Ileana Ramirez

90 books, so I missed my goal by a few, but I think I’ll give myself extra credit for making my way through all the Jane Austens this year, including the posthumous publications and Sanditon. My five-star books are below, with my favorite of the year at the tippy top, but admittedly this ranking system is 100% biased and inconsistent. Please comment with your favorites this year so I can add to my TBR! Fiction: **Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki** Emma by Jane Austen Persuasion by Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Sene and Sensibility by Jane Austen Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara Nonfiction: There’s Always This Year: on basketball and ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates Eloquent Rage: a black feminist discovers her superpower by Brittney Cooper The Bookshop: a history of the American bookstore by Evan Friss Emily Dickinson Face to Face by Martha Gilbert Dickinson Bianchi Book and Dagger: how scholars and librarians became the unlikely spies of World War II by Elyse Graham Poetry-ish: The Sweet Flypaper of Life by Roy DeCarava and Langston Hughes You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson The Upanishads translated by Vernon Katz and Thomas Egenes

Best of 2025…. Encinitas, Yokohama, Tuscany, New York. This was a huge travel year full of surprises and adventures.

The hardcover edition of Sugar Honey Iced Tea, made by hand by the fine folks of @forthebirdstrappedinairports , is now shipping. Order yours directly from the publisher. Link in bio.

Next week, Saturday, September 13, you can find @forthebirdstrappedinairports @imramirez and @sarajwinston at @printedmatter_artbookfairs booth T72 at 2pm for a book signing! SUGAR HONEY ICED TEA hardcover edition will be available for the first time at the fair. The softcover edition will be there too, along with lots of other special titles @forthebirdstrappedinairports has brought to life. We look forward to seeing you ☀️

THIS THURSDAY: Join Candela as we welcome artist Sara J. Winston and writer Ileana Ramirez into the space to talk about the collaboration behind “Sugar Honey Iced Tea” (published by @forthebirdstrappedinairports ) in conjunction with Winston’s featured exhibition. Doors will open at 6, and discussion begins at 6:30. Those in attendance will get to see first copies of the soft cover book. Book orders placed at Thursday night’s event receive a signed copy with a special insert. RSVP via link in bio. See you soon! Book images courtesy of @forthebirdstrappedinairports 💕

I’m excited to share Sugar Honey Iced Tea! A book made in collaboration with Ileana Ramirez and Matt Austin of For the Birds Trapped in Airports, now available for pre-order! Join Ileana and me at @candelabooksandgallery in Richmond,VA next week to celebrate our book’s launch Pre-order a softcover, hard cover, or special edition of the book through @forthebirdstrappedinairports site — link to order in my bio

Thursday, June 5 — @sarajwinston will be presenting her new book, Sugar Honey Iced Tea (@forthebirdstrappedinairports , 2025), at @candelabooksandgallery in Richmond, VA. Joining her for a conversation will be Ileana Ramirez, whose writing appears throughout the book. Book Launch & Artist Talk at 6PM 📍 Candela Gallery, 214 West Broad Street, Richmond, VA, 23220 This intimate event will feature a conversation between Winston and @imramirez about the making of the book — a deeply personal, eight-year exploration of illness, caregiving, and the quiet, enduring overwhelm of everyday life. “Sugar Honey Iced Tea” is rooted in the daily pace of living with chronic illness, parenting through fatigue, and navigating intergenerational care. What began as a personal visual diary now resonates far beyond — a story told in images and words, full of humor, grief, tenderness, and truth. Space is limited, so please register through @candelabooksandgallery in advance. Come listen, connect, and pre-order a copy of this extraordinary book. #SaraJWinston #SugarHoneyIcedTea #BookLaunch

‘Sugar Honey Iced Tea’ by @imramirez and @sarajwinston is now available for pre-order on our website. Join the authors at @candelabooksandgallery on June 5 for a talk and book preview!

Snaps from our book HAUL this beautiful sunny day… plus doggo pics for those who show up just for him. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s restock and our Sunday Shelfie! #LittleFreeLibraries #LittleFreelibrary #LFLStewards #LittleFreeLibraryAdventures #BigLeafLibrary #LittleFreeLibraryStewards #LittleFreeLibrariesOfInstagram #LFLsOfVB

Meet Sara J. Winston (@sarajwinston ), photographer, writer, and educator based in New York. Since being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2014, Winston has used her camera to document life inside the Infusion Center — a space of clinical routines and emotional complexity. Her photographs bring visibility to the lived experience of chronic illness, offering a patient’s-eye view that’s both deeply personal and quietly radical. The full interview is now live — read it to hear Winston’s own words on illness, care, and what it means to tell your own story. #PCAC_artist #PCAC_MS #MultipleSclerosis #ChronicIllnessAwareness #SaraJWinston #OurBodyIsAClock #SugarHoneyIcedTea

I read 131 books this year. It was a strange year of reading for me, in that I finally made my goal of 2 books per week, embraced all book formats (including a new love for nonfiction in audio format), opened a Little Free Library, and explored a wider variety of genres than usual. My favorites of the year by author: Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion Ella Minnow Pea: a novel in letters by Mark Dunn LaRose by Louise Erdrich The Obesity Code by Jason Fung We Have Always Been Here: a queer Muslim narrative by Samara Habib The Practice: shipping creative work by Seth Godin An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones Passing by Nella Larsen Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Burnout: the secret to unlocking the stress cycle by Emily Nagoski Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano The Scholomance Series by Naomi Novik Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism by Bushra Rehman et al Inferior: how science got women wrong and the new research that’s rewriting the story by Angela Saini The Deep by Rivers Solomon Teaching My Mother to Give Birth by Warsan Shire On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward The Witches are Coming by Lindy West Portrait of My Body as a Crime I’m Still Committing by Topaz Winters