Offbeat Offline: March 2025 (Plus Announcing Yet Another Hiatus)

Welcome to Offbeat Offline, where I bring you up-to-date with what went on in my life during the month just gone, give you a sneak peek of my next shenanigans, and share my favourite posts of late!

What happened last month to yours truly? Nothing bad, but nothing good either, at least on the real-life front (though I have exciting news on the bookish one - see below). March was a humdrum month (thank you Sam for putting a new-to-me word on my radar...I told you I'd use it! 😁), and while I'm grateful for a respite from new drama, I wish something took a turn for the better with the extant problems for once...😭

📚 SPRINGING INTO BETA-READING. I accomplished little on the reading and reviewing front in March, but I was approved for a greatly anticipated ARC, and got into beta-reading again! I still had my review for The Third Rule of Time Travel to finish (or, well, write, for the most part, though I technically started it on February, which is why I included it in my latest recap), and it gave me a headache that went on for the best part of the month (I even reread the book in search of inspiration!). Then I read and reviewed another couple of books (see below)...and finally, a bunch of beta-reading opportunities came, after a long while. Erin Callahan (author of The Art of Escaping) asked me to take a look at her adult mystery (currently on sub); Josh Winning (author of The Shadow Glass, Burn the Negative and Heads Will Roll) reached out to me for an authenticity read of his upcoming adult vampire book (yeah, vampire fans, rejoice!) set in Italy, and gave me the chance to have a last pass at his super-secret YA novel that will tick a lot of boxes for people who grew up loving '90s TV shows. Add to it my newest approval (see below) and two old ones whose pub dates are approaching, and I suddenly had my hands full...which is why I decided to take YET ANOTHER hiatus in April. Then again, I managed to squeeze one unplanned round of mini-reviews into the month just gone, so it's not that bad 😁.

Approvals (2):

• Overgrowth by Mira Grant (Adult, sci-fi)

This is just a story. It can't hurt you anymore.

Since she was three years old, Anastasia Miller has been telling anyone who would listen that she's an alien disguised as a human being, and that the armada that left her on Earth is coming for her. Since she was three years old, no one has been willing to listen.

Now, with an alien signal from the stars being broadcast around the world, humanity is finally starting to realize that it's already been warned, and it may be too late. The invasion is coming, Stasia's biological family is on the way to bring her home, and very few family reunions are willing to cross the gulf of space for just one misplaced child.

Note: I haven't had any luck with Seanan McGuire's ARCs lately, under any of her pen names. But finally, her UK publisher (Daphne Press) kindly approved me for this much-anticipated one! Below you can see the UK cover (on the left) and the US one.

• Blue Ridge Calling by Olivia Neal (YA, afterlife/contemporary)

The Appalachian mountains are some of the oldest in the world. They say ancient magic runs through these rivers and valleys.

Two years ago, a car accident on a perilous mountain road sent a family into freefall, and none of them have been the same since.

Sage used to have everything under control: perfect grades, record times on the swim team, and carefully medicated ADHD. But ever since her mom died, she's just been going through the motions, and no one in her family seems to notice.

Kora has known Sage's family her whole life, so losing Sage's mom was like losing her own. At the end of the summer, she's supposed to abandon her beloved Blue Ridge mountains for a prestigious art school in New York, but leaving now feels wrong. And an unexpected romance with a new girl in town might complicate things.

Then there's Sam, Sage's older brother. He's spent the last two years traipsing through the mountains, trying to find evidence of local ghost stories. He said he would be back by now, but no one has heard from him.

To find him, Kora and Sage will have to dig deeper into the myths and legends of the mountains they call home — before it's too late.

Reads (3):

• Aftermarket Afterlife (Incryptid #13) by Seanan McGuire (Adult, urban fantasy/afterlife – reread [pub. 2024])

Ghost babysitter Mary Dunlavy - a staple of the Price-Healy household since Alice was an infant - finds herself testing the limits of her freedom (and her powers) in the wake of the crossroads' destruction, while the Covenant strikes the family and their allies broadly and hard. I love this series to bits, but getting an installment from the Price's ghost nanny was the icing on the cake. Also, Aftermarket Afterlife is the first one to feature each and every family member and most of their allies in some capacity, and it's high on the actions and feelings. (Note: I reread it to refresh my memory before Book 14 came out, but as usual, McGuire recapped everything a reader could possibly need and then some at the start of the new installment...). Here's my old ARC review.

• Installment Immortality (Incryptid #14) by Seanan McGuire (Adult, urban fantasy/afterlife)

On a mission for the anima mundi, ghost babysitter Mary Dunlavy - a staple of the Price-Healy household since Alice was a infant - joins forces with a still grieving Elsie and a slowly unraveling Artie (now Arthur) to save her fellow ghosts from the Covenant, while making up her mind about her future...if she un-lives long enough to have one. While the main story per se doesn't exactly live up to the emotional whirlwind that was Book 13, thanks to the ghost perspective (and I don't only mean Mary) I ended up enjoying Installment Immortality quite a bit, and I found it to be a strong addition to a series that doesn't feel like it's going to run out of steam anytime soon.

• Rose/House by Arkady Martine (Adult, sci-fi - novella)

In a not-so-distant future, a detective tries to outsmart a house which is an AI - as opposed to being embedded with one - while investigating an impossible murder inside its (her?) walls. Rose/House is a sci-fi (or better, speculative) novella that almost reads like a supernatural one. I did enjoy this one-of-a-kind take on AI and haunted/haunting places, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an almost impalpable, atmosphere-driven story.

• Overgrowth by Mira Grant (see above)

I inhaled this one. No review yet, but while I'm making up my mind about what to say, I'll give you the short version: yes, it's a sci-fi/first contact narrative, but at its core. it's an engrossing story about what it means to be human, and the different ways in which you can be an alien among your own species. Welcome back, Mira Grant.

Reviews (2):

• Installment Immortality (Incryptid #14) by Seanan McGuire (see above)

Mini (well, midi 😂) review posted last month.

• Rose/House by Arkady Martine (see above)

Mini review posted last month.

Normally at this point I would list the reviews I plan on posting and the TMST prompts I plan on answering in April, but as I said above, I'm taking the month off in order to focus on beta-reading and the like. But I will resurface on Tue. 29th, in time for a TMST round-up where I'll answer all the April questions. In the meantime, here's the TMST prompt list for the rest of April, in case you want to join in:

• April 8th: What is your current genre of choice? Has it changed recently? (a question I submitted)
• April 15th: It's been a while...tell us more about you!
• April 22th: What types of music do you enjoy?
• April 29th: What is your favorite thing about spring? (a question I submitted)

🥛ADVENTURES IN LACTOSE INTOLERANCE. I started to eliminate lactose from my diet, which so far isn't helping me with my hot-air-balloon-like belly and stomach anyhow 😭. Premise: lactose-free can mean that an aliment doesn't contain lactose to begin with, or that lactose has been split into glucose and galactose, simple sugars that are easier to digest; this procedure gives a slightly sweeter flavour to the food it's applied to. Most aliments containing lactose I wasn't (or was hardly) eating to begin with, like ready-made sauces, instant soups or snacks. Seasoned cheese doesn't contain lactose, so I can still eat parmesan and pecorino romano, which luckily are my favourite types of cheese. In terms of taste, lactose-free milk/butter/processed-cheese slices aren't much different than their "normal" counterparts, and apparently, there are lots of lactose-free cold cuts...but yoghurt is a totally different matter. Most of my favourite flavours either don't come in that version, or exist but taste nothing like the brands I like. Strawberry isn't half bad, and pineapple is really good, but that's pretty much it. I love yoghurt, so that's a real bummer. I used to eat 9 varieties (all fruit), now I'm down to 2...Also, as I said above, even with this kind of diet, I'm not feeling better at all, so I'll have to book another visit with the gastroenterologist (the therapy he gave me didn't do me any good either...).

😫 TOTAL STALEMATE. All the rest is same old, same old. My husband is still dragging his feet (or, well, his foot and his prosthetic) around - he hasn't even tried the three steps that link our landing to the entrance hall yet. I'm beyond tired, y'all - not to mention my bunch of health issues. The house is still a dumpster fire, because of course it is - I don't have the time and energy it takes to do what needs to be done. So...🤷‍♀️ Again, see gif above.

PUBLISHING NEWS/TIPS

None this month.

THINK-PIECES, DISCUSSIONS, ORIGINAL FICTION

• Briana asks what kind of reviews you write.
• Sam discusses reading quirks.
• Kit highlights a problem of accessibility with regards to ebooks.
• Karen and Jen share uplifting stories of leaving your comfort zone (Karen's post | Jen's post).
• Lissa pours her creativity into the short story Mansion for sale, pig & butler included. 

REVIEWS/RECOMMENDATIONS

• Kit reviews Till Death by Kellan McDaniel.
• Ethan reviews The Haunting of Room 904 by Erika T. Wurth.
• ElunedHermitCrab reviews I Am the Swarm by Hayley Chewins.
• Karen reviews James by Percival Everett.
• The Orangutan Librarian recommends some inspirational reads and books that promote environmentalism.
• CeeArr presents The Bookish Diversity Link List 2025 (work in progress).

OTHER

• Book Riot examines the complicated world of YA books for younger teens.
• Reactor Magazine spotlights the forthcoming We Need Diverse Books Day.

That's it for now. My next post will be up on April 29th, and it will be the TMST round-up I mentioned above. In the meantime, I'm going dormant for a while! but you can still find me on the usual SM, if sporadically (I usually check in once a day)

So, what were your highs/lows in the past month?