I was surprised with how much reading I got in during February, given it's a shorter month. We got into a bit more a homeschool rhythm which certainly helped. Also, I read a lot of places that weren't home, as seen here... I've learned I need to squeeze it in where and when I can!
I'm very active on Goodreads here, somewhat active on Instagram here, and linking up with Modern Mrs. Darcy!
The Roaring Days of Zora Lily by Noelle Salazar
Dual time-lines nearly 100 years apart - 1924 and 2023, a clothing archivist finds a mysterious label over another label in a garment which leads her to figure out who this hidden designer was. Flashback to 1924, during the prohibition where Zora Lily wanted to design clothes but it wasn't an easy job for a woman just to take up. Her family also needed her to help provide which designing fun clothes didn't quite do. I rooted for Zora and really enjoyed the time period and setting. I wouldn't want to have lived then but it was fun to read about! 3.75 Stars
Happy to Help: Adventures of a People Pleaser by Amy Wilson
I rated this 4 stars on Goodreads but barely remember what it's about a month later, other than what I can deduce from the title. I know there were some essays that I really related to; I've written "happy to help" in more texts and e-mails than I could count. Overall was rather relatable! 3.5 Stars
Falling in Love at the Movies: Rom-Coms from the Screwball Era to Today by Esther Zuckerman
I purposely picked this to read in February, seemed like the perfect month for it. It was quite enjoyable, reminding me about many movies I have enjoyed as well as many more I think I'd like to see. Going back in the history of rom-coms a bit, from the silent age and screwball comedies of the 1960s. I wished it had a list of all the mentioned movies, divided into different categories would be even better but I should have just taken notes while reading it. 3.75 Stars
Tea with Elephants by Robin Jones Gunn
I've read all of Robin Jones Gunn books for adults and she was hugely influential on my teen years. This was similar to her Sisterchicks series from about 20 years ago, with 2 women traveling on some wonderful adventure together. This was to Africa and I really wish someone would give me an all expenses paid trip (to anywhere) with 1st class flights...I enjoyed the sisterhood, the travel, all of that. There was a weird wrinkle of fiction and reality in her with characters from her Christy Miller series (and off shoots) that I wrote A LOT about on Goodreads but I mostly enjoyed this otherwise. I'll continue to read the series (let's be honest...I'll read almost everything she writes at this point). 3.5 Stars
Grace Grows by Shelle Sumners
This was about my 8th reread of this book and the one I picked to read on Valentine's Day (including at the doctor's office while both my boys had cleanings). It was quite enjoyable, again, even as I know the story so well. 4.25 Stars
How to Winter: Harness Your Mindset to Thrive on Cold, Dark, or Difficult Days by Kari Leibowitz
I read this about mid-February and that was perfect timing when it was still pretty cold and rather gloomy outside. That's about when it starts to feel like spring will never come...and then by early March it usually does. This was a bit scholarly of a read at times but it also really made me think about how to make the best of a bad situation, how so much of it is in your head, and the crazy ways the Scandinavian countries deal with winters ever darker and colder than ours. 3.75 Stars
Heartbreak is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music by Rob Sheffield
I would not call myself a Swiftie but I do have quite a bit of Taylor Swift on my phone and I did watch the Eras Tour movie. It was short, under 200 pages I think, but an enjoyable read. I didn't know the context for a lot of her earlier songs so that was just interesting to read about, helped some of them make more sense. 3.5 Stars
The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis
I have really enjoyed Fiona Davis' books taking place in various NYC landmarks, I have always learned something interesting about a building I have usually seen. This one was mostly about The Met, where I've only sat on the stairs (this was in 2010, Gossip Girl time) but would like to visit someday. Mostly about the Egyptian collection, set in the 1970s AND flashing back to the 1930s, when the world was still fascinated with King Tut. It was really interesting and engaging. One of the strangest things was that I saw this story the day after I finished the book, new developments on the tomb of the Pharaoh that served as the real life inspiration for a fictional one in the book, who I had just read about in the author's note at the end. That gave the news some added relevance for me! But also enjoyed the book before that. 4 Stars
Change of Heart by Falon Ballard
I have not seen any Hallmark movies (we do not have that channel/streamer) but I know enough about them to know that this was very much a take on what if you fell into an alternate world where that Hallmark movie world was real, like seasons only lasted a week or something and everyone was always in town square which was decorated perfectly for the season. Actually made me think a lot about Hart of Dixie too. But this woman ended up in a weird world and she needs to figure out how to get back to her "real world" but also seems to be some sort of quest to do. Romance but not heavy romance, more on finding herself and all that. A little strange but a strange sort of charming? 3.25 Stars
Better Together: Strength Your Family, Simplify Your Homeschool, and Savor the Subjects That Matter Most by Pam Barnhill
I picked this book up from the small homeschool section (found by dewey decimal numbers) at our library branch, after starting homeschooling in January. I didn't really know what it was about other than homeschool but was pleasantly surprised by it. It's all based around doing "morning time" nearly first thing in the homeschool day and packing that part of the day with things most meaningful that you want your kids to get, besides learning math facts and such. That is not a practice we have picked up but I still found the book very empowering in a "you can do this and make it your own" and "you're the best teacher for your kid" way. It was very helpful for that as we find our way. And I nearly immediately ordered 3 books she mentioned to use as curriculum and 2 of them just arrived and are still sitting on my desk besides me. Anyways, not for it's main purpose but I still found this very useful. 4 Stars
The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay by Kelly Harms
A woman whose life is falling apart realize that the annulment from her Vegas wedding a decade earlier never went through so she is still married and needs to track down the guy to get this things settled. She's an artist and things aren't going great for her personally so she takes off, stumbled into the small town where her husband lives, loves the town, makes some friends, finds her art again. A weird happening at the end with her BFF from home where the friend says she did a bunch of crap to just make the protagonist jealous and then everything is automatically forgiven which I found to be a very strange action and just a weird way to resolve that story line. But I liked the rest of it. 3.25 Stars
Read with my boys
(My 11 year old & I are working on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
I found out when I read this with my 6 year old that I read it over nearly the exact same days 4 years earlier with my older son, finishing on Valentine's Day both times! My younger son said he likes James and the Giant Peach better but he was especially engaged in the early part of waiting to see if Charlie would get a ticket. I really enjoyed this book as a kid, read it many times, and it was fun to share with both my boys. It's even weirder than I remembered. 3.5 Stars
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
Read this with my (at the time) 6 year old and he enjoyed it more than I expected which I'm pretty sure I said about when I read it to my older son ~4 years ago. I have very clear memories of this book although maybe that was more the made for TV movie and the book is definitely shorter than I remembered but she manages to say a lot with a little. 4 Stars
Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen
This was our second homeschool book and perfect for reading through February. I had read the first two in the series, starting with Hatchet to my (older) son a few years ago but this one we read together and he really liked it, even asked to do it nearly first thing many homeschool mornings (that is NOT how he feels about our current book). It was engaging for him and a good reading level. 3.5 Stars
Freckle Juice by Judy Blume
Another book I didn't realize how short it was until I reread it, with both my boys now. My then 6 year old wanted to believe that the freckle juice potion wouldn't work but he's also young enough that he just wasn't sure and it was very cute watching him debate what was going to happen. 3.75 Stars
What have YOU been reading lately?
