If you’re reading this, we’ve made it through the first three months of 2025! I’m proud of us. I’m not sure if the world feels like it’s on fire everywhere, but I know that here in the US, I’m definitely feeling that way. So I’m going to share with you the books that have either distracted me utterly from what’s going on in the world or the books that have said, “Yeah, things suck, but have you thought about this?” Is it weird for my brain to put Braiding Sweetgrass and The Reformatory on the same level of favorites as Binding and Keeping 13? Yes, yes it is. But if you’re here, welcome to my brain. I’m either willing to read something more hard or I will read 16 contemporary romances without pausing. As for how many books you can expect me to talk about here? Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. So let’s dive in, shall we?
January
At the beginning of this year, I was struggling so much with burn out related to my job. When Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop was chosen for a bookclub I participate in online, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from a healing fiction book. What I got was the most validating reading experience that really put so many of my feelings about burnout into words that I otherwise couldn’t have managed. I’ve preordered the paperback so I can reread it again this summer and annotate the heck out of it. It’s also got so much great content about reading in general, which seems to be what so many people loved about it. And, I mean, I liked that, but mostly, the commentary on burn out and the culture of working so hard… Yeah, so relatable. And that’s a culture that is technically different from the US considering this book is set in Korea and written by a Korean author. So apparently, we’re just all out here struggling with capitalism. Or something. Anyway, all of this rambling is to say that I adored this book and I can’t wait to own it physically. My original read was on audio.
Binding and Keeping 13 truly took over my entire brain in January. I still haven’t convinced myself I’m ready for the pain of Saving and Redeeming 6, but please know that’s absolutely going to be happening this year. These two books are set in high school in Ireland in the mid 2000s and it deals with so much heavy content. I really can’t explain why these two worked so well for me given that I’m very far removed from my own high school days, but wow, I love Johnny and Shannon. I just want to wrap them in bubble wrap and keep them safe and happy forever. Which is a totally normal way to feel about fictional characters, obviously. So there’s that. Anyway, I loved them, but you make the decision on your own whether they’re books for you because I do not want to be held responsible if you don’t vibe with them. Thank you.
February
I started In a Rush on Super Bowl Sunday when it became extremely clear that Taylor and Travis weren’t going to be on the field together at the end… Yeah, I am absolutely (not) the best Kansas City fan. (But honestly, I was cheering for the Eagles all season too, so that was a tough game all around.) Anyway, I just wanted happy romance vibes with a sports romance and In a Rush delivered so much more than sports stuff. Actually, this is probably the least sports heavy sports romance I’ve ever read, so shout out to KC for that. I just absolutely loved it so much. If you’ve not read it, this is a childhood friends to lovers wherein they’re getting married for convenience reasons and it is SO GOOD. I think I may need to re-read it actually because I could use an infusion of joy…
Deep End by Ali Hazelwood caught me so off guard with how much I loved it. Like… I didn’t pre-order this book, okay? But all the talk about it had me intrigued so I asked my local Indie to order it for me and then I actually started it promptly. And Lukas?? Y’all. That man. He’s so stoic seeming at first, but I literally love him. I adored this book so much. Ali has been hitting for me lately and I’m really enjoying this streak we’re on of five start books.
I read Braiding Sweetgrass with my best friend slowly all month and I have so much to say, but I still don’t know that I’m prepared to say any of it. The audiobook feels like a meditation and so I recommend it for that in and of itself. But mostly, the reason I would say this book was so powerful for me is that it truly, genuinely, changed like my entire perspective on the world. Like I feel so much more conscious of the Earth in a way that I cannot say that I ever have. I want to start a garden. And I’m not an outside person. I think I’m allergic to everything and I hate humidity. Send me to the ocean and I’m usually okay so long as I can find some shade, but actual forests? That’s not for me. But this book has me wanting to go into the forest and just appreciate what nature has and can offer. It made climate change feel much more personal to me instead of just a thing that I know I need to fight because intellectually, I don’t want the world to end. I don’t know if that makes sense, but all I’m getting at is I loved this book so much and I would absolutely recommend it!
March
I just finished typing up my March Wrap Up and so I can tell you for sure that I had a really solid reading month in March with so many great books. But The Reformatory blew everything else out of the water in a way that’s made it hard to really compare books. And yet, I can’t really talk to you about this book, still, because I truly don’t know what to say or how to say it! It made me think so much about our history and also how much people are terrible. There are also some white people in here who make attempts to be helpful, but they’re so reluctant to really put themselves on the line, despite feeling that what is happening is so wrong… It was just, really, such a great book that made me think so much.
And then we have White Hot and Hidden Legacy in general are my comfort reads and I turned to them in March when I got overwhelmed and they made it better. So I’m forever grateful to Ilona Andrews for these books and will wait a decade or more for Arabella to finally get her moment to shine (please, please, please, I’m begging, IA). If I make it through April without continuing onto Catalina’s trilogy, I’ll be amazed. If you’ve not read them yet, honestly, I don’t know that there’s anything else I can say. I feel like I talk about them all the time.
Honorable Mentions: Jan – Mar
Closing Thoughts
I have read more books outside of just romance during this three months than I often do and I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job picking those books, considering three of them have landed on my favorite books of the quarter. Three out of thirteen… Okay, maybe not, but still! I feel good about the books I’ve been picking up. Also, it’s worth noting that I’ve read 53 books total and I’ve essentially shared with you 19 books, which feels really good for me? I think? Anyway, share with me your favorite books that you read in the first quarter of the year! Do you think you’re having a good reading year? I hope so!
xx
firewhiskeyreader 