Chapter Nine: All the Books I Read in Q1 2025

With mini reviews

I’ve been working on a lot of Substack drafts over the last month, but many of them are taking longer to write than I expected, so they’re not quite ready for primetime yet! In the meantime, I wrote mini reviews for all the books I read in the first quarter of 2025, and I hope you find some new favorites here.

This year, I’m trying to be more intentional about the reasons why I’m picking up a book. In some cases, I want to learn more about a culture or experience beyond my own or dip into a story with complex relationships or themes. Other times, I’m just looking for a lighthearted read or escape. By thinking more about my reasoning for each book, I’m hoping to lean more into the genres I love and avoid feeling like I need to read a book just because it’s popular.

This extra reflection is helping me rediscover my reading taste (which is its own Substack post in the works!) and also read more books I love. My current average rating for 2025 is 4.02, and I hope to keep it that high!

What books have you loved in 2025 so far? I’d love to hear more about what you’re reading in the comments. As I keep reconfiguring what this Substack looks like, I’d also love to hear from you about what you’re liking—and what you’d like to see more of! I’m slowly but surely getting back into the habit of writing and have more to say about books, reading, and life online that I hope to share with you soon.

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This post includes affiliate links to Bookshop.org, and if you choose to shop my recommendations (and support local bookstores in the process!), I can earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

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My Friends by Fredrik Backman

Backman can do no wrong in my eyes, and his books are so heartfelt that they fill you up in a way that no other books can. It’s a story of grief, the creation of art, and the transformative power of friendship. Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for an early copy of this book—it’s out now!

Rental House by Weike Wang

This sharp, insightful book reflects on the precarious relationship you have with your parents and in-laws as an adult. Very character-driven, it tackles class, marriage, immigration, and family but don’t expect a tidy plot or resolution.

The Faraway World by Patricia Engel

I really enjoyed reading this short story collection from the author of Infinite Country, but I don’t necessarily remember all of the individual storylines.

Heartburn by Nora Ephron

This book is wry, witty, and self-deprecating—Nora Ephron is an icon for a reason! But it’s definitely of a certain era, and I didn’t understand all of the references and some statements were pretty questionable from a modern perspective.

All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall

I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did! It’s a dystopian novel of survival, memory, and family that takes place in an apocalyptic world where New York City has flooded.

Happy to Help by Amy Wilson

I picked these essays up because some of them spoke directly to me as an eldest daughter people pleaser who wants everything to be done “right.” But I felt that some essays didn’t match the tone of the rest of the book or would end abruptly without the same level of reflection as others.

Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly

I was fascinated by the Māori/Russian perspective of the two main characters, and I appreciated the dry humor and quirky family relationships. But ultimately I felt that I was missing some of the characters’ motivations, and many of the issues seemed to be resolved fairly easily.

The Book of M by Peng Shepherd

Another sci-fi/dystopian read that affected me more emotionally than I was expecting! It imagines a world in which people start to lose their shadows—and with them, their memories. I appreciate how Shepherd really commits to her concepts and thinks deeply about how her characters will react in the worlds she creates.

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

This queer coming of age love story taught me a lot about 1950s San Francisco and the Red Scare in Chinatown. But I was a bit frustrated with the pacing because it took a while for the story to get going and then everything happened all at once.

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

I adore a book set in New York City, and this magical realism novel takes place on the Upper West Side, which hit particularly close to home (literally) for me. I really loved the father-daughter relationship at the heart of the story and its exploration of fate and choice.

Memorial by Bryan Washington

I appreciated the sparse yet profound prose in the book, but it is very literary! It’s not your average love story, but I also kept searching for more meaning throughout the book. You’re left wondering if the couple at the center of the story should even be together or not.

Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe

I’m not typically a big non-fiction reader outside of work, but I will be recommending this book about the Troubles in Northern Ireland to everyone now! It reads like fiction and explores the role of memory and violence during that era.

A Thousand Times Before by Asha Thanki

I read this book for my book club, and it was a solid read though perhaps not my favorite multigenerational story! Set in India, it explores inherited trauma that’s passed down through generations, but through a magical realism lens. I became much more invested in the story towards the middle of the book but struggled a bit with the pacing and structure.

Firstborn Girls by Bernice L. McFadden

This powerfully written memoir not only captures the experiences of the author as a Black woman growing up in America but also the generations of women who came before her. McFadden is a compelling storyteller, but from a structural perspective, I did sometimes get confused by all the family members/characters who were introduced.

Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson

With short chapters and a rotating POV, this book is fast-paced, and it takes an approach like Homegoing, covering a wide swath of family history (rather than narrowing in on a few characters). It’s a story of family, grief, legacy, and Black history in America.

I Leave It Up to You by Jinwoo Chong

When a man wakes up from a coma to find his old life gone, he returns to his family’s home and restaurant in New Jersey. Character-driven and quietly heartfelt, this book is about a family putting itself back together again, and I really enjoyed spending time with these characters. It surprised me in the best way!

Show Don’t Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld

Curtis Sittenfeld never misses, and her writing immediately pulls you into each story in this collection. Her sharp and incisive prose explores memory and gets right to the heart of each character, flaws and all.

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

This novel is already in line to be one of my favorite books of the year! McConaghy does everything I want in fiction—she merges a strong, fast-moving plot with gorgeously atmospheric writing and intentionally crafted characters who feel real. Her books are taut with the tension of a thriller but with the writing of literary fiction and the very real consequences of climate fiction.

Hot Air by Marcy Dermansky

I flew through this book in almost one sitting, and it’s an enjoyable romp of a read but not one I would recommend to everyone! I would describe it as a literary comedy of errors, full of self-involved characters and rich people behaving badly. This book has a similar tone and quirky writing style as Dermansky’s previous novel, Very Nice.

Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

I have to admit that I really wasn’t interested in this book when I first read the synopsis (teen mom turns to OnlyFans for extra cash and moves in with her ex-pro wrestler father). But when I saw it on the favorite lists of so many Bookstagrammers I trust, I decided to give it a chance, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The characters were quirky and flawed but ultimately really lovable.

A Language of Limbs by Dylin Hardcastle

This queer love story and coming of age novel is both heartbreaking and beautiful, and the book has a unique structure, with two parallel storylines running alongside each other in alternating chapters. The whole time I was reading it, I thought the book was describing two alternate paths that one character’s life could have taken but turns out the storylines were about two different people. I was a little disappointed because I felt like I read the book wrong! Thank you to Dutton and NetGalley for the chance to read an early copy of this book—it’s out June 3rd!

Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin

With a political sex scandal at the center of the story, this book feels very different from my other favorites from Zevin (The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow), but I liked the alternating POVs and structures that kept it feeling fresh. I did struggle a bit to identify the overall message, but I still enjoyed the read.