#201: My Fave 2024 Books & Most Anticipated 2025 Books
Release Date: 02/20/2025
#207: Let’s Give You Some Clarity!
Deliberate Freelancer
On today’s show I share two timely new resources: Introducing Deliberate Freelancer Clarity Calls! These are 45-minute Zoom video chats to talk through 1-2 challenges with podcast host Melanie Padgett Powers. Are you feeling stuck in your business and need help reigniting your momentum? Do you have a million ideas but need help zeroing in on the best one for you? Are you overwhelmed with your to-do list and need help cutting through the noise? Are you feeling insecure or uncertain about a proposal, project rate or pricing structure? Schedule a Clarity Call with Melanie...
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#206: How to Stay Afloat During Turbulent Times, with Michelle Rafter
Deliberate Freelancer
Today’s guest is Michelle Rafter, who lives in Portland, Oregon. Michelle is the owner of WordCount Editorial Services. She is a former journalist who is now a ghostwriter of books, research reports and articles for CEOs and management consultants. She’s a former newspaper staff writer, wire service columnist and freelance reporter who covered business, enterprise technology and workplace issues. Michelle has weathered several economic downturns in her longtime journalism and freelance career. She recently updated her blog post “,” so I invited her on the show to go through some...
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#205: Embedding the “A” of DEIA into Your Business, with Sara Kobilka
Deliberate Freelancer
. Today’s guest is Sara Kobilka, who lives in New York state. Sara is the owner of Renaissance Woman Consulting. Sara has an insatiable curiosity that has driven her career in many different directions that she’s been able to connect in her freelance work. She primarily works in the STEM space. Sara is also a career coach, primarily for people looking to change industries or disciplines. She hosts LinkedIn sprints to help freelancers and others increase their presence on LinkedIn. She is passionate about incorporating diversity, equity, inclusion, access, accessibility,...
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#204: January and February By the Numbers
Deliberate Freelancer
In today’s episode, I recap what my business looked like in January and February. This includes: Why I got a slow start to 2025. Why I’ve been focusing only on current clients and not marketing. How much I earned in January and February. How much I worked in January and February. The number of clients I did and the types of work. How I’m thinking about so-called “low-paying clients.” How I offered two options in a proposal for a new client. What self-care means to me. How I’m playing around with ChatGPT. What I Learned This Week: Goat therapy is...
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#203: Embracing a Fractional Role + Becoming an In-Demand Freelancer, with Matthew Fenton
Deliberate Freelancer
Today’s guest is Matthew Fenton, who lives in Oregon wine country with his wife and two cats. Matthew is the founder of Three Deuce Branding, a one-man consultancy with a simple mission: “to help good people build great brands.” Since 1997, he has helped hundreds of clients — including Fidelity Investments, Wrigley and Valvoline — to achieve what he calls “brand clarity” by better positioning, strategy, and messaging. Matthew also spent seven years in client-side brand management, including two as a chief marketing officer. During that time, he launched White Mystery Airheads and...
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#202: What a $600 Month Taught Alan Heymann
Deliberate Freelancer
Today’s guest is Alan Heymann. Alan is the owner of Peaceful Direction. He is an executive coach and facilitator and is the author of two books on leadership analogies: “Don’t Just Have the Soup” and “Embrace Your Inner Peaches.” Alan is also a faculty member of the Georgetown University Institute for Transformational Leadership. In this episode, we talk about: How we’re dealing with the uncertainty of the world now. The importance of being transparent and vulnerable about our businesses on social media and elsewhere. Why Alan shared on LinkedIn that in...
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#201: My Fave 2024 Books & Most Anticipated 2025 Books
Deliberate Freelancer
On today’s show I discuss my favorite books I read in 2024 and share my most anticipated books of 2025, plus some popular authors coming out with new books this year. A few statistics first. In 2024: I read 67 books. I did not finish (DNF) 16 books. 67% of my books were fiction, with 33% nonfiction. All but one book was for adults; I read one young adult book. I read 21 debuts, or first-time-published authors, which was about 31% of all my books. All my books were physical books. I don’t use an e-reader or listen to audiobooks. Mystery/thriller was my most read genre. Here are the...
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#200: WTF 2025! (Plus, My 2024 Recap)
Deliberate Freelancer
On today’s show I discuss the rough start to 2025 and share my 2024 end-of-year review, which includes: My gross and net income for 2024 My expenses for 2024 My income goals and whether I hit those each quarter How I landed a new client How many hours I worked The importance of vacations, mental health days, spontaneous days off, and staycations A client mistake I made — you would think I’d know better by now! Clients I lost for 2025 What I Learned This Week: Go to for an easy and meaningful way to contact your U.S. congressional representatives and senators to let...
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#199: Struggling? How to Get Clients Now, with Rosanna Campbell
Deliberate Freelancer
Today’s guest is Rosanna Campbell, a freelance content writer who writes “non-boring content” for B2B SaaS clients like Dock, Lattice, and monday.com. She lives in Madrid, Spain, with her husband, son, and their beagle who eats her furniture. Rosanna’s been freelancing for eight years. In this episode, we chat in-depth about six tips she shared in a recent LinkedIn post that helped her get clients when she found herself in a “total, terrible, terrifying scramble.” Rosanna is also consistent on LinkedIn, which we also talk about at the end of the episode. In fact, she is...
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#198: November By the Numbers
Deliberate Freelancer
In today’s episode, I recap what my business looked like in November. This includes: How much I worked in November. Why I got behind and how I dealt with it. The types of work I did and how I charged. My total monthly earnings. Why I offered to help a new client for “free.” What I Learned This Week: How Poet James A. Pearson (and his friend) look at burnout: “” Poet James A. Pearson on The Bookshelf: “” by Alan Bennett Resources: Support Deliberate Freelancer at Episode #194 of Deliberate Freelancer: Episode #62 of Deliberate Freelancer:
info_outlineOn today’s show I discuss my favorite books I read in 2024 and share my most anticipated books of 2025, plus some popular authors coming out with new books this year. A few statistics first. In 2024:
- I read 67 books.
- I did not finish (DNF) 16 books.
- 67% of my books were fiction, with 33% nonfiction.
- All but one book was for adults; I read one young adult book.
- I read 21 debuts, or first-time-published authors, which was about 31% of all my books.
- All my books were physical books. I don’t use an e-reader or listen to audiobooks.
- Mystery/thriller was my most read genre.
Here are the books I read that were mentioned in this episode:
- Worst Case Scenario by T.J. Newman
- Falling by T.J. Newman
- Drowning by T.J. Newman
- Kill for Me, Kill for You by Steve Cavanaugh
- The Eddie Flynn series by Steve Cavanaugh
- Colored Television by Danzy Senna
- James by Percival Everett
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
- Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan
- Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
- Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan
- The Caretaker by Ron Rash
- Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler
- The Women by Kristin Hannah
- The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
- Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder by Kerryn Mayne
- Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent
- The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
- Long Bright River by Liz Moore
- The Frankie Elkin series by Lisa Gardner (loved books 1-2; hated book 3)
- Silent Came the Monster by Amy Hill Hearth
- The Madness by Dawn Kurtagich
- Dracula by Bram Stoker
- The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
- Colton Gentry’s Third Act by Jeff Zentner
- Only Say Good Things by Crystal Hefner (memoir)
- The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin (memoir)
- The Message by Ta-Nehisis Coates (nonfiction)
- Into the Forest: A Holocaust Story of Survival, Triumph, and Love by Rebecca Frankel (nonfiction)
- How to Age Disgracefully by Clare Pooley
2024 books I tried to read in January but DNFed:
- The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife by Anna Johnston (very popular but I couldn’t get into it)
- Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj (debut I was excited about but discovered the main characters were all teenagers)
2024 books I’m still excited to try:
- The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
- Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
- The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan
- Safe: A Memoir of Fatherhood, Foster Care, and the Risks We Take for Family by Mark Daley
- The Wives: A Memoir by Simone Gorrindo
- Dinner for Vampires: Life on a Cult TV Show by Bethany Joy Lenz (memoir)
- A Hunger to Kill: A Serial Killer, a Determined Detective, and the Quest for a Confession That Changed a Small Town Forever by Kim Mager and Lisa Pulitzer
- The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement by Sharon McMahon
- We Will Be Jaguars: A Memoir of My People by Nemonte Nenquimo and Mitch Anderson
2025 books I’m excited about:
- Back After This by Linda Holmes — publishes Feb. 25 (author of Evvie Drake Starts Over and Flying Solo)
- Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister — publishes Feb. 25 (author of Wrong Place Wrong Time)
- The Strange Case of Jane O. by Karen Thompson Walker — publishes Feb. 25 (author of The Age Of Miracles and The Dreamers
- What If I Never Get Over You by Paige Toon — publishes April 15
- It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan — publishes May 27
- Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid — publishes June 3 (author of Daisy Jones & The Six)
- King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby — publishes June 10 (author of All the Sinners Bleed and Razorblade Teers)
- Kiss Her Goodbye by Lisa Gardner (fourth in Frankie Elkin series) — publishes August 12
- All the Water in the World by Eiren Caffall — published Jan. 7 (I loved it! Similar in tone to Station Eleven)
- Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel — published Feb. 4
GoodReads’ “Readers Most Anticipated Books of 2025”
Big-name authors with new books in 2025:
- Fiona Davis
- Anne Tyler
- Jojo Moyes
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Frederik Backman
- Kevin Wilson
- Alice Feeney
- Freida McFadden
- Riley Sager
- Lisa Jewell
- John Scalzi
- Grady Hendrix
- Stephen King — book #4 in the Holly Gibney series publishes May 27
- Ali Hazelwood
- Abby Jimenez
- Jasmine Guillory
- Emily Henry
- Beth O’Leary
Resources:
Deliberate Freelancer Facebook group
Support Deliberate Freelancer at Buy Me a Coffee