November 2023’s Must-Read Book Releases

Culture

November 2023’s Must-Read Book Releases

Featuring the indie rock photography of Piper Ferguson, Lexi Kent-Monning’s debut novel, and the latest from Claire Donato.

by Sophia June
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Another month, another fresh set of book releases to devour. See NYLON’s monthly reading list, ahead.

The Burden of Joy by Lexi Kent-Monning - Rejection Letters, November 1

Lexi Kent-Monning’s brave and buoyant debut novel follows a woman who becomes totally undone after her husband leaves her on Valentine’s Day to join a commune in the woods. She captures the emotional and physical wreckage of a failed marriage with grace in this dark debut novel about longing, rage, and love.

In this collection of disquieting stories, Claire Donato borrows from a range of cult traditions: Donnie Darko, Daisies, and Twin Peaks, and takes inspiration from everyone from Clarice Lispector to The Velvet Underground to craft stories contemplating grief, disgust, and the myth of romance.

Piper Ferguson has photographed everyone from Joe Strummer and Richard Ashcroft to The Strokes and the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs to Coldplay. In this collection of more than 200 photos, with a forward by legendary guitarist Johnny Marr, she traces the ‘90s and ‘00s indie rock scene through its vibrant personalities and performances.

Cozy up with this sweet, coming-of-age, debut novel following the first queer love story of two undergrads, set in Ireland and Scotland.

Just in time for the release of Priscilla, which pays homage not only to Priscilla Presley, but her signature cat eye, comes a cultural history of eyeliner. Telling the story of the beauty signature from nomads in Chad to geishas in Japan to drag queens in New York, Eyeliner follows the history of the beloved beauty product.

Tracing the evolution of unruly bodies in art, cultural critic Lauren Elkin writes about so-called art monsters: Artists like Ana Mendieta, Kathy Acker, Kara Walker, and Carolee Schneemann, who not only center art in their lives, but inhabit it through their bodies, whether it be through desire or discomfort.

The Book of Ayn by Lexi Freiman — Catapult, November 14

In this darkly comic satire, a woman’s novel gets a New York Times review calling it “classist,” causing her to be shunned by the literary world. She decides to get really into Ayn Rand, particularly her theory of rational selfishness, which leads her to Hollywood, where she’s determined to make a TV show about her heroine. Instead, she spends all her money and eventually travels to a mysterious commune on the island of Lesbos to kill in her ego.

Rebecca Shaw and Ben Kronengold were the youngest writers in history for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and the comedy minds behind the viral 2018 Yale grad speech where they pretend to break up onstage. Now, the duo has written a collection of short stories on coming-of-age in contemporary America: including stories on memes, sex, politics, relationships, and Goop.

Alice Sadie Celine by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright — Simon & Schuster, November 28

Chloë Sevigny and Busy Phillips count themselves among fans of this sultry novel, which follows the lives of three women over several decades, from Berkeley to Hollywood, in the wake of one woman’s affair with her daughter’s best friend.

Kids Run the Show by Delphine de Vigan, translated by Alison Anderson — Europa Editions, November 28

A scathing tale for a social media era, Kids Run the Show follows Mélanie and Clara, two women who couldn’t be more different from each other, but whose lives intersect after Clara, a young police officer, is assigned to the case after Mélanie’s daughter Kimmy is abducted.

Barbie by Susan Shapiro — Assouline, November 2023

It’s been a year of Barbie-mania. What better way to cap it all off than with a gorgeous, colossal monument to all things Barbie, celebrating the 65th anniversary of the world’s most popular doll with a chic coffee table book?