January/February Wrap-Up 🚍

Happy Friday, bibliophiles!

Man, time to do wrap-ups? Barely, but I have some time on my hands and there’s nothing I love more than organizing my reading stats into bulleted lists, so why not? (The only reason I’ve been able to make this many posts this week is because most of them were started several weeks prior, but I digress.)

The past few months have been strangely calm, if you set aside…well, everything that’s been going on lately. I don’t think I have to explain. I’ve been working really hard to try and be as levelheaded as I can in the face of all of these crises. Levelheaded and hopeful. Neither of these mean ignorant bliss to me—I’m continuing to speak up when I can, read what they don’t want us to read, and put my money into places that respect my existence. (wink wink, nudge nudge…hope everybody who was financially able participated in the economic boycott today! 😉) Miraculously, this semester has given me the space to work at practicing that—I’ve had a lot more free time (almost an alien concept after last semester), so I’ve been working at putting my energy into what counts, mainly being creative and feeding my soul. I finished the first draft of book 3 in the sci-fi trilogy I’ve been working at since I was 16 (!!!!!!!!!!). I’ve tried to take up knitting. (Unsuccessful so far, but I’m trying to keep at it), and I’ve tried to draw and read when I’ve got the time. That, and getting on the mining grind in Minecraft and being paralyzed as Severance consumes every waking thought I have. GOD, what a show. All this is to say that this isn’t a straight journey—I’m by no means a master at being levelheaded and balancing work with creativity, but I’m trying to learn from my mistakes. All you can do is try.

JANUARY READING WRAP-UP

I read 15 books in January! In the gap between winter break and the start of the spring semester, I read some fantastic books, from whimsical graphic novels to classic sci-fi hijinks.

2 – 2.75 stars:

The Marble Queen – Anna Kopp and Gabrielle Kari (⭐️⭐️)

3 – 3.75 stars:

Heavenly Tyrant (Iron Widow, #2) – Xiran Jay Zhao (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Blue, Beautiful World – Karen Lord (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Circumference of the World – Lavie Tidhar (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
How to Steal a Galaxy (Chaotic Orbits, #2) – Beth Revis (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Desert Echoes – Abdi Nazemian (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Cat Who Saved Books – Sōsuke Natsukawa (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas – Marie-Helene Bertino (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
American Hippo – Sarah Gailey (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)
Hammajang Luck – Makana Yamamoto (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

Good Girl, Bad Blood (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, #2) – Holly Jackson (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
¡Ay, Mija!: My Bilingual Summer in Mexico – Christine Suggs (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Dust – Alison Stine (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Tidesong – Wendy Xu (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Infinity Particle – Wendy Xu (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: The Infinity Particle – 4.5 stars

REVIEWS:

BONUS:

A Reading List for the Coming Four Years | Books for Rising, Resisting, and Keeping the Hope

SUNDAY SONGS:

FEBRUARY READING WRAP-UP

I read 13 books in February! This month was slightly slower (and shorter, obviously) than January, but I was able to read several books that I’ve been excited to get around to for months! As I usually do, I focused more on Black authors for Black History Month, and discovered some great books and authors as a result.

2 – 2.75 stars: