. Thomas, a disgraced knight, has found a young girl alone in a dead Norman village. An orphan of the Black Death, and an almost unnerving picture of innocence, she tells Thomas that plague is only part of a larger cataclysm-that the fallen angels under Lucifer are rising in a second war on heaven, and that the world of men has fallen behind the lines of conflict.

Is it delirium or is it faith? She believes she has seen the angels of God. She believes the righteous dead speak to her in dreams. And now she has convinced the faithless Thomas to shepherd her across a depraved landscape to Avignon. There, she tells Thomas, she will fulfil her mission: to confront the evil that has devastated the earth, and to restore to this betrayed, murderous knight the nobility and hope of salvation he long abandoned.

As hell unleashes its wrath, and as the true nature of the girl is revealed, Thomas will find himself on a macabre battleground of angels and demons, saints, and the risen dead, and in the midst of a desperate struggle for nothing less than the soul of man.

Whistler by Ann Patchet

When Daphne notices an older gentleman following her around the Met museum in New York, she doesn't expect it to be Eddie - her former stepfather. Married to her mother when Daphne was just nine, she hasn't seen him for many years; not since the fateful event that changed the direction of both their lives. While their relationship was brief, it had a profound impact on them both. And reflecting on the short, intense time they spent with each other, they begin to piece together the moments that have shaped who they have become. Whistler deftly paints an intimate portrait of how the feeling of being known by one other person, even for a short period of time, can change everything.

Newest releases

As We Fall Through Time by Claire North

In the beginning, the world will end. This is the story of what happens next. When Cal meets a soldier of the French Revolution, he knows his lover is destined to die. But what is the point of being a time traveller if you can't make a few small tweaks to the course of history? A little paradox here, an alteration there - nothing Cal can't fix, to save the man he loves.

When Fadimatu walks into a museum in 2018, she stumbles upon her own mummified corpse, setting her on the path to a betrayal that has already killed her, and a murder that has not yet come to pass. And when a sudden rupture in the fabric of history rips through the lives these travellers have built, breaking both past and future, they must reckon with death foretold, love forsaken, and a secret that will shatter time itself. Fall through history on a thrilling journey of shattered time, broken futures and a love that can never be erased.

The Art of Getting Hammered by Joanna Wallace

What use is a part-time serial killer who doesn't want to kill people? Once the terror of rude and irritating people everywhere, now Claire has lost her murderous mojo. Not even the overly chatty woman in the supermarket or the man who stole her neighbour's dog can motivate her to get out the zip ties.Then a lucky break and a new job in the local pub gives Claire the perfect target: someone is spiking drinks and causing mayhem.

But as Claire closes in on the culprit, punters start dropping like flies - and for once she's not the one doing the killing. Is someone else murdering on her patch? Claire has questions. And she's not afraid to use her hammer to get answers...

American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee

John and Helen Koh and their three children - Bo, DH and Mido - are building new lives in Korea when they find their worlds upended, first by a terrible betrayal and then by the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Striving to regain their footing, the Kohs set out to do whatever it takes to provide for their children's futures. They leave Seoul for Sydney and eventually settle in California, where new opportunities open for the Koh children, as the parents, strangers in a strange land, adjust to a difficult existence in which their qualifications mean little. Their way forward is lit by the faith that education will lead the next generation to the success and security that have eluded their parents.

The Kohs, their friends, relatives and even their foes move in and out of each other's lives as they navigate love, work, fortune and fulfilment across the years. But with each new sacrifice and fresh horizon, larger questions begin to open up before them: what are we willing to give up to secure the happiness of the ones we love? What is the purpose of education? And what is truly important for a good life?

Peck & Peck by Bonnie Garmus

Batter Gray is worried about his future. Even when he was eleven, his classmates seemed to have settled on a goal: doctor, lawyer, broker, engineer. Good jobs that automatically command respect and security.

Now Batter is in his early 20s, living in New York City, and he wants something different; something that alienates some people and bores most. Poetry. And yet to him - and exactly thirty-nine editors at a company called Peck & Peck - poetry not only represents the power of humanity but holds the key to its survival.

Batter was named after his mother's dog, who seemed to have achieved more in his short years on earth than he ever will. But as an identical twin who lost his brother at birth, Batter finds himself confronted by the everyday dualities that make up life: right vs. wrong, truth vs. lies, rejection vs. acceptance. It's almost as if his dead brother is a reminder: there are always two sides to every story. No, wait. Make that three.

The European Mind Bruce Pascoe

The European Mind contends that European imperialism was not only driven by economic and exploratory factors but motivated by a self-perpetuating belief based on moral superiority, racial hierarchy, spiritual entitlement and an insatiable greed paraded as economics.

Bruce Pascoe traces how these ideas became a truth through which religion, history, myth and storytelling changed the lives of countless peoples, countries and continents through violence, dispossession and environmental exploitation.  Framed by a First Nations philosophy, The European Mind challenges what we think we know about history and picks apart beliefs and truths that sit at the heart of our society.

Pascoe proposes meaningful change through shifts in cultural and moral thought, the rebalancing of relationships, demolishing the myth of superiority and a rethinking of capitalism as the only system. The European Mind critiques the ideas behind empire and takes readers on a journey of how we arrived here and where we hope to be.