What are we reading in February?

Happy February, all! What are you reading this month? I'm in the middle of The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards and hoping to finish it soon. Please share what you're reading or planning to read below!

I'm reading I Love It When You Lie.

I am reading a delightful novella entitled The Fur Person by May Sarton and listening to The Which Way Tree a western by Elizabeth Crook.

I'm reading Curriculum Vitae, Muriel Spark's autobiography, for the CalendarCAT because she was born in February. Also reading Medical Downfall of the Tudors, which was a Kindle bargain and is about more than medicine.

I started The Good Sister for the PrizeCAT, but am not in the mood for it, so will look for something else. I've also read a Regency romance, which I planned to count for the HistoryCAT, but it was a terrible mess. I'll keep trying until I find one worth recommending.

Finished Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald on audio. Next up is The Fairytale Hairdresser. Because why not?!
Still reading Sylvester on paper.

I’m reading Public Reading Followed by Discussion by Danielle Mémoire for the “< 100 copies on LT” BingoDog square. I think I may take a long break from modern French writers after this, certainly their surreal and oulipo works at least, which are starting to get tiresome for me. I’m also in the middle of Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes, which I’m reading for escapism, pure and simple. I’ve started Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls for the February “Critters and Creature” SFFKIT. And The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li is next up for the February PrizeCAT and my own personal Tournament of Books category. Oh, and I’m listening to the audiobook of Our Wives under the Sea by Julia Armfield for the “featuring water” BingoDog square.

I'm starting the month off reading Look Alive Twenty-Five by Janet Evanovicth and listening to Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.

I'm kicking off the month with The Girls of Atomic City for the PrizeCAT, Nina Balatka for a group read, and the audio of Right Ho, Jeeves to honor rosalita's memory.

I’m still reading The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs (by Stephen Brusatte). I am astonished at the advances in the field of paleontology in the past twenty years!

I just started Between Two Fires (by Christopher Buehlman; narrated by Steve West). Because the author is known as a horror writer, this historical fiction set during the Black Plague (1348) has been shelved in horror. It’s more like a historical fantasy where a downtrodden knight, a young girl and a priest set out in a quest. There are monsters and challenges to be fought— all richly (and graphically) described. I’m loving it so far though there are some suspect pronunciations on the audio narrator’s part. I’m pretending that’s how things were said in 14th century France 😂 (Otherwise a nice enough delivery of the story that I’m continuing to listen rather that switching to the print).

I'm finishing up The Shards of Earth which is really interesting with aliens who make no sense (as it shoud be!) and just startedDead and Buried. I love that mystery series because it focuses so much on the Peak District and it's geography and geology.

I'm reading When McKinsey Comes to Town, a Christmas present from a book-loving friend. After reading the back cover and having recently worked with a subsidiary of McKinsey, I knew I had to start reading it soon. Quite eye-opening.

I am reading Christmas Nights at the Star and Lantern which I am enjoying quite a lot, and finishing Horseplay. I just finished The Fatal Folio by Elizabeth Penney.

Just finished Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, by Satoshi Yagisawa (translated by Eric Ozawa). I am here for this trend of cozy Japanese fiction featuring bookshops and/or cats. (This one doesn't have cats but is good anyway.)

Next up will be On Revision, by William Germano.

>13 rabbitprincess: if you haven’t already read it, I recommend The Cat Who Saved Books (by Sōsuke Natsukawa; translated by Louise Heal Kawai) 😺

(Features both a bookstore and a cat)

>14 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Oh yes, that one was good! :)

I have started reading The Devastating Boys a short story collection by Elizabeth Taylor. It's Elizabeth Taylor month over on the Virago Modern Classics group and will fit the AlphaKIT too.

I'm reading Pairing Off by Elizabeth Harmon, a romance set in the world of Olympic figure skating. It's not amazing, but I'm enjoying it nonetheless -- it appeals to the same part of my brain that loves the '90s movie The Cutting Edge.

I am reading Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa. She wrote Mornings in Jenin which was a book that I loved so I have high hopes for this one. And since it is February, I am reading a romance, A Scandal in Spring by Lisa Klepas.

Started reading On Revision, by William Germano. I've already noted a few great quotes.

Still in the midst of two books that challenge my brain, Pan: The Great God's Modern Return and Last Train from Atlanta. The first explores the origins of this mythological figure from earliest Greek writings through the centuries; I'm currently finishing up the Romantics and his influence there.

The latter is a compiling of letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles, along with the author's historical notes on what happened during the Battle of Atlanta. Each day has its own set of entries which brings the siege of the city to be more top of mind.

Also started a re-read of The Once and Future King.

I am in the middle of Peponi - a Swahili translation of Paradise by Abrulrazak Gurnnah

Finished The fairytale hairdresser on audio, and started Happiness: a Mystery instead.
Finished Sylvester on paper, started The Weird Sisters

I finished listening to Between Two Fires (by Christopher Buehlman; narrated by Steve West) and wow! I wrote a review but words just don’t do it justice. I loved the story and will go buy a print copy for a re-read and base all future friendships on how much the other person loves this book 😂
I had a couple quibbles with the audio narration— the biggest one being the mispronunciation of the word, “scythe” which came up surprisingly often 🙄

>23 Tanya-dogearedcopy: and base all future friendships on how much the other person loves this book -- LOL, I totally relate!

I'm currently reading Kiss of the Spindle by Nancy Campbell Allen, a steampunk retelling of Sleeping Beauty.

The third book I've got going has managed to grab my attention more than the other two so far - Beyond These Walls: Escaping the Warsaw Ghetto - A Young Girl's Story.

After finishing Joseph Boyden's dark, violent The Orenda I need something light. I'm hoping Finlay Donovan is killing it by Elle Cosimano will fit the bill.

>26 VivienneR: Cosimano was a mistake. Small children shouldn't have dialogue no matter how cute!

Searching for another light read…

Wanted a quick read, and Doctor Who and the Masque of Mandragora, by Philip Hinchcliffe, fit the bill.

I finished a couple of books started in January system collapse, Black water sister and Bookshops and bonedust. Gave up on Eve, due to squeamishness. The graphic descriptions of birth, feces, breastfeeding and other assorted biological processes were a bit too much.
Currently reading when women were dragons.

I have way too much going on now! Currently reading The Last Resort by Alison Lurie, as well as Christmas Nights at the Star and Lantern by Helen Rolfe, Murder of an Amish Bridegroom by Patricia Johns for NetGalley, and Aunt Dimity's Death by Nancy Atherton for our community book group.

I am loving Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers and The Bee Sting by Paul Murray. I am also reading Fay by Larry Brown which has me intrigued as to where it is going to take me.

For the PrizeCAT I'm reading Love and Virtue by Diana Reid which has won a lot of prizes including some I've never heard of e.g. the MUD Literary Prize.

Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist
Winner of the ABIA Book of the Year Award
Winner of the ABIA Award for Literary Fiction of the Year
Winner ABA Booksellers Choice Award for Fiction
Winner of the MUD Literary Prize
Shortlisted for The Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction
Shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year for Fiction
Shortlisted Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction
Shortlisted ABIA Matt Richell Award New Writer of the Year

I'm reading Poseidon's Gold for a mystery group read in the 75 Books group.

Started A Stake in the Kingdom, by Nigel Tranter. Because clearly the thing to do when my reading attention span is short is to start a sizeable historical fiction novel :D

I'm in the middle of My Sweet Folly by Laura Kinsale, which I'm loving so far, even though the plot is a bit bananas!

I'm going to reread something by Laura Ingalls Wilder, whose birth and death dates are both in February.

Finished listening to Happiness, a mystery, which really wasn't worth the ear time. Hoping for better things with A Three Dog Problem.

Still reading The Weird Sisters on paper. That has a really annoying grammatical tick that I'm pushing through.

I've begun The Ships of Air by Martha Wells, book #2 in her Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy.

I’ve finished the books I mentioned in my earlier post >6 Charon07:. I’ve started The Book of Goose, and I’m going to the library to pick up a hold that’s come in, The Spear Cuts through Water by Simon Jimenez.

>38 christina_reads: love those. Got to do a re-read soon.

Last night I read another chapter of When McKinsey Comes To Town and I think why I'm not reading it more quickly is because every chapter exposes more horrible behavior by this very powerful international consulting firm. I decided to read the first chapter of a couple more books I have planned for this month to see which one would grab me. So, I read the first chapter of The Windup Girl, which was good, and then the first chapter of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves - and then I couldn't put it down. 1am came all too quickly....

I just finished Little Deaths by Emma Flint and now I'm starting Der tote Rittmeister by Elsa Dix, a German historical novel.

On audio, I'm listening to Slightly Wicked by Mary Balogh and enjoying it very much. I still have seven hours to go.

I'm reading Abomination by Ashley Goldberg. It's set in Melbourne within the Orthodox Jewish community, and is concerned with the covering up of child abuse. It is the winner of the Debut Fiction Prize, 72nd National Jewish Book Awards, which is a US award.

Finished The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs (by Steve Brusatte) today and loved it! NF, pop science tone & style, geared towards adults 🦖🦕

Starting Transcendant Kingdom (by Yaa Gyasi) next

Currently I am reading From the Dead by Mark Billingham. This is a police procedural from his Tom Thorne series. I am also reading Escape of the Amethyst by C. E. Lucas about a British frigate that was bombarded by the Chinese communists in 1949.

I'm on to the fifth book in Catherine Lloyd's Kurland St. Mary series, Death Comes to the School.

I've rather fallen out of my reading mojo lately. Nothing I think of reading feels interesting enough. I have one book on my nightstand that I'm slogging through (it's not particularly bad, just eh) so it will hopefully be finished before we leave on vacation next week. I'm sure I'll enjoy my books them. I did download the audio of Kiss me in the Coral Lounge by Helen Ellis to listen to while I run around getting ready for next week.

I could not sleep last night, so I knocked out a bunch of books for the BingoDog card and finally got a few Bingos.
Dog Loves Books for "paper item in plot"
Library Lion for "friendship"
How My Parents Learned to Eat for "multiple countries'
Grandfather's Journey for "written by POC"
The Little House for "reread a fave"
Miss Malarkey Doesn't Live in Room 10 for "in a city"
Miss Malarkey Won't Be in Today for "specific expertise"

I also finished Aunt Dimity's Death for our community book group meeting tomorrow, History's Unsolved Mysteries for the MysteryKIT, and Christmas Nights at the Star and Lantern for my KU challenge.

Just started Winter's Gifts, by Ben Aaronovitch, a novella in the Rivers of London universe. It focuses on Peter Grant's American counterpart, and I'm liking it very much even if neither Peter nor Nightingale are in it (...yet, she said optimistically).

Finished The Weird Sisters (meh) and started Pearls before Swine.
Still listening to A Three Dog Problem.

I plan on finishing Transcendent Kingdom (by Yaa Gyasi) and The Hangman’s Daughter (By Oliver Pötzsch; narrated by Grover Gardner) this weekend.

I've begun The Rom Con by Devon Daniels because a friend lent it to me. So far it's fine, but I'm not quite sold on the hero yet!

Finished Winter's Gifts. Very good. A cameo for Peter but no Nightingale. Ah well, there's always the next book!

Next up in bus reading will be Elevator Pitch, by Linwood Barclay. Crime and sci-fi seem the best bets for my pleasure reading these days.

>35 christina_reads: Laura Kinsale is one of my all-time favorite historical romance authors. Top 3. Will read anything she can bring herself to write. (LaVyrle Spencer & Georgette Heyer are the other two. Pamela Morsi's right behind them.)

I’m juggling Medgar and Myrlie, Tuesday’s Gone, and Leaving.

>54 ReneeMarie: I'm 100% with you on Georgette Heyer -- she will always be my number one! I haven't read any Spencer or Morsi, but it sounds like I should!

I am reading Murder of an Amish Bridegroom and The Boys in the Boat (this one for our community book group) and also The Last Resort.

I had the after off yesterday and finished off The Hangman’s Daughter (By Oliver Pötzsch; translated from the German by Lee Chadeayne; narrated by Grover Gardner) and have started a re-listen of The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger (by Stephen King; narrated by George Guidall).

>56 christina_reads: Yup. Spencer had moved a bit toward women's fiction rather than romance before she retired. Morsi also went more women's fiction & more modern -- I didn't follow her, but maybe someday.

Spencer's book Twice Loved should be required reading for any teenager who thinks they're in love. And Morsi took some interesting risks, like Simple Jess, where the hero's cognitive abilities were affected by birth trauma.

For the February CalendarCat challenge, I'm reading Walking with the Wind by John Lewis, an autobiography of his younger years (Black History Month); and Little House in the Ozarks edited by Stephen W. Hines, a collection of Laura Ingalls Wilder's journalism writings for Missouri farmer's wives prior to her writing the Little House books. Laura Ingalls Willder both was born and died approximately 90 years later in February.

I've begun It Takes Two to Tangle, a Regency romance by Theresa Romain.

Yesterday I started reading Summer in February by Jonathan Smith. I am also listening to The Crow Folk by Mark Stay and loving every minute of it so far!

I finished A Three Dog Problem on audio and next up is Ragnarok by AS Byatt.
Still reading Pearls before Swine on paper, in tinsy print that means I need the reading glasses to read it. Oh, the shame!!
>62 MissBrangwen: >:-D Glad you're enjoying it.

I finished When McKinsey Comes to Town: The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm yesterday - ugh, it was eye-opening and shocking the kinds of consulting jobs they've taken.

I'm continuing The Wind-up Girl and started The Thirteenth Tale and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. I have a couple more books I want to start too, but maybe three is enough...lol.

I finished The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger (by Stephen King; narrated by George Guidall) and decided to go all in on the 8-volume epic fantasy series. I've started The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three; narrated by Frank Muller). I figure one a month and I'll be done by August, just in time to grab The Talisman (co-written with Peter Straub and the sequel, The Black House in the Fall.

>65 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Oh my, The Dark Tower series! I read the first three way back when, and then waited years and years for him to finish the series. I re-started the series with a re-read of the first three in 2017 and finished in 2018. Soooooo good! Enjoy!

>66 LisaMorr: LOL This is the third time I've read The Gunslinger and I'm not sure what made me decide to go all in for the whole series this time around; but I am beginning t see that The Dark Tower is almost like the spine of all of King's writing. Sometimes the references are fleeting and other times more overt but the DT series almost essential to understanding so much. I just found out that there's a Dark Tower Compendium which I'm thinking of getting once I finish the last book in the run.

I just finished Transcendent Kingdom (by Yaa Gyaasi) which was a bit disappointing: It's heavily introspective without much action and; A main current in the story is about the protagonist's crisis of faith. I'm have a low tolerance for Christian writing so this doesn't have much appeal for me.

I have an odd little book next up in my queue, Birds Through an Opera Glass (by Florence A. Merriam). It's a 19th century guide to North American birds-- this first of its kind. I think this is by and large where the idea of birdwatchers being tweedy old ladies might come from, but we'll see! I'm not a birdwatcher per se (and definitely not a lister) though I do get kind of excited when I see something new-to-me!

I started The Water Keeper by Charles Martin on my plane ride yesterday and expect I'll finish it this morning as I only have a little bit left.

I finished One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn yesterday. I ran across it while doing some book organizing and in light of Navalny's death, thought it would be a good time to finally read it. The 182 pages pack a powerful punch and the book does exactly what it says on the tin - from when he wakes up to when he puts his head down after a long day of surviving in a Siberian hard-labor prison camp.

Continuing with The Thirteenth Tale and The Windup Girl, have also started dipping into The Book Lovers' Miscellany.

I'm reading Paula Byrne's The Genius of Jane Austen: Her Love of Theatre and Why She Works in Hollywood.

I've just finished A journey from this World to the Next by Henry Fielding and have started The Wren, the Wren by Anne Enright who is Irish, so would count for the March CalendarCAT (St Patrick's Day). Shame it's February. Perhaps I can read it slowly.

Also reading The Rogue's Return by Jo Beverley.

I just started the audiobook Plain Bad Heroines by Emily Danforth for the 3-word title BingoDog. It’s long, so I’ll probably still be listening in March.

>69 LisaMorr: What do you think about The Thirteenth Tale?

Argh, I have an ebook edition of Birds Through an Opera-Glass (by Florence A. Merriam) and the optical scan is terrible! I was able to tease out the first section about robins and it looks absolutely charming. I've put an original copy on my wishlist and should be able to get to it in a couple of weeks.

I think I'll pick up the next one or two in the Series of Unfortunate Events, The Reptile Room and The Wide Window (by Lemony Snicket) to round out the month.

I finished Pearls before Swine in small print and am now reading Farewell Fountain Street on paper.
Still listening to Ragnarok on audio.

I read The All of It by Jeannette Haien and Aunt Bessie Decides by Diana Xarissa and am now reading The Baker' s Secret by Stephen P. Kiernan.

I'm hoping to finish Dearborn this week and maybe start planning next month's reading.

>73 threadnsong: I am loving it! Can barely tear myself away - I have about 100 pages left, and I'll be sad when it ends, is it sooo good.

I'm about to start Yours from the Tower by Sally Nicholls.

This weekend I finished Summer in February by Jonathan Smith, which I absolutely loved, as well as The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis, which has not aged well in my opinion. I'll hopefully write a review later this evening.

Next I am going to start The Hanging Garden by Ian Rankin, it is book 9 in his Rebus series.

>73 threadnsong: I wish I could find more books like this one. It is a gothic tale about an author with a mysterious past who hires a young woman to help her write the thirteenth book in her series. Spooky and well constructed.

>81 booksbooks63: I just finished it yesterday and completely agree that I would love to read more books like this one - the only quibble I have is that she was hired to write the author's biography (but everybody wanted to know about the 13th tale, that's for sure!)

Now I'm continuing with The Windup Girl, The Book Lovers' Miscellany and will start The 1619 Project.

Moving on - I've started The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow and Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith.

I am reading A Smoking Bun by Ellie Alexander, and The Boys in the Boat for our community book club.

Finished bothThe Reptile Room (Series of U fortunate Events #2; by Lemony Snicket) and;
The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three (by Stephen King; narrated by Frank Muller) yesterday.

My DH snagged my copy of Justinian's Flea (by William Rosen-- so I'll start The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History From the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us (by Steve Brusatte) and; In audio, The Silver Pigs (Marcus Didius Falco #1; by Lindsey Davis).

Finished Farewell Fountain Street on paper and now reading We are Displaced.
Still listening to Ragnarok. expect to finish that this morning, when next up for the ears will be Conversations with friends.

>86 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I plan to read The Silver Pigs for next quarter's RTT topic! I'm looking forward to your comments.

I'm rereading Beth O'Leary's The Flatshare and enjoying it a lot! There's a TV adaptation on Amazon Prime now, and I wanted to refresh my memory of the book before watching it.

>88 MissBrangwen: I had a bout of insomnia and pretty much listened to The Silver Pigs (Marcus Didius Falco #1; by Lindsey Davis; narrated by Christian Rodska) overnight! - Historical Mystery set in Ancient Rome, 70 CE - Marcus Didius Falco, a private informer, rescues a pretty young girl from her pursuers in the Forum and becomes embroiled in a conspiracy involving illegal silver ingots and a threat against the new emperor, Vespasian. Though I understand that new revelations about the casting of silver ingots in Imperial Rome has come to light since the book was written, this is a well-researched book that incorporates the author's groundwork nicely into a narrative that feels realistic and natural. Moreover, though descriptions of the sometimes brutal aspects of life and crime of Ancient Rome are rendered with detail, this falls on the side of being a cozy series, told from the POV of the protagonist. Christian Rodska is an older British narrator who has chosen some suspect pronunciations of Latin names & places, but remains consistent and, to be fair, it's not really distracting.

So, how often do I think of the Roman Empire? Honestly, a little bit every day but I'm probably going to be doing so for longer stretches at a time as I've decided to commit to this series. I read a number of them eight to ten years ago, but honestly, I don't remember much of anything. I don't think this is the fault of the author, more likely a reflection of where my reader brain was all those years ago.

I've started Shadows in Bronze (Marcus Didius Falco #2; by Lindsey Davis; narrated by Simon Prebble) and started The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New History From the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us (by Steve Brusatte).

As I mentioned earlier, my DH snagged my copy of Justinian's Flea (by William Rosen) - He informs me that he's really enjoying it, "It goes into everything!" I'm not sure what this means exactly but hopefully he'll tear through it quickly enough that I can grab it before March is over.

I'm re-reading We for its 100th anniversary and have started The Heart's Invisible Furies by the Irish writer John Boyne for the March CalendarCAT (St Patrick's Day). I'm also reading the most recent book in the Rosalind Thorne series, The Secret of the Lady's Maid, which is a bit ordinary.

Just found that The Heart's Invisible Furies won the 2018 Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award, which is definitely an award new to me, so it fits the PrizeCAT as well.

I put aside The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow (just wasn't the right time) and instead I've finished Foster by Claire Keegan and Montana, 1948 by Larry Watson. Next, I've picked up The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline.