(the mittens emoji looks so dismal here…the apple version looks so much cuter…)
Hi again, bibliophiles!
Here’s another monthly wrap-up of an interesting reading month…
GENERAL THOUGHTS:
February was just…freezing here in Colorado. I suppose I should say “more freezing than usual” because it’s usually pretty chilly, but it rarely gets into the negatives in February, which it happened to do over the long President’s Day weekend. So, yes, lots of hot chocolate was consumed, a few episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender were watched (yes I finally started it), and many pairs of fuzzy socks were worn.
My workload’s been manageable and I’ve managed to keep my grades in a place where I like them, for the most part. I’ve been steadily working away at the outline for my sci-fi WIP, and I probably would have finished were it not for the writing contest that my mom found. So now I’m working away at my short story, and I’m so excited to be really writing again!
I haven’t listened to a whole lot of new stuff, but I’ve been dabbling a bit of instrumental scores, some new Danny Elfman, a bit of Spacemen 3, and of course more Julien Baker as of this Friday. I rewatched half of Fargo and I’m now caught up on WandaVision, and I can’t wait to see how the latter ends!
Also, I somehow managed to get a lot of new followers this month? I’m almost at 400 now, so thanks to all of you lovely people for sticking around π₯Ί
READING AND BLOGGING:
I managed to read 22 books this February! That’s two more than January, and certainly a better batch too. (A lot less reads in the 2 star range and none in the 1 star range, I’m glad to say.) So here’s everything…
2 – 2.75 stars:
- The Brighter the Stars – Bryan K. Prosek (eARC) (βοΈβοΈ)
- Escaping Exodus – Nicky Drayden (βοΈβοΈ)
- The Kinder Poison – Natalie Mae (βοΈβοΈ.5)
3 – 3.75 stars:
- If It Makes You Happy – Claire Kann (βοΈβοΈβοΈ)
- The Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller (βοΈβοΈβοΈ)
- Happily Ever Afters – Elise Bryant (βοΈβοΈβοΈ)
- Felix Ever After – Kacen Callender (βοΈβοΈβοΈ)
- Abandon – Blake Crouch (βοΈβοΈβοΈ)
- The Conference of the Birds (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children, #5) – Ransom Riggs (βοΈβοΈβοΈ.5)
- Game Changer – Neal Shusterman (βοΈβοΈβοΈ.5)
- Hellboy: Odd Jobs – Christopher Golden, Mike Mignola et. al. (anthology) (βοΈβοΈβοΈ.5)
- Hellboy: Odder Jobs – Christopher Golden, Mike Mignola et. al. (anthology) (βοΈβοΈβοΈ.75)
4 – 4.75 stars:
- A Song of Wraiths and Ruin – Roseanne A. Brown (βοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈ)
- The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1) – Becky Chambers (βοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈ)
- Dawn (Xenogenesis, #1) – Octavia E. Butler (βοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈ)
- The Dark Matter of Mona Starr – Laura Lee Gulledge (βοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈ)
- Color Outside the Lines – Sangu Mandanna et. al. (anthology) (βοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈ)
- The City We Became (Great Cities, #1) – N.K. Jemisin (βοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈ)
- Mooncakes – Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu (βοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈ)
- A Dark and Starless Forest – Sarah Hollowell (eARC) (βοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈ.25)
5 stars:
- The Punch – Noah Hawley (βοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈ)
- Before the Fall – Noah Hawley (βοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈβοΈ)
FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: Before the Fall – 5 stars
SOME POSTS I’M PROUD OF:
- My reviews for I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Before the Fall, A Song of Wraiths and Ruin, and Game Changer!
- I made a list of my favorite YA books from #OwnVoices Black authors for Black History Month!
- The Umbrella Academy Book Tag was a lot of fun to do π
POSTS I ENJOYED FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE:
- Bertie’s discussion about women writing about gay men
- Laurel’s review of The Conductors (which I haven’t read yet, but sounds AMAZING!)
- J’s tips on how to get ARCs
- Joy’s take on the How I Choose My Books Tag (which I definitely need to do at some point!)
- Allison’s list of books to read for Black History Month
DID I ACTUALLY FOLLOW THROUGH ON MY FEBRUARY GOALS?
Let’s see…
- Read more books by Black authors for Black History Month, and make a post about it: did that! I made an effort to read a lot of books from #OwnVoices Black authors, and I found so many great reads and new-to-me authors that I want to continue reading from. Of course, it’s crucial to read books from marginalized voices 24/7/365, but I figured that it was especially important for Black History Month.
- Listen to & review Little Oblivions (Julien Baker) when it comes out: uh…
Listen to it? I’ve done that a lot. Reviewed it? Well, it came out two days ago, so…maybe next week. We’ll see.
- Read at least 20 books: did that! 22 books in February π
- Finish my initial outline for my sci-fi WIP: nope. I might’ve been able to pull it off, but like I said, short story.
GOALS FOR MARCH:
- Finish my short story for the writing contest (since the deadline is early April…)!
- ACTUALLY review Little Oblivions
- Read at least 20 books
- Review all of the eARCs sitting on my Kindle
So that’s it for February, I guess. Here’s to a March that was…[ahem] less eventful than last March. You know what I mean.
Since I’ve already posted today, check out this week’s weekly update for today’s song.
That’s it for my February in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
The way I saw you mentioning βI read 22 booksβ, but then I go through all the books youβve read and Iβm like: WHAT THE HELL THIS LIST DOESNβT STOP?? And then I look back and Iβm like: wait, 22? TWENTY TWO??? πyouβre vibing!!!
Thank you for mentioning my blog post, it means a lot π₯° Iβm excited to see your answers to the tag!
LikeLiked by 1 person
PASKAJHDKJASHF I SUPPOSE WE ARE VIBING LOTS OF GOOD BOOKS THIS MONTH
And of course! π I can’t wait to do the tag1
LikeLiked by 1 person
YESSS WE LOVE!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ooh I’m glad you started ATLA! I’m almost through (season 3, episode 10) but I started it a lot later than most people. Haha glad to see I’m not the only one!
Looks like you had a great reading month!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah! I’m only four episodes in and I haven’t gotten any further since but it’s good so far, my brother convinced my dad and I to watch it
LikeLiked by 1 person
Okay! Yeah, the start is a little slow but it’s really good! Glad you’re enjoying it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the shout-out! It looks like you had a productive monthβand I’m sure you’ll finish your WIP outline soon π
LikeLiked by 1 person
Of course, I love all your posts! π and thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
awwww thank you! I love yours as well!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great post friend, I especially loved the memes π and thank you for the mention (:
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ahh thank you! Glad you liked them kdsjhfskjfh
Of course! π
LikeLike