Whew! February was a lot of work, but I’ve completed the first part of my study, which involved spending a lot of time in schools talking to parents. I surveyed 70 people and held three parent focus groups. I’ll admit I was kind of sad after my last one. Now that the “field work” is done, I just have to sit at my computer a lot. It’s crunch time, but the good news is that when spring finally rolls around I’ll be ready to enjoy it!
I didn’t write many reviews this month, and March will be worse. Here’s what I read in February:
- The Dutch Girl by Donna Thorland
- The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson
- Vicious by V.E. Schwab
- All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
- Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg
- The Shore by Sara Taylor
I said I was going to keep it pretty light this month, and I did for the most part, but The Shore was pretty dark.
My favorite read this month? All good in their own way, but I’m not sure what stood out the most. I just finished The Dutch Girl, my second book by Thorland, and I really love her style of historical fiction. There’s some romance, but mostly she writes serious, detailed history with really strong heroines.
I was really excited to get a review copy of Helen Simonson’s new book, which is very different from Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand. It comes out this month. More to come!
What’s next? I have a few books on my Kindle that I need to read or return to the library: Nick Hornby’s Funny Girl, Rachel Hartman’s Shadow Scale, and Zen Cho’s The Sorcerer to the Crown. And, Patricia Briggs’ new Mercy Thompson comes out March 8. So I’ve got more than I can read. I’m not reading anything particularly literary, but I can live with that.
I’m not loving the latest Kindle upgrade. They took away a feature I really liked, where you can see at a glance how long a book is relative to another book. Sometimes I know I want a long read, sometimes a short one. I haven’t figured out if there’s a way to get that back.
February was a good month but I’m glad it’s over. Every day brings me closer to spring, and graduation. How was February for you?
