Buffy's November Recap

Somehow it is the LAST MONTH OF 2025! It’s been such an amazing year for Buffy’s, and I’m going to post a recap of all my highlights just before Christmas. As we did last year, there won’t be a formal book club this month, nor will we be reading one particular book - I find around Christmas time there’s already enough pressure and everyone is busy socialising, so instead I’d like to share some recommended reading, based on my favourite reads of the years and some cosy, slower books for the season.

What I read in November:

I had a great reading month, I think this might be the most I have ever read in once month? Someone asked me last night what I am proudest of about Buffy’s, and on reflection I think it might be how I have grown as a reader, thanks to all the conversations we are getting to have about books.

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

We just announced our first event of 2026 which will be discussing Virginia Woolf at the Royal Ballet and Opera, in celebration of their ballet ‘Woolf Works’ which is based on three of Woolf’s most beloved novels: Mrs Dalloway, The Waves and Orlando. So my homework begins!! I haven’t read Woolf since I was at university, and I won’t lie, I did find Mrs Dalloway hard. Its famous stream of consciousness style took me some time to get into, but once you’re in, you’re really in. I won’t say too much about it here as next month we will discuss it in much more depth!

The Night Watchmen by Louise Erdrich

My second Erdrich of the year, I was excited about this one after reading The Round House and loving it a lot. The Night Watchmen didn’t do it for me quite as much! Erdrich feels like one of those wonderful writers who is literary and readable in equal measures. The Night Watchmen is set in the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota, following the Ojibwe people and their fight against the Indian Termination Bill that aimed to assimilate the Native Americans by no longer recognising their sovereignty. It has multiple points of views from different characters, all with different personal links to one another, as the plot builds towards the outcome of the Indian Termination Bill for their reservation. It was enjoyable throughout, and I felt connected to the characters and invested in their stories, but in comparison to The Round House it didn’t click with me as much.

Flesh by David Szalay

We got to go to the Booker Prize ceremony which is always such a treat, this was my second time attending, and saw Szalay win the prize for 2025. I, shamefully, hadn’t read any of the shortlist before attending, and was very inspired to after the event, obviously beginning with the winner, Flesh. I devoured this book in a day, it’s incredibly readable… but felt also quite hollow for me. It’s the story of Estavan, growing up in Hungary his story starts with a sexually abusive relationship with his neighbour, and this trauma sets the tone for a lot of his life. Szalay proceeds to take the reader through Estavan’s incredibly eventful life, jumping decades at a time as he moves from country to country, in and out of wealth, up and down class systems, and between various relationships. Its style is sparse, which definitely feels deliberate, and I didn’t mind the big gaps in time. But I think I didn’t mind it because it all just felt unbelievable to me. I didn’t connect to Estavan, and found a lot of what happened in his life totally unbelievable. I think Szalay was making a commentary about a traumatised man who cannot connect with his feelings, or begin to express them, which I think is an incredibly important topic for men, but the novel left me feeling ‘and…’? As it’s so talked about, I recommend reading, it’s so quick to read, and enjoyable in an un-put-down-able way.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

I LOVED this book. Charlie is a mentally handicapped man who undergoes a cutting-edge operation to increase his IQ. Told through a series of progress reports that Charlie is instructed to keep by his doctors, he documents his life and experiences with people in his life as his intelligence increases. I do have to say I did not like the portrayal of women in this, and it at points nearly ruined the whole book for me. But, the enjoyment I got out of the story clawed it back. I loved Charlie’s therapy sessions, his introspections, the way Keyes used spelling and language was quite obvious but I really thought it worked. It made me cry, which I can’t often say about a book, and I really understood why this is such a hugely popular novel.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

I listened to this one, in my ongoing pursuit of listening to long books I have been meaning to read for a while. I had an image of this book as stuffy and hard to read, and it is neither of those things. The Trasks and the Hamiltons are two families living in the Selinas Valley in California, and we follow the intertwining lives of both families for around 60 years, hence the length of this book. I do think it would have lent itself more to a physical read rather than listening to it, as I always say with audiobooks (this is a ‘me’ problem and not a reflection of the books themselves) as my concentration lapses and I find myself missing bits. In this book I found myself at points lost in who’s point of view I was following, something in it prevented my being able to really connect with the way they switched. It felt like a plodding book, which I actually really enjoyed, and I am so drawn to American literature at the moment (especially novels set in the West), so this scratched that itch! It is full of biblical references, which neither gripped me or put me off the book. I really will read it again at some point and not listen to it, and I suspect I would have a very different experience of it.

My Work by Olga Ravn

This novel is a mix of essays, poetry, doctors reports, and many other forms, documenting the years after Anna gives birth. It demands your attention in the ways it jumps from one literary device to another, and there were numerous passages I felt totally gripped and moved by. I am not a mother myself, so cannot make this comment with any sort of personal experience to back it up, but this felt like an incredibly raw and real account of motherhood. I think Ravn has achieved something really special with this book, and certainly an account of motherhood for women who have difficult experiences with the immediate months and years after giving birth.

Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud

This Sci-fi novella calls to be read in one sitting, which I was able to do on a flight. It’s a really fun read, steeped in horror, which you all know I love. A woman is sent to a mental institution on the moon by her husband, where a renowned surgeon claims to be able to cure his patients through a surgery involving the web of the moon spiders. The whole situation is uncomfortable from the get go, even if a little heavy handed at times. The ending is gruesome, and I personally really enjoyed how it descended into total chaos. There are no subtleties to this book, but it being so short, I enjoyed how on the nose it was (the horror imagery at the end lands on so many common phobias, I think Ballingrud made sure this would be as universally uncomfortable as possible). I probably won’t read the next two in the trilogy, but would like to pick up The Strange by Ballingrud instead.

Verdigris by Michele Mari

The month’s book club book! More on this below.

No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

This is a re-read for me, many many years on from the first time I read it. I think The Blood Meridian is the best book I have read this year, so I wanted to revisit No Country For Old Men, and then had the joy of watching the movie right after. If you haven’t read any McCarthy, I would recommend starting with this. We follow Lewellyn Moss, who chances upon a bloody scene in the desert of a drug deal gone wrong, and leaves the scene with a suitcase containing millions of dollars. Thus ensues possibly one of the best cat and mouse stories there is. Anton Chigur, incredibly eerily captured by Javier Bardem in the movie, is a mass murdering psychopath who is determined to track down Moss. McCarthy knows how to build tension, while keeping the prose somewhat sparse, in a way I find really impressive. You are thrown through these violent scenes, with little time to recover after each one, keeping up this relentless pace and the feeling of a chase throughout. I loved it, and haven now ordered The Border Trilogy and look forward to tackling those three books soon.

Buffy’s Book Swap with Penguin Vintage and Monica Vinader

We had the most incredible night in mid-November hosting a very ambitious book swap in collaboration with Penguin Vintage and Monica Vinader. It was held in a truly insane home in West London, an ex-convent with high ceilings and beautiful light, and we filled it with Penguin Vintage books, Monica Vinader jewelry (each guest received a custom zodiac necklace!), drinks from San Germain, and food from Kelly’s Catering. Penguin kindly brought two of their editors, who sat and advised Buffy’s readers on books to read based on their favourites, which was so special. The whole night was amazing and I loved meeting and discussing books with everyone - the big book swap table was the central element of the night, and provided an amazing space for people to chat and meet.

Aēsop x Buffy’s: Library of Aromas

On November 25th, we hosted an event with Aēsop in their gorgeous Seven Dials store, a festive celebration of their thirteen wonderful fragrances. I was tasked with pairing each scent with a book whose contents matched the notes of the fragrance. Guests had an exclusive scent experience with a fragrance expert, then selected their favourite fragrance. I had written the opening line of each of the thirteen books, which were wrapped, and guests had to guess from the opening line which fragrance matched the book. They then got to take home a fragrance, and a book - Aēsop were so generous to gift their beautiful scents. We drank negronis and ate amazing comte, crackers, and chestnuts - such a lovely night and an amazing opportunity to collaborate with one of my favourite brands.

November book club / Verdigris

Amazingly, the translator of the book Brian Robert Moore lives in New York and attended the book club! It was so wonderful having this extra insight into how translating fiction works, and to have an expert there to answer any of our questions. It made me think about future events involving more authors, editors, and publishers…

December suggested reading

For my own December reading list, I am going to be led by mood and see where it takes me! A few novels on my immediate TBR are The Keep by Jennifer Egan, The Assassins Apprentice by Robin Hobb, Horse Heaven by Jane Smiley and maybe continue my love for Westerns with True Grit by Charles Portis.

In late November we also posted a Gift Guide to the Substack, if you need some last minute book-related ideas, and keep an eye out for our 2025 Buffy’s recap on Substack.

Thank you all so much for being here throughout it all, I can’t wait for 2026!

Lizzy xx