Everything Else I Read in Q2 2025
Eleven overlooked titles from the past three months
Hello there! Happy Tuesday!
Ahhh, we reached the end of the second quarter of 2025. The reading year is HALFWAY OVER!
It took me a bit to finally get this put together with the whirlwind trips ~ and now I’m on the road AGAIN today! This time I’m heading east across the state for a few nights with my sister-friend Suzanne and (some of) our kids at the beach on Lake Michigan (in the Malibu of the Midwest!), and then a few nights with my girls at a campsite in Door County (the Cape Cod of the Midwest!). If you click those links, you will see I did NOT make those names up.
I can’t wait to tell you all about this trip in the future, but for now, let’s look at a bunch of books …
I went through ALL of the books I read in April, May, and June and found ELEVEN that I didn’t include in any of my other newsletters thus far and that I don’t plan to share elsewhere in the future. Some I haven’t shared because I didn’t have much great to say about them, but others I never shared about because I just had so many other great books to write about that week or I was planning to include them in a roundup that never happened.
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Here are the “overlooked books” from Q2 2025, in no particular order. I challenged myself to a very strict format for sharing my thoughts about them to keep this newsletter from becoming book-length!
Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley ~ I really loved a lot about this thoughtful, unique book set in London, but the extreme depth of the British politics content was a bit much for me.
No More Yesterdays by Catherine Bybee (#3 in The Heirs series) ~ I can’t explain why I adore Bybee’s romances so much ~ maybe nostalgia, maybe Kindle Unlimited ~ who knows. But I DO adore her, and this latest release is no exception. I read it in one sitting at the pool.
Broken Fields by Marcie Rendon (#3 in the Cash Blackbear series) ~ I am still loving this 1970s-set mystery series about a young Ojibwe woman in the Red River Valley ~ can’t wait for the next edition!
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by Jessica Guerrieri ~ such a powerful story about alcoholism and motherhood in a gorgeous coastal California setting | excellent on audio
The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff ~ a great pairing with Guerrieri’s book since both heavily feature alcohol addiction. This is a quieter story about the generational effects of alcoholism. I listened, but because of time hops, may have done better with print.
I read both of these last two books because of Amy Allen Clark and her Book Gang podcast ~ be sure to check out her author interviews for Between the Devil and the Bright Blue Sea and The Bright Years, as well as so many other amazing titles!
The Sideways Life of Denny Voss by Holly Kennedy ~ this quirky story has so much heart, and I really loved it on audio | available as Read & Listen on Kindle Unlimited ~ audio only available from Audible
Kills Well With Others by Deanna Raybourn (sequel to Killers of a Certain Age) ~ a much-anticipated sequel to a favorite book … and I’m sad to say I was a bit disappointed. The novelty of book one wore off quickly in this one.
Our Beautiful Boys by Sameer Pandya ~ I wanted this to be a California football version of my beloved Beartown, but it very very much was not. Not a fan.
Olive by Emma Gannon ~ I really like Gannon’s newsletter, and am excited to read her new book Table for One. I ordered this older title of hers from Blackwell’s and … was disappointed. I’m hoping I like Table for One when I read it!
Heartbreak is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music by Rob Sheffield ~ I finally got to this one this spring and naturally, I enjoyed it thoroughly. I love that Sheffield is Swift fan and it shone through in the writing and depth of coverage | loved it on audio
Care and Feeding: A Memoir by Laurie Woolever ~ please read my full review of why I disliked this memoir so much. I had high hopes given my love of reading about the culinary world, but they were dashed.
How’d I do at keeping it brief??? I’m pretty impressed with myself that I only missed ELEVEN books in my Quarter 2 newsletters!
To go back to newsletter editions (and book recommendations) that you missed, just head to my archives page! The majority of my Substack writing transferred over as well, so there are 2+ years of books to explore …
Looking for my Young Adult & Middle Grade reads? Check those out at my Bookshop.org collection, where I include short blurbs for each book. This collection is just for paid subscribers ~ thanks for supporting my work here!
Thanks for stopping by!
