February 2023 Wrap-Up ⛷

Happy Tuesday, bibliophiles!

I’m running out of winter emojis for these wrap-ups…what else am I supposed to do when this month has been so consistently cold and miserable? Totally can’t tell how ready for spring and summer I am, can you? Nuh uh, no way…

The snow has made for some pretty beautiful scenery, though. I will say that.

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

February’s been a quiet month for the most part (although the high winds last week made me feel like I was in The Wizard of Oz, and not in a good way), which I alway appreciate. The great thing about taking mainly humanities classes is that midterms are a lot less stressful—most of my classes just have papers, so they’re far less daunting. And it’s been great to have comics and sci-fi as my reading material—even though my science fiction class has had its ups and downs, I loved re-reading All Systems Red and re-watching Blade Runner 2049 for homework.

I felt like my reading slowed down, but looking at the numbers, it really didn’t. School reading has started to make up a significant portion of what I read now that I’m in more English classes, but I’ve read a lot of interesting novels and graphic novels—Bitch Planet, Monstress, and now re-reading Kindred, to name a few. But I did read a bunch of great novels for Black History Month in my free time, and I’ve discovered so many wonderful books! I just finished The Fifth Season, and I’m kind of invested in the series now…

Other than that, I’ve been watching Only Murders in the Building (✨fabulous✨), Our Flag Means Death (not as funny as people made it out to be, but the last two episodes HURT), and Flight of the Conchords (THEY CALL ME THE HIPHOPOPOTAMOUS, MY LYRICS ARE BOTTOMLESS…[cough]), drawing, playing guitar, skiing for the first time in over a year (so much fun, but also so much soreness), and listening to new music from Black Belt Eagle Scout and Gorillaz. So much new music out (that’s on my radar) already…

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 20 books this month! I feel like school reading has taken up a good chunk of what I’ve read this month, even if it’s been re-reads, but what I’m loving about college is that I’m reading more novels that I’m interested in (with the exception of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?…ew), so that’s a plus.

2 – 2.75 stars:

• The Midnight Library – Matt Haig (⭐️⭐️)
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick (re-read) (for school) (⭐️⭐️)

3 – 3.75 stars:

• Dear Haiti, Love Alaine – Maika and Maritza Moulite (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Nobody’s Magic – Destiny O. Birdsong (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Marvel’s Voices: Pride (2022) – Charlie Jane Anders et. al. (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Flowers for the Sea – Zin E. Rocklyn (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Cool. Awkward. Black. – edited by Karen Strong (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters, #1) – Talia Hibbert (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
• Marvel’s Voices: Legacy (2022) – Cody Ziglar et. al. (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)
• Ms. Marvel: Fists of Justice – Jody Houser and Zé Carlos (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

• Bitch Planet, vol. 1: Extraordinary Machine – Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine DeLandro (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut (re-read) (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• The Faithless Hawk (The Merciful Crow, #2) – Margaret Owen (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Son of the Storm (The Nameless Republic, #1) – Suyi Davies Okungbowa (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Bitch Planet, vol. 2: President Bitch – Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine DeLandro (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing – Margaret Atwood (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1) – Martha Wells (re-read) (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• Monstress, vol. 1: Awakening – Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
• The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1) – N.K. Jemisin (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
• Nothing Burns as Bright as You – Ashley Woodfolk (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH (NOT COUNTING RE-READS): Nothing Burns as Bright as You – 4.5 stars

POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

• I had lots of fun reviewing The Midnight Library, Son of the Storm, Cool. Awkward. Black., and Nothing Burns as Bright as You!
• I had fun with my Sunday Songs for 2/5, 2/12, 2/19, and 2/26!
• I made another list of book recommendations for Black History Month!
• I reviewed Black Belt Eagle Scout’s newest album, The Land, The Water, The Sky!

POSTS FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT I ENJOYED:

• Line made a hilarious post—book recommendations based on weird Duolingo sentences!
• February is LGBTQ+ History Month in the UK, and Ella made a great recommendations list for the occasion!
• Maddie made another great list of 2023 releases by Black authors!
• Kathryn wrote a great review of Aces Wild!

SONGS/ALBUMS THAT I ENJOYED:

Since I’ve already posted once today, check out this week’s Book Review Tuesday for today’s song.

That’s it for this month in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!