February has been an up and down month. There have been stressful things to deal with, and medical appointments and tests to get through. There was also a broken Kindle Voyage (eek!). Things eventually began to be sorted out and towards the end of the month I got a replacement Kindle through the warranty, and we got some unexpected good news in the post. My husband had two weeks off from work and whilst I wasn’t well enough for us to do much, it was lovely to have the time together.
It’s been a fab reading month, I still can’t quite believe how many great books I read in February! Unfortunately, whilst I’ve been reading a lot I’m struggling to write reviews at the moment. This, in part, is because I lost my notes when my Kindle malfunctioned so I will have to write reviews from memory (and my memory is awful), but also because I’m in the middle of altering my medication and it’s a struggle for me to get my words down coherently. I may have to just write some very short, basic reviews in order to catch up as the amount I now have waiting to be written is starting to stress me out.
Here are the 26 books I read this month:
Well-Read Women by Samantha Hahn
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel
The Secrets of Happiness by Lucy Diamond
Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian
Rage by Richard Bachman (Stephen King)
The Breakdown by B.A. Paris
The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel
F*cking Apostrophes by Simon Griffin
Just Kids by Patti Smith
A Game for All the Family by Sophie Hannah
Watch Me by Angela Clarke
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
The Child Who by Simon Lelic
Final Girls by Riley Sager
The Age of Bowie by Paul Morley
Black Wood by SJI Holliday
The Good Immigrant by Nikesh Shukla
The Unseeing by Anna Mazzola
See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt
It’s All Absolutely Fine by Ruby Elliot
Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami
Everything but the Truth by Gillian McAllister
Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
Here are the blog posts I wrote:
I wrote my regular blog posts – WWW Wednesday, Stacking the Shelves every Saturday and a weekly wrap-up on a Sunday. Other than that I shared my January wrap-up post at the beginning of February. I also wrote about my fabulous birthday book haul too. I didn’t manage to write and post any reviews, which I’m really down about but as I said earlier life is getting in the way at the moment. Hopefully I can catch up soon.
The state of my TBR:
In January, I wrote a post about the state of my TBR and made a plan to try and read more of the books I already owned. This has already proved to be rather more difficult than I anticipated… I have read a lot more of my own books, rather than just focusing on new ones, but I’ve also been buying a lot of books. I did join the Mount TBR challenge on Goodreads in February though and have pledged to read at least 100 books that were on my TBR before the end of 2016 and have so far read 26 books that counted for that. This means that half of the books I’ve read this year so far have been my already owned books, and half were new or review books so am pleased with that ratio at the moment.
I’m also in the middle of a sort out of both my kindle books and my print books and am trying to make sure that all the books that are on my TBR are books that I really want to read. Anything that doesn’t appeal anymore is going to be deleted from my Kindle or taken to the charity shop. I’m also becoming much more okay with DNFing books – I’m fast realising that life is too short to push on with books that I’m really not enjoying. The combination of DNFing books and having an ongoing book cull has meant my TBR is currently going in the right direction! I now have 1861 unread books (as of 28 Feb), down from 1885 at the start of the year and hopefully I can keep reading my way through the TBR mountain.
How was your February? Did you read any good books? Please tell me what your favourite book from February was, and if you have a February wrap-up post on your blog please feel free to share the link below.
RatherTooFondofBooks 
Twenty six?! I am soooo impressed. That’s nearly one per day – and all with a malfunctioning Kindle. (By the way, I seem to have mislaid mine – have been searching for it for the past day or so, know I left it on my desk but it’s gone, no one’s been in the house etc. – never happens with a book, somehow).
I had no idea I’d read this many books until I started putting my post together. I think it’s because I was unable to do much for a week to two after my spinal injection and so I was reading/listening to audio books for most of that time. Eeek… I hope you find your kindle soon. I was so lost without mine as I mainly read on Kindle these days.
Oh my goodness – 26 books?? No wonder you’re in a muddle if your notes have gone missing! That is an amazing total – especially given that your Kindle had also died and gone to mobi heaven… What an incredible reading month. Hopefully you can quickly skim and collect your thoughts on the reviews you need to write – and maybe let one or two others go. You surely must have plenty in the kitty with that kind of reading rate! Here’s hoping that March turns out to be just as successful without the hiccups along the way – and that you keep well, Hayley!
I know, I can’t quite believe that I read so many books either. I think it was being laid up recovering from my injection that led to me sending most of that week or so either reading or listening to audio books. My notes were on my kindle and they failed to back up so they went to mobi heaven with the kindle. I’m just going to have to write shorter reviews and do them as best as I can from memory. Thank you 🙂
I’m glad you’ve had so many great reads this month, even with the Kindle issue. And what I admire about your reading (besides the number of books) is its breadth. You’ve got all sorts of books here, and I think that’s fantastic! I hope March is an easier month with the medication.
Thank you so much. I feel like I’m reading more widely this year and am enjoying it very much. It’s interesting to see the kind of things I’m drawn to when I’m led by the mood I’m in rather than by deadlines. The next two or three months are going to be tough with medication changes but it’s for the greater good so hopefully keeping that in mind will get my through.
I am also struggling to write reviews! I had six on my list to write last week, and I got through 2.5 reviews. Now I have 5! I am so glad you got your Kindle sorted out and the new one arrived as quickly as it did. FIVE GOLD STARS on your fabulously amazing reading month!! That’s almost a book a day!! Your ratio of own/new and getting your TBR down is fantastic! It is a balance I know a lot of us struggle with, and I sure do. Happy reading!
I’m sorry that you’re struggling to write reviews at the moment too. I’m starting to get stressed about it as I have ten to write, and because I lost my notes on my broken kindle I’m going to have to do half of those from memory. I’m now thinking of doing shorter reviews about how the books made me feel just to catch up, as that seems better than leaving it even longer. I hope you can find a way to catch up soon too. I was shocked at how many books I read in February, I think it was in large part because I had a week or two of not being able to do much as I recovered from treatment so I had lots of reading time. I’m pleased with the balance of my reading between my own books and review books, it’s good to finally get to books that have been on my shelves for years in some cases. Happy reading to you too 🙂
Amazing total! I see several on your list that I want to read: The Breakdown, Just Kids, A Game for All the Family, Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands…and more.
I hope you are able to put together the reviews…I know that I can’t remember details without my notes! But good luck, and congrats on the great job. Glad you got your new Kindle.
When you say “delete” from your Kindle, you mean “send to the Cloud,” right?
Thank you, I’m stressed about the reviews but I’m just going to have to do the best I can from memory.
Just Kids is a wonderful book, I’ve been recommending it to everyone since I read it.
I mostly send books to the cloud when I’ve read them but I’ve got so many that I know I won’t read again that I have started deleting them from my Amazon account.
I wasn’t overwhelmed with my books this February. Lol So, I’ll tell you one of my favorite books of last year. It’s called, Beautiful Affliction, by Lene Fogelberg. It is her memoir. It was very moving and I just fell in love with her.
Thank you for telling me about your favourite books from last year. I’m enjoying reading memoirs at the moment so I’ve made a note of this one so that I can look it up.
You read some great books in February! At least you got something good out of being laid up for a couple of weeks 🙂 My favourite book of the month was Gone With the Wind – blew me away!!
I adored Gone with the Wind when I read it, it’s incredible isn’t it? I’d love to re-read it one of these days.
You always amaze me how many books you can read! I’m so sorry you haven’t been too well and I truly empathise on the med changes as I am going through that myself right now and feel like my head is in a tumble dryer! Sending lots of love your way. 😘
I don’t normally manage to read this many books so I don’t know what’s changed but it’s nice to be getting through some of my TBR. I’m sorry that you’re having to cope with med changes at the moment too, it’s really hard isn’t it? Sending love your way too. x
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