February TBR

Except for the quarantine TBR that I made back in March and then completely abandoned (I've still only read 3 of the books almost a year later), I've never really made TBR lists. I generally just read whatever I'm in the mood for. That being said, I thought that it might be fun to make a February TBR just to change things up. I don't know that this will actually affect my reading in any way, but there aren't all that many new things going on in my life thanks to COVID so here we are.

This list is probably overly ambitious, but I accidentally borrowed too many books from the library and I have a stack of books that my husband got me for Christmas that I haven't read yet. February has started off with cold weather which makes it perfect for reading because I don't want to do anything except sit underneath blankets all day.

Here's what I'll be planning to read this month.

The Women in Black by Madeleine St. John

Part of the reason that I have an overabundance of library books is because I found NPR's Best Books of 2020 list and proceeded to request way too many of them. The Women in Black is set in an Australian department store in the 1950s. Beyond that I don't know what happens plot-wise, but that alone was enough to spark my interest. It looks like a light read, and I'm excited to try it.

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May

I'll just let the subtitle explain why this book is currently on my TBR. Unless I get caught up in some fictional read, this is probably the book that I'll start reading today.

Cast in Silence by Michelle Sagara

This book is in one of the series that I'm hoping to finish in 2021. The Chronicles of Elantra is an engaging fantasy series, and I'm glad that I decided to pick back up reading it. I love the characters. I am excited to see how they evolve in this next installment.

The Courbet Connection by Estelle Ryan

Another book from one of the series I plan to finish in 2021. I love that this murder mystery series is set in France and deals with the art world. These books are quick reads, but it is so fun to get carried away into the plot. *I actually read this book between the 1st of February and when I published this post. This particular book seemed to take a darker turn than the previous books. I'm already invested now though.*

Black Coffee by Agatha Christie

I'm slowly making my way through Agatha Christie's novels. I just have a list of the Hercules Poirot books that I'm working through at the moment, and this was the next one on the list. Black Coffee is actually an adaptation of a play written by Agatha Christie which means that it might not be what I would expect from one of her normal novels. If it turns out that I don't get wrapped up in the plot, I'll put this book aside and not pressure myself to finish it.

The Toll by Neal Shusterman

The first book in Scythe completely drew me in. However, the second book in the trilogy seemed to be more disturbing and the ending was completely unsatisfying. Kind of like the ending of the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie where you don't understand why it needed to end right there. I'm avoiding reviews and spoilers for this final book in the series and hoping that it pulls me back into the story the way that the first book did.

The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor

This gorgeous book has been sitting on my shelf for the past two years. I keep holding on to it and not starting it. I have enjoyed everything that I've read by Flannery O'Connor in the past. I had a vague plan of reading one short story a day, but there are 31 stories in here so I'll have to do some adjusting. Or I might take another two years to finish it. Who knows?

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

Once I heard Jacqueline Woodson speak at the Mississippi Literary Festival, and she was amazing to listen to. So far, I've only read her books written for children, but I'm excited to begin reading her books written for adults. I remember her talking about a book that she had just written at the time that deals with memories of childhood friends, and I think that Another Brooklyn is the book that she was talking about. I'm looking forward to this one.

Dear Paris by Janice MacLeod

Sometimes I request books from Netgalley to read and review before they are published. When I saw this beautiful collection of letters and sketches written about Paris, I hoped that I would be able to read it early. While I don't necessarily want to live in Paris, I still want to dream about living in Paris. Dear Paris is being published on March 9, 2021, so I should have a book review ready for it by then. I can't wait to get started reading this one!

Sixteen Scandals by Sophie Jordan

This is another advanced copy book that I will be reviewing. It's not going to be published until May 25, 2021, so I may not actually read it in February. But, I put it on this list because I'm excited to read it, and clearly I have no regard for how much time I'll realistically have to read in February. This YA love story takes place in the Regency era which is really all I need to know to be interested in it. The blurb for the book says that fans of My Lady Jane will enjoy this book. Y'all already know that My Lady Jane is one of my favorite YA novels in recent years so I'm expecting good things.

The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischwili

The Eighth Life kept popping up on bookstagram. Since I was looking for more books to read for my project to read a book from every country, I decided to pick this one up. Every review that I've seen on Instagram has been a good one. I'm a little nervous because the book is nearly 1,000 pages long. If it's as good as it's supposed to be, it will be worth it though.

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth

When I picked this book up from the library, I realized that I might have made a mistake. I requested this book because it is supposed to be "an epic love story set in India." I thought that it would be perfect for my reading challenge, and it will probably be interesting. The problem is that this book is almost 1500 pages long. That means that between The Eighth Life and A Suitable Boy, I'd have to read about 100 pages a day just to finish those two books by themselves in February. So we'll see what happens here.

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I think I might be doing TBRs wrong. Am I supposed to have more books than I could possibly read in a month? Please excuse the lack of a conclusion at the end of this post. I've just realized that I should probably be reading right now. 

What are you planning to read in February? Let me know in the comments or on Instagram.