Here is everything I read “not for work” in the second quarter of 2025.
Here’s everything I read in Q1.
I don’t rank the books1 but I tally how I read them. I log these by quarters because this is how we organize our year within agenting.
“Not for work” = I don’t count books I read as research, books I read on submission, books I’m editing, books I skimmed for comps.
HUNCHBACK by Saou Ichikawa trans. Polly Barton - listened on NYPL’s app Libby while on walks around Brooklyn, thinking about mobility; please do read this.
THE FRIEND by Sigrid Nunez - listened on Libby
FLASHLIGHT by Susan Choi - begged for a galley, it’s incredible
AUDITION by Katie Kitamura - bought a signed hardcover, I’m a fan, need to reread
BOOK LOVERS by Emily Henry - listened on Libby, posted about it
LOVED AND MISSED by Susie Boyt - bought on multiple people’s recommendation; incredible.
IF YOU’RE SEEING THIS, IT’S MEANT FOR YOU by Leigh Stein - got a galley from an editor, out August 26! TikTok & tarot what more do you need.
CONVENT WISDOM: How Sixteenth-Century Nuns Could Save Your Twenty-First-Century Life by Ana Garriga and Carmen Urbita - got a galley from an editor
THE AGE OF MAGICAL OVERTHINKING: Notes on Modern Irrationality by Amanda Montell - listened on Libby
NORTH SUN, OR, THE VOYAGE OF THE WHALESHIP ESTHER by Ethan Rutherford - bought an ebook from Deep Vellum’s website
CLAM DOWN: A Metamorphosis by Anelise Chen - bought at her book launch, I loved So Many Olympic Exertions
GREAT BLACK HOPE by Rob Franklin - got a galley from an editor
THE TEN YEAR AFFAIR by Erin Somers - got the PDF from an editor; publishing October 21!
I know the quarter technically ends on Monday but I’m currently reading Crossroads and In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower and I don’t expect to finish either over the weekend.
Thanks for reading! What are you reading now?
This week’s paid post:
Last week:
Since many of you are new… agenting is not a profession in which I can publicly post about disliking a book without professional repercussions. It is a problem that there are fewer and fewer paying outlets for publishing serious reviews of literature. It is not a problem I’m going to solve with this blog.