March 2025 Wrap-Up and April TBR

Plus the next Booker of the Month and Conversation Pusher picks and upcoming releases on my radar

Hi, book friends.

Happy April! It feels like spring is officially here now, even if I’ll be running a 5K in sub-40 temps tomorrow morning and there’s snow in the forecast for Monday (lolsob).

As it happens every year, as the weather heats up, so does the publishing calendar. I have some serious FOMO about Sunrise on the Reaping, but I really want to reread the original Hunger Games trilogy (and read A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes for the first time) before that. I thought maybe I’d start tackling it in April, and then I looked at my existing TBR and all the amazing books coming out this month and came RIGHT back down to Earth. 😂

Too many books we’re excited to read — what a fantastic problem to have.

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What I Read in March

I read nine books in March, which is my best month so far this year! And no unplanned swaps also means I’m only carrying one book from my March TBR over to April, which feels great (especially because my April TBR is out of control). Overall, it was a very solid month of reading — to varying degrees, I vibed with everything I picked up.

Full reviews for those not linked below are coming soon!

Loved

• Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey*† 🎧: This book is what we wanted Bear by Julia Phillips to be. I hope more people pick it up!!

• Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination by Toni Morrison 📖🎧: I don’t think you need me to tell you why a book on critical race (literary) theory by THE Toni Morrison is excellent

Liked a lot

• The Dawn Chorus (The Bone Season, #3.5) by Samantha Shannon 📖: Another quick, fun-to-read novella that deepened my understanding of these characters. On to book four!

• Catastrophe Ethics: How to Choose Well in a World of Tough Choices by Travis Rieder*† 🎧: If you, like me, are a super beginner to ethical theories, definitely pick this up.

• Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism by Eve L. Ewing*† 📖🎧: You’ve probably heard a lot about this one already, and for good reason. Every educator, parent, and person who cares about education should read it.

• Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods*† 📖🎧: This is billed as Cinderella meets The Little Mermaid and y’all, that’s EXACTLY what it was. Woods is very clever. I had so much fun with it.

• Oathbound (The Legendborn Cycle, #3) by Tracy Deonn† 📖🎧: THAT ENDING????

Liked

• This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud 📖🎧: This didn’t hold my attention as well as some others but it was, ultimately, a beautiful family saga with an ending that made you think about the whole book differently.

• Cursebound (Faebound, #2) by Saara El-Arifi*† 📖🎧: I want these books to be better written because they have so much character, story, and worldbuilding potential. Alas, they fall into the “fun and fast enough to keep reading anyway” category.

*print copy gifted to me by the publisher
†audiobook gifted to me by the publisher

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April TBR Possibilities

This is one of those months where I stared and stared at my TBR, trying to cut it down to just 10 books, and simply couldn’t do it. So I’m using the excuse that I have a vacation at the end of this month to justify leaving it at 14. 😇 That said, I’m under no illusions that I will read 14 books, even with vacation, so I’m splitting this up into definites and possibilities. We’ll see which ones call to me most!

Definites

• Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry†: OBVIOUSLY. I have an early audio copy and yes, I’ve already started it. (Coming 4/22)

• The Antidote by Karen Russell*†: My carryover from March. Still eager to read it!

• Playground by Richard Powers: This month’s Booker of the Month (more below).

• Democracy in Retrograde: How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and in Our Lives by Sami Sage and Emily Amick: This month’s Conversation Pusher (more below).

• The Mask Falling (The Bone Season, #4) by Samantha Shannon: I’m having so much fun making my way through this series slowly.

• Royal Assassin (The Farseer Trilogy, #2) by Robin Hobb: This might be the first time ever that Danielle is ahead of me in a buddy read. 😆

Possibilities

• Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven

• The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar*

• When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi*

• Faithbreaker (Fallen Gods, #3) by Hannah Kaner*† (coming 4/1)

• Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake*† (coming 4/1)

• Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman*† (coming 4/15)

• The Pretender by Jo Harkin* (coming 4/22)

• Hope Dies Last: Visionary People Across the World, Fighting to Find Us a Future by Alan Weisman*† (coming 4/22)

*print copy gifted to me by the publisher
†audiobook gifted to me by the publisher

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Conversation Pushers

The last few weeks have been chaotic, between my job being extra busy and germs continuing to plague our house. So the newsletter covering Original Sins by Eve L. Ewing is coming very soon! I’m determined to catch up this month. In the meantime, you can still get a print copy here or audiobook here, and commissions I earn when you shop from these links will be donated + matched to the Center for Racial Justice in Education.

As mentioned above, my April pick is Democracy in Retrograde: How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and in Our Lives by Sami Sage and Emily Amick. I’ve heard really good things about it, and I’m hoping it helps me (and you) feel reinspired toward action amidst, you know, all of this. Get a print copy or audiobook — commissions for this one will be donated + matched to a relevant cause as well!

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April Booker of the Month

ICYMI, I run a book club called Booker of the Month, where we read one book from the Booker Prize longlist each month. There are 13, so we double up just once, and by the time next year’s longlist is announced, we’ll have read them all. The March meeting was fantastic as always!

Our April selection is Playground by Richard Powers. Yes, just in time for Earth Day. Join us!!

• Learn more about the book on the StoryGraph.

• Get a print or ebook copy or the audiobook.

• Sign up for our Zoom discussion on Monday, April 21 at 8 PM ET. (NOTE: This is one week earlier than originally planned!)

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April hot releases

FYI, I keep a running list of new releases I’m excited for on my Bookshop storefront, plus a list of recent releases I love or expect to love.

April is a BIG publishing month! The books that I have my eye on include:

• Faithbreaker (Godkiller, #3) by Hannah Kaner

• Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake

• Authority by Andrea Long Chu

• The Impossible Thing by Belinda Bauer

• Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman

• Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

• Notes to John by Joan Didion (!!)

• Hope Dies Last: Visionary People Across the World, Fighting to Find Us a Future by Alan Weisman

• Ordinary Time: Lessons Learned While Staying Put by Annie B. Jones

• The Pretender by Jo Harkin

• America, América: A New History of the New World by Greg Grandin

• When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley

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As always, thanks for sharing your corner of the internet with me! It would mean a lot if you were to take a second to like this post. I’d love to hear how your reading month went in the comments, too.

Finally, if you like this newsletter, please send a few friends my way.

Until next time,

— Deedi (she/her)