kelsea ballerini

Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Joyful Noise
After the success of her first record, country darling Kelsea Ballerini said she wanted her follow-up project to highlight her song-writing skills. Take a bow, Kelsea! She cowrote each track on Unapologetically (November 3). And when the newly engaged performer sings I'm unapologetically in love and that's unapologetically enough, I think What a great approach to life. Who knew her new music would give me a new mantra?

Must-Read
Tom Hanks's talents are no longer limited to the big screen. The two-time Oscar winner is now showing off his writing chops with his first book, Uncommon Type: Some Stories (out October 17), a collection that showcases his love for words and typewriters (each chapter starts with an image of one he's collected). Tom says it took him two years to finish, writing on movie sets, on airplanes, in hotel rooms. And I have a feeling he has more stories to tell!

Photo: Courtesy of HBO.

Stay Tuned
At 16, I was preoccupied with finding a date to the junior prom. Steven Spielberg, on the other hand, was already buzzing with movie ideas. In the new HBO film Spielberg (airing now), we see how that teen became one of the most successful directors in Hollywood, and go behind the scenes of classics like Jaws and The Color Purple. Critic Janet Maslin says cinema is Steve's native language, and I love to hear him speak it.

Photo: Erika Goldring for Netflix.

Reboot
In 1986, Spike Lee introduced us to Nola Darling in She's Gotta Have It. Darling was a self-assured Brooklynite who loved sex and felt great about that. Back then the movie was risqué with a capital R. Fast-forward 31 years: The film's premise is now a Spike Lee–directed Netflix series. In the small-screen version, Darling (DeWanda Wise) is still enjoying the company of three men. Personally, I find handling one guy hard enough, so I can't wait to see how she does it all when the reboot drops November 23.

Photo: Nicola Dove, Twentieth Century Fox.

I've always liked the game Clue—and Agatha Christie's mystery Murder on the Orient Express is practically the movie version of it. The original film adaptation had plenty of A-list talent to portray the book's shifty characters. This time director Kenneth Branagh puts his spin on the twisty whodunit—and his version packs just as much star power. Judi Dench, Olivia Colman, Willem Dafoe, Penélope Cruz, and others are all aboard this thrill ride. On November 10, I'll hop on, too!

Follow Gayle on Instagram and Twitter @GayleKing.
From the November 2017 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine