Best Books of February
As I say every month, I’m shamelessly stealing this idea from Jessica Lahey. She has a recurring monthly date where she reviews all the books she reads that month. Book reviews are important for authors, and I want to get better at doing this.
So. I’m going to review them here and also online, but I’m going to do it a little differently. I’m only going to review the stuff I really liked. I don’t see a reason to spend my time writing about something I didn’t love; it’s just using up more of my energy. So only positive reviews.
These are the books I liked (or mostly liked) from February.
Spaceman of Bohemia (Jaroslav Kalfar): This is a gorgeous book. It is a story that will stay with you when you’re away from the book. It was beautiful, aching, hopeful, sad, clever, surprising. It will definitely be among the best books I read this year.
Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect (Benjamin Stevenson): I enjoyed this book so much that I dug out all of my old Australian pop music from the 80s. (Paul Kelly for the win! And if you read this book, I imagined the song “Dumb Things” when they chase the train.) It’s the follow up of Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone. Both books are 5 stars for fun. I loved that this was a real train, and it was a great set up.
Anna O (Matthew Blake): I am pretty sure that this book wins for most unethical and unrealistic therapy situation, an award long held by The Silent Patient, which is a very similar book. If you liked The Silent Patient, this is like that. Mind candy but ultimately not realistic. Still, great pacing makes for a good beach book.
What did you read last month?
4 comments
I really liked That’s Not My Name by Megan Lally and One Puzzling Afternoon by Emily Critchley. I’m never surprised when I enjoy a thriller but I’m always still a bit surprised to realize how much I like cozy mysteries.
You got me hooked on Bruno and Inspector Ganache and the genre of cozy mysteries (agree with Beth that I’m surprised how much I enjoy them!). My current cozy mastery obsession is the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear – Maisie is a smart, thoughtful, independent woman making her way and building a career/life in London between (and influenced by) WWI and WWII. Just wonderful.
I’ve got both Benjamin Stevenson books — as well as several from the Maisie Dobbs series, mentioned by Jane above — in my gargantuan to-read pile. 🙂 I read just 2 books in February:
* “Best of Friends” by Kamila Shamsie (the February pick for my Childless Collective Nomo Book Club). The lives of two teenaged girls growing up in Pakistan in the 1980s are forever changed by one reckless decision. We catch up with them 30 years later in London, when someone from their past re-enters their lives and tests their lifelong friendship. I thought the first half of the book was better than the second — the angst of being a teenaged girl is well expressed (and obviously universal, no matter what era or culture you grew up in!), but I thought the ending ultimately fell a little flat. (This was also the group’s consensus.) I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads.
* “A Death in Diamonds” by S.J. Bennett (Her Majesty the Queen Investigates #4). I know you love these books too, Mel, and this one (set in 1957) is as much fun as the first three. I did have a quibble with one sentence that shaved a half-point off my 4.5 rating, but it’s still an excellent read. Best of all — the author herself dropped into the comments section of my review!! AND is going to try to change the sentence I disliked so much!! 🙂
March reading is (also) going slowly so far. I’ve finished one book, and I’m involved in several different group reads, including (lol) “War & Peace” (a chapter a day for a full year!) and “Wolf Hall” by Hilary Mantel. Surprisingly, “War & Peace” is an easier read than “Wolf Hall.” I’m starting to think I might not meet my Goodreads goal for the year 🙁 — but I suspect I’ll still do well in terms of pages read, because a lot of the books I’ve been reading are LONG ones!
February for me was a month of re-reading old favourite authors, and some books. I reread An Echo in the Bone, book 7 ( think) of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, following up with new-to-me book 8, Written in my Own Heart’s Blood, and 9, Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone. I have to say, reading them all together was really good – I just fell into the world and the time, and followed along with their lives.
In between I read another Claire Keegan short story/novella, Small Things like These, which was very good, even though I’m not usually a short story fan.
I then started rereading a slightly futuristic series of books that are such easy reads, and not great writing, but a little addictive, just so that I could read the last two in the series! lol There were 18 books total, and I haven’t even bothered recording them on Goodreads (though I might eventually), as some of the books were gobbled up in a day. They’re fast food books, rather than gourmet dining, so I’m not mentioning them specifically!