November Preview

Hi. Happy November. Wow we’ve come a long ways and are almost done with the year. I hope your reading is going well. There’s several reading genre challenges this month, including Norway in November, which I plan to participate in and perhaps German Lit month too.

In doing so, I hope to read at least one translated book from a Norwegian author and one from a German author this month. As well as I’m also going to be reading Elena Ferrante’s novel My Brilliant Friend in a read-along with Tina at Turn the Page, which is translated from the Italian, so there you have it — three different countries I hope to travel to in my mind, lol. Should I get out my suitcase? Our dogs, Stella, at left, and Willow, at right, will be my witnesses.

Meanwhile I’m midway through Somerset Maugham’s 1915 classic Of Human Bondage, which was an October read-along with Ti at Book Chatter. I will hopefully finish the tale of Philip Carey’s coming-of-age soon. Philip has recently met the cold waitress Mildred and I fear that will not go well. The novel feels a bit like a David Copperfield-kind of tale in which the protagonist goes through various phases and travels as he grows up, learns, and endures a number of challenges and changes of heart. I will see what becomes of Philip.

This week my husband and I actually went to a matinee movie at the theater! Is that crazy or what? We shirked responsibilities, lol, and saw Conclave, the movie based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris, about various maneuverings that come to light in the selection of a new pope. It stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini among others. I thought the movie started slowly, but it gets a bit more intriguing as it goes along. It’s a slow-burn kind of plot in which various cardinals are vying for the papacy and secrets become revealed in time. It has a good twist near the end and we enjoyed it, though I’m not sure it’s an Oscar contender.

And now let’s check out what’s releasing this month. Luckily there’s not as many new books to add to my TBR, which is great because for the next two months I’ll be reading mostly backlist books. Still I’ll mention Irish writer Niall Williams’s new novel Time of the Child (due out Nov. 19) which follows the story of a local doctor and his daughter Ronnie in a small town in Ireland, who take in an abandoned baby in December 1962.

I think it’s a bit of a Christmas story and it takes place in the same town as his popular 2019 novel This Is Happiness, but it’s not exactly a sequel. I have yet to read this author, but many love his books, including Ann Patchett who is a big fan. So I need to get on his books.

Next up is the Christmas-themed novella Brightly Shining (due out Nov. 19) by Norwegian author Ingvild Rishoi about two sisters ages 16 and 10 and the financial hardships they endure living with their single alcoholic father in contemporary Oslo. This translated tale is told by the younger sister who believes a miracle could help them.

It sounds like what they go through is heart-wrenching but they do their best to care for one another. It’s another Christmastime book and would satisfy my read for Norway in November as well as anyone participating in the Novellas in November challenge.

On the screen this month, there’s a smorgasbord of new releases. First in movies, Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy stars in the film adaptation of the historical drama Small Things Like These (due out Nov. 8) based on the novel by Irish writer Claire Keegan. Oh yeah, many of us liked this grim story set in 1985 about a father who discovers disturbing secrets about what’s going on at a local convent that makes him confront the secrets in the Irish town.

Irish actor Cillian Murphy is coming off starring in the epic Oppenheimer and this small but intense film might be just the ticket to keep his success going.

Then there’s Jesse Eisenberg’s comedy drama A Real Pain (due out Nov. 1) about two mismatched cousins who reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin star as the two opposites who embark on the tour with a busload of other tourists.

Culkin’s character seems a bit zany, but their tour also includes a visit to the Majdanek Nazi concentration camp, where another side of him comes out. Culkin was a big plus to the series Succession, and the film’s received high praise and is said to be “powerfully funny and emotionally resonant.” We’ll see.

The other four notable movies are: Blitz (due out Nov. 1) with Saoirse Ronan that follows the story of a group of Londoners during the British capital’s bombing in WWII; Juror #2 (out Nov. 1), a Clint Eastwood film, about a man who struggles with a dilemma while serving on a jury that could sway the outcome; September 5 with Peter Sarsgaard (due out Nov. 27) about an American broadcasting crew that finds itself suddenly covering the hostage crisis of Israeli athletes during the 1972 Olympics; and lastly Maria (due out Nov. 27), starring Angelina Jolie as the opera singer Maria Callas during her last days of her life in 1970s Paris as she confronts her identity and life.

Whoa, this should be an explosive month of good movies and I didn’t even mention the musical fantasy film Wicked (out Nov. 22), the generational film Here with Tom Hanks and Robin Wright (out Nov. 1), or the action movie Gladiator II with Denzel Washington (Nov. 22), those aren’t high on my list, but then there’s the various TV series to look for.

I’m curious to see Season 2 of Bad Sisters (on AppleTV+ Nov. 13), which is the black comedy spoof about five sisters in Dublin who plot to murder their brother-in-law. There’s also Season 5 of Yellowstone (starting Nov. 10), without Kevin Costner this time. We don’t watch the show, but many do. Also a similar new show is releasing called Landman (Paramount+, Nov. 7) about the wild world of West Texas oil rigs starring Billy Bob Thornton.

You might also like the sci-fi series Dune Prophecy, a prequel to the recent Dune films on HBO Max starting Nov. 17, or the historical drama Say Nothing on Hulu Nov. 14, based on the 2018 bestselling book set during The Troubles of Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe. The show Interior Chinatown (on Hulu Nov. 19), which is based on the 2020 novel by Charles Yu, looks like a bit of fun about a struggling actor who gets mixed up in the underground after witnessing a crime. Also actor Michael Fassbender stars in the espionage series The Agency (starting Nov. 29 on Paramount+ with Showtime), which looks action-packed and is based on the French series The Bureau. But if you need something calmer and stimulating try Ken Burns’s latest documentary focusing on the master artist Leonardo da Vinci on PBS (Nov. 18 & 19).

Finally in music there’s new albums by The Cure, Willie Nelson, Mary J. Blige, Gwen Stefani, Dwight Yoakam, Regina Spektor, and Shawn Mendes among others. I’m looking at British singer Michael Kiwanuka’s upcoming album Small Changes (due out Nov. 22). He has a very atmospheric sound, which they once used for the intro of the show Big Little Lies, and you can hear his new song The Rest of Me here.

That’s all for now. What about you — which releases are you looking forward to this month? Happy November!