I am very sorry to say that I absolutely failed on my February TBR this year. In my defence, it was a very ambitious TBR however, I am disappointed with the amount of books that I managed to read. I have been so busy with my masters degree and working on assignments. The pressure and workload has really ramped up this semester. As I said in my March TBR, I have another busy month coming up too so I’m not sure how much reading is going to happen then either. That’s okay though, as long as I continue plucking away at that my owned TBR and my reading goals for the year. I did manage to get some books in series read which was great! Overall, not a great month but we move onto the next one!
Books Read: 4
Pages Read: 2,227 (71.84 per day)
Average Page Count: 556.75
Average Rating: 3
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
So, I finally did it. I managed to read A Little Life in February after it has been on my radar for many years and featured on my January TBR. I’m sure you have heard people talking about this book as it had a big resurgence a few years ago by people reading it and sharing their thoughts on TikTok. Mainly, reaction videos because of the emotional story that is told. It’s true, the plot of this book is dark and disturbing but it is also a tale of love and friendship. I really enjoyed it. We follow a group of boys who have graduated and are trying to find their way in the world, navigating their past and present as they build relationships and grow both together and as individuals. You can’t help but become attached to these characters and sucked into their stories. I will say that this book lost me a little bit around the 500 page mark and I predicted the ending which caused it to lose out on a five star rating but, it wasn’t enough to hinder my overall enjoyment. There are so many trigger warnings for this book so do look in to those – it really is a horrible read at times. But, it showed how messy relationships can be and the lasting impacts of trauma. I highly recommend giving this a read if you’ve been daunted by its size. It is worth the page count.
Rating: 4 stars
Down Under by Bill Bryson
One of my New Years resolutions was to try and read more non-fiction. In reality, I actually read a lot when I am researching journal articles and academic texts however, for some reason, I don’t count that as actually reading. That’s stupid, I know. So, in my efforts to read more of that genre, I am trying to read at least one bi-monthly. February was the time of Bill Bryson. I have read from this author before and wanted to experience Australia through his eyes. This was fine. It was interesting in moments and I like Bryson’s tone for the most part but, there was just something about it…..I was a little bored for the majority and it didn’t fill me with the nostalgia that I was looking for. I wanted it to bring back memories of my trip but, the focus was very different. Perhaps that is more fault for looking for something that this could never have provided. It did make me want to go back to Australia and see some of the things that I missed out but, I already knew that anyway. The best word to describe this was…..fine.
Rating: 2 stars
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie
I finally got back into the First Law universe in February by reading the first of the standalones in this world. First things first, if you read this book without reading the First Law trilogy then you’re going to miss out on a hell of a lot of context that is necessary to get a full picture of the characters so, please do read that series before. I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t to be honest but, why this was marketed as a standalone, I don’t know. I get that it is a complete story arc but….still. Okay, so we’re following a woman named Monza Murcatto who works as a mercenary for the Duke of Orso. However, when she begins to become too popular with the people, Orso has Monza and her brother murdered. Except, Monza survives and, with a band of other misfits in need of money, swears revenge on all those who took part in the murder. I really enjoyed the characters in here and found the story to be engaging. Each character was well developed and the relationships that developed between them were interesting to see unfold. My main issue with this was the repetitive nature of the plot. If you don’t like reading battle scenes then this is not the book for you as it is literally battle after battle and it did get repetitive. By the end, it did take me out of the story as I was just waiting for it to end. That being said, I did have low expectations going into this as I had heard mixed things therefore, I was pleasantly surprised. Most people say that the standalones get better as they go on so I’m looking forward to getting started on the next one. This was so close to getting a four stars!
Rating: 3 stars (a very high 3 stars!)
The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
Although Best Served Cold isn’t technically a series on my spreadsheet, I’m counting it as a series progression for February. A second series that I made progress in was the Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. This series follows a group of elderly folk at Copper’s Chase who start a little club to try and solve cold cases until a murder happens on their own doorstep. Together, they try and discover the truth. In this second book, a man from Elizabeth’s past emerges and there is murder, diamonds and a mystery afoot. I enjoyed this more than I was expecting as I had too high expectations for book one and it ultimately fell flat. I would best describe this series as quick reads that are just light and fun. They are not revolutionary in plot or writing, in fact I don’t like the writing style but, they’re just a bit of fun. As I said, I don’t like the writing style and that is because Osman tends to use a lot of simple sentences which I find a little jarring. Also, most of the book is written in the third person but then, every now and again, we get a chapter from Joyce’s perspective in the first person that usually recounts what we’ve just read in the third. I don’t really see the point in that to be honest as I think each character is well developed enough in the rest of the chapters. It takes me out of the story unnecessarily. That being said, if you’re looking for a light-hearted mystery that doesn’t take too much brain power then, this is a great series. I will be continuing on with it as I have become attached to these characters now.
Rating: 3 stars
It is a super small wrap up this month; fingers crossed it is a little bit longer in March. I’m sorry that has only meant a very short blog post for you this week. Be sure to check out my travel blog, Explore with Amie, if you want to see more content from me or, check out my instagram.
Did your reading month go better than mine?
Amie x
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