The Goodreads Editors Share Their Book Picks for March

Posted by Sharon on February 28, 2025

Here at Goodreads World Headquarters, we sort through a lot of books each month. Our monthly Readers' Most Anticipated Books feature is exactly that—selections based on the data about the books that Goodreads members are placing on their Want to Read shelves. Essentially, these are the books that your fellow Goodreads regulars are excited about.
 
Of course, the Goodreads editorial staff gets excited about books, too. And we regularly come across specific new releases that we can’t wait to read—or “won’t shut up about,” to borrow a phrase from the colleagues who sit right next to us.
 
As to be expected, there are always way more great books each month than we have time to read, so we're passing our findings along to you, complete with genre tags, our unhinged commentary, and general enthusiasm. Think of this list as our intel on the books you might not be hearing about absolutely everywhere else, from two people who really, really want to help you find a great read.
 
Some of the intriguing story leads on tap for March: mysterious cults, haunted casinos, and sexy clowns. Bonus pick: the subtle but serious downside of hustle culture.


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: Jinwoo Chong's debut was a stylish sci-fi story about time travel and corporate espionage. For his sophomore novel, Chong takes a hard pivot toward realism, with a main character who reconnects with his long-estranged family after waking up from a two-year coma. Early readers are saying this introspective slice-of-life tale will tug on your heartstrings.

Genre: Contemporary fiction
 


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: Look, Kaveh Akbar's Martyr! was one of my favorite reads of 2024, so I'm just going to keep riding the train of literary fiction books with exclamation points in their titles. There are worse ways to organize a WTR shelf, amirite? Also, Cuffy's sophomore book features an intrepid journalist who embeds himself with a mysterious cult. That premise gets a big ol' thumbs-up from me.

Genre: Contemporary fiction
 


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: Speaking of charmingly punctuated titles, here's one where the comma placement is quite important. And speaking of trains, in this book a struggling theater troupe tours the Midwest on a surreal locomotive where aspects of their plays come to life and wreak havoc. You kinda can't write a blurb that's more catnip for me than that!

Genre: Literary speculative fiction
 


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: What if someone reimagined American hero Harriet Tubman as someone who really wanted to create a hip-hop album? And what if the person who is doing the reimagining won the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar on Season 8 of RuPaul’s Drag Race? Well, we have our answers here with this Very Intriguing debut novel from Bob the Drag Queen. 

Genre: Historical Fiction/Fiction/????


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: The first part of this novel takes the form of a deep-dive article examining the events that led to a young man being bludgeoned nearly to death with a solid bar of gold at an illegal rave. The narrative then shifts through multiple perspectives: that of the journalist who wrote the article, the banker whose life it ruined, and so forth. This book is for those of us who can't get enough of twisty literary novels like Trust and Fates and Furies.

Genre: Contemporary fiction
 


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: Peters' debut novel, Detransition, Baby, was one of the breakout hits of 2021, so I am incredibly excited to read this collection of one novella and three short stories. In the titular novel, lonely woodsmen entertain themselves with a dance at which some of the loggers must volunteer to attend as women. Jealousy and betrayal quickly encroach on the event.

Genre: Novella/Short stories


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: OK, I'm not saying that I sent Kristen Arnett's publicist an all-caps email saying "PLEASE SEND ME THE SEXY CLOWN BOOK I NEED IT," but I'm also not not saying that. Do I really need to give a reason beyond SEXY CLOWN BOOK to explain myself? OK, how about SEXY CLOWN BOOK, set in Florida, from a notoriously hilarious writer? Are we good here?

Genre: Contemporary fiction
 


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: After graduating with a Ph.D. from UCLA and adjuncting for a few years, the unnamed narrator of this book comes to the conclusion that many academics eventually reach. Namely, it's much easier to do the job if you have some secret family money. Armed with her dissertation comparing Eastern and Western views of marriage, our protagonist sets off on 100 dates with the aim of marrying rich. Hilarity—and reality—ensue.

Genre: Contemporary fiction/satire
 


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: Two words: haunted casino. If you (weirdly) need a bit more context here.… Staples has been on my reading radar since his debut, This Town Sleeps. Now the Ojibwe writer is back with this creepy horror novel that features a very scary-sounding dark force that terrorizes the living (and dead) at the Hidden Atlantis Lake Resort and Casino. 

Genre: Horror 


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: It's typically a bad idea to befriend your students, but when you live in a tiny South Dakota town and the only fellow trans person you know is the 17-year-old Resident Dissident of the high school you teach at, maybe some exceptions can be made. Thus begins the unlikely friendship between Erica and Abigail, which early readers are calling "life-affirming" and "a message of hope, love, and…care."

Genre: Contemporary fiction


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: I'm not ashamed to confess that I definitely (positively) judged this book by its cover. Isn't it gorgeous? Then the blurb totally sold me on the rest: In 2016, a young woman waits for her father's ship, which never arrives in port. He told her this day might come, and that when it did, she should go to a library in Berkeley and search for a particular book. What does this have to do with a circle of intellectuals in 1933? Follow the blue links and find out…

Genre: Per the cover of the book, a genre-bending historical mystery


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: Practical, plain Foss Butcher didn't intend to literally lose her heart to a sorcerer passing through her little town, but now that she's Snagged, she'll do anything to get it back. Confession time: I've actually already read an advanced copy of this book. Whichever publicist compared this book to Howl's Moving Castle deserves a raise because I can confirm those vibes are real and they are immaculate.

Genre: Fantasy


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: The coauthor of the beloved novel This Is How You Lose the Time War is now weaving a tale about two sisters who refuse to be separated…even by death. This is a dream-like fairy tale featuring fairies, enchanted trees, and scorned suitors. You know, that kind of thing! 

Genre: Fantasy


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: Murder investigations on ships have long been a mainstay of detective fiction, but I have to say that the burgeoning subgenre of murder investigations on spaceships is what's really grabbing my attention these days. In this cozy sci-fi whodunit offering from historical romance writer Olivia Waite, a Miss Marple–esque detective must uncover who is killing bodies and permanently deleting their memories on an interstellar luxury liner.

Genre: Sci-fi/cozy mystery
 


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: Where are my fellow Type A strivers at? Also currently having a panic attack? This one's for those of us who may have started embracing hustle culture at our first spelling bees. Williams make a valiant attempt at talking us out of our self-destructive ways by closely examining how women define their self-worth in ways that will run them into the ground. 

Genre: Nonfiction/memoir/self-help 
 


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: The media feeding frenzy around Knox's Italian murder trial is now a cautionary tale of tabloid antics and a rush to judgment that landed an innocent woman in prison for four years. In this memoir, Knox looks back at her time in prison and her attempts to resume a normal life once she was freed.

Genre: Memoir 


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: In this fierce blend of memoir and social/literary criticism, Hood asks what it means to be a female survivor of violence. Here Hood investigates her thesis through the lens of some of art's most infamous women, from Ovid's Philomela to David Lynch’s Laura Palmer. Don't expect a light read here, obviously, but be ready for keen observations on our culture when it comes to the aftermath of violence. 

Genre: Memoir/Nonfiction/Social criticism


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: Regular readers of this column may already know that I tend to keep a stack of essay collections around for busting reading slumps. This funny and openhearted collection will spark your curiosity and sense of wonder with such far-ranging topics as exploding sharks and costumed giant sloths. Intrigued? Same.

Genre: Essay collection 


Sharon can't wait to read this book because: Jeff Chu is Good People, as we say in the part of the American South where I grew up. His online writing during the early part of the COVID pandemic was such a comfort for me during that tense and scary period, so I'm thrilled that he is now releasing a memoir. This book chronicles Chu's time learning and working at Princeton Seminary's "Farminary," and I'm hoping it will feel like a quiet walk in the garden with a friend.

Genre: Memoir
 


Cybil can't wait to read this book because: I'm a big fan of Hutchinson's reporting in Outside magazine and really enjoyed listening to his Endure on audiobook a few years back. Now he's writing about one of my favorite topics: exploration. Yep, despite being very indoorsy and bookish, I cannot resist a tale about the great explorers of history. Hutchinson looks to explain what motivates these people to seek new horizons. 

Genre: Nonfiction 


Which new releases are you looking forward to reading? Let's talk books in the comments!


Comments Showing 1-5 of 5 (5 new)

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message 1: by Violet (new)

Violet The book/memoir by Jeff Chu on gardening and growing sounds so interesting. Adding to TBR.


Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!* "SEXY CLOWN BOOK" said no one ever until now. I hope. Please don't open a rabbit hole for me.


message 3: by Anna (new)

Anna Bear Ugh, I’m never gonna get through my TBR. Oh well, that’s my lot in life. These sound amazing!


⋆˚୨ৎ˚⋆ Esra (interactive) Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!* wrote: ""SEXY CLOWN BOOK" said no one ever until now. I hope. Please don't open a rabbit hole for me."

lmaoooo seriously


message 5: by Ashley (new)

Ashley Smith I had A Harvest of Hearts as an ARC. It was SO GOOD! Happy reading all!


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