Welcome to Quick Lit: November 2025 Edition, where I share books I chose for my own reading enjoyment in a mini-review format. These are not books I received for review, but books I’ve wanted to read or that have caught my attention. Most of them have been talked about ad nauseam or have been on my to-read list for a long time, so they don’t really need a full review. But I’d still like to give them some space here on the blog, so instead, I’m offering mini-reviews of the books that won’t get full-page space here.
I’ll be sharing with Modern Mrs. Darcy and her monthly Quick Lit post. Be sure to head over to see others share their Quick Lit posts in her comments.
This post contains affiliate links. Click here to read more about that.
Did you know I also regularly review children’s books? Check them out HERE.
I’m currently reading THE 100-YEAR-OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED for book club and FINDING GRACE and A REAL EMERGENCY for review.
I’ve recently reviewed a middle-grade novel, LOON COVE SUMMER, and DEAR MISS LAKE, as well as some tea from Adagio Teas and their new 24 Days of Tea Advent Calendar.
Follow me on Goodreads, HERE.
This month’s Quick Lit includes 5 recent reads. As our year starts to wind down, I’m finding myself with less and less time to read. We are working on a couple of house projects that we want to finish before the holidays, and I’m thinking my goal of 80 books might be unreachable. I’m falling behind on review books, and it’s hard to find the time to read AND post about the books I read. I just try to find the small pockets in my day that I can read, even just a few minutes.
I’m still hoping to finish the year strong. I may just have to pull out all my less-than-150-page books to finish out the year of reading. This post includes some really great fiction and a couple of nonfiction titles that really made me think.
TESTOSTERONE MATTERS…MORE
By: Gary Donovitz, MD
Published: June 17, 2020
Publisher: Wheatmark
Non-Fiction
Format: Paperback gifted
As a woman in her 50s, I have been struggling with sleep issues, joint pain, stress response, and other issues related to menopause. My doctor shared this book with me to help explain how testosterone can make a huge difference when dealing with menopause symptoms. I found it extremely interesting and gave me lots to consider when choosing my health care moving forward.
MAINE CHARACTERS
By: Hannah Orenstein
Narrated by: Mara Wilson
Published: May 13, 2025
Publisher: Dutton
Fiction
Format: Audiobook through Libby
Vivian and Lucy have met at the worst time…unknown sisters after the death of their father. Vivian arrives at their lake house, and when she arrives, Lucy is there. Vivian has always suspected her father had a secret, and yet Lucy has always known about Vivian.
It’s early July, and Lucy and Vivian are both grieving in very different ways. Plus, Vivian is trying to come to terms with her father’s second life. There is a lot of drama, hurt feelings, and buried memories.
“Grief rises up like bile in her chest. Losing someone, she’s heard, isn’t something you ever get over. Instead, you learn to live with it. The pain becomes a sidekick you can’t shake.”
As the sisters move through the summer at the lake house together, they find they may not be as different as they originally thought. If you like a bit of family drama, a summer at the lake, and a bit of romance, you might enjoy MAINE CHARACTERS.
HOW TO READ A BOOK
By: Monica Wood
Published: May 7, 2024
Publisher: Mariner Books
Fiction
Format: eBook purchase
I adored Monica Wood’s THE ONE-IN-A-MILLION BOY this summer. Since then, HOW TO READ A BOOK kept popping up on book lists, and readers whom I typically align with were saying how wonderful it was. It was on a Kindle Deal, so I chose it for our book club to read. Of course, we all loved it.
“I am a reader. I am intelligent. I have something worthy to contribute.”
Three people, Harriet, the retired English teacher who runs a book club at the women’s prison, Frank, the widower whose wife was killed by a drunk driver, and Violet, the young woman who, as a teen, drove drunk one night and killed a beloved kindergarten teacher, find themselves together at the local bookstore. At first, there is chaos and pain, but then, as their lives begin to blend together, there is such a special relationship that blossoms between this newly formed found family.
“‘Books won’t solve my problems, Harriet.’
No, but they give your problems perspective. They allow your problems to breathe.”
Readers will find a harsh reality about women in the prison system, the joy that books and reading can bring, and the reality of widows and widowers feeling useless and no longer relevant. This really was the most beautiful story of a found family.
MRS. QUINN’S RISE TO FAME
By: Olivia Ford
Published: January 30, 2024
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Fiction
Format: Audiobook through Libby
I’m a huge fan of the Great British Baking Show, with the finale airing recently on Netflix. While watching each week’s episodes, I was also reading about Mrs. Quinn, an elderly woman who decides to try out for the fictional show, British Bakes. Reading this book while also watching the show was a happy accident as my Libby hold came in at just the right time.
Jenny and Bernard are about to celebrate 60 years of marriage. But, for their entire 60 years of marriage, Jenny has kept a secret from Bernard. As we follow Jenny baking, both for their friends and family, and then for British Bakes, Jenny flashes back to a time in her life where she had no control, lost someone she loved, and had to start over.
“It was life on paper. The extraordinary rubbing shoulders with the ordinary. A long-awaited holiday nestled between someone coming over to fix the boiler and a doctor’s appointment. In there, too, were the blank boxes, the dates that don’t require words because the numbers alone are carved into the core of who you have become.”
I enjoyed reading a book with older main characters. They offer a perspective on a life well-lived, the mistakes of the past, and forgiveness due to a deep and long-lasting love. You may not want to read this book hungry, as the baked goods being made by Jenny will make your mouth water. The end of the book includes two special family recipes shared by the author.
THE SMALL AND THE MIGHTY
Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement
By: Sharon McMahon
Published: September 24, 2024
Publisher: Thesis
Non-Fiction
Format: Hardcover purchase
I’ve been reading this throughout the whole year with a women’s group at my church. Each month, we read a chapter or two and discuss it at our monthly meeting. You might think reading a book about history seems like an odd choice for a Christian women’s group, but there was so much that was relevant to what is happening today, what we as Christians need to consider, and how everyone, no matter how small, old, young, poor, wealthy, educated, or not can make a difference in the lives of others.
“But quiet lives can sometimes leave the loudest echoes.”
Sharon McMahon shares little-known Americans from our history who had a quiet but impressive impact on the lives of those less fortunate or often shunned members of society. Even though the title states twelve Americans, there are so many more that are shared amongst the pages of trials and triumphs.
“Progress is usually born out of struggle. But struggle doesn’t always mean progress, does it? What do we need to add to struggle to create progress? The answer is hope. Hope, which attorney and author Bryan Stevenson told me is not a feeling but an orientation of the spirit. Hope is a choice that we make each morning, and we do not have the luxury of hopelessness if we want to see progress.
There were so many impactful stories that inspired me to look for ways that I can be the change and make an impact on the lives of others. McMahon’s research was impressive. The rabbit holes she must have gone down to find the connections to people and places in history must have been both maddening and exciting. At the end of every story of struggle, there was always a message of hope. Even in history, when people were down and out, there was still always a beacon of hope. We need to find our hope in the struggles today.
“I am interested in America,” Julius Rosenwald said. “I do not see how America can go ahead if part of its people are left behind.”
Don’t assume you can’t make a difference. Just like the hairdresser who was asked to teach, you can and will find a way to do what needs to be done. People had to cross over and join with people they disagreed with to make changes happen. Battling with your enemies won’t get you anywhere. I loved what Septima Poinsette Clark had to say: “Your enemy won’t change because you refuse to sit with them at a dinner table!”
What good things have you been reading? I’ve also read books that I reviewed for publishers. Check them out HERE.
You can see all my other Quick Lit posts by clicking HERE.
This post contains affiliate links. If you choose to purchase through the links above, I may receive a small commission without you paying a cent more.
Posted Under Book Review, Gary Donovitz, Hannah Orenstein, Monica Wood, Olivia Ford, Sharon McMahon, audiobook, fiction, health, menopause, non-fiction