Books & Reading Adventures | November 2025
Novel time! It gets really cosy with the Moonlight Bookshop, romance, mystery and the perfect slow read from Shetland.
Hello, I’m Claudia, and Happy Quiet Life is where I share my view on the world as a Highly Sensitive Person. You’ll find reflections and stories about slowing down & living simpler, reconnecting with nature, mental health & self-care, books & reading adventures. Welcome!
As we’re moving from autumn into winter and I’m in hibernation mode anyway, I had a really good time cosying up and picking up a stack of novels for a change.
The Valley of the Centre of the World took me to Shetland and was the perfect slow read.
A Killing in November was the perfect fit for this month (not only because of the title), gloomy, entertaining and with very interesting characters, plus it’s set in good old Oxford. Nice!
La Librería del Señor Livingstone / Mr. Livingstone’s Bookstore was an unexpected find in the Free Little Library. Autumn, London, bookshop, loveable eccentric characters - that’s what attracted me to it, and it was a charming read.
I don’t read romance a lot, but this month I’ve also enjoyed reading Just for the Summer and The Forgotten Garden, two very different books with a lot of heart and soul.
So, much to my own surprise, everything has been about fiction this past weeks.
The Valley at the Centre of the World (Malachy Tallack)
A remote valley on Shetland. A place of sheep and soil, of harsh weather, close ties and an age-old way of life. A place where David has lived all his life, like his father and grandfather before him. A place where Sandy, a newcomer but already a crofter, may have finally found a home. A place that Alice has fled to after the death of her husband to live and to write.
This microcosm features them and some other equally interesting characters who are exposed not only to the elements, but also to fundamental and existential questions and developments of life: the meaning of home, belonging to a place, bonds across generations, love and loss, failure and hope, as well as connection and change.
Times do change - islanders die, or move away. What will become of the valley, who will care?
It was the perfect slow read, calm, in a clear, precise voice and a beautiful language, a lot of depth underneath the intertwined stories of a handful of characters and their small, quiet lives. It has been a long time since a non-genre novel has captivated me so much.
A Killing in November (Simon Mason)
This Oxford mystery is the start of a series, the DI Ryan Wilkins Mysteries - and what an unusal and unconventional Detective Inspector he is.
Ryan Wilkins grew up on a trailer park, and others might say it’s still recognisable by the young DI’s appearance, his disgust with privileged elites and his manners. But he notices things that others miss. He is partnered with DI Ray Wilkins, from a wealthy Nigerian-London background, impeccably groomed, an eloquent graduate of Oxford. No surprise, they don’t get on.
But when a young woman is found strangled at Barnabas Hall, they have to. What was the dead woman doing in the Provost’s study? Is it just a coincidence that on the night of her murder the college was entertaining a Gulf state ruler linked to human-rights abuses in his own country and acts of atrocity in others? What other links to troubled pasts might come up?
The book starts off a bit slow, taking its time to build up, but it’s interesting from the beginning, so I kept reading and was rewarded. It’s an original und very entertaining mystery.
It thrives on DI Ryan Wilson, who is so different and completely at odds with the elite, likes to provoke and irritate, and appears to constantly misbehave. (Which was quite fun to read!) He also has a very idiosyncratic way of investigating. This doesn’t go down well at Oxford colleges, but it’s promising precisely because he doesn’t play by the rules and doesn’t hold back or shy away.
I didn’t necessarily find either DI particularly likeable at first, but the contrasts and conflicts were interesting. As was the social commentary.
La Librería del Señor Livingstone / Mr. Livingstone’s Bookstore (Mónica Gutiérrez Artero)
I can hardly resist a book about books, libraries or bookshops, as all of these have always played a major role in my life, in terms of passion and profession.
Agnes Martí is a young archaeologist who moves from Barcelona to London in search of a job, which proves to be more difficult than she thought. One November afternoon, surprised by a sudden downpour, she takes refuge in Edward Livingstone’s bookshop “Moonlight Books”. The grumpy, eccentric bookshop owner is looking for an assistant, and in the time it takes Agnes to dry off and sit down for a cup of hot tea, they both realize that not only her fate has taken a turn.
Agnes quickly gets to know the bookshop’s regular customers (including Oliver Twist, a boy who is obsessed with space, and the eccentric Mrs Dresden, who, despite her complaints, kindly reads every book recommendation from Mr Livingstone) and feels increasingly at home. Does she even want to continue looking for a job as an archaeologist?
Until one day, one of the most treasured books disappears and inspector John Lockwood enters the scene to take over the investigation and shake Agnes’ quiet and peaceful life.
It’s a lovely cosy book for rainy November evenings and the month leading up to Christmas (parallel to the plot of the book), a bit of a fairytale story. All of the characters are utterly lovable, and the story is quite charming. It’s light reading, sure, rather predictable and formulaic, but I still found myself smiling often at the literary humour and wit that enlivened the book. I also liked the literature tips woven into the text.
Just for the Summer (Abby Jimenez)
I don’t often read romances, but this one caught my eye at the library.
Justin has a curse, and thanks to a Reddit thread, it’s now all over the internet. Every woman he dates goes on to find the love of her life as soon as they break up. When Emma sends him a private message, telling him she has a similar problem, they come up with a plan: They’ll date each other and break up. Their curses will lift, and they’ll both go on to find their soulmates. Crazy? Maybe, but it might work.
Emma hadn’t planned that her next assignment as a travelling nurse would be in Minnesota, living on an island on Lake Minnetonka, but she and her best friend agree that the dating plan is worth a try. It’s supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma’s toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three young siblings, their relationship becomes more complicated than expected. Especially when they develop real feelings for each other …
Romance and humour, drama and depth. Relatable, likable protagonists and an interesting, funny premise. Just for the Summer is a book that made me laugh, cry and reflect. It’s a story about true love, fate and unexpected twists and turns in life. Warmly told, simply beautiful - and a real page-turner!
The Forgotten Garden (Sharon Gosling)
Luisa has been mourning the death of her husband, who died young, for years and is trapped in a job she doesn’t love, with a boss from hell. When she is given the opportunity to take on a parcel of land in a deprived area on the north-west coast of Cumbria, the budding landscape architect sees the chance to build a garden that can make the area bloom.
Luisa manages to win over Cas, a teacher and owner of a boxing school, for her project. Harper, a teenager living in difficult circumstances, also joins her. Very slowly, even the people in the area warm to the garden, sow seeds and support new life. The plot becomes more and more of a place of well-being, until a motorcycle gang destroys everything …
It’s a warm, moving novel about second chances and blossoming communities. I really liked the idea of a community garden. The story might be predictable, but it was a really lovely read anyway. I liked how the garden project changed the lives of people. You sometimes just need a bit of hope, right?
Winter is coming, and this is already reflecting on my next reading choices. Think winter, cabin, snow, ice and being far away from civilisation …
I’m looking forward to new reading adventures in December!
My Mom and I have similar book interests, so when I buy a book she usually reads it, too, and when she buys a book I read it after her. Yesterday I bought a book titled Katabasis by R.F. Kuang, I'm only a few pages in but it seems interesting. It's about alchemical magic. Other than that it's kind of hard to buy books here, so I listen to a lot of audiobooks.
Right now I am really into the Hunger Games, first we watched the trilogy on Netflix and we're now listening to the books on YouTube, I adore the series and though it may be considered a teen book, it's really not for any age group in particular, it's just an overall very interesting and amazing story. Therefore I think you would enjoy the series, too, especially if you like series like me. Thanks for this wondrous reading list! Hope you have an amazing evening!
Ooh nices ones again! For sure a few that would like to read too! Looking forward to read about what you've read in December. I myself don't know yet.... I'm currently reading Iron Flame, a fantansy, but I'm only halfway (it's 600+ pages)... 🤣