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WHOOP! Y’all I’m like a reading MACHINE lately. I don’t know what’s going on but I’m on fire and I love it. I cannot get enough of reading. Suuuuure, I’m not working out as much or really being creative at all BUT I’m reading and I couldn’t be happier.
Sometimes it’s hard for me to review books. Or maybe I feel like I’m not intelligent enough to properly review them? I don’t break down the plot devices or themes or the structure of the books.
How do I know if I like a book? Simple. How it makes me feel. IF it makes me feel. Sadness, joy, hope, despair…those are the feelings that books I love have given me. I don’t go much deeper than that. I get lost in books and then I like to talk about how they made me feel.
With that said…
Here’s what I read in February.
The Children by Ann Leary- Meh. I’ve honestly already forgotten it. I can’t really explain it. The characters bugged me and I never connected and I just thought it was blah. 2 stars.
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch – OH MY WORD. This book consumed me. CONSUMED ME. I read it in a matter of hours and then promptly handed it to Jimmy and then HE promptly devoured it in a matter of hours.
I was obsessed with it. I AM obsessed with it. J and I haven’t stopped talking about it. I am not one to enjoy books about physics… Let’s be honest, I don’t even understand physics. However… This book transcends any genre. It is absolutely thrilling, heart pounding, and all encompassing. Such a fun ride! 5 stars.
You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott- I was pretty into this one, and it was crazy learning about the world of competetive gymnastics. I’m a little bit glad I don’t have a competetive gymnast, holy cow. This one was creepy and unsettling to read as a mother of girls, and it kept me guessing quite a bit. 3 stars.
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney- This one has a slow and leisurely pace that is different than what I’m used to… So it took me a little bit to get into it. That said, I really enjoyed this sweet book. It turned out to be rather enchanting. 4 stars.
Results May Vary by Bethany Chase- Kind of slow and boring in parts, but also quite sad. The true topic is heavy bu the book is still pretty light and fun. Okay for me. 3 stars.
Everything,Everything by Nicola Yoon- I love love love Nicola Yoon. The Sun is Also a Star won me over and so did this one. Somewhat formulaic as in quirky-YA heroine and quirky boy fall in love- but nevertheless I ADORED it. This one is going to be a movie and I’m excited to see it. 4 1/2 stars.
Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough- This one was my BOTM pick last month. I still haven’t found the words to properly describe how I feel about this one. From my Goodreads review: I honestly don’t know what to say about this one except for that it was a major mind F&$*. I’m sitting here unsure of whether I hate it or love it and I’m going back and forth and back-and-forth and back-and-forth. Let’s just say it was unexpected. 3 1/2 stars.
A List of Cages by Robin Roe- Powerful and painful and haunting and sad, but heartbreaking and hope-filled too. My favorite line from the book was “Hate richochets, but hope does too.” 4 stars.
Miss Hazel and the Rosa Parks League by Jonathan ODell- Another slow-burning read, this one took its sweet time to win me over and win me over it did. If you enjoyed The Help then you’ll love this one. Strong female characters and beautifully written. 4 stars.
Pines by Blake Crouch- After reading Dark Matter, I had to dive into Crouch’s Pines trilogy. Not nearly as good as DM, but still entertaining in its own right. This book is WEIRD. And I didn’t know what the hell was going on half the time. And at times it was downright ludicrous. But I really actually enjoyed it and read it in a couple of hours. Very Twilight Zone esque!! 3.5 stars.
The Mothers by Brit Bennett- Good Lord the prose in this book is stunning. Sadly I just didn’t connect with the characters. I wanted to so badly because they were so beautifully drawn but I think maybe it was a case of me reading this at the wrong time? I might have loved it more at another time. Bennett is a hell of a writer. 3 stars.
The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner- Wow wow wow wow wow. I’m still thinking about this one every day. Haunting doesn’t even begin to cover it. This is a memoir covering Ruth’s years in a polygamous LDS compound in Mexico. This book is tragic and heartbreaking and it made me so angry in so many ways. But I am so inspired by Ruth and what she survived and overcame. 4.5 stars.
After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid- I love me some TJR. But this one was not a fave. Things about this book bugged me. And I’m aware it’s because I have a bias. I am a military spouse and I’m often forced to spend years away from my husband, unsure if he’ll make it home alive. Because of that I think I was unable to read this book objectively. So…meh. 2.5 stars.
And as always my favorite part that makes me feel like a kid on Christmas morning… the new BOTM selections are out!!
I chose Marlena but also pre-ordered The Stranger in the Woods on Audible. And I added all the other books to my TBR list on Goodreads.
- The rest of the Pines Trilogy by Blake Crouch
- One Man by Andrew Gross
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
That’s my month in pages.
What about you? What did you read, love, hate, devour? What made you FEEL?
xoxo
S
I just finished A List of Cages on a flight yesterday. And bawled my little eyes out without shame. (Sorry fellow passengers). Such a heartbreaking and uplifting book. Here is what I read in February. MY top 5 have an **
Mischling- Affinity Konar
A Piece of the World – Christina Baker Kline** (Hands down a 5 star book. Gorgeous writing and amazing storytelling)
The War that Saved My Life- Kimberly Brubaker Bradley** ( Both Harper and Sadie would love this book. Highly recommend)
November 9- Collen Hoover
After I Do- Taylor Jenkins Reid
Between Shades of Gray- Ruta Sepetys **
All the Birds in the Sky- Charlie Jane Anders
Daring Greatly- Brené Brown
Tiny Little Thing- Beatriz Williams
Confess- Collen Hoover
Maybe in Another Life- Taylor Jenkins Reid
Holding Up the Universe- Jennifer Niven ** (Perfect YA)
The Liars’ Club- Mary Karr
The Secret Life of Violet Grant- Beatriz Williams
It Ends with Us – Colleen Hoover ** (Read this after your 2016 recap. Thanks for the rec!)
Love your lists. This is what I read last month: http://mprantner.blogspot.com/2017/02/february-2017-in-books.html
My favorites were We Are All Made of Stars, Once We Were Brothers, and The Paris Architect. Right now I’m reading The Goldfinch and I’m totally sucked into it, the main character is so messed up, but you are still rooting for him.
I definitely want to read the Sound of Gravel and Dark Matter!
Read “It Ends With Us” and “After I Do” and some others….but loved both of them.
We often have very similar taste, but this month we even read the same books at the same time! I read Dark Matter, Lillian Boxfish, and Behind Her Eyes this month too. And basically agree with your assessments of the books.
I have read You Will Know Me (only ok for me), Everything, Everything (grestvread!), and The Sound of Gravel (amazing and heart breaking and so good) at other times.
Other books I read in February were:
A Constellation on Vital Phenomenon – about the revolution in Chechnya which I knew nothing about. This was such a good book and live and loss and family and surviving.
The Enchanted – the story about a crumbling prison and the people who live and work there. There were parts of the book that were disturbing and hard to read. Otger parts were hopeful and bittersweet. The writing was amazing. There was some magical realism which I am usually not a fan of but it somehow fit here. This is a book that will stick with me.
Lastly, Tge Tea Planter’s Wife – set in Ceylon in the 1920’s it follows the life of a woman whose husband owns the tea plantation. I enjoyed it, but not a favorite of the year or anything.
I just finished A Piece of the World last night. Like the person commented above me, this was a great fast read.
I had a sort of blah reading month, so I have nothing to recommend, but! I am so excited to read Lilian Boxfish. Waiting on the person in front of me to turn it in! And, holy cow. I love Megan Abbott. She got gymnastics world pretty darn right, which many writers don’t. Dare Me by her is also excellent!
I really loved Lilian Boxfish. So far, my favorite of the 42 books I read in 2017.
Currently reading Dark Matter after I saw your review of it on Snapchat. It is good so far and am glad I’m not the only one confused when physics are mentioned!
I really enjoyed The Secret Wife by Gill Paul. About the second eldest Romanov sister and her secret love affair. Really good historical fiction, some parts are obviously true and some exaggerated but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
SPOILERS – You Will Know Me
I love your book threads! I read You Will Know Me and really liked it! But wasn’t crazy about the ending. I didn’t like most characters except the little brother. Don’t want to say much more because I don’t want to spoil it for others.
Shelter – it was okay
The Darkest Secret – Carla Buckley – great book!
The Girl Before – JP Delaney – good book
I look books up on Barnes and Noble, and when you look at a book, they list other books that may interest you. So I looked up your books so I could pin them. Then it lead me to other books too. I just spent an hour pinning your recommendations, and B&N recommendations. Now I have quite the list! And I still have to read the replies to your thread, where I get even more ideas. Thank you so much for this thread!
I answered above, but also wanted to add I love Diane Chamberlain’s books! The Midwife’s Secret and The Silent Sister are two of my favorites.
Thank you for your reviews! I am bummed about the 3 stars on THE MOTHER b/c I just ordered that via BOM Club. BUT excited about your review on DARK MATTER — added that to my BOMC order too. And I chose THE STRANGER IN THE WOODS as my March book.
I enjoyed THE NIGHT CIRCUS — 4 stars from me. I also really enjoyed READY PLAYER ONE (will be made into movie directed by Steven Spielberg 4.5 stars).
Will add your 4 Plus star books to my list. Thanks!
The Pines trilogy ends soooooo well. Stick with it!
i LOVE your monthly reading recaps! thank you for doing them!!
i just started reading “in a dark, dark wood” by ruth ware and i hope it lives up to my expectations. 🙂
After reading A Gentleman in Moscow last December, I had to go back and read Amor Towles’ debut novel–Rules of Civility. Oh, how I loved this book. I was swept back to New York’s Golden Age and could read Towles’ beautiful prose all day! I also read What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan. It was just okay so I had to read Bridget Jones Mad About the Boy to cleanse my pallet! LOL! I’m currently reading A Man Called Ove for my book club.
I am on book three of Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache books because of your recommendation. I am obsessed. It is so hard to find good mysteries that don’t keep me up freaked out at night. Thank you!
I just devoured Small Great Things…loved this.
On my table now
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
Sinner Man by Lawrence Block
They Can’t Kill Us All by Wesley Lowery (about America’s racial justice movement)
Just finished After I Do and I loved it.
Love, love, LOVE your book reviews! I just finished Like a River From Its Course and absolutely loved it! Not sure when/if I would have discovered this book if it wasn’t for your review.
Your monthly reviews keep my Goodreads list growing! 🙂
Thanks for recommending Dark Matters– went out and bought it today, and like you finished in it a few hours! Holy Hannah what a ride! My nephew also recommended it a few weeks ago, and I thought with such divergent people saying they couldn’t put it down, I knew I had to read it, thanks again, off to find something else off your list! Lol
I read my first ebook that I actually enjoyed (I MUCH prefer physical books) called Maude by Donna Mabry. It was so good! And it was one of those books I was sad that it had to end.