25 Best Novellas to Read for Novella November
We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
November brings the great Novella November! A time to slow down, stack your reading list, and celebrate the beauty of the short story. Maybe you’re catching up on your reading goal or trying to bulk it up (because who doesn’t love a little momentum before the year ends?). Either way, this month is about finding joy (sometimes soft and sweet, sometimes wickedly smutty) with the pages of a short book. From heartfelt tales to bite-sized fantasy worlds, these novellas prove that a story doesn’t need 100,000 words to leave its mark.
Why We Love Novellas
There’s an art to a novella. The way a story can unfold in under 40,000 words and still leave you gutted, glowing, grinning and yearning for more. The best short books feel concentrated, like a favorite perfume or the last dregs of your coffee and you sit and listen to the birds. They’re the perfect bridge between a busy week and the need to read. The novella format reminds us why we fell for books in the first place.
25 Novellas You Need to Add to Your Reading List
If Novella November has a rule, it would be this: no story is too short to stay with you. So here it is the 25 novellas perfect for Novella November.
The Sleepover by Sierra Simone– Takes place AFTER the Lyonesse trilogy and New Camelot. The entire time I was giggling and kicking my feet like a school girl. In the words of Ms. Simone it is extremely depraved, and boy is it good! In fact here’s a link to all the Sierra Simone bonus content.
Halloween (Monster F*ckers) by B.L. Wilde– It’s Halloween night and Carla has no idea three demons will be waiting under her bed.
Rosarita by Anita Desai– An exploration of love, place, memory, history, and the secrets between a mother and her daughter.
Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire– Children have always disappeared under the right conditions. Slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe. Tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else.
Extremity by Nicholas Binge– A time-traveling, end-of-the-world police procedural, Extremity is True Detective if written by Philip K. Dick.
Odd Spirits by S.T. Gibson-It takes a lot of commitment to make a marriage between a modern ceremonial magician and a tarot witch work. But when a malevolent entity takes up residence in Rhys and Moira’s home, their love will be pushed…to the limits.
Bound by Chaos duet by T.D. Chase– Taking a vacation shouldn’t mean the end of the world… right?
The Dare by Harley Laroux-Losing the game means taking the dare: a dare to serve Manson for the entire night as his slave. It’s a dare that Jessica’s pride – and curiosity – won’t allow her to refuse. What ensues is a dark game of pleasure and pain, fear and desire.
But Not Too Bold by Hache Pueyo– The creeping dread is exquisite, the kind that coils tighter with every page, refusing to let go until it’s good and ready—or until it decides you’re done for.
Incorrect Eyes by Andromeda Ruins– Three words have haunted me my entire life, and now I’m close. I know I am. I’m close to finding out the truth behind the words, the truth behind the Seraphim.
Bound to the Orc Ranger by Krista Luna– A wish whisks her away to Faerie, where she has magic! And a “married at first sight” orc husband.
Dark Tales series by Tigris Eden-Dark Tales will have you cheering for the heroines of each story.
Dark Trio by Lisa Wood-When Raven agreed to go to a club with her best friend, she had no idea it was that kind of club. Strait-laced and as vanilla as they come, she decided to bail, only to run into Chase and Sebastian.
The Pale House Devil by Richard Kadrey– Two detectives—one dead, one living—hired by an embittered old landowner to banish a bloody cosmic monster from his ancestral home.
Corso DeLuca by Siera London– Jessie came prepared to take on the mafia’s devil—Corso DeLuca. He took the only person who mattered to me. But she wasn’t expecting him to be waiting for her.
Glory by Rhianna Burwell-This too is for the depraved and those who’ve considered (or haven’t) what it would be like to be used through a glory hole. No plot. ALL SPICE.
Don’t Get Caught by Jaye Pratt– Life doesn’t just throw curveballs, it hurls them. One minute you’re fine, the next you’re sprinting through a cemetery with three masked men on your heels. Now that’s the curve ball you want.
Hot for Slayer by Ali Hazelwood– HOT VAMPIRES!!! When a vampire slayer loses all his memories, the only person who can help him is the vampire he’s tried to kill for centuries.
Love and Other Killers by Brynne Weaver– Sloane is back with her serial killer family, in this Serial killers versus serial killer in a hot and twisted novella about family games, true love, and competitive carnage.
The Sublet by Greer Hendricks– Anne is barely holding it together, juggling kids, a career and a marriage that feels like it’s failing. Just as Anne is about to give up on her dreams, she lands her biggest client yet: Melody Wells. Melody seems to know just what her family needs. But as small, unsettling incidents begin to accumulate, Anne starts to wonder what price she’s willing to pay for the good life.
The October Bookshop by Amanpreet Kaur– A hidden bookshop. A grieving writer. A story that knows her name.
Same Time Next Year by Tessa Bailey– A couple’s fake marriage for a year after the wild New Year’s Eve when they first say “I do.”
Natural Selection by Elin Hilderbrand– When her boyfriend bails at the last minute, a New York woman boards their couples’ cruise alone, and discovers the love story she needed was her own.
Wild Spaces by S.L. Coney– An eleven-year-old boy lives an idyllic childhood exploring the remote coastal plains and wetlands of South Carolina alongside his parents and his dog Teach. But when the boy’s eerie and estranged grandfather shows up one day with no warning, cracks begin to form as hidden secrets resurface that his parents refuse to explain.
Black Sea by Melissa Cassera– High school is hard enough without getting caught between two Gods.
Which one are you starting with first?
Tell me your favorite novella in the comments or share this post with someone whose TBR could use a few short but stunning reads this November. Don’t forget to tag me at @diaryofthereader on Instagram using #NovellaNovember and #TheDiaryofaReader
Read This Next:
10 Novellas That Will Leave You Wanting More!
November 2022 New Book Releases
Too Old for This: Aging, Murder, and Sharp Wit
