February was a month of extremes. I either held onto a book for dear life or dropped it like a bad habit. There was no middle ground. Thankfully, the majority of what I read was outstanding with 6 of the 11 novels I read being 4 stars or higher. DNFs are painful, but that disappointment aside, it was a great month.
The End of October by Lawrence Wright
Published by Alfred A. Knopf
Publication date: April 28, 2020
Bookshop
This was definitely a case of my bored mind making bad decisions. There’s nothing inherently wrong with The End of October, but did I really need to read a thriller about a pandemic that leads to the internment of 3 million Muslims in Mecca, impending nuclear war with the power-hungry Putin, and the complete decimation of most of the world? Given where we are now, it’s a bit too close to home. If you’re a calm reader curious to go behind-the-scenes in science, world politics, and the military this one’s for you.
The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan: 5 star love for this novel. Review to follow
This Other Eden by Paul Harding: My review
Stone Cold Fox by Rachel Koller Croft
Published by Berkley Books
Publication date: February 14, 2023
Bookshop
When you decide to read a book titled Stone Cold Fox you get exactly what you deserve. This is the story of Bea, the woman described by the title, and her rapacious efforts to marry rich so she can finally feel safe. Forget love, Bea wants the kind of family wealth that lasts for generations. This trope should be nausea-inducing, but author Croft writes Bea so well and so thoroughly dislikable that it’s fun. The ending teeters a bit, but if you’re in the mood for snarky, fast-paced reading this hits the spot. Maybe just put duct tape over the cover while reading.
Sometimes dumping a book is easy. Not every book is for every person. At other times, it’s more painful because it’s an author you’ve previously loved and the writing is still beautiful, but something else is missing. Given that I’ve previously enjoyed these three writers I’ll keep this brief.
On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel
Published by Knopf Publishing Group
Publication date: February 14, 2023
I read Tiffany McDaniel’s debut, Betty, and thought it was spectacular. Dark, but also luminescent with the love between parent and child. On the Savage Side ground me down before I made it 25% through the book. This is trauma porn—an unremitting story in which drug abuse and child rape are only two of the more horrific elements.
Victory City by Salman Rushdie
Published by Random House
Publication date: February 7, 2023
Salman Rushdie is one of the greatest storytellers I’ve ever read, but this tale wandered too far off course. It felt like an 800 page novel at just 150 pages.
The Perfumist of Paris (The Jaipur Trilogy, #3) by Alka Joshi
Published by MIRA
Publication date: March 28, 2023
The Jaipur Trilogy has been a reading adventure about life for a woman alone in India in the 1950s. This is the final novel and it lacked the energy of the first two. I stalled when it couldn’t hold my attention anymore.
The Angel Maker by Alex North: My review
All the Beauty in the World by Patrick Bringley: Review to follow
That’s my February reading. How was your month?
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*I received a free copy of some of these book from Knopf, Random House, and MIRA in exchange for an honest review.*
In a recent post you mentioned that your reading has felt lackluster – that is how I am feeling, too. My average rating through the end of Feb was 3.8 – last year it was 4. I’ve read a couple of 5-star books, but I didn’t love them as much as the 5-star reads in early 2022. My 2022 reading was so very stellar so I feel like I was maybe set up to be disappointed? But I’ve also been very busy at work and traveling more than usual and that might be impacting my reading… But I exclusively read ebooks from the library so I read what is available and don’t have a ton of control over what I read so maybe the wrong books are becoming available? That said, I finished “In Love” by Amy Bloom which was beautiful and heartbreaking – it’s about her husband’s decision to end his life at Dignitas in Switzerland after he is dx’d with Alzheimer’s. I thought it was very good.
I tried that one and had to stop. It was so painful. I know I’ll go back to it, but the time was wrong.
I have several friends who feel as if 2022 was such a stellar year for books that we’re all suffering from a book hangover now.
My February was much better than yours. I read some amazing books that I had trouble putting down: River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer; Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid; Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson; Maame by Jessica George; Honor by Thrity Umrigar; Trust by Hernan Diaz; The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes; and Horse by Geraldine Brooks. Of course, I read others that weren’t so great, but all and all February was a great month.
You did have a great month! Those are some outstanding books. Here’s hoping your March continues the same way.
Thank you for sharing…the good, and those that didn’t work. Your reviews are so bang on. Trauma porn is the perfect description for On The Savage Side. It was the most grim story.
I got to the scene involving the cop and literally dropped the book. I couldn’t read it anymore.
Yeah I loved the Donal Ryan novel and hope to read some of his backlist sometime. He’s a great writer. I read the Lawrence Wright novel early during the pandemic and thought it was a 3 star read. It had potential but some characters & plotlines weren’t developed enough. Still it was what it was! Hope you have a great March too.
I feel the same way about Ryan- I’m very curious to know what else he’s written.
I read “Horse” by Geraldine Brooks on your recommendation and loved every morsel of it. Then I read “The One” by John Marrs, that was a Sarah recommendation and it was a three star for me.
Thank you for the credit, but I haven’t read Horse. I’m curious about it because so many people I know have loved it.