Team OwlCrate Books Of The Month: What We Read In March 2025

This was my first Lisa See book, and I now want to read everything she has ever written. When it was over, I immediately started another book by her. This book was hauntingly beautiful, emotional, captivating, and one of the most interesting historical fiction books I’ve ever read. I can’t stop thinking about it. It had me constantly pausing my read to research topics and traditions; I couldn’t get enough. The amount of research that went into this was remarkable.

I didn’t think anything could possibly top the previous Lisa See book I read (Lady Tan’s Circle of Women), but this somehow did. I don’t quite have the words to explain how much this book wrecked me. It was complex, it was beautiful, it was endlessly heart-breaking, and still hopeful at the same time. I think Lisa See may be my new favorite author, and these two books will go down as some of my favorites of the year.

After finishing Pen Pal, I was left wondering WHY I hadn’t read a paranormal dark romance before, and especially one by J.T. Geissinger.

This book had me hooked from the first few pages, and I devoured it in one day, desperate to know how it ends. The synopsis itself left me wanting more:

“The first letter arrived the day my husband was buried. It was postmarked from the state penitentiary and contained a single sentence: I’ll wait forever if I have to.

It was signed by Dante, a man I didn’t know. Out of simple curiosity, I wrote back to ask him what exactly he was waiting for. His reply? You.”

The plot was intriguing, and the ending truly shocked me. I wish I could read it for the first time all over again, and I already have a few more books by J.T. Geissinger added to my TBR. I can’t wait to read more from her!

What a cozy read this was! I wish I had read it in the fall, but I’m glad I got around to it later than never. The Pumpkin Spice Café has been on my TBR for a while now, and upon wanting to reach for a cozy book, I knew this would be my next read.

I loved that this book was set in a small town where the main character moves to start a new life. I really enjoyed following the dual POV of the two main characters and getting an insight into what they were thinking as their relationship progressed. There was definitely a lot of will they, won’t they, and I’m a sucker for grumpy x sunshine, so I loved this book.

This book was so unexpectedly fun to read! It features a character who is stuck in space with the fate of Earth in his hands and no memories of how to save everyone. We see him trying to figure out his circumstances with bits and pieces of his life intertwining in the story. He also makes an unexpected friendship, which I absolutely adored and was rooting for.

I'm someone who is not very good at science. Weir made it relatively easy to keep up with all the physics and biology involved, and it's clear he did his research. I heard it's also being adapted into a movie, which I'm so excited to see!

I Who Have Never Known Men is what I would call a quiet post-apocalypse. In this story, we follow a young, unnamed protagonist who has been imprisoned alongside 39 other women. These women, who are older, have memories of the outside world, while our protagonist has, quite literally, never known men.

When freedom is presented to the group, they must grapple with what is an unrecognizable and desolate outside world. But our protagonist must grapple with knowing it for the first time.

This book clocks in at just around 200 pages and really packs a punch of emotion and a fantastic exploration of what it means to be human.

I devoured this book while also crying basically nonstop. If you have read the previous books, you are going in knowing the general way the book is going to end...but there was no way to be prepared for just how emotionally devastating the reality would be. Suzanne Collins is a master!

The first time I read this book, I found it fairly boring, and I felt like I was slogging through it to get back to most of the characters I found myself more interested in at the time. Now I have been re-reading the series, but this time on audiobook, and I feel like I have finally cracked the code to the book. I'll avoid spoilers, but it was so much fun to realize how much truly happens in this book and how much of the events are incredibly impactful for what is to come in book 5. And yes, I'm forever here waiting for the next book.

This one was a cozy, witchy book. It was just what I needed, and I adored it. I just fell into the story as soon as I started reading, and it was so fun and hilarious. Fin is such a great character. I love all the side characters too. Found family is one of my all-time favorite things, and this had that in abundance. I cannot wait to read the next book.

The story is so, so good, cozy, and heart-warming, and it pulled me in from the start. Tao is constantly moving, running from the guild. Because of this, she is forever alone and thinks that she will always be this way. Then she slowly meets friends along her travels. I loved watching Tao open up and love her new friends. Found family is one of my favorite tropes and this was a great book.