Marginalia: February 2025 Updates
Marginalia: January-February 2025
New year, new ISBNs! I had a lovely break over January (it's our summer holidays here in Oz) but the first two months of 2025 came out swinging as always, so no rest for the wicked. Hope you enjoy this roundup!
Jump to: Literary News | Advance Notice | Series Watch | Page to Picture | Shelf Life
📖 Literary News
Bookish headlines you may have missed.
- Bookbox favourite FairyLoot and publisher Transworld announced they are creating a new fantasy imprint with a focus on illustrated and deluxe editions – details to follow.
- Crowdfunded publisher Unbound has gone into administration, leaving several authors unpaid and book buyers without refunds.
🔥 Advance Notice
Publisher announcements, whispers in the hallways, and highly anticipated collectible titles coming soon.
Tom's Crossing – Mark Z. Danielewski: It's the 25th anniversary of haunting literary classic House of Leaves, and for Denielewski's new novel, Pantheon is already hinting at “bold typographic experiments” (Oct 25).
➤ Find it at Amazon | B&N | Waterstones | Blackwells
Pride & Prejudice (Collector's Edition) – Jane Austen: An updated two-volume edition with historically accurate removable facsimiles of correspondence in the book, along with an invitation to the ball, an illustrated guide to Pemberley, a marriage licence, and more (Aug 25).
📚 Series Watch
Highlights on series' status, new matching editions, publisher sets, etc.
☞ Check out the articles changelog for all updates.
Interactive Harry Potter – JK Rowling: There was a bit of drama when MinaLima left as designers of this series after the first three books, but Karl James Mountford is set to take over illustration duties with Goblet of Fire (Oct 25).
Empyrean Series Roundup: The series that started with Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros continues to release beautiful new designs, with lots of pretty Onyx Storm versions for you to collect.
Penguin Clothbound: New iconic cover designs by Coralie Bickford Smith (Poe's skulls are particularly divine – Aug 2025).
Welcome to the Museum: Aviarium has been announced for 2026 release, and the US edition of Insectarium is due out in May 2025.
Modern Cranford Collection: These classic novels adapt timeless cover designs from the Victorian era in homage to the delightful illustrations of Hugh Thomson. They've just started adding some new designs too.
🎬 Page to Picture
Books in adaptation.
Twisted Love – Ana Huang: Netflix announced a seven-figure deal for the Twisted high-spice romance quartet, hinting that each novel will anchor its own season with a launch in late 2026. These books were originally self-published, so there's a bit of a run right now on tracking down these rarities.
➤ OOP. self-published paperback released under Boba Press, 2021. Find it at Abes | eBay
💌 Shelf Life
Spotlighting some older books on my shelves, and books I've recently loved reading.
A Memory Called Empire - Arkady Martine
A richly layered space opera / court thriller. When ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives at the glittering heart of the Teixcalaan capital armed only with an outdated neural “imago” of her predecessor, she’s immediately swept into a lethal succession struggle. Threaded through the plot is an underlying tension about preserving your identity inside a dominant culture – a conflict that will resonate with anyone who code-switches and curates a public face while guarding their core identity.
➤ Find it at Amazon | B&N | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
Guilty by Definition - Susie Dent
Susie Dent is the lexicographer on TV shows Countdown and 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. Her debut novel is set in Oxford’s Clarendon English Dictionary offices – a charming murder mystery for word lovers. Each chapter is steeped in etymological riddles and chapter headers double as miniature dictionary entries. I loved the wordplay, but did find the pacing a bit slow. Zaffre, 2024 (UK); Sourcebooks, 2025 (US)
➤ Find UK edition at Amazon | Waterstones | Blackwells | Abes | eBay
➤ Find US edition at Amazon | B&N | Blackwells
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