everything i read in february | 2021
Hey hi!
Kind of crazy how February’s already over! How did you spend your weekend? I thought I’d have to work a full day on Saturday but only ended up hopping online for two hours, so that was nice! I had a pretty lazy weekend otherwise: lots of reading, drawing, walks, and the occasional nap or two!
Interrupting the busy szn series posts with my monthly reading post! I ended February with nine books under my belt. I’m halfway through my reading goal for 2021 already, haha – will have to increase that number soon. I feel like past Februarys I would have read more romance novels, but this year I wanted to instead be more intentional about reading from Black authors more than I usually do to honor Black History Month.
Listing from worst to best book read, links to Goodreads as always!
WHITE IVY by Susie Yang
A “suspense”/thriller about a woman who grew up stealing and lying, and how she pursues a privileged boy from her childhood. I was pretty excited about this relatively new release because a) Asian author and main protagonist!, and b) I love thrillers. This one ended up definitely being addicting, but it also fell a little flat for me. I feel like categorizing it as a “suspense” is being generous since there wasn’t all that many twists and turns. The ending was also quite a letdown. I’d probably skip if you were curious about this one?
Rating: 3.25 out of 5
HOOD FEMINISM by Mikki Kendall
Feminism discussions, but let’s not the forget the women of color. This was just okay? I had high hopes but I don’t feel like Mikki Kendall had too many new insightful thoughts or perspectives to bring to the table. I’d still recommend it to anyone new to the topic though!
Rating: 3.25 out of 5
WINTER by Marissa Meyer
This is the fourth and last installment in The Lunar Chronicles, much of which I read last month. It was a good ending! I thought the plot dragged on a little long (especially the action scenes) but it was nevertheless a satisfying ending to a very fun and unique YA series. Would recommend if you need a good escape!
Rating: 3.75 out of 5
THE MOTHERS by Brit Bennett
A modern-day love story set in a black community in SoCal. Brit Bennett wrote The Vanishing Half (which I read and thought was great! Not a favorite though), and I knew I wanted to check out her debut novel. I really enjoyed The Mothers in the same way I enjoyed The Vanishing Half: Bennett has a way of creating a lot of intrigue with the black female protagonist that just makes you want to keep reading. I get very “her against the world” vibes from her books every time. Big fan of Bennett’s work – I’ll be looking forward to her next book!
Rating: 4 out of 5
THE DEATH OF VIVEK OJI by Akwaeke Emezi
Kind of a who-dunnit story set in a Nigerian town exploring relationships and sexuality with a touch of mystery. This one was kind of a wild ride: it’s short and sweet but definitely packs a punch at the end. I really enjoyed how this story was told with the different perspectives and also the overall exploration of sexuality within Nigerian society – it’s just not a perspective we usually get by living in America. Without giving too much else away, I think there are definitely some interesting discussion topics in this story! Also looking forward to more from this author in the future.
Rating: 4 out of 5
CASTE: THE ORIGINS OF OUR DISCONTENTS by Isabel Wilkerson
Historical exploration about the caste systems primarily in America, Germany, and India, and how they’ve changed over time. This one was really educational, holistic, and informative – I feel like I learned a lot from the author’s observations and well-researched points. Wilkerson was able to offer some fresh ideas that I haven’t thought about in other race-education books I’ve read. Highly recommend!
Rating: 4 out of 5
THE SCORPIO RACES by Maggie Stiefvater
A magical world where an island hosts races every year for deadly horses from the sea. The premise sounds kind of wack, but I promise The Scorpio Races was such a joy to read. I love Stiefvater’s work (live love Shiver), and this one was whimsical, unique, and all-around fantastic. Stiefvater’s love for animals 100% shines through in her characters – loved!
Rating: 4.25 out of 5
ON EARTH WE’RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS by Ocean Vuong
A letter from a son to his Vietnamese mother. Guys, I loooove me some beautiful prose, and this letter/autobiography was chock full of it. The lush, poetic writing style was so enjoyable to read, and I really think Vuong told his vignettes in a lovely, woven, interconnected way. For this one, I think you definitely have to be in the right ~mood~ to take in the prose and emotional stories.
Rating: 4.25 out of 5
THE GREAT ALONE by Kristin Hannah
A family moves to Alaska in the 70s and has to learn how to homestead and survive in the brutal frontier. BRUH. This one was soo addicting to read and I could NOT put it down. This is my first book from Kristin Hannah and she is so? good? at storytelling – I immediately added all of her other books to my to-read list after this one.
Rating: 4.75 out of 5
And that’s that on that!! I recently started reading the Mistborn trilogy (TLDR: they are verrrry chonky high-fantasy novels), so I’ll be relying on audiobooks to maintain my book count for March, haha.
What books have you read recently?
Thanks for reading!
Jen x