February: What I Read

I am getting worried that Goodreads always seems to be down lately. I made a note on my phone for books I need to plug in, and my blog list is up to date, but still. Anyone use anything else?

I read 21 books this month, but I am still listening more than I am using my eyes, and my library life is kind of a mess. I have a goal to clean up my holds and overdue books in March, and to catch up on the 3 Book of the Month books on my shelf. I have a real problem reading when I am not accountable to a deadline. Anyone else??

What 2023 books am I missing, friends? I have only read 12 published this year **yikes**

Shoulder Season by Christina Clancy: Local author. Playboy club in Wisconsin. Wanted to love it. 

Thank You For Listening by Julia Whelan: I have heard this author read a million audiobooks, and it was a delight to read her work-- but maybe I should have had her read it to me?

My Summer Darlings by May Cobb: A better summer read than a February one.

Hideaway by Nora Roberts: Oh I love listening to one of these sweeping soap operas while I go about my day. **Audio

Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica: A fast-paced little thriller with horrible people I was rooting for-- love it when I like the unlikeables. **2023 

The Cloisters by Katy Hays: I liked this book a lot- very The Secret History for beginners. **Audio

Exes and O’s by Amy Lea: This is a #2 in a series, and now I want to read #1– so cute! **Audio **2023

 Attachments by Rainbow Rowell: I just adore her.

Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard: THIS WAS SO SCARY.

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Perez: I feel like the title says it all, really.

The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide by Steven Thrasher: This is SO GOOD. The author is an AIDS researcher, which colors his understanding of pandemics in a really rich and nuanced way.

Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond. Not as good as Evicted, but it does enter a terrific conversation about poverty and the role of government in facilitating the good life. I wanted him to mention Nickeled and Dimed in the lit review because this book owes a debt to that one for sure. **2023

Flying Solo by Linda Holmes: I LOVED THIS. I especially loved that the main character was a size 18, and this was just a random fact about her, not her defining character trait. And she was pretty and sexy and her wonderful self. **Audio

The Island by Elin Hilderbrand: I am an unabashed EH junkie, but this one was excellent in a different way than her usual fare. Like, you can really tell she went to the Iowa Writers Workshop, you know? **Audio

All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews: I read this for a work committee, and I am so glad I did. I loved the Wisconsin connection, the story of one family's fraught immigration, and the glimpse into what post-college life can be like for kids today.

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano: There are 2 more books in this series!! YAY!! **Audio

Maame by Jessica George: I loved this one. Funny. Sad. Smart-- the total package. **2023

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams: I loved this book! It’s a few years old, and I have no idea why it was on my Libby holds list, but it WAS, and I ADORED it. **Audio

The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller: OH this BOOK. It was WONDERFUL and I don’t know how I missed it in 2021– a delight. **Audio

Good for a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man's World by Lauren Fleshman: I LOVED THIS MEMOIR. I knew nothing of this runner or her story, so it was very suspenseful to listen to her talk about her races. I also knew nothing about professional track-- or even college track-- so the whole thing was new and fresh and exciting. She isn't like writing some deep kind of feminist theory or anything, but she does a really good job of explaining why gender matters, especially for the "Girls on the Run" crowd who don't think about trans kids and the harm of binary language at all. **Audio **2023

I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai: YES. You should read this right away so we can talk about it, ok? **2023 **Audio

This Month:

21 books

6 books published in 2023

 11 print and 10 audio

This Year:

41 books

12 books published in 2023

20 print and 21 audio