In Episode 196, Sarah and Catherine of Gilmore Guide to Books catch up on the 12 new releases they shared in the Spring 2025 Book Preview, now that they’ve read them. They share their reading stats, chat about what worked — and hash out which books didn’t work and why.
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CLICK HERE for the full episode Show Notes on the blog.
Our Printable Cheatsheet for the 2025 Summer Reading Guide is available to anyone who signs up for either a 7-Day FREE TRIAL of our Patreon Community (sign up here) OR a 30-day FREE TRIAL of our paid Substack Community (sign up here). We offer the same bonus content on both platforms for just $7 per month. Sign-ups for our Free Trials (and access to the Summer Reading Guide Cheatsheet) will close on Friday, May 23.
Highlights
- Catherine is rocking a 100% success rate for spring!
- Sarah had another barbell season with two 5-star books and 3 DNFs with a 50% success rate.
- Catherine has a mix of darker and lighter books from spring, leaning into what is currently working.
- Now that Sarah doesn’t have to balance reading for the 2025 Summer Reading Guide and the Spring Preview, Sarah hopes her summer reading will fare better.
- They name the best and worst books picks for spring!
Books We Read Before the Preview [3:37]
April
Sarah’s Picks
- The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett (Apr 29) | Amazon
| Bookshop.org [4:04]
Spring 2025 Circle Back [5:27]
April
Sarah’s Picks
- The Family Recipe by Carolyn Huynh (Apr 1) | Amazon
- I See You’ve Called in Dead by John Kenney (Apr 1) | Amazon
- The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff (Apr 22) | Amazon
- Gold Coast Dilemma by Nana Ma
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