This was a slow month for me, reading wise. I know eight books is a lot for the average person, but it’s pretty low for me. February was a hectic month and some of these weren’t exactly page turners. That said, I did enjoy all of them.
The Penguin Book of Spiritual Verse: 110 Poets on the Divine edited by Kaveh Akbar: I was fixated on Kaveh Akbar at the end of January, so I started February with this collection of poetry. There was so much to love about this, especially Akbar’s introduction to each poem and the chronological organization. I found this to be extremely soothing.
Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson: I don’t normally need content warnings, but I wish I would have had one for this. It took a dark turn very quickly and I wasn’t in the right headspace for it. I kept reading because I was so invested in the main character, Tan-Tan, and I had to see her through to the end. I was not disappointed!
Lord of the Butterflies by Andrea Gibson: I’ve been following Andrea Gibson for a while and have greatly appreciated the wisdom they share. After a post about mental health that had me reflecting and journaling for hours, I decided to read some of their poetry. It was exactly what I needed.
A Certain Justice by P. D. James: This was good, but I swear I’ve read it before. It isn’t marked as read on any of my logs, but the whole time I was reading it, I felt like I was having deja vu.
Blood: The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of Menstruation by Dr. Jen Gunter: The Menopause Manifesto changed my life, so I was pretty excited to read this. Granted, this would have been much more valuable to me twenty or so years ago, but a lot of it was still relevant. Highly recommend!
Promises of Gold by José Olivarez: The end of the month was extremely chaotic and I could not focus on reading. I turned to poetry (again) to help me get back on track. José Olivarez is among my favorite poets and I absolutely adored this collection.
When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities by Chen Chen: More poetry to calm my brain. I’ve always loved the title of this collection. It’s on my list for The Sealey Challenge every year, but for some reason I haven’t read it yet. It was excellent.
A Wager with a Duke by Tamara Gill: Regency romance is normally not my genre, but I was getting frustrated with being unable to focus on the N. K. Jemisin book I started three times, and I needed something fun and kind of predictable. This worked. Now I should be able to wrap my head around complex world building.
I’m hoping for better reading adventures in March!