February 2021 Reading Wrap Up
It’s that time again! Time for another reading wrap up! February was a busy reading month for me, despite the fact that it was a short month. I finished 15 books! Most of them were pretty enjoyable, but there were a few duds as well. As normal, I will be including the highlights in this blog post, but if you’d like a full rundown of everything I read, you can watch my wrap up video below. I always discuss every single book in my YouTube videos. However, I don’t mention what Claire has been reading or our read alouds, so there’s unique information found in both sources 😉 Without further ado, let’s dive in!
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What I've Been Reading Lately
The Hero of Ages: A Mistborn Novel (Mistborn, 3)
I finally finished Mistborn! Both book 1 and book 2 were unbelievable, some of my favorite books of 2020! I meant to finish the trilogy in December, but I have a bad habit of prioritizing library books … and then getting more and more library books. So, I didn’t end up getting to it until February.
My thoughts are … complicated. I had trouble getting into it at first, because we’re following quite a few different points of view (one of which is a side character that we didn’t know all that well). After a certain point, the story started picking up and I was HOOKED! I kept thinking, “this is what I’m here for! NOW it’s going to be a 5 star book!” Alas, it was not to be. The ending disappointed me greatly … not just the casualties (which I expected there would be, thanks to the first two books), but I also didn’t love how Sanderson resolved things. I can’t fault him for his ending, though. Honestly, it was masterful and so intricate that it blew my mind. But based on my enjoyment, I had to lower this book to a 4 star rating.
If you want more in-depth thoughts, feel free to check out my spoiler-y goodreads review.
In January, I was disappointed that despite reading 14 books, I didn’t have a 5 star book in 2021 yet. The Nightingale changed that! The story of two sisters in France during World War 2, this book is powerful. It is difficult to read with some of the brutality (and there is sexual assault, so please keep that in mind if you find that triggering), but it changed me. It’s a book that I haven’t stopped thinking about since I put it down.Â
If you’d like more in-depth thoughts, you can watch the YouTube video above or read my goodreads review.
Jane Austen was one of my favorite authors when I was in high school and Sense and Sensibility was my favorite of her books. I’ve been meaning to re-read her books for quite some time and I was curious if I still loved Sense and Sensibility the most. I can’t attest to that (since this is the only one I’ve re-read recently), but I can assure you that I still love this book! Jane Austen’s characterization and wit gets me every time! I’m so glad I read this one. I gave it 4 stars (rather than 5), because I didn’t love everything about the ending, but it was still such an enjoyable time. There’s such nostalgia for me in her writing. I hope to get to Northanger Abbey this year also, but this book made me want to read them all!
Check out all the classics I want to read in 2021Â here.
The Body Under the Piano: Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen
This was a really fun middle grade book imagining what Agatha Christie might’ve been like as a child. Aggie Morton hopes to be a writer someday, but when a dead body turns up at her dance studio, she turns to detecting. With the help of newfound friend Hector Perot (Hercule Poirot 😉) and Granny Jane (Jane Marple), Aggie must crack the case!
As a big time Agatha Christie lover, this book was a blast to read. While it’s intended for a middle grade audience, I think that adults who have read Agatha Christie might enjoy this book even more! For me, the mystery left something to be desired, but it was still a lot of fun to read and I will likely read the sequel.
Check out my top 10 favorite Agatha Christie novels here.
Spinning Silver is an interesting Rumpelstilskin retelling with dark fey elements. It also incorporated some Russian themes and was perfect to read on a snowy weekend (which I did!). It reminded me quite a bit of The Bear and the Nightingale in tone (which I actually preferred), but definitely had stark differences.
I really loved this book! It was almost a 5 star read for me, but there were elements that kept it from being quite that high for me. If you’re interested in hearing more, you can watch my February Reading Wrap Up video above or check out my goodreads review (but the goodreads one is filled with spoilers, so read at your own risk!).
In January, I read Vicious by V.E. Schwab. I loved it so much, that I wanted to check out another one of her books ASAP! Alas, this book was quite disappointing.
This is the tale of August – a boy who is a monster, but wishes he was human – and Kate – the daughter of the ruler of the city, who is trying to earn her father’s acceptance and approval. The magic in this book was really interesting, though I’m not typically into monster books. However, I didn’t feel like it was as deep as I wanted it to be – both in terms of exploring the world and in terms of characterization. Though the premise was fascinating, everything just fell flat. The plot twist was easy to spot and I didn’t really care about what happened to the characters. This book is a duology, but I have no interest in continuing on.
This is another book that I wanted to read in 2021 (along with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which I am currently reading). Tom Sawyer was a lot of fun to read! If I knew Tom in real life, I don’t think I would like him one bit, but he was so much fun as a character! He is mischievous, scheming and hilarious. Mark Twain captured boyhood so well.
My only real gripe with this book is that the plot is meandering. There is a main plot, but it doesn’t begin until we’re quite a ways into the book and then we take chapters off before revisiting it. Thus, I think I would’ve enjoyed this book more if I had read it more slowly. Each chapter feels more like a vignette, rather than a connected plot. But I was trying to finish it before I started a reading challenge and had to hurry up, so I pushed through. It dropped my enjoyment just a bit.
Also worth noting, there is some racism in this book. I knew that was a part of Huckleberry Finn, but wasn’t aware it was in Tom Sawyer. The n word is repeated quite a few times, black people are implied to be of lesser intelligence and a man’s Native American heritage is referenced as influencing his brutality (with a statement along the lines of, “a white man could never do that!” 🙄). It wasn’t overly pervasive, but it was present, just so you’re aware.
What Claire's Been Reading Lately
Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities)
That’s right. She finished the entire series within a month. Considering these books range from 500-800 pages each, that is no small feat! Legacy is book 8 and now she is eagerly awaiting book 9 (which isn’t due out until November). She has absolutely adored this series! After she completed the series, she has kept re-reading them. I think they’ll go down as a childhood favorite that she’ll remember with fondness and nostalgia.
See Claire’s favorite fantasy series here … spoiler alert, this series makes the list!
Claire and I both read this book, but not together. It’s a sweet free verse novel about Patches the cat. She escapes out of her house while following a leaf and is separated from her family. It’s sweet and the free verse element was really well done. All cat lovers will like this book!
Bips and Roses: Zoey and Sassafras 8
Zoey and her cat Sassafras help sick magical creatures. They diagnose them and then figure out a treatment to help them. Think of an older Doc McStuffins, but with magical elements and a lot more science involved. I love that these books are educational as well as fun to read. Claire has enjoyed this whole series! It’s for the younger crowd (younger than middle grade).
Check out our favorite beginner chapter books here.
Spider-Man: Spider-Verse – Spider-Ham
I’d be remiss not to mention this book. It was sitting on the library shelf and Claire was drawn to it. It brought a lot of giggles to our home! It’s a comic book and I believe it’s based on Into the Spiderverse (which is a movie we didn’t see, so I don’t know for sure). If your kids are fans of Spider-man and like puns, they’ll probably enjoy this one!
Read Alouds
Okay, I’ll fess up. We didn’t do so well in reading aloud during the month of January, so the only read alouds I have listed are ones we completed for school. We’re currently studying medieval history, so The Door in the Wall was the perfect book to read alongside! It’s the story of Robin, a boy who was supposed to work as a page, but he ended up being paralyzed from a sickness. This book is his journey to wellness, both physically and mentally, realizing that he is more than his disabilities. I think this book won a Newberry award (or an honor at the very least) and it’s so deserving! We both highly recommend this book.Â
We read Holling C. Holling’s book Pagoo a few years ago and loved it. His illustrations were amazing and we really got attached to Pagoo (a little hermit crab) as well. Paddle-to-the-Sea follows a toy made by a Native American boy. He carves a Native American in a boat and sets it free near Lake Superior in Canada in hopes that he will one day reach the sea. This is the story of that journey. While we enjoyed this story and the illustrations were phenomenal, we didn’t get as attached to Paddle as we did to Pagoo. Possibly because he was an inanimate object? Hard to say, but we definitely didn’t enjoy this one as much.
That’s it for this month! I’d love if you shared what you’ve been reading lately! Though I have a never ending TBR (to be read) stack, I’m always looking for more book recommendations! Let’s chat in the comments!
