February 2023 Book Review

How is it already March? I am so excited that spring is right around the corner!

This month I read 10 books - bringing my total to 25, and honestly it wasn't my favorite month of reading. I had TWO books that I rated with 2 stars! I had 2 books ALL of last year rated 2 stars, so to have 2 in a month is a lot. But that's not to say the whole month was a bust!

The Second Life of Mirielle West by Amanda Skenandore - I bought this book from a local, independent bookstore on our trip to Hilton Head, and it was really good! It was historical fiction set in the 1920s about a woman in California with tuberculosis who was sent to a 'home' {felt a lot like prison} in Louisiana {a real place}. I didn't know much about TB and found the story fascinating. 

Spare by Price Harry [audiobook] - If you know me, you know I'm fascinated by the Royal Family. I was very interested in hearing Harry's story, and this did not disappoint. I didn't love the whole thing {there was way more about his time in the military than I cared to know about}, but it was a great book and I really thought he did a great job telling his story. It was also fun hearing him read it, I highly recommend the audiobook.

Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton [audiobook] - Something else British that I love is Harry Potter!!! This was fantastic! Tom was so funny and self-deprecating and a natural storyteller. I loved the stories he chose to share and how vulnerable he was - everything from the audition process for HP to his struggle with addiction and mental health. I was tearing up at the end and thought it was such a stellar read. Bonus again to hear his cute British accent read me his story. {grin} 

The Displacements by Bruce Holsinger - We read this for Blog Friend Book Club {our 27th book!}, and a book like this is one of the reasons I love being in a book club {or two or three or...}. I would never have picked this book myself, but it was very good! It's a climate change story about a family surviving the aftermath of the first category 6 hurricane that wipes out south Florida. We had some great discussion and enjoyed it!

The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morganthaler - This was just a run of the mill rom com. I didn't love it but it was good.

The Hollow by Jessica Verday - Ugh. Another instructor at the gym LOVED this trilogy and was so excited to share it with me, and I didn't enjoy this first one. It felt like a worse version of Twilight. Super angsty teenage love drama with a paranormal element. It wasn't super long, so I'm going to keep going in the trilogy {I'm about 75 pages into the 2nd book and it feels better}, but at this point I can't recommend.

From Scratch by Tembi Locke - Wow. This was such a beautiful book. I was crying in the Prologue! Tembi wrote her memoir about losing her husband to cancer and dealing with her grief. Her husband was from Sicily and was a chef, so there were lots of amazing stories of her time in Sicily/Italy and especially stories of food! I can't wait to watch the Netflix show next!

The American Roommate Experiment by Elena Armas - I read The Spanish Love Story last year and thought it was cute. It wasn't my favorite rom com, but I enjoyed it and was excited for this sequel. Well, this fell pretty flat for me womp, womp. It could have been really cute [forced proximity] but I found myself skimming a lot - I didn't want to quit it but it was close.

The Book Woman's Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson - This was another sequel - to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek - which I thoroughly enjoyed! This author had a way of really painting this story for me, and I genuinely enjoyed the characters and were rooting for them!

Finding Me by Viola Davis [audiobook] - And then I finished the month with this HOMERUN read. Holy moly, this was amazing! First off, Viola's story is incredible. Just absolutely doesn't seem like a real story, I was shocked at the things she endured as a child - the poverty, the racism, the abuse - any single 1 of them could have been crushing to a person, but to overcome them all? Just wow. Then add to it the writing - it was beautifully written. AND add that Viola was a brilliant narrator - the absolute icing on the cake. 0% surprised she won a Grammy for this recording. I thought she was an incredible talent before this book, now I am just in awe of her.

I ended my month with a range of ratings from 2 all the way to 5, so it was a wild month. My average was 3.55, which is low for me. So here's hoping for a better month of reading in March!