A month in Reading: February 2022

 In February, I, not only had my reading week, giving me a break from school readings so I can enjoy some personal reading, but I also found a series that I absolutely adored. Needless to say I had a very successful reading month. 

I had originally aimed to read 6 books, but ended up finishing 11, and DNF-ing one at about 80%, so I'm counting it as read since I did read like 300 pages of it, before I had to give up on it. But we'll get into that. Of that 11, I finished 4 out of the 5 books I had on my month's TBR.

The first book I read was Jimmy Carr's Before and Laughter. I started listening to this in middle of January-ish, but I go through audiobooks really slowly. I really enjoy stand-up and Carr is one of my favourites, so I was really excited to read his book. However, because I know him from his stand up, I was expecting a really comedic books. While it does have it's moments, it largely felt really self help-y, but not where you're learning something new (like how to deal with negative emotions or something); it was more along the lines of self help in just really optimistic self-love, which, aws someone with. pretty severe depression and anxiety, I do not care for. I enjoyed it well enough to give a 4/5 rating originally, but ended up dropping it to a 3.5 when I was comparing it with the other 4 star books I read this month. 

Next, I read Heartless Sky by Caroline Peckham. This was the 7th addition to the Zodiac Academy and about 900 pages, and it felt that long. I was originally planning to not even read this book, but in my desperation for a fantasy-romance, I gave in and grabbed this on Kindle Unlimited. The first 6 books I read in like a week and really enjoyed (well most of it), but this one just felt like the series could've ended like 3 times over by this point. I ended up mostly skimming the last half, and I almost gave up on it at 350 pages, and mostly reading the Orion and Darcy chapters. At this point in the series, they're the only couple I like and would very much like Darius (Tory's love interest) to be killed off already so she can find another because it's so dramatic and exhausting. While I'm usually pretty good at suspending my disbelief in romance relationships, but Tory and Darius is so much, and so terrible that I can't be okay with it, in addition to their lack of development since they've been kept apart, just longing, for most of the books before this. However, Orion has deeply devolved, and his whole personality revolves around Darcy, like at the end (spoiler) he doesn't even try to solve Darcy's curse himself before he sacrifices himself for her. The whole book (characters, development, writing, et cetera) is just very mediocre at best. 2.5/5

Next I read The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman, my first nonfiction of the month. This was another book I started in January and took a while to get through. It was pretty good, but I vastly preferred the first half over the second (mostly in terms of topics covered), and at times it felt like overly in-depth definition. 3.5/5

Next is another book I gave up on, but I persisted for the hype it gets on Booktok-- Haunting Adeline by H.D Carlton. My biggest problem with this is how repetitive it was, specifically in the hero's point of view. He just kept talking about how he's morally grey because he's a "bad boy stalker" who secretly saves women and children from human trafficking. I can't put my finger exactly on why this bothers me so much, but I think it's because he feels like the character is drastically split in two-his love interest self and his work self. The mystery aspect of the main girl also felt really out of place, and the steamy scenes felt like (frequent) interruptions to the plot. The author could've wrote a better relationship, like they did with the main girl and her best friend, she just didn't and I hate it. I wont be reading the other book in this duology. 2/5.

Next is the first Stephen King book I've enjoyed-- the first book in his Dark Tower series, The Gunslinger. I liked it well enough, it had some kind of weird scenes with women at points, but the lore of the world made it interesting enough to acknowledge without wanting to drop the book. I usually hate King's writing but love his plots, so I stick to the movies. But I know the Dark Tower movie was bad and decided to try the book, and the best part was the plot, but I did miss having a big twist, as the 'big' moment at the end was just straight-up told to you, and it was a pretty traditional '"hero's journey" plot. 3.5/5

The second non-fiction I read this month was Stock Market 101 by Michele Cagan. The highlight of this one was the writing, it made the whole thing so easy to understand, and I really liked the range of topics they went over, there were almost none that I wasn't interested in. My only issue is some topics felt a little shallow in their explanation and I wish they would've given some recommendations for further reading. 4/5

Next, I read Forever Never by Lucy Score. I liked the couple well enough, but every time I think about this book, I get the nagging feeling it's just like something else I've read, but can't put my finger on it. If I had to make a choice, I'd say it reminds me of Tessa Bailey's It Happened One Summer, but the main girl's and plots are so widely different, I struggle to even make the comparison. The highlight of this book was when other characters just knew what the main two were doing, even before the main told them. Like when the love interest goes to ask the main girl's parents for their blessing, the father just tells the mother of the main girl what's happening as she walks past him. It happens a couple of times in the book and each time it made me giggle. I also really liked reading a main character who had synthesia, it made her super interesting and it's nice to get some neuro-divergent representation that isn't poorly written autism or ADD/ ADHD. However, the main girl also felt a little "pick me" girl-ish at points, like when all the other women in her life hate her because she's too "different" and "special". Overall, it was pretty good, a little forgettable, but okay. 3/5

Last is the book I DNF-ed, Savage Wilder by Veronica Eden. This book got so bad that I fully gave up on it when I was so close to being done, which is pretty big for me. Usually if I DNF something, it's done within the first 50 pages, if not the first 10. The book should've been way shorter and the "conflict" between the love interests was so stupid, and he just magically gets over it at one point, and the characters all felt one dimensional. I can't even start talking about what I disliked about this without going off. 1/5

The next 4 books were all in Kelly Armstrong's Cainsville series. The first book was my favorite of the series but it was all so good. I loved this series and I can't wait to read more Armstrong. No critiques, 5/5. 

The best book I read was Armstrong's Cainsville series, but if I had to pick one, my favorite would be the first book in the series, Omens. It kind of reminded me of Karen Marie Moning's Fever series, namely a fae mystery with a broody love interest and a badass main girl, but my big issue with Fever was how long it was, and Cainsville is a quick 5 books in comparison to Fever's 11. In March I'll read the fifth and last installment in this series then maybe do a full in depth wrap-up of the series of an entirety.