I had 12 books on my potential reads for February, picked up nine of them, and finished eight and read one that was not on my to-read list. I had an average reading month... my average rating was down this month, and it seemed like books took forever to finish... On the other hand, I've read every day since January 1st, so go me. February 12th (post reading retreat hangover) I only read six pages, otherwise I did pretty good. In no particular order the winners this month were:
The Long Walk-- Stephen King
In this story, Ray for some unknown reason, along with 99 other young people is on a walk. A long one. Whoever makes it the farthest wins? This was a Richard Bachman Stephen King book, so it wasn't quite the Stephen King I'm familiar with, but it was pretty good. Lots of Maine geography in here.
Reading prompt: I read this for a book with a verb in the title for The Buzzword reading challenge. I also have a goal to read more Stephen King-check and more books set in New England (Maine in this case) so check check.
The Swimmers-- Julie Otsuka
In this novella (I'm calling it that) which I listened to on audio, there is a swimming pool. We meet all the people that frequent the place, and then a problem develops with the pool. Then we zoom in on one character for the rest of the book. The writing was lovely, and I was interested in the story, but it was almost two separate shorter stories that didn't never came back and connect at the end. After I got used to the weird omni-2nd person narration of this, I was intrigued, but let down a little by the end. I'd read more from this author.
reading prompt: no idea. I just picked it because the audio was only four hours long.
The Reptile Room-- Lemony Snicket
I am attempting to reread/finish this series this year, one book a month. It was typical Lemony Snicket, the Baudelaire children are still orphans, Count Olaf is still evil, and there were indeed reptiles in this installment. All the weird dark humor I loved in the first book, is present in this one.
reading prompt: none but part of my goal to finish some series this year.
Ordinary Grace-- William Kent Krueger
I already said somewhere that I really enjoyed this book. It's about a 13-year-old named Frank Drum whose father is a Methodist minister, in a small town in Minnesota. Over the course of the summer, many people die and the story is Frank dealing with it, and solving a mystery. It tugged at my shriveled black heart strings, that is for sure. Highly recommend, although reviews online complain it's too religious, I didn't think so. I really liked the brothers' relationship in this story. Also W.K.K. lived in the P.N.W. at one point, which is kind of neat.
reading prompt: Read Your Bookshelf a book thats color compliments a book cover from January. Apparently the opposite of navy blue is sickly weird green and this was as close as I could get.
Murder at Mallowan Hall -- Colleen Cambridge
In this story we follow Phyllida who is head housekeeper at Mallowan Hall, where Agatha Christie and her husband something or other Mallowan reside. Then a murder happens and Phyllida tries to solve it. I though the perspective of having Agatha Christie make appearances was interesting, but the book was a little draggy for 260 pages... it's the start of a series. Would I read the next book? Not at this point, but maybe later.
reading prompt: Brianna's online book club pick for February.
In the author's blurb at the end, it is stated Colleen Cambridge is a pseudonym for a popular author. I am going to have to find out who that is...
Go Back for Murder --Agatha Christie
I said I wanted to read more plays and non-novels... this one was kind of bleh. I've already forgotten who all the characters were and why they were in this. There was a lot of talking, and not much plotting... the stage directions were helpful/not helpful (The Mousetrap didn't have those) OK actually kind of distracting...
reading prompt: my goal to read more things that are not novels--check.
The Last Cuentista -- Donna Barba Higuera
I did not finish this. I will probably pick it back up later. I was about halfway through when I put it down which is why it's even on here. In this sci-fi, character I forgot her name, is sent into space, in some sort of effort to find a new habitable planet. She is given something to make her sleep through the trip, but it doesn't work. Also her memory is supposed to be wiped, but it isn't. The character is very close to her grandmother, and there is a lot of stories and reflections about her culture in here. It just got slow, and I decided to take a break...
reading prompt: probably something to do with sci-fi or ya. Or is this middle grade? I guess it's considered middle grade.
Call Us What We Carry-- Amanda Gorman
More Brianna tries to read things that are not novels, in this case poetry. It was OK, but I think it flew over my head. It's not you, it's me book.
reading prompt: read more poetry.
Body of Evidence --Patricia Cornwell
My second Patricia Cornwell reread this year. A reclusive famous author has been hiding in Florida, returns home and is immediately murdered and Scarpetta is on the case. Besides being slightly dated (it was written in the early 90s) it's the same Scarpetta I used to love. I kind of want to binge read the whole series, but am only reading one per month. Also, Amazon (?) is making a Scarpetta TV show. I will probably have to watch it at some point. I'm not sure how they are going to fit Jamie Lee Curtis in as Kay's sister, as she barely has any parts in the books (at least the first two.)
reading prompt: finish a series, Brianna (two year plan, there are 26 books so far in this one, and counting)
and at the last minute, I finished this tiny book:
Walking with Ramona, Exploring Beverly Cleary's Portland-- Laura O. Foster.
I used to go to the same library she went to. Someday I'd like to do this tour...
February 2023 reading statistics, or welcome to the nerd files.
pages read: 2,560 (6,667/30000 for the year)
fiction/non-fiction: 7/2
adult/ya/mg: 7/0/2
novels:6
novellas: 1
short stories: 0
plays: 1
graphic novels:0
physical/ebook/audio:8/0/1
owned versus borrowed from the library:4-5
books that are part of a series: 3
average rating: 3.97
books owned but not read at the beginning of the year 323. Books owned but not read at the end of this month: 315.
books purchased this month/year: 4/5
2023 goals tracking:
things read this year were not novels: 7
live, interactive reading "events" I participated in this year: 3 (my online reading retreat was 24 hours long but I only counted it as one event.)
novels over 500 pages read: 0
books taking place in New England: 2
series finished: 0
most read genres: mystery (11), middle grade, and YA (4 each) I need to rethink this section because The Storygraph is overlapping stuff... and also, YA and middle grade are not genres... So it should be mystery (11), classics (3), plays (if that's a genre...3) contemporary (3) And then of course, one of those contemporaries is actually a romance... this is making my head hurt.
