What I’ve Been Reading Lately (February & March 2025)

My reading has been quite irregular and unusual over the last couple of months. I’ve been slowly reading my way through a doorstop of a Norwegian book (still not done!). Meanwhile, I’ve been listening to audiobooks on drives and walks, so all my finished books recently are audiobooks. Usually, there’s much more of an even split. There was also travel and illness, both of them potential opportunities for more reading, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. I was also busy planning a trip to South Korea which was time-consuming (and from which I’ve now returned). But when looking back at what I did complete, even though fewer than usual, they were generally very enjoyable and satisfying. On top of that, I added three countries –South Korea, Jordan, and Canada – to this year’s Read Around the World challenge, which felt especially productive (see my map).

What have you been reading lately?


Beasts of a Little Land by Juhea Kim (2021)
Narrated by Sue Jean Kim and Raymond Lee

The setting — Korea during the 20th century, starting in 1917 during the Japanese occupation and continuing through Korea’s independence in 1945 — was exactly what I wanted as I looked forward to a trip to South Korea. The story followed Jade, a courtesan-in-training, and JungHo, an orphan-turned-revolutionary. Their lives intertwined with various characters from different walks of life and political sides both in Pyongyang and Seoul. Even though there were a lot of characters and relationships to keep track of and the development sometimes felt a little disjointed and uneven, I greatly appreciated the insight into Korean history and enjoyed following Jade’s coming of age during this turbulent time. ⭐️⭐️⭐⭐️

Note regarding audiobook verses ebook: I mostly listened to the book. Though the narrators were great, I think I would have benefited from reading more of the book so I could have seen the characters’ names, especially the male names, and kept better track of them. If you’re more of a visual than auditory person, I recommend reading it rather than listening to it, unless you’re familiar with Korean names.

  • Read Around the World: Central & East Asia (Korea)

The Confusion of Languages by Siobhan Fallon (2017)
Narrated by Jorjeana Marie and Lauren Fortgang

This book has been on my radar a long time. The setting and premise intrigued me: two American military wives in Jordan in May 2011 during the rise of the Arab Spring. Cassie is familiar with the customs and expectations; Margaret is newly arrived and naive. After a fender bender, Margaret leaves her son with Cassie while she goes to the police station to handle the situation. However, Margaret doesn’t return as expected and Cassie becomes increasingly concerned. The structure was engaging. The story alternated between Cassie’s first person narration of the current day and Margaret’s journal looking back into the past (which Cassie is reading). The setting was interesting, but unfortunately, I wasn’t a fan of either woman so that took away from my enjoyment of the whole story.  ⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • Read Around the World: Middle East/North Africa (Jordan)

The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave (2024)
Narrated by Julia Whelan

The chance to join a group to discuss the book with the author bumped this book to the top of my TBR list. It’s a slow burn mystery about two estranged half siblings, Nora and Sam, who come together after the unexpected death of their father. Though ruled accidental, they suspect foul play. Together, they begin their own investigation into what happened that night. The timeline alternates between Nora’s narration of the present and the past as experienced by the father. The merging of the two timelines to illuminate what happened was satisfying. I really enjoyed the siblings’ relationship and was intrigued by Nora’s occupation as a neuro architect.  ⭐️⭐⭐️⭐️


Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum (2022)
Translated from the Korean by Shanna Tan (2024)
Narrated by Rosa Escoda

With a trip to South Korea coming up, I couldn’t resist adding this to my TBR list. This was a quiet, cozy, and satisfying read. It’s about a woman who, after a personal crisis, returns to an old dream and opens a bookshop in a small residential area outside Seoul. Slowly but surely, it welcomes a regular group of customers and is transformed into a thriving neighborhood space. There are many characters that weave through the story; all of them have past or current issues that they’re dealing with. It was a heartwarming and hopeful book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • Read Around the World: Central & East Asia (South Korea)
  • Read my own shelf: purchase

Still Life (Three Pines, Book 1) by Louise Penny (2005)
Narrated by Ralph Cosham

This was recommended to me years ago, and I’ve been intrigued by the fascination so many people have with Louise Penny and her series for a long time. I don’t know why I waited this long. I really enjoyed it. I loved Inspector Gamache – so calm, observant, and thoughtful. I really enjoyed the setting and people of Three Pines, a little village in Quebec outside of Montreal, and how life in this small town was portrayed; and I was very satisfied with how the murder mystery was developed and resolved. I will definitely be reading more of this series. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • Read Around the World: North America (Canada)

What have you been reading lately?

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What I’ve Been Reading Lately & Reading Goals (January 2025)

New year, renewed reading goals!

Once again, I will be traveling around the world through books. Since 2021, I’ve used The Book Girls’ Book Voyage: Read Around the World map to guide my reading. This year, I’ve created my own map and tweaked the regions to suit my interests. I separated Central America and the Caribbean from North America and included Middle East/North Africa instead of just the Middle East. My goal is to read more books set in countries I have not yet visited through books and set in regions I have not read as much from yet, in particular South America and Africa.

A highlight of 2024 was the diversity of books I read both in regard to author perspective and genre, and I want to continue that intentional reading this year. Sadly, the Diversity Across Genres reading challenge is not being hosted again this year so I am still finalizing how I’ll be accountable for that goal.

Other reading goals are to continue my exploration of Nordic literature with my ongoing Nordic Literature Reading Challenge (progress here), read women in translation from around the world, and read my own bookshelf (physical, digital, and audio).

Do you have any reading goals for the year?


All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham (2023)
Narrated by Karissa Vacker

I started the year off by finishing an unread BOTM selection that had been lingering on my shelf for a while. I needed something engrossing enough to keep me coming back, and this mystery/psychological thriller delivered. A mother’s toddler son was taken from their home in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep. The case went cold, but she was desperate and kept the search going, determined to find her son. The story was a little slow to get started, but as more information was gleaned about their pasts and her investigation moved forward with the help of true crime podcaster, it picked up and finished strong.  ⭐️⭐️⭐⭐️

  • Read My Own Shelf: BOTM selection

Untamed by Glennon Doyle (2020)
Narrated by Glennon Doyle

This is a memoir with the subtitle “stop pleasing, start living” for other editions. My book club chose it because it was a book that someone brought for our holiday book exchange (we all brought a book from our shelves, read or unread) and we decided it sounded like a good way to start off the new year. It turned out to be too much of a self help book in my opinion, and I only finished it for the sake of book club. I did admire the author’s honesty and courage to share so much personal information, and she did have some interesting observations on parenting and life in general, but overall not for me.  ⭐️⭐

  • Read My Own Shelf: Gifted

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (2024)

The setting was what drew me to this book, the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York, a place I’m familiar with from visits since high school. The story centers around the disappearance of a 13-year old camper during the summer of 1975. This camper happens to be the daughter of the wealthy family that owns the summer camp, and coincidentally, her older brother also disappeared 14 years old and was never found. Told through multiple perspectives in various time periods, it was an intriguing mystery with family drama and secrets and interesting characters that I really enjoyed.  ⭐️⭐⭐️⭐️

  • Read My Own Shelf: BOTM selection

James: A Novel by Percival Everett (2024)
Narrated by Dominic Hoffman 

This was a fantastic listening experience; both the story and performance were exceptional (though I wish I’d had a map to better visualize the journey). It’s a retelling of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain told from the perspective of Jim, an escaped slave and friend of Huckleberry. Huck fakes his own death to escape his abusive father while Jim runs away to avoid being sold and separated from his family. Together, they travel down the Mississippi River meeting all sorts of people and enduring a variety of experiences. I loved Jim, especially how he moved between his true educated, intellectual, and compassionate self and the carefully crafted persona he put forward to white people in order to survive. The relationship between him and Huck was heartwarming. This is not a light or easy read—the pre-Civil War era is not kind to Black people—but Jim’s story is extremely engaging and compelling. Highly recommend. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

  • Author/Genre Diversity: Black / Historical Fiction
  • Read Around the World: North America (USA)
  • Read My Own Shelf: Audiobook courtesy of librofm’s Educator ALCs

What have you been reading lately?

Disclaimer: AVikingInLA is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.