February 2025 Wrap-Up and March TBR
Plus the next Booker of the Month and Conversation Pusher picks and upcoming releases on my radar
Hi, friends.
This month was a doozy: daycare germs knocked us out twice, my job is super busy, and I had visitors staying at my house two weekends in a row. Absolutely zero regrets about that last part — my heart was full! — but February simply evaporated, taking all my brain cells with it. And that’s to say nothing of the state of the world.
The challenge, as V. E. Schwab put it in her most recent newsletter, is that hours do not always equal energy. I’ve found that to be truer and truer as I get older, although of course it’s exacerbated by the baby. (Once she starts crawling, which is imminent, I’ll be toast.)
I tend to live my life balanced on the razor’s edge between creating structure and showing myself kindness, setting goals and letting them go. All of that fell apart over the last few weeks, as it is wont to do. But a new month always feels like a new beginning, and calm beckons from just around the corner.
All that to say, I’m hoping March gives me a little more space for Substack-ing, because the momentum I’d built in December and January felt really good. I still have a huge backlog of newsletter ideas that excite me creatively, including the guide to ditching the Kindle ecosystem that I keep promising you!
But for now, here are the monthly housekeeping details that are so much fun to share. Thank you, truly, for reading them. ❤️
What I Read in February
I read eight books in February, which seems like a miracle. Several of them were quite short, but hey — I’ll take it.
One thing that made this month’s reading feel a bit like pulling teeth was that I got bogged down on two different books, by no fault of theirs. The problem was I only had the print editions, because the audiobooks are Audible exclusive (and I refuse to participate in a program so intent on trapping people in a predatory ecosystem that it won’t even allow libraries to carry the audiobooks).
These days, I rely on audiobooks to help me make progress, both because they allow me to multitask while I’m doing other things, and because “immersive reading” — listening while following along in print — helps me concentrate when my brain is a potato. Which is always.
But I persevered! And here is the result. (Full reviews are either linked or coming soon on Instagram and the blog.)
Loved
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad† 🎧: This is out now, and if you don’t have a copy, what are you even doing?? Seriously. Go get it. I’ll wait.
Liked a lot
Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor* 📖🎧: I’ve been an Okorafor fan for a long time, and it’s great to see this one getting more buzz outside SFF circles. That ending — IYKYK!
Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry 📖🎧: Imani Perry never misses. Honestly, I should reread this because I’m sure I only got a fraction of her genius on the first pass.
The Song Rising (The Bone Season, #3) by Samantha Shannon 📖: Another great Bone Season book, although so far the first one is still my favorite.
Another World Is Possible: Lessons for America from Around the Globe by Natasha Hakimi Zapata* 📖: Excellent, fascinating, and hopeful. More to come when I publish a full recap for the Conversation Pushers column (very soon)!
Liked
How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo† 📖🎧: This was great, but not what I expected. I know it says “essays” right on the cover, but I still thought it would contain a little more actionable instruction — or at least advice — because of the “how to” title. But once I accepted that my expectations were mislaid, I settled in and enjoyed it quite a bit.
Just OK
Three Days in June by Anne Tyler*† 🎧: This one disappointed me a little, which is apparently a bit of a hot take. The full review has all the tea.
Onyx Storm (The Empyrean, #3) by Rebecca Yarros 📖🎧: It was fun but just fine — same as Iron Flame, in more ways than one. Check out the subscriber chat thread for a spoilery discussion!
*print copy gifted to me by the publisher
†audiobook gifted to me by the publisher
March TBR
Here’s one thing I’ve learned from my reading the last two months: I’m in a period of my life where I need to draw a semi-hard line in the sand that says if I can’t get a book on audio, it’s not the right time for me to read that book.
That means, unless an audiobook is available for me early on PRH Audio or as a Libro.fm ALC, I will need to wait until advanced copies are published before I read them. Not the end of the world, but that decision did necessitate some rejiggering of my TBR for the next few months.
The good news is that books are awesome no matter when you get to them, and there is a lot to look forward to! Here’s what I’m hoping to read in March.
Cursebound (Faebound, #2) by Saara El-Arifi*†: A holdover from last month. Still looking forward to it!
Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods*†: Ditto!
Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey*†: Ditto ditto!
Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism by Eve L. Ewing*†: This will be the March Conversation Pusher book. I’ve heard such great things!
Oathbound (The Legendborn Cycle, #3) by Tracy Deonn: Coming 3/4. If you don’t think I’m reading this as SOON as my preorder lands on my doorstep, you’re mistaken.
The Antidote by Karen Russell*†: Coming 3/11. Karen Russell is extremely my shit and can’t wait to read this.
This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud: This month’s Booker of the Month!
The Dawn Chorus (The Bone Season, #3.5) by Samantha Shannon: An ebook-only novella to continue my Bone Season journey but also balance out some longer books on this list.
Catastrophe Ethics: How to Choose Well in a World of Tough Choices by Travis Rieder*†: I’ve had my eye on this since it was published last year, and now my office book club is reading it!
Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination by Toni Morrison: My learn-how-to-read-better journey has led me here. This book is literary criticism, not theory, but it’s become pretty obvious that the longer I let myself exist without having read it, the more I blunder.
(There are only 3-ish litfic books on this list? Who am I? Way to go, 2025 intentions!)
*print copy gifted to me by the publisher
†audiobook gifted to me by the publisher
Conversation Pushers
Another World Is Possible was one of those two books that took me awhile to read in print, so I only just finished it. Keep an eye on your inbox for the column with its full summary and key conversation points very soon.
In the meantime, because the book covers so many different issues that all tend to inform Democrats’ agendas (healthcare access, parental leave, renewable energy, net neutrality, etc), donations are going to go to Swing Left. You can still get a copy of the book with my Bookshop link and I’ll donate + match the commission.
As mentioned above, the March book is Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism by Eve L. Ewing. I have heard nothing but amazing things about it! Get your print copy here or audiobook here — commissions will be donated + matched to the Center for Racial Justice in Education, which “trains and empowers educators to dismantle patterns of racism and injustice in schools and communities.”
March 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.
Our March selection is This Strange Eventful History by Claire Messud. Join us!!
Find it on The StoryGraph
Buy a copy from Bookshop (print or ebook) or Libro.fm (audiobook)
Sign up for our Zoom discussion on Monday, March 31 at 8 PM ET.
March 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.
The books that I have my eye on in March include:
Oathbound (The Legendborn Cycle, #3) by Tracy Deonn (3/4)
The Ragpicker King (The Chronicles of Castellane, #2) by Cassandra Clare (3/4)
The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar (3/4)
How to Feed the World: The History and Future of Food by Vaclav Smil (3/4)
The Antidote by Karen Russell (3/11)
Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green (3/18)
Stop Me If You've Heard This One by Kristen Arnett (3/18)
Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service edited by Michael Lewis (3/18)
Sunrise on the Reaping (a Hunger Games Novel) by Suzanne Collins (3/18)
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)
I really did not like THREE DAYS IN JUNE. I feel like the hype is inflated because she’s a living legend.
I love the variety in your selections here, Deedi! I've seen mixed reviews for Three Days In June so I am really looking forward to seeing what I think - although I am still quite a ways down the list of library holds. Thanks for sharing!