Sunday 28 February 2021

Books read in February

Another good reading month (for me anyway) resulted in eight books read. Which surprises me a bit as I hadn't thought that I'd been reading that much in February. Well, there you go...

The books:

8. Elegy for Eddie - Jacqueline Winspear. (Excellent).

9. Master and Commander - Patrick O'Brian

10. Underground - Will Hunt. (A bit so-so.)

11. Gardens of Delight - Erica James 

12. Firestorm - Nevada Barr. (Excellent.)

13. Plum, Courgette and Green Bean Pie - Lisa Rose Wright 

14. Miss Benson's Beetle - Rachel Joyce 

15. The Things I Know - Amanda Prowse. My first book by this author. I really enjoyed this tale about a young woman with a hare lip and deformed foot living a very sheltered life on a farm. She's desperate to break away and live a life of her own but sees no way to do this until one, Grayson Potts, comes to stay. Nicely written, sad, but ultimately very uplifting.

So, six fiction books and two non-fiction. They were all good so not possible to pick an absolute favourite but a special shout out goes to these two:



 

Taking a leaf from Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea's book, this month I've travelled all around the world, including The Mediterranean, California, Italy, Spain, New Caledonia in the South Pacific, and the UK.

And these are a few books I want to read from this month:


Looking at them they're mainly a bit UK-centric so something will have to be done about that. :-)

And there will be Kindle reads, including the next Master and Commander book, Post Captain, and maybe this, the first book of a series that I keep hearing about at the moment:


Happy reading in March!

13 comments:

DesLily said...

There are no words! well.. maybe.. HOLY COW! (love you!)

Lark said...

February was a good month for you! But then, it's always a good thing when you find so many good books to read. Unless, of course, you put too many holds on at the library and now have too many books to read before they're all due. But maybe that's just me. ;D

Sam said...

Congratulations on another great reading month, Cath. Like you, I was surprised that I read more books in a 28-day month than I did in a 31-day month, but I think the answer in my case is that I'm reading six or seven books at a time these last few weeks. That seems to keep me from growing bored with, or going stale on, any single book I may be reading.

March seems to be shaping up nicely for you already; I've got to take a look tomorrow to see where I'm headed.

TracyK said...

You did have a really good month, with lots of variety and like you said, you traveled a lot in your reading. Plus the stack of books you want to read in March looks good too.

I read 10 books this month and they were all good books I enjoyed, but I am currently reading two long books that are not very cheerful so I am not in a great reading mood right now. I think I will have to add a Hercule Poirot novel to the mix soon.

Cath said...

Pat: LOL! Thanks, Sis!

Lark: Oh my goodness! Well there are worse problems than having to read too many books. :-D

Sam: Thanks. So easy to get bored with long books. I tend to get over that by doing what you're doing and reading something else alongside. Whatever works is good at the moment. I've just seen that you've posted your March intentions so will go and read your post in a moment.

Tracy: Yes, I was pleased with the variety this month and the amount of armchair travelling I did. Hoping to do more of that in March.

Always good to read a Poirot to cheer up a bad reading mood. He never fails!

Margaret @ BooksPlease said...

That was a good month's reading! You certainly travelled widely - mine were all in the UK except for the book I'm currently reading which has taken me to Spain, Portugal, Argentina and America. I wonder where I'll go for the rest of this month ... It's good we can travel virtually, if not in reality.

I've read some of the books you want to read this month - Death Has Deep Roots, The Division Bell Mystery and The Buried Giant - all good!

Nan said...

"Looking at them they're mainly a bit UK-centric so something will have to be done about that. :-)"
Story of my reading life, and I wouldn't change a thing!! I read what I love. All those years ago when I got my BA degree, I knew English literature is where I wanted to spend the bulk of my reading life.

Vallypee said...

A lovely list, Cath! I enjoy reading about your selections although I don't know many of them. However, I can vouch for Lisa Rose Wright's book too. I loved it!

(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said...

A nice varied reading month Cath. I'm looking forward to Miss Benson's Beetle. Have a wonderful March.

Susan said...

You've had a great reading month and I love that you've traveled so far (at least in books). I tend to be very U.S./U.K.-centered in my reading (my current read is set in Ireland), so I definitely need to branch out!

THE THINGS I KNOW sounds excellent. I hadn't heard of it before. And MISS BENSON'S BEETLE is one I'm looking forward to reading as well.

CLM said...

Very pleased to see Brat Farrar at the top of the pile. That makes me want to go get my copy; however, I found a book set in the Cotswolds that has been half-read for more than a year. My sister would argue that means I didn't care enough to finish it and she would be correct, but I hate unfinished books.

I am reading an interesting article for grad school about gifted girl readers. It does seem ironic that the author misspelled Anne Frank and Florence Nightingale!

I hope you had no ill effects from the vaccine. My mother has had her two jabs now but everyone under 65 here has to wait, although I am glad to say they are now opening up appointments to teachers. There are children who haven't been in person to school for a year!

Cath said...

Margaret: I do love travelling via books. It's quite possible I like that more than I would like actual travel to these places. LOL

Pleased to hear the three books on my pile that you've read are good, the BLCC is usually extremely reliable and I've been eyeing The Buried Giant and meaning to get to it for several years now.

Nan: Ah yes, but by reading mainly books from the UK you are 'reading abroad' so to speak. If I do that I'm just reading about my home country. LOL! Don't get me wrong I do read a lot of UK based fiction and love it, but I'm also a devoted armchair traveller.

Val: Thank you! I seem to have discovered your rather nice group of Indie writers and am enjoying your output so much I want to try all of them. I have two more authors, Lally Brown and Jules Brown, to try soon. Your book and Lisa's were both an absolute 'joy' and I'll definiitely be reading more.

Cath said...

Diane: I hope you enjoy Miss Benson's Beetle. Would love to hear what you think when you get to it.

Susan: It's so unlikely that I'll ever get to physically travel the world (I've only been to France and the USA) so books are an excellent way in which to find out about it... in a highly comfortable fashion. LOL

The Things I Know was a gorgeous book, I highly recommend it. It's set not far from here, about an hour north, near Bristol.

Constance: Well, since I posted this post I've read (devoured) Brat Farrar. I just couldn't stop reading it. I used to hate unfinished books too but now I'm much older I don't so much. My thinking tends to be that I don't know how many years I have left and I'm not going to waste precious time reading something I'm not enjoying.

I have Anne Frank's book on my 2021 tbr shelf. I've read it twice, maybe three times, but this is a book that bears rereading for the message it holds. I'll probably be reading it later in the year, around October or November.

Yes thanks, we're fine after our jabs, I had the Pfizer and my husband the Oxford one. We'll get our second jab around April/May I presume. We're fortunate in that we're quite happy at home, just the two of us. Looking forward to starting the growing year in the garden within the next few weeks.