November & December 2025 Book Releases to Read Now

Wondering what to read now? Here are all the hot new November & December 2025 book releases for you. I’ll let you know what I’ve read, what I can’t wait to read, and what’s getting all the attention this month.

In case you’re new to Booklist Queen, every month I cover all the hottest new book releases. I try to read as many new book releases as I can to give you an honest perspective on what to read and what to skip. 

However, I realize that my to-read list might not exactly match yours. That’s why I’ve also included some of the most popular November & December 2025 book releases from your favorite authors. 

Enough from me, let’s get on to the November & December 2025 book releases so you can fill up your to-read list.

In 2020, Kobe Bryant and his daughter Giana were tragically killed in a helicopter crash. In an outpouring of love, the public started putting up murals in seemingly every corner of Los Angeles. Vanessa Bryant provides a collection of the murals, with images and stories about them, to paint a picture of her husband and daughter.

Publication Date: 18 November 2025
Learn More: Goodreads
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

In a crumbling world, most people escape “upcountry” into virtual reality torn by a cold war between Medaluo and Atahua. Meanwhile the poor who cannot afford virtual reality live in the actual chaos of “downcountry.” After Eirale graduating from an Atahuan military academy, she joins a private security force downcountry. When she is framed for an assassination, she is forced to cooperate with a wanted anarchist. At the military academy, Lia is vying for valedictorian when she is assigned to infiltrate Medaluo and track down a traitor. As Eirale and Lia journey through different planes of reality, their collision will reveal a much larger conspiracy in this new dystopian fiction for young adults.

Publication Date: 4 November 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

After his estranged father’s funeral, Nash, a high level worker at an investment firm, is recruited by the FBI to investigate his company. Federal agents believe his firm is laundering vast sums of money for Victoria Steers, a wanted international criminal mastermind. But when Steers discovers Nash is an FBI informant, she turns the tables on him, forcing Nash to forgo his normal mild personality to survive and take revenge.

Publication Date: 11 November 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Cynthia Erivo arose to global acclaim in the role of Elphaba in the movie musical Wicked. In her new memoir, Erivo writes to anyone who has felt like the world thinks they are “too much.” In a series of personal vignettes, Erivo ponders the way that physical and mental challenges in her life have pushed her to become more than she thought she was capable of.

Publication Date: 18 November 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

From a long line of witches, Mallory Fontaine’s only has the magical ability to see ghosts. With her sister, Mallory sells bogus spells to gullible buyers and gives tours about the bloody history of the Saphir mansion. When Mallory meets the heir of the Saphir estate, he offers her a vast sum of money to rid the mansion of ghosts. What seems like an easy scam becomes much more treacherous when people begin dying again at the mansion.

Publication Date: 4 November 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Sadie Shaw and Jonah Fisher have been academic rivals since they met as undergraduates over a decade ago. When a teaching job opens up that they both desperately want, their rivalry grows even more intense. When Sadie realizes that the position offers an automatic hire to the applicant’s spouse, Sadie and Jonah decide to get married so they can both get positions. Except they weren’t prepared for sparks to fly in their fake marriage

An Academic Affair is a cute enemies-to-lovers romance set in the challenging world of academia. McAlister skips the miscommunication trope and makes it very clear from the start that Jonah has never disliked Sadie but just always enjoyed debating with her. The romance hinges on whether Jonah and Sadie will admit how they feel, both afraid to mess up what they have. The romantic climax came a bit earlier than I’d have like, taking too long to wrap up the academic plot. Although a bit cheesy, An Academic Affair is a satisfying love story that accurate discusses the dysfunctional world of academic jobs. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Atria Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 11 November 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

In the conclusion to The Courting of Bristol Keats, Bristol and Tyghan must work together to save Elfhame from Bristol’s mother. When a daring rescue goes wrong, Bristol realizes that her mother is more powerful than she ever imagined. Can Bristol save both Elfhame and her parents without losing herself in the process? 

Pearson’s new romantasy series gives Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorns and Roses vibes without being as satisfying. My biggest problem with the series is that Pearson skimped on the world-building and action to focus mainly on the relationship between Bristol and Tyghan. Elfhame supposedly consists of several kingdoms but the story barely leaves Tyghan’s castle. Instead of adding depth and complexity, The Last Wish of Bristol Keats is basically a standard young adult faerie romance elevated to adult fiction only because of steamy sex scenes.

I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook from Macmillan Audio through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 11 November 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

After forty years of marriage, Elliot must prepare himself as his wife Claire is losing her battle with cancer. For eight years, Elliot has shifted from the normal intimacy of a devoted husband to that of a devoted caregiver. But Claire’s last request completely throws Elliot off course, shattering his view of his entire marriage.

Publication Date: 11 November 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Catherine Newman follows her beloved characters from Sandwich home in a sequel set two years later. The ever anxious Rocky is living in Western Massachusetts with her husband Nick, their college age daughter Willa, and her widowed father Mort. When the family is slightly affected by a local car accident, Rocky finds herself obsessed with it and with a medical condition she hopes doesn’t stress the family.

Publication Date: 28 October 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Living in a cramped apartment with her husband in DC, Margo Miyake is desperate to move into a home in the suburbs where they can expand their family. After eighteen months and almost a dozen failed bidding wars, Margo feels like it will never happen. When Margo gets a tempt about the perfect house that will go on the market soon, she begins obsessively stalking the homeowners, willing to do anything to guarantee she gets this house.

Publication Date: 25 November 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Dominic Salt and his three children live together on Shearwater, a remote island near Antarctica. Shearwater used to be full of researchers but now the Salts are the sole caretakers of the world’s largest seed bank. During a fierce storm, a woman washes ashore. As the Salts nurse Rowan back to health, they feel revitalized. Except Rowan is hiding the truth about her journey to Shearwater but the Salts have their own secrets to hide. McConaghy has made a name for herself with her climate fiction books, so I’m curious to see what she has in store with her March release.

Publication Date: 4 March 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph | More Info
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

On New Year’s Day in Australia, medical student Lexi is about to take the leap to more-than-friends with her roommate Jack when bad news arrives: Lexi’s father and brother died in a skiing accident. Suddenly, Lexi finds herself next in line to the throne of England, a role she had publicly disavowed. Returning to London, Princess Alexandrina must face her grieving sister-in-law hiding a secret and an uncle desperate to ascend to power. When her grandmother gives her one year to decide, Lexi must weigh her loyalty to the crown versus the desires of her heart.

Publication Date: 2 December 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

On the day her cousin Monife tragically dies, Ebun gives birth to a daughter who looks strickingly like her cousin. Her whole life, Eniiyi’s family believes she is the reincarnation of Monife, fated to follow her exact footsteps to a similar end. Add to that, the family is cursed that no man will call the house his home, leaving three generations of brokenhearted women living in the same house in Lagos, Nigeria. When Eniiyi falls in love with a boy she saves from drowning, she struggles against the family’s superstition, determined to break the pattern of trauma.

Publication Date: 4 November 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen the BBC miniseries or the Keira Knightley movie, you still need to read the book. Jane Austen’s witty novel is a fun reminder of the importance of marrying for love and not lust or security. Follow along as Elizabeth Bennett goes from loathing to loving Mr. Darcy in this classic British tale.

Publication Date: 1813
Learn More: Goodreads | More Info
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Furious that his mother often picked his troubled homophobic brother over him, the son moves from Houston to Japan to live as an English teacher. Spending his time drinking and in gay bars, he begins an affair with a married man. When his estranged mother, haunted by her own childhood in Jamaica, unexpectedly arrives in Tokyo, the son and his mother must learn to understand and forgive one another.

Publication Date: 4 November 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Once voted “most likely to succeed,” life has not gone as expected for Chloe Fairway. Stuck in a production assistant job, she is now living with her parents again after a breakup. Chloe is particularly dreading her ten-year college reunion where she knows she will run into her former best friend Sean, a successful director and the one who got away. So Chloe turns to a dating service who sets her up with Rob, a handsome charming date who might be too good to be true.

I’m not going to spoil the surprise on this one, but And Then There Was You has a rather silly premise that you don’t see coming from the book description. I think readers will see the novel either as delightful and fun or cheesy and shallow. I fall in the former category. I enjoyed the feel-good romance and really like the love interest. Although the novel wasn’t deep, Cousens does hit on themese of quarter-life crises and second-chance romance. To me, And Then There Was You was a fun quick romance that was perfectly to curl up with on a Friday night.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from G.P. Putnam’s Sons through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

My Rating:
Publication Date: 18 November 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

Brandon Sanderson brings together a collection of nine of his short stories and one unpublished novella, “Moment Zero.” Featuring stories from his Skyward and Reckoners worlds, Tailored Realities also includes author’s notes and illustrated images to bring Sanderson’s imaginative works to life.

Review from My Teenager: Tailored Realities was a book reminiscent of old Sci-Fi novels. Each of the short stories has unique ideas that could only come from one such as Sanderson with his extraordinary ability to make the fantastical seem plausible. However, those coming for the full Brandon Sanderson experience may find the shorter style of these stories lacking in comparison to his larger books such as Mistborn or the Stormlight Archive. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Penguin Random House. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

His Rating:
Publication Date: 9 December 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

In the final book of the Nytefall trilogy, Star Maiden Astraea must rush to break the curse that imprisons her lover, Nyte. With the loss of daylight, Astraea and her friends must find the Maiden’s broken key to kill the vengeful gods ruling the world. But how far is she willing to go to free her love in this star-crossed lovers romantic fantasy?

Publication Date: 2 December 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

In the third book of the We Were Liars series, Matilda receives an invitation from her father whom she has never met. Reclusive artist Kingsley Cello invites her to spend the summer on his family’s beach house. Yet with her father nowhere to be seen, Matilda instead bonds with her long lost brother, a former child star and a brooding teen who wants her to leave. Matilda must uncover the secrets of Hidden Beach if she wants to find the answers she is looking for.

Publication Date: 4 November 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

In a prequel to The Inheritance Games, discover the love story of the lost heir of the Hawthorne family – which can be read one way as Hannah’s story or flipped to the back and read as Toby’s version. In nursing school, Hannah is biding her time until her sister Kaylie turns eighteen and they can flee their criminal family. When an act of arson leaves Kaylie dead, Hannah finds herself keeping alive the culprit, Toby, the entitle heir of the Hawthorne family. When Toby awakens with amnesia, Kaylie finds herself falling for the one person she never should.

Publication Date: 4 November 2025
Learn More: Goodreads | StoryGraph
Buy Now: Amazon | Apple Books

What November & December 2025 Book Releases are You Most Excited to Read?

What books can you not wait to get your hands on this month? Did I miss any November & December 2025 book releases that you are anticipating? As always, let me know in the comments!

More New Book Releases:

• • October 2025 Book Releases
  • January 2026 Book Releases
  • Most-Anticipated Upcoming Releases
  • Booklist Queen’s 2026 Reading Challenge

Recommended