📖February Reading!📖

[emma]

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day I’m starting How to Kiss your Best Friend by Jenny Proctor on audio

[junch817]

I read 7 books in January. I really enjoyed most of them actually. My top reads were The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store and There, There by Tommy Orange



February new releases I’m looking forward to (but doesn’t necessarily mean I will read this month)
The Women by Kristin Hannah
Blind Spots by Thomas Mullen
Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

February TBR for Challenges

Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by Sarah Adler (PBT Book Club)
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (in person book club)
Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix (1900-1919 Decades Challenge)
The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown (In Case You Missed It Challenge - 2013)
The Many Lives of Mama Love: A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing by Lara Love Hardin (Buzzword Challenge - positive word)

I don’t enjoy romance in books or movies (or real life either lol my poor husband) so I couldn’t care less about Valentines Day or reading romance this month or any month.

[sudsy]

I read 5 books in January, which is likely a record for me. Favorite was The Nightingale. Least favorite was The Housemaid, but even that one was still like 3.5 stars for me. It was a good month 😊

[sudsy]

I started My Dark Vanessa last night.

[blurnette989]

Feb 1, 2024 6:06:14 GMT -6 adelbert said:

Feb 1, 2024 3:39:27 GMT -6 blurnette989 said:

I'm not adverse to romance, but it's not my #1. I guess o prefer the main themes or driving narrative to not be romance, but I'm fine with romance being a part of the books.

January I finished 7 books and enjoyed most.

Circe by Madeline Miller
Drowning hy TJ Newman
The Dark Queens: The bloody rivalry that forged the medieval world by Shelly puhak
In defense of witches: the legacy of witch hunts and why women are still on trial - this was good but very academic
Yellowface by RF Kung
Sink: A memoir by Joseph Earl Jones - this was quite good but a difficult read
The Terraformers by Anna Lee Newitz

Currently reading Sister Novelists and I'm going to dnf Where the crawdads sing.

I loved Sink but I also needed a palate cleanser after, it was just so sad.

What did you think of The Terraformers? I think I tried it once but I think I only got a few pages in.

it was fine. I gave it a 3. The world building was decent but some aspects were so silly that it took away form that. It was not a short read but I generally enjoyed it.

[imapenguin]

January was a really good month for me—I finished 9 books and enjoyed all of them. Here’s the wrap up I shared on IG.

http://instagram.com/p/C20Lj4TLKRA

[icedcoffee]

I cant do romance most of the time. I need my books to mentally wreck me. I dont know why I am this way 🤣

[claudia]

For January, I loved The Things We Leave Unfinished and Finlay Donovan is Killing It.

Least favorite was The Woman in Me.

[icedcoffee]

January was okay for me. My favorite book by far was The Reformatory. I had a few good but not great ones. Earlier in the week I read The Dilemma by B.A. Paris and that was just a depressing read the whole book. I dont even know if I liked it or not.

February I don't have any goals but I do have a TBR list to chug through so I hope to finish that

[Foxy]

18 Reads this month, but to be fair, the Mindf*ck series were smaller books. I am currently reading Crescent City 3, but I am counting down the days until the next Magnolia Parks book - Into the Dark- is released in a couple weeks. 
 

[angelashly]

Feb 1, 2024 9:52:02 GMT -6 thatgolfb said:

I read 12 books in Jan, which I’m very happy with. I enjoyed most of them. My favorite by far was Lady Tan’s Circle of Women.



Last night I started the The Improbable Meet Cute short story series, a collection of Valentine’s Day focused stories by prominent rom com writers. The first one was by Christina Lauren and it was really cute! I just started the Abby Jimenez one. They are on Kindle Unlimited.

I just downloaded the first 2 because I love the authors. I’m almost half way through the first one thanks to the pick up line and the easy reading

[nelzie]

Feb 1, 2024 9:52:02 GMT -6 thatgolfb said:

Last night I started the The Improbable Meet Cute short story series, a collection of Valentine’s Day focused stories by prominent rom com writers. The first one was by Christina Lauren and it was really cute! I just started the Abby Jimenez one. They are on Kindle Unlimited.

I almost forgot I downloaded all of these, I'm going to start them now too!

[nelzie]

Finished my first romance of the year, Love, Naturally and found it pretty blah. I noticed I DNF'd another book by this author so I think she just isn't for me.

[nelzie]

Feb 1, 2024 11:15:27 GMT -6 byjove said:

Re romance: sometimes you just need to know there will be a happy ending in this dark, cruel world.

nelzie's list is great. For historical romance I would add Lisa Keyplas, Georgette Heyer, and Lorraine Heath. There are others that will come to me.

Exactly! This world sucks so its nice to escape for a bit.

I don't really read historical romance so I'm glad you have some recs for people who like those!

[nelzie]

Feb 1, 2024 11:34:47 GMT -6 thatgolfb said:

Feb 1, 2024 10:19:51 GMT -6 clairefraser said:

thatgolfb and nelzie - how do you get those images for your month?

Bookmory app! I use Goodreads too, but I like the calendar on Bookmory, and also like that you can give half stars for ratings.

I just used it for the first time this month and I accidentally discovered you can give half stars when I clicked on it wrong. I was so excited!

[cnf]

Feb 1, 2024 12:05:34 GMT -6 emma said:

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day I’m starting How to Kiss your Best Friend by Jenny Proctor on audio

That whole series is super adorable! The fourth one just came out recently. She has a prior series too that has a couple of call backs, but you for sure don't need to read the other ones first.

[yellowwallpaper]

I read 11 books in January.

The Tent Generations: Palestinian Poems by Various Authors 4*
The Accidental Apprentice by Amanda Foody 2*
Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones by Dolly Parton 4*
How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe by Raquel Vazquez Gilliland 4*
The Roommate Risk by Talia Hibbert 3.5*
Leaping Beauty by Gregory Maguire 3*
Good Omens (full cast audio) 4*
Everything in it by Shel Silverstein 3*
Princess Princess Ever After by Kay O’Neill 4*
Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin 4*
Quiet by Susan Cain 2.5*

Today I also finished Once Upon a KProm by Kat Cho, 2.5*. I’m currently reading In Deeper Waters by FT Lukens (audio) and Lovelight Farms by BK Borison (kindle)

[loki]

I'm hoping to join in as I'm starting to listen/read to more books this year. I am a mostly romance reader. When I'm reading, I love a happy ending.

Here are my January books.
The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren
The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren
Iona Iveron's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley
Secretly Yours by Tessa Bailey
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

[cdnfroggy]

I had a pretty good January, I read 8 books, which while not the most for me, I enjoyed a lot of them and got out of a reading slump. My reads were:

-Hunt on Dark Waters by Katee Robert - 4 * a fun pirate romantasy
-The Birthday Party by Laurent Mauvignier - 1 * super overly wordy literary thriller, would have DNF'd if it wasn't for my IRL book club
-Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - 3 *, cute little story, just wanted more
-None of this is True by Lisa Jewell - 4 * thriller
-Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste - 5 * interesting look at Lucy and Bertha from gothic literature if they were immortals living in the 60's
-Lore Olympus Vol. 5 by Rachel Smythe - 5* love this series
-Heartstopper vol. 5 by Alice Oseman - 5* great YA lgbtq+ story
-Midnight Ruin by Katee Robert - 5 * i adore the Dark Olympus, just the perfect amount of plot to smut ration

For new releases I'm looking forward to:
Among the Living by Tim Lebbon
Island Witch - Amanda Jayatissa

I just started The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig for a buddy read and am really looking forward to it.

I do like to read romance as a palate cleanser, but I much prefer them if they are on the spicy/smutty side - the more the better.

[cakewench]

Is it ok if I jump in?

I read 8 books in January:
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (3.5 stars) - first book in a fantasy series, enjoyed it
No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall (3.5 stars) - thriller, good mystery. I've read some others by her and enjoyed those too
On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn (audiobook) (3.5 stars) - probably my 3rd favorite of the Bridgerton novels
Murder at the Merton Library by Andrea Penrose (2.5 stars) - part of a series, Regency-era murder mysteries... not the best writing but I can't stop lol
Happy Place by Emily Henry (4.5 stars) - romance
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas (5 stars) - fantasy with a more modern setting than ACOTAR and TOG, with a murder mystery to boot
Terms & Conditions by Lauren Asher (2 stars, almost DNF'ed) - romance... didn't realize this was book 2 of a series, maybe that affected things but meh
An Accidental Death by Peter Grainger (audiobook) (3 stars) - mystery; was looking for an audiobook to listen to during my commute and was pleasantly surprised - good audio narration, sounds slightly like Michael Caine

I'm still figuring out my rating system lol.

Currently reading:
Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard (book 2 from Red Queen series)
Court of Sugar and Spice by Rebecca Kenney (audiobook)
Autonomy-Supportive Parenting by Emily Edlynn

[bunnyfungo]

Hello! I’ve been in kind of a reading slump for the last few years so I made a goal for myself of finishing 52 books this year. I definitely went above in beyond in January with 7 books. I blame booktok 🤣 The Nightingale was my favorite by far. I’m *still* thinking about this book.

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Parachutes by Kelly Yang
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
Grit by Angela Duckworth
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

February is starting off with Iron Flame. I’m interested to see where it goes. I only read Fourth Wing because my sister hated it and I had only heard good things. So naturally I had to see where the disconnect was. The world building is a bit of a mess but I enjoyed it enough to read number 2 so we’ll see.

[mathrun]

I finished a bunch of books that I started in December and didn’t quite get through. Ended the month with 19.

Talking as Fast as I Can 3.5⭐️
The White Princess 3.5⭐️
Watching You 4⭐️
The Illiad 1.5⭐️
Several People are Typing 4⭐️
She Persisted (for a challenge) 5⭐️
Heartstopper Volume 2 4.5⭐️
Ana on the Edge 3.5⭐️
The Hunting Party 2⭐️
Vicious 4.5⭐️
All the Hidden Paths 4.5⭐️
The Girls in The Garden 4⭐️
The Fourteenth Goldfish (with my kiddo) 3.5⭐️
Argylle 4⭐️
I Found You 3⭐️
Only if You’re Lucky 3.5⭐️
Ordinary Grace 3.5⭐️
Alias Emma 4.5⭐️
The Christmas Appeal 3⭐️

I’m looking forward to the next JD Robb In Death book, The Women, and my hold on Heaven and Earth Grocery store might come up. I’m also 10% through The Covenant of Water, other than it being slow going Im liking it so far.

Not a big romance fan. I’ll do a fantasy or murder with a romance as a secondary plot though.

[marygracerich]

Feb 1, 2024 16:59:29 GMT -6 cakewench said:

Is it ok if I jump in?

I read 8 books in January:
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (3.5 stars) - first book in a fantasy series, enjoyed it
No One Can Know by Kate Alice Marshall (3.5 stars) - thriller, good mystery. I've read some others by her and enjoyed those too
On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn (audiobook) (3.5 stars) - probably my 3rd favorite of the Bridgerton novels
Murder at the Merton Library by Andrea Penrose (2.5 stars) - part of a series, Regency-era murder mysteries... not the best writing but I can't stop lol
Happy Place by Emily Henry (4.5 stars) - romance
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas (5 stars) - fantasy with a more modern setting than ACOTAR and TOG, with a murder mystery to boot
Terms & Conditions by Lauren Asher (2 stars, almost DNF'ed) - romance... didn't realize this was book 2 of a series, maybe that affected things but meh
An Accidental Death by Peter Grainger (audiobook) (3 stars) - mystery; was looking for an audiobook to listen to during my commute and was pleasantly surprised - good audio narration, sounds slightly like Michael Caine

I'm still figuring out my rating system lol.

Currently reading:
Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard (book 2 from Red Queen series)
Court of Sugar and Spice by Rebecca Kenney (audiobook)
Autonomy-Supportive Parenting by Emily Edlynn

MH finished Red Queen yesterday and suggested I read it too. I have added it to my tbr.

[kittyriot]

This is my month, it was only okay. First book of February didn’t really hit either.

[marygracerich]

I can’t do audiobooks so I am only reading physical books when I have free time so I don’t get nearly as many done as I would like.

I finished Kingdom of Ash and A Demons Guide to Wooing a Witch.

I started House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) a few days ago. I finished it today. It was very very good. I cried a lot.

I am starting House of Sky and Breath right now.

I like romance but it has to be romance with some substance. That’s why I lean more towards romantasy or historical romance.

[Pizzaslut]

Overall my January was really good. My least favorite was The Fury, but it’s hard to pick my favorite. I really enjoyed all of the others.

[Pizzaslut]

I like romance but I have to be in the mood for it. I need it to be realistic. Some of the dialogue in a lot of romance novels is cringy and I don’t mind spice but again, a lot of stuff said, I’m not sure is really ever said in real life.

In February, I am looking forward to The Women and The Phoenix Crown.

[nelzie]

I've read the first 3 of the Improbable Meet Cute novellas. I loved the first one by Christina Lauren, 5 stars. The second one by Abby Jimenez was good too, 4 stars. I didn't really like the 3rd book by Sally Thorne, 2 stars. Now working on the 4th.

[wedding]

Feb 1, 2024 16:46:29 GMT -6 cdnfroggy said:

I had a pretty good January, I read 8 books, which while not the most for me, I enjoyed a lot of them and got out of a reading slump. My reads were:

-Hunt on Dark Waters by Katee Robert - 4 * a fun pirate romantasy
-The Birthday Party by Laurent Mauvignier - 1 * super overly wordy literary thriller, would have DNF'd if it wasn't for my IRL book club
-Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - 3 *, cute little story, just wanted more
-None of this is True by Lisa Jewell - 4 * thriller
-Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste - 5 * interesting look at Lucy and Bertha from gothic literature if they were immortals living in the 60's
-Lore Olympus Vol. 5 by Rachel Smythe - 5* love this series
-Heartstopper vol. 5 by Alice Oseman - 5* great YA lgbtq+ story
-Midnight Ruin by Katee Robert - 5 * i adore the Dark Olympus, just the perfect amount of plot to smut ration

For new releases I'm looking forward to:
Among the Living by Tim Lebbon
Island Witch - Amanda Jayatissa

I just started The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig for a buddy read and am really looking forward to it.

I do like to read romance as a palate cleanser, but I much prefer them if they are on the spicy/smutty side - the more the better.

Ds has been reading Heart stopper. I should probably read it too so we can discuss. He’s really liking it.

[wedding]

I read 27 books I think. Lots of good ones and a couple of great ones. I e never really enjoyed thrilled by male authors but I found two this month that changed my mind- Mike Omer and Charlie Donlea.

My favorite this month was The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, which I think was my only non-thriller.

I DNF The Daughters of Block Island. It was dragging so much and I just couldn’t understand the choices being made.

I’m not a fan of romance. I used to be big into “chic-lit” but sometime in my many years lull of reading my tastes changed and I find them highly annoying. I also get super cringey at sex scenes.