What We Read In February

Here we are, a week into March, and I’m just getting around to recapping my February reading. Oof, February reading was a big, fat MEH. I read 6 books and only enjoyed 2 of them. 

My reading:

I did have 2 successful reads. The Whispers by Ashley Audrain is her sophomore novel. Similar to her debut, The Push, it focuses on the dark side of parenting/motherhood. At a bbq, the neighbors overhear a mother screaming at her child - months later, he falls from his 2nd story window. Is the mother involved/to blame? I didn't like this as much as The Push as it read a bit more like a gossipy Liane Moriarty book, but I still found it enjoyable/interesting. Traveling Mercies was another "faith exploration" book for me. I enjoyed Lamott's musings on faith. She doesn't exactly strike me as a stereotypical Christian if that makes any sense? Not that all Christians are cut from the same cloth. But she's liberal/progressive and she seems like someone that liberally swears, for example. So it was very different from the other "faith exploration" books I've read. 

And then there were the meh books. My Brilliant Friend was the Cool Blogger Book Club selection for February. NGS does a great job of hosting an online book club and her questions added to the reading experience - but I just plain did not like this book and won't continue in the series! But that's what makes books interesting - they can illicit such diverse responses/reactions! Shiner had promise but it was such an uneven reading experience. Parts of the book felt like a 2-star read, others felt like a 4-star read. I thought I might round it to a 3, but the ending didn't redeem the book. It's set in Appalachia and is about the family of a religious fanatic (he uses snakes in his services to give you an idea of what I mean by religious fanatic). You, Again was a modern day retelling of When Harry Met Sally. I shouldn't have read it because, like Nicole (Hi Nicole!!), I'm of the opinion that that work of art can't be approved upon. Lastly, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop was a weird little book set in Japan. It had promise as it's about a struggling 20-something that goes to live in a bookshop with her uncle (living in a bookshop sounds like a dream) but it was just a little too weird for my liking. 

The boys' reads:

Paul and I finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (he loved it and we enjoyed watching the 1960s Gene Wilder book adaptation) and we also read a Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Big Shot which is #16 in the series. It's kind of strange to start towards the end of the series but it didn't seem to impact the reading experience - we started there because he received this book for Christmas. I told Paul that this was basically a retelling of my childhood experience with sports as Greg, the protagonist, is NOT athletic but is required to try basketball. Like me, the only basket Greg makes is for the other team!! We have since started the first book in the series and I can already tell the series improves with each book because Greg is kind of a jerk in book 1. 

How was your month? Tell me it was less meh than mine!!!