diff --git a/doc/fixes37.0 b/doc/fixes37.0
index c54a07214..ad76100bc 100644
--- a/doc/fixes37.0
+++ b/doc/fixes37.0
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-$NHDT-Branch: NetHack-3.7 $:$NHDT-Revision: 1.231 $ $NHDT-Date: 1591476281 2020/06/06 20:44:41 $
+$NHDT-Branch: NetHack-3.7 $:$NHDT-Revision: 1.233 $ $NHDT-Date: 1592875138 2020/06/23 01:18:58 $
 
 General Fixes and Modified Features
 -----------------------------------
@@ -194,6 +194,8 @@ thieving monster could be killed while hero was removing armor, triggering
 	warning "stealarm(): dead monster stealing" when taking-off finished
 petrifying a long worm and then reanimating it handled tail incorrectly;
 	with sanity_check On, X coordinate of head segment was reported as 0
+attempting to read a novel while blind reported "you can't read the mystic
+	runes" like for a spellbook; use "you can't read the words" for novel
 
 
 Fixes to 3.7.0-x Problems that Were Exposed Via git Repository
diff --git a/src/read.c b/src/read.c
index 353f9bac2..5ff54c5cb 100644
--- a/src/read.c
+++ b/src/read.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* NetHack 3.6	read.c	$NHDT-Date: 1590343774 2020/05/24 18:09:34 $  $NHDT-Branch: NetHack-3.7 $:$NHDT-Revision: 1.197 $ */
+/* NetHack 3.6	read.c	$NHDT-Date: 1592875138 2020/06/23 01:18:58 $  $NHDT-Branch: NetHack-3.7 $:$NHDT-Revision: 1.198 $ */
 /* Copyright (c) Stichting Mathematisch Centrum, Amsterdam, 1985. */
 /*-Copyright (c) Robert Patrick Rankin, 2012. */
 /* NetHack may be freely redistributed.  See license for details. */
@@ -324,7 +324,11 @@ doread()
     } else if (Blind && (scroll->otyp != SPE_BOOK_OF_THE_DEAD)) {
         const char *what = 0;
 
-        if (scroll->oclass == SPBOOK_CLASS)
+        if (scroll->otyp == SPE_NOVEL)
+            /* unseen novels are already distinguishable from unseen
+               spellbooks so this isn't revealing any extra information */
+            what = "words";
+        else if (scroll->oclass == SPBOOK_CLASS)
             what = "mystic runes";
         else if (!scroll->dknown)
             what = "formula on the scroll";