February 2025 Reading Round-Up
The best and worst of my reading month
Welcome to the February 2025 Reading Round-Up. Each month I write about the books I’ve read and rank them from worst to best.
Midway through the month I took a trip to Florida to visit my grandparents and had the wonderful treat of beach reading time. Despite the disaster of an experience getting back to New York — cancelled planes, rerouted flight paths, a late night arrival — the family time and uninterrupted stretches of beach reading made up for it. All in all, I read seven wonderful books in February: two short story collections, one creative mystery, two quiet looks at village living in Ireland and Wales, and one psychedelic piece of historical fiction.
A friendly reminder to please share The Book House Blog with anyone you know who you think might enjoy! As I mentioned in my 2024 Book(s) Report, I’m starting a new quarterly series of theater reviews in addition to my monthly reading round-ups, seasonal publishing previews, and themed reading guides.
7. There is a Rio Grande in Heaven - Ruben Reyes Jr.
Fiction/Short Stories, 220 pages, published in 2024
Longlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Aspen Words Literary Prize, There is a Rio Grande in Heaven is a collection of short stories, many toying with the edges of reality, centered around Salvadoran identity in connection with the United States. In one story that has stuck with me, a man plants a mango tree on his aunt and uncle’s property in El Salvador and then pays for his family to ship a crate of the fruit every day to California. Another story, written in a choose-your-own-adventure format, follows a boy’s journey (or not, depending on the choices you make as a reader) to the United States. I read this book on the plane to Florida and it was great company. The author’s debut novel, which comes out in July, follows two families in alternative timelines of the Salvadoran civil war, and I’m very excited to see how Reyes’ writing translates into a longer format.
Rating: 7/10
6. Whale Fall - Elizabeth O’Connor
Historical Fiction, 224 pages, published in 2024
In the fall of 1938, on a remote island off the coast of Wales, two sets of strangers arrive in quick succession: a dead whale that washes ashore and a pair of English ethnographers looking to study the island’s culture. For Manod, an eighteen-year-old native of the island, the arrivals signify potential change in her life. While the whale festers on the beach and the islanders figure out what to do with it, the ethnographers offer Manod a job working as a translator. Manod is drawn by the mystique of their foreignness and the possibility of returning with them to the mainland until she realizes that they might not be acting with the purest of intentions.
I enjoyed this slim novel, its premise, and the thematic tensions between stasis and change. It reminded me of my favorite book of 2022, The Colony by Audrey Magee, which had a similar premise: an English linguist travels to a remote island off the coast of Ireland determined to preserve a culture he perceives as dying without reckoning with the desires of the island’s inhabitants. While Whale Fall was well-written and I don’t have any major critique (other than the fact that the whale was kind of unnecessary), I think that The Colony explores the same themes better, and would recommend that book over this one.
Rating: 8/10
5. The Twyford Code - Janice Hallett
Fiction/Mystery, 352 pages, published in 2022
If you’ve been reading my reviews for the past year, you may have noticed my discovery and love of Janice Hallett’s mysteries. As with her other books, The Twyford Code is told through alternative narratives, meaning not in a traditional first or third person point of view. The Appeal (which made it onto my 2024 Silver Medalists list) was told through a series of emails and text messages, The Mysterious Case of Alperton Angels was told with investigative materials collected by a journalist, and The Examiner was told using graduate coursework and message boards. All of these books play with truth, trust, and reliability by constantly reminding readers that they are not being presented with the whole story. The Twyford Code is no different.
In The Twyford Code, Steven Smith, a former London gangster recently released from a long stint in prison, creates a series of voice recordings detailing his investigation into the disappearance of his high school English teacher on a class field trip thirty years prior. In the voice recordings, Steven alternates between telling the listener about his present investigation, its connections to a secret code discovered in a children’s book, and stories of his time in the London underworld. Partway through the book I started to question how realistic the voice recordings actually were - the level of detail associated with some stories just didn’t seem aligned with the situation - but don’t worry, Hallett’s too smart to have written a book with subpar construction and my concerns turned out to be a central element of the mystery’s reveal at the end. That level of attention to detail in any book, but especially a mystery, is such a treat and I highly recommend all of Hallett’s work.
Rating: 8/10
4. This Is Happiness - Niall Williams
Historical Fiction, 380 pages, published in 2019
I have a general rule in my reading life: if Ann Patchett recommends it, I’ll try it. This is what happened with this book, which prominently features the Ann Patchett quote “I am such a fan of Niall Williams” on the front cover. This is Happiness is set in Faha, a small and remote village on Ireland’s western coast. It’s the 1950s and seventeen-year-old Noel has recently moved to live with his grandparents. Their home, like nearly all the homes in the village, is a relic of a different time: sloping ceilings, constant damp, and no electricity. Then, one day, the town receives word through the parish priest that electricity will soon be installed as the tail end of the country’s modernization projects. The news is accompanied by Christy, a representative of the utility company, who boards with Noel and his grandparents while the installation’s plans come together. But Christy, a jovial, world-traveled, middle-age man, is in Faha for more than just work. He has come to make amends with a long-lost love who lives in town.
This is Happiness is a quiet, meditative novel about a small town and its inhabitants. This is a character-driven story, and in a town where not a lot happens, it can feel at times that not a lot is happening in the book either. I have no complaints with Williams’ writing - the characters were all fully-formed, complicated, and often entertaining in their quirks - but the book did sometimes move slowly. This won’t deter me from trying out the recently released quasi-sequel, Time of the Child, when my hold at the library is ready.
Rating: 8/10
3. American Gun - Cameron McWhirter & Zusha Elinson
Non-Fiction/History, 370 pages, published in 2023
American Gun traces the history of the AR-15 rifle from its invention in a California garage in the 1950s to its omnipresence in American gun culture today. Originally designed by Eugene Stoner to replace the M1 rifle used by soldiers in World War II, the AR-15 was first used in combat in Vietnam as a lighter, more efficient weapon. As a military weapon, it was not immediately accepted in civilian gun culture. Indeed, many gun owners saw it as “ungentlemanly” because of the brute ease with which it could spray bullets. However, marketing and manufacturing campaigns by gunmakers shepherded the highly profitable weapon into the mainstream, and by the 2000s the AR-15 had a cult following. In the modern era, the AR-15 is not just for casual hobbyists; it has become the weapon of choice for mass shooters, including in the Columbine, Aurora, San Bernardino, Sandy Hook, and Las Vegas shootings. Despite its enormous capacity to kill, lawmakers have not been able to pass any comprehensive legislation addressing this weapon since the sunset of the Assault Weapons Ban in 2004.
This book is a deeply reported account of a single weapon that has reshaped military weaponry, American gun culture, and a slice of the culture wars. It’s not easy reading but it is critically necessary context if we’re ever going to untangle America’s obsession with guns and search for solutions to the gun violence epidemic.
Rating: 8.5/10
2. Quickly, While They Still Have Horses - Jan Carson
Fiction/Short Stories, 263 pages, published in 2024
Quickly, While They Still Have Horses is a beautifully written short story collection set in post-conflict Northern Ireland told mostly from Protestant perspectives. In one story, a London transplant, self-conscious of his accent and outsider status - loses his children at a soft-play centre in Belfast. In another, a woman reflects on her rushed marriage and prudish push into adulthood in an isolated village. In one of my favorites, a journalist attempts to interview residents on both side of the Peace Wall to get the story behind a flaming baby doll that was flung over the barricade. No story focuses exclusively on the Troubles but its legacy clearly shapes the lives of the characters. Most of the stories were scenes in the lives of ordinary people, but a few had a dose of magical realism that I enjoyed. Although Jan Carson has published several short story collections and four novels in the UK, Quickly, While They Still Have Horses is her first publication to be distributed in North America. Now that I’ve read this collection, I’m going to need to get my hands on more of her work.
Rating: 9/10
1. You Dreamed of Empires - Álvaro Enrigue
Historical Fiction, 219 pages, published in English in 2024
In 1519, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and his entourage arrive in the city of Tenochtitlan - today’s Mexico City. Their journey from Cuba has been well choreographed by the emperor Moctezuma, who wants to quietly ensure the safe arrival of a new and valuable commodity to the area: horses. The easiest solution for the emperor would be to entertain his guests in one room, kill them all, and then take the horses for himself. However, the emperor, who is at a political and spiritual crossroads and reliant on hallucinogens supplied by the palace priests, is an unreliable actor. Those closest to him are unsure if his actions will lead to the triumph or the downfall of their vast empire. Meanwhile, the Spanish await their meeting in the labyrinthine palace. Some believe that their divine destiny is to conquer the land. Others, including one of Cortés’ captains, begin to question their chances of leaving alive.
You Dreamed of Empires is a fever dream of a novel, bringing an empire to life and reimagining its future. Each scene and character are vividly portrayed, down to the putrid scent of the invaders, the feather work on the outfits, and the dosage of the hallucinogenics. Enrigue’s does an excellent job distilling complex political machinations while also showing the humanity and humor of his subjects. This book was well-deserving of its spot on The New York Times Top 10 Best Books of 2024 list.
Rating: 9/10
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I’ll never get over how much thought goes into Janice Hallett’s books!