The only thing I miss about being on Instagram is the records of reading I’d started keeping. Since I don’t really have another place to publish what I’m reading, monthly book posts it is!
February was a seriously productive reading month for me, perhaps my most ever. I finished ten books this month and, for me, that’s a lot. I didn’t even get to use as much vacation time as I’d hoped for reading!
Here’s a breakdown of the books I read. There were some really good ones in there.
Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich: after a couple of disappointing episodes, number thirteen restored some of my faith in Stephanie Plum.
Inheritance by Dani Shapiro: The first book in the Happier Podcast Book Club. Such a great memoir about a woman who discovers that her history isn’t anything like she thought it was, all thanks to a whimsical DNA test kit. (This is what I did during the Super Bowl.)
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh: A novel about a woman who decides to sleep for a year. Sure, her methods aren’t up my alley, but her madness (she wasn’t really mad at all) kind of is. Loved it.
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward: A real doozy, this one. Sad and tragic, a little bit cultural, a little bit supernatural. It had a lot going on, but you’re going to have to have time for some ghosts if you’re going to enjoy it.
The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy: Something I realized about this book just as I was finishing it up – I’ve never felt so confident that a book could be made into a really good movie. It’s a mystery that flirts with relationships and early motherhood set with a backdrop of Brooklyn.
Slow by Brooke McAlary: I’m not sure how I ended up with this one, but I did. And it was right in the midst of my Minimalism Challenge and it was helpful in that regard. The authour speaks to ways to simplify life in all aspects and it was a really nice little pep talk for me.
The Secrets She Keeps by Michael Robotham: It may seem like mysteries are my thing, but I think I’ve gone down a bit of a rabbit hole in that regard. Again, this is suspenseful and deals with women and childbirth and babies. I don’t necessarily think that’s me, it’s more the genre that I’ve somehow stumbled upon.
Sex Object by Jessica Valenti: I read this memoir just in time to feel really and appropriately angry about the R Kelly story that broke this weekend. I am so thankful I picked this up off the library shelf and I am so glad I read it when I did. It reminded me that I need to mix some feminist literature into my queue more frequently than I have been.
The She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell: More mystery. More women and more motherhood. More Britain which seems to be another recurring theme in modern mystery/suspense novels. This was good. Very good. And as much as I knew what was going to happen early on, it made me realize that perhaps the intention of the authour isn’t always to fool the reader, but to have them walk along beside them as they riddle out the human nature of the situation.
Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier: I didn’t think I was going to like this book at all. And like may be a dishonest way to describe my feelings for it. I appreciated it more than I’d expected to. The authour came across as a bit paranoid to me and that was a turn off, but he is well educated, he knows his subject matter and he makes many very valid points. Most meaningful to me: he has me thinking long and hard about the things I’m giving up for “free” services and I am changing some of my practices. (But I’d already started doing that earlier this year.)
I thought about picking a favourite book for the month, but I don’t really think I can. Here’s hoping for a repeat success in March!
What did you read in February?
