Pages of Reflection
A look at my Q1 reading journey. Reading stats, reflections and standout books.
Time to wrap up the first quarter of 2025. January may have been the longest month but then joke was on us because the rest flew by!
Today I’m sharing some stats (love my numbers!), a few reflections on my reading goals and a handful of standout reads.
For an in depth conversation about my first quarter reading please be sure to checkout my conversation with Renee
. You’ll find the link at the bottom.Let’s get to the basics!
Reading Statistics
Books Read: 34 books + 1 re-read
Mood trends: Emotional and Reflective
Top 4 Genres: Contemporary Fiction, Literary Fiction, Thriller and Memoir
Fiction vs Nonfiction: Fiction = 69% Nonfiction = 31%
Average star rating: 4.07 stars
Format: Print (48%) Audio (42%) Digital (9%)
Number of debuts: 9 plus a handful I didn’t finish.
Reflections
In case you missed it, I talked all about my reading goals for 2025 in the below post. Feel free to take a look for some context.
How it’s going…
I’m happy to see that I’m on track with my nonfiction reading but sad to admit that I have had a handful of books that I should have set aside. I did fall for the FOMO with Broken Country but thankfully it delivered.
For the next quarter I plan to continue to lean into my love for nonfiction, attempt to avoid the noise and trust my gut.
Favorite Reads
Note: My only requirement for this section is a publishing date between January and March of 2025. I had a couple of April releases that I really enjoyed but you’ll see more on those soon.
Fiction
Penitence by Kristin Koval (January 28th)
Genre: Literary Suspense, Family Drama, Debut, Crime
Format: Audiobook narrated by Therese Plummer (12 hrs 13 min)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Synopsis:
For readers of Ann Patchett and Celeste Ng, Penitence is a poignant exploration of love and forgiveness. It’s a suspenseful, addictive page-turner filled with literary insight that compels readers to consider whether each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.
When a shocking murder occurs in the home of Angie and David Sheehan, their lives are shattered. Desperate to defend their family, they turn to small-town lawyer Martine Dumont for help, but Martine isn’t just legal counsel—she’s also the mother of Angie’s first love, Julian, a now-successful New York City criminal defense attorney. As Julian and Angie confront their shared past and long-buried guilt from a tragic accident years ago, they must navigate their own culpability and the unresolved feelings between them.
Spanning decades, from the ski slopes of rural Colorado to the streets of post-9/11 New York City and back again, Kristin Koval’s debut novel Penitence is an examination of the complexities of familial loyalty, the journey of redemption, and the profound experience of true forgiveness.
Thoughts:
A stellar debut that leaves the reader with lingering thoughts and feelings (I’m still thinking about it months later) and it begs to be discussed (a great book club read)!
Readers must be okay sitting with characters that are complex and even unlikable at times. You may not get the answers you want but this story cannot be tied up in a neat and tidy bow.
Koval’s debut brilliantly navigates the complexities of forgiveness. I look forward to what she writes next.
Water Moon by Samantha Yoto Yambao (January 14th)
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Magical Realism
Format: Physical Book (It’s stunning!!) 384 pages
Rating: 4.25 stars
Synopsis:
A woman inherits a pawnshop where you can sell your regrets, and then embarks on a magical journey when a charming young physicist wanders into the shop, in this dreamlike and enchanting fantasy novel.
On a backstreet in Tokyo lies a pawnshop, but not everyone can find it. Most will see a cozy ramen restaurant. And only the chosen ones—those who are lost—will find a place to pawn their life choices and deepest regrets.
Hana Ishikawa wakes on her first morning as the pawnshop’s new owner to find it ransacked, the shop’s most precious acquisition stolen, and her father missing. And then into the shop stumbles a charming stranger, quite unlike its other customers, for he offers help instead of seeking it.
Together, they must journey through a mystical world to find Hana’s father and the stolen choice—by way of rain puddles, rides on paper cranes, the bridge between midnight and morning, and a night market in the clouds.
But as they get closer to the truth, Hana must reveal a secret of her own—and risk making a choice that she will never be able to take back.
Thoughts:
“Life is about finding joy in the space between where you came from and where you are going.”
I highlighted so many passages from this stunning novel. If you’re willing to dabble in fantasy and love a story with depth, meaning and beauty then make this your next read.
This magical journey captivated me. I alternated between the stunning hardcover and the audiobook narrated by the fabulous Cindy Kay.
Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall (March 4th)
Genre: Literary Suspense, Romance, Historical Fiction
Format: Physical book (320 pages)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Synopsis:
“The farmer is dead. He is dead, and all anyone wants to know is who killed him.”
Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.
As Beth is pulled back into Gabriel’s life, tensions around the village rise and dangerous secrets and jealousies from the past resurface, this time with deadly consequences. Beth is forced to make a choice between the woman she once was, and the woman she has become.
A sweeping love story with the pace and twists of a thriller, Broken Country is a novel of simmering passion, impossible choices, and explosive consequences that toggles between the past and present to explore the far-reaching legacy of first love.
Thoughts:
Meet your next binge worthy, all consuming, heart wrenching read.
Broken Country is the stuff made for the big screens and considering this is a Reese Book Club selection, I have no doubt that will come to be.
This story surprised me, challenged me, gave me anxiety and has left long lingering thoughts.
The author’s U.S. debut is most definitely worthy of the hype. Thank goodness for that!
Nonfiction
Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks (March 4th)
Genre: Memoir, Grief, Biographical Memoir
Format: Audiobook narrated by the author ( 4 hrs 56 min)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Synopsis:
A heartrending and beautiful memoir of sudden loss and a journey to peace, from the bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Horse
Many cultural and religious traditions expect those who are grieving to step away from the world. In contemporary life, we are more often met with red tape and to-do lists. This is exactly what happened to Geraldine Brooks when her partner of more than three decades, Tony Horwitz – just sixty years old and, to her knowledge, vigorous and healthy – collapsed and died on a Washington, D. C. sidewalk.
After spending their early years together in conflict zones as foreign correspondents, Geraldine and Tony settled down to raise two boys on Martha’s Vineyard. The life they built was one of meaningful work, good humor, and tenderness, as they spent their days writing and their evenings cooking family dinners or watching the sun set with friends at Lambert’s Cove. But all of this came to an abrupt end when, on Memorial Day 2019, Geraldine received the phone call we all dread. The demands were immediate and many. Without space to grieve, the sudden loss became a yawning gulf.
Three years later, she booked a flight to a remote island off the coast of Australia with the intention of finally giving herself the time to mourn. In a shack on a pristine, rugged coast she often went days without seeing another person. There, she pondered the varied ways those of other cultures grieve, such as the people of Australia's First Nations, the Balinese, and the Iranian Shiites, and what rituals of her own might help to rebuild a life around the void of Tony's death.
A spare and profoundly moving memoir that joins the classics of the genre, Memorial Days is a portrait of a larger-than-life man and a timeless love between souls that exquisitely captures the joy, agony, and mystery of life.
Thoughts:
So often after the loss of a loved one we are sent into crisis mode, planning funerals, tending to others feelings, organizing the sale of a home, all the practical stuff. The world keeps moving and we are left little time if any to actually sit with our grief. I feel this in my heart and soul and is why I still grieve the loss of my mother over a decade later.
I love that Brooks recognizes this and examines it within her own loss. Knowing nothing about the author, I now feel like I could call her a friend. I appreciated the now and then timelines that exposes the different places within her grieving process.
This was a wonderful quick listen and now I need to go read some of her fictional books. Let me know if you have a favorite.
The Tell by Amy Griffin (March 4th)
Genre: Memoir, Mental Health, Biography
Format: Audiobook narrated by the author (7 hrs 41 min)
Rating: 5 stars
Synopsis:
OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • An astonishing memoir that explores how far we will go to protect ourselves, and the healing made possible when we face our secrets and begin to share our stories
“A beautiful account of the journey of courage it takes to face the truth of one’s past.”—Bessel van der Kolk, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Body Keeps the Score
For decades, Amy ran. Through the dirt roads of Amarillo, Texas, where she grew up; to the campus of the University of Virginia, as a student athlete; on the streets of New York, where she built her adult life; through marriage, motherhood, and a thriving career. To outsiders, it all looked, in many ways, perfect. But Amy was running from something—a secret she was keeping not only from her family and friends, but unconsciously from herself. “You’re here, but you’re not here,” her daughter said to her one night. “Where are you, Mom?” So began Amy’s quest to solve a mystery trapped in the deep recesses of her own memory—a journey that would take her into the burgeoning field of psychedelic therapy, to the limits of the judicial system, and ultimately, home to the Texas panhandle, where her story began.
In her search for the truth, to understand and begin to recover from buried childhood trauma, Griffin interrogates the pursuit of perfectionism, control, and maintaining appearances that drives so many women, asking, when, in our path from girlhood to womanhood, did we learn to look outside ourselves for validation? What kind of freedom is possible if we accept the whole story and embrace who we really are? With hope, heart, and relentless honesty, she points a way forward for all of us, revealing the power of radical truth-telling to deepen our connections—with others and ourselves.
Thoughts:
An incredibly powerful and vulnerable memoir. Griffin’s memoir explores coming to terms with her deeply rooted trauma from childhood and navigating sharing her story. She reminds everyone that telling and acknowledging our story, the good and the bad, can be incredibly freeing.
I particularly enjoyed the way she shared her story, including her childhood, strive for perfection through childhood into parenthood, the use of MDMA drugs to uncover long buried trauma, the difficulties she faced with prosecution, as well as navigating all the difficult conversations with her children, parents and friends.
This wasn’t an easy read but I think readers will find it well worthy of your time.
You Didn’t Hear This From Me by Kelsey McKinney (February 28th)
Genre: Essays, Pop Culture, Sociology, Memoir, Humor
Format: Audiobook narrated by the author (7 hrs 14 min)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Synopsis:
A delightfully insightful exploration of our obsession with gossip that weaves together journalism, cultural criticism, and memoir, from the host of the massively popular Normal Gossip podcast.
Can you keep a secret? As the pandemic forced us to socialize at a distance, Kelsey McKinney was mourning the juicy updates, jaw-dropping stories, and idle chatter that she’d typically collect over drinks with friends. She realized she wasn’t the only one missing these little morsels and her hunger for this aspect of normalcy took on a life of its own and the blockbuster Normal Gossip podcast was born. With listenership in the millions and gossip quickly becoming her day job, Kelsey found herself with the urge to think more critically about gossip as a form, to better understand the role that it plays in our culture.
In YOU DIDN'T HEAR THIS FROM ME, McKinney explores the murkiness of everyday storytelling. Why is gossip considered a sin and how can we better recognize when gossip is being weaponized against the oppressed? Why do we think we’re entitled to every detail of a celebrity’s personal life because they are a public figure? And how do we even define “gossip,” anyway? She dishes on the art of eavesdropping and dives deep into how pop culture has changed the way that we look at hearsay. But as much as the book aims to treat gossip as a subject worthy of rigor, it also hopes to capture the heart of how enchanting and fun it can be to lean over and whisper something a little salacious into your friend’s ear. With wit and honesty, McKinney unmasks what we're actually searching for when we demand to know the truth – and how much the truth really matters in the first place.
Thoughts:
This was so FUN, insightful and entertaining! For fans of Amanda Montell (Author of Cultish and Wordslut).
Kelsey makes listening to nonfiction such a joy. It’s like chatting with a girlfriend, gossiping about the latest episode of Love is Blind. No wonder her podcast is so popular!
Told in essays, McKinney dives into the culture of gossip. Why is it so shameful? Why do we love it so much? Why do so many people feel entitled to gossip surrounding celebrities
She also covers urban legends, conspiracy theories, Deux Moi, Gossip Girl, the free Britney movement and more!
Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green (March 18th)
Genre: History, Science, Health, Medicine, Medical
Format: Audiobook narrated by the author (5 hrs 36 min)
Rating: 5 stars
Synopsis:
John Green, the #1 bestselling author of The Anthropocene Reviewed and a passionate advocate for global healthcare reform, tells a deeply human story illuminating the fight against the world’s deadliest disease.
Tuberculosis has been entwined with humanity for millennia. Once romanticized as a malady of poets, today tuberculosis is a disease of poverty that walks the trails of injustice and inequity we blazed for it.
In 2019, John Green met Henry, a young tuberculosis patient at Lakka Government Hospital in Sierra Leone while traveling with Partners in Health. John became fast friends with Henry, a boy with spindly legs and a big, goofy smile. In the years since that first visit to Lakka, Green has become a vocal and dynamic advocate for increased access to treatment and wider awareness of the healthcare inequities that allow this curable, treatable infectious disease to also be the deadliest, killing 1.5 million people every year.
In Everything is Tuberculosis, John tells Henry’s story, woven through with the scientific and social histories of how tuberculosis has shaped our world and how our choices will shape the future of tuberculosis.
Thoughts:
An absolute MUST read!
Yes, Tuberculosis is still a thing and I had no idea of the extent. I was captivated and fascinated, as well as appalled at my ignorance.
Green weaves together history, a personal connection and global health inequities to educate us on the Tuberculosis crisis.
‘WE ARE THE CAUSE. LET US BE THE CURE.’
You can hear how passionate Green is for health reform and I appreciate that he used his platform to inform us and call us into action.
Raising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton (March 4th)
Genre: Memoir, Nature, Animals, Natural History
Format: Audiobook narrated by Louise Brealey (6 hrs 27 min)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Synopsis:
A moving and fascinating meditation on freedom, trust, loss, and our relationship with the natural world, explored through the story of one woman’s unlikely friendship with a wild hare.
Imagine you could hold a baby hare and bottle-feed it. Imagine that it lived under your roof and lolloped around your bedroom at night, drumming on the duvet cover when it wanted your attention. Imagine that, over two years later, it still ran in from the fields when you called it and slept in your house for hours on end and gave birth to leverets in your study. For political advisor and speechwriter Chloe Dalton, who spent lockdown deep in the English countryside, far away from her usual busy London life, this became her unexpected reality.
In February 2021, Dalton stumbles upon a newborn hare—a leveret—that had been chased by a dog. Fearing for its life, she brings it home, only to discover how impossible it is to rear a wild hare, most of whom perish in captivity from either shock or starvation. Through trial and error, she learns to feed and care for the leveret with every intention of returning it to the wilderness. Instead, it becomes her constant companion, wandering the fields and woods at night and returning to Dalton’s house by day. Though Dalton feared that the hare would be preyed upon by foxes, stoats, feral cats, raptors, and even people, she never tried to restrict it to the house. Each time the hare leaves, Chloe knows she may never see it again. Yet she also understands that to confine it would be its own kind of death.
Raising Hare chronicles their journey together, while also taking a deep dive into the lives and nature of hares, and the way they have been viewed historically in art, literature, and folklore. We witness first-hand the joy at this extraordinary relationship between human and animal, which serves as a reminder that the best things, and most beautiful experiences, arise when we least expect them.
Thoughts:
Nominee for Longlist for the Woman’s Prize for Nonfiction (2025)
This is such a lovely and touching memoir that reminds everyone of the delicateness and beauty that surrounds us. I really appreciated being a witness to Dalton’s experience.
Raising Hare, chronicles Dalton’s time spent with a leveret while also sharing research about the history of the wild creature. I recommend not reading the entire synopsis as it reveals a bit too much of the story.
I think this is a story that ALL readers can appreciate and not just animal or nature lovers.
Be sure to listen to the conversation between the narrator and author at the end of the audiobook.
Backlist
Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung ()
Genre: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, History
Format: Physical book (400 pages)
Rating: 5 stars
Synopsis:
A propulsive, extraordinary novel about a mother and her daughters’ harrowing escape to Taiwan as the Communist revolution sweeps through China, by debut author Eve J. Chung, based on her family story
Daughters are the Ang family’s curse.
In 1948, civil war ravages the Chinese countryside, but in rural Shandong, the wealthy, landowning Angs are more concerned with their lack of an heir. Hai is the eldest of four girls and spends her days looking after her sisters. Headstrong Di, who is just a year younger, learns to hide in plain sight, and their mother—abused by the family for failing to birth a boy—finds her own small acts of rebellion in the kitchen. As the Communist army closes in on their town, the rest of the prosperous household flees, leaving behind the girls and their mother because they view them as useless mouths to feed.
Without an Ang male to punish, the land-seizing cadres choose Hai, as the eldest child, to stand trial for her family’s crimes. She barely survives their brutality. Realizing the worst is yet to come, the women plan their escape. Starving and penniless but resourceful, they forge travel permits and embark on a thousand-mile journey to confront the family that abandoned them.
From the countryside to the bustling city of Qingdao, and onward to British Hong Kong and eventually Taiwan, they witness the changing tide of a nation and the plight of multitudes caught in the wake of revolution. But with the loss of their home and the life they’ve known also comes new freedom—to take hold of their fate, to shake free of the bonds of their gender, and to claim their own story.
Told in assured, evocative prose, with impeccably drawn characters, Daughters of Shandong is a hopeful, powerful story about the resilience of women in war; the enduring love between mothers, daughters, and sisters; and the sacrifices made to lift up future generations.
Thoughts:
I read this debut for my local book club and although I started it just days before our meeting, I devoured it in just two days.
I was immediately pulled into the story, holding my breath and rooting for the girls and their mother. The story examines the cruel treatment of girls vs boys and how it takes generations of resilience and education to break free.
This book made for an excellent book club discussion. The characters actions beg to be further discussed and will leave an imprint on your heart.
I would love to hear some of your Q1 reflections as well as stand-out reads. Did we share any favorites? How is your reading going so far this year? Any adjustments you want to make? Let’s chat!
Who hasn't fallen for the Broken Country fomo? 🤣🤣🤣 Great Q1 🥰
I just bought Everything is Tuberculosis this past weekend. I can’t wait to read it.