First quarter superlatives and April book club selections
Plus a Gatsby retrospective and a campus novel bracket
As March comes to a close, I’m looking back at my goals and reflecting a bit on my reading in the first quarter of the year to see if I want to make any course corrections as the year continues. So far, I’ve had a really solid reading year, and almost all of my favorite books have been backlist and classics. I don’t know if the novels being released in 2025 just aren’t that great so far, or if I just haven’t been reading the right books. Either way, every backlist win and new release disappoint shifts my reading a bit more towards those older books, and I’m okay with that. I’ve also been spending a lot less time on Bookstagram, which means I’m avoiding the new release noise and the feelings of FOMO. My hope is that by the time the Paperback Summer Reading Guide releases, I’ll have a good idea of what new books I want to prioritize and otherwise keep reading from my shelves.
To mark the first quarter of the year, I’ll share a few superlative titles that I’ve read so far. While I have to keep most of my best reads secret until the PSRG, there’s still be plenty of good stuff to shout about.
First Quarter Superlatives
Best Rereads: A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James and Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
Best New Novel: We Do Not Part by Han Kang
Best New Fiction: Stag Dance by Torrey Peters
Best Book I Didn’t Enjoy: Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte
The Book Everyone’s Talking About That I Probably Won’t Read: Broken Country by Claire Leslie Hall
Most Beautiful Prose: The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard and Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
Unintentional Pairing I Keep Thinking About: Universality by Natasha Brown, The Portrait of a Mirror by A. Natasha Joukovsky, and May Our Joy Endure by Kev Lambert
Best Book I Missed Last Year: Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon
Biggest Surprise: Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Best Book Yet to Be Released: Audition by Katie Kitamura
Most Anticipated Upcoming Release: Flashlight by Susan Choi
What are your first quarter superlatives and what books are you still excited to read this year?
Last month on Substack.
It was an audio heavy month for me, which was a lot of fun. I shared an Ask Me Anything to celebrate five years on Substack along with my usual Ranked Reading Recap and This Month in Books episodes. TMIB was particularly chatting this time around and included a lengthy rant about how I discovered my distaste for a lot of present tense fiction.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of criticism—both in terms of literary criticism and more straightforward negative criticism. This month, I wrote about why criticism is important to me and how I strive to criticize books well.
This month, I tried something new with Friday Mood Recs and offered a week of “just trust me” picks. You all really enjoyed these so I’ll keep them up, but I also shared some more traditional mood reading recommendations, of course!
This week in books.
Now I’m reading…
I started this book about Gone With the Wind and I’m obsessed. As you may know, I’m fascinated by the concept of American myth making through literature, and Sarah Churchwell explores it all so well.
I’m making my way through Paradise Lost with a course I’m taking, and I’m just loving it. I had no idea what a compelling read this would be!
New on my TBR…
I just got a copy of one of my most highly anticipated books of the year so it might be time to venture back into new books for a bit.
Links I love.
I don’t think the analysis in this Gatsby retrospective is particularly informative, but the collage-style images are fantastic. (NYT, gift link)
A critic criticizing criticism? I’m all in—even when much over my head. (Wash Post, gift link_
Maris Kreizman wrote about the the new intel about Meta using books to train their AI, including how they are accessing and using advanced copies yet to be published. (Lit Hub)
Electric Lit is hosting a best campus novel bracket. There’s still time to vote in the final rounds, but it’s also a great place to find new campus novels.
The 13 best book covers of March. (Lit Hub)
Eight great noir thrillers. (NYT, gift link)
March in the FM Literary Society.
This month in our Patreon Literary Society, we’re reading Bibliolepsy by Gina Apostol as our main Book Club selection and Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy as our Buzzy Book of the Month.
We’re also continuing with our slow read of Marlon James’s A Brief History of Seven Killings and will be discussing on Zoom at the end of April.
End Notes.
The FM Lit Society had a great discussion about Han Kang’s We Do Not Part, and now I’m looking forward to listening to The Book Review crew discuss it.
We spent a few days of spring break in the mountains and it was delightful. We snowshoed and tubed, and Louise even did a pony ride. We had numerous instances of getting stuck in deep snow, and it was hysterical every time. It was all very short but might be my favorite family vacation to date.
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Happy reading!
Sara
Yes, same - less Bookstagram and more being drawn to works (which have ended up being blacklist)! Your superlatives also show how outstanding the book club picks were first quarter - these are so many of my favorite books so far this year, as well. Snow Country and We Do Not Part and Glorious Exploits and the accomplishment of finishing Brief History...! I've loved this range.
OH wild dark shore as the buzzy book club pick, REALLY hope I can try and make it to one of those although I don’t wanna be a downer about it (but probably will be 😂)
Backlist is definitely making me happy this year, - I did adore Stag Dance though. I’m planning on reading Audition this weekend and hoping that will also be a win for me. Tbh a lot of the other new releases I’m excited about this year are books in translation - there’s some good stuff coming (hopefully.)