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February Reading / Life
- My 2017 reading kicked into gear in February with a number of super high quality books! Literally four of my February books could have been my Best Book of January.
- I adored the writing and emotional tension of A Separation
and All Grown Up
, but they are the kind of books that I realize won’t appeal to everyone…consequently inspiring my 12 Books That Aren’t For Everyone…But WERE For Me list.
- I read two page turners in February; one was a winner (Dark Matter
, enabling me to check 4 books off my 2016 Books I Missed list!) and one not so much (Behind Her Eyes
, but I did get a Spoiler Discussion post out of it).
- My audiobooks were so-so: The Unwinding
by George Packer didn’t offer much new insight, Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There
by David Brooks was mildly entertaining, and The Valley of the Gods: A Silicon Valley Story
(about Silicon Valley culture) was fairly interesting, but didn’t leave a lasting impression.
- And, I think I’ll be recommending This Is How It Always Is and Dead Letters
to many people for the foreseeable future.
- I attended my first author event (I know, that’s kind of ridiculous) for my friend, Georgia Hunter and her astounding novel, We Were the Lucky Ones
. It was fantastic to hear Georgia discuss her novel with Thomas Kail (director of Hamilton) and meet some of her family members whose stories she told in her novel.
- Book of the Month Club selections are due on Monday…don’t forget to get yours in or sign up for a subscription if you want to get in for March (and you should because this month’s selections are particularly awesome)! Check out my commentary on the this month’s selections, including which book I’d choose.
- Finally, I spent a big chunk of February trying to heal my thrown out back. After a couple weeks of physical therapy, massage, and rest, I’m finally starting to feel better! I’m still not back to running or intense workouts, but will hopefully be there soon.
by George Packer didn’t offer much new insight, 
by David Brooks was mildly entertaining, and 
Best Books of the Month
My Favorite Book of the Month
Dead Letters
Fiction, 353 Pages
Affiliate Link: Buy from Amazon
PS – last year’s Best Book of February was Tender
Best Selling Book of the Month (via my affiliate links)
We Were the Lucky Ones
March Releases I’m Excited About
All Grown Up
The Hearts of Men 
Most Popular February Posts
Behind Her Eyes and THAT Ending: Spoiler Discussion
12 Books That Aren’t For Everyone…But WERE For Me
Book of the Month Club February 2017 Selections: What Would I Choose? (my commentary on the March selections is also up)
Favorite Posts by Fellow Bloggers
- Tanya at Girl XOXO asked if guessing the plot twist affects how much you enjoy the book. The Girl on the Train
reiterated that my answer is a resounding YES (see my Spoiler Discussion for more details)!
- Naomi at Consumed By Ink‘s Literary Wives discussion about Meg Wolitzer’s The Wife
(my review) reminded me how much I love that book…as if I needed more reminding.
- Ann at Books on the Table wished everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day with a little history of the holiday and a list of somewhat unconventional love stories (including Mothering Sunday
, my favorite book of January) that sound right up my alley.
- Off the Shelf‘s list of 12 Overlooked Novels with Southern Roots included a couple books I adore (Only Love Can Break Your Heart
, Bull Mountain
) and a couple more to add to my TBR (The Little Friend
, Bastard Out of Carolina).
- I loved Kathy at Kathy Reads Fiction‘s new way of talking about books without writing full book reviews, Books and Chill.
(
, 
, How was your reading month?
Looking forward to reading Dead Letters!! I always love your recommendations. Keep them coming.
Hope you love it!
Thanks for the mention! And I am SO JEALOUS that you got to go to Georgia Hunter’s author event. I loved We Were the Lucky Ones and was blown away at the end when I read that the book was based on her family’s experiences.
Oh yeah – wasn’t that the best Author’s Note ever?! So poignant. And probably even more so if it was a surprise. So glad you loved it 🙂
Wow! You did a lot of reading in February! The more I hear you and others talk about Dead Letters, the more I want to read it. Time, time, time!
I loved This is How It Always Is too – it made me understand young transgender kids better.
Absolutely – and their families.
I’m happy to hear that your friend’s book is doing well! It really sounds like something I’d love.
I also loved the Valentine post at Books on the Table – what an appealing list of books!
Thanks for linking to my review – I’m glad you liked it!
Now I’m off to check out a new-to-me blog, Kathy Reads Fiction…
I love KAthy!! Hope you do too!
It’s always fun when you hit a streak of really good books. That’s one of the best feelings ever. I hope your back gets better soon!
I’m glad to hear that PT is helping and that you’re making some progress; also, I love that you are doing the Book of the Month recommendations. I have several running friends who subscribe and I’m hoping they all check it out!
I really want to read All Grown Up – definitely partly because I keep seeing it here!
Glad to hear that you are starting to heal up! Back injuries are so tricky!
I completely love this monthly wrap up, and a tip of the hat to other bloggers and a peek into the new month. I know these are a lot of work, linking etc….so well done. Have a wonderful weekend.
I’m so sorry about your back. Back problems are the worst because they’re so hard to diagnose and treat. I hope you’re back to routine soon. I’m waiting on my copy of Dead Letters from BotM; it’s been shipped! You had a pretty good month. I’m not impressed with what I’ve read from Behind Her Eyes. It’s kinda weird. I’ve been putting it down a lot and going to another, so I haven’t even finished it, yet.
I was allowed to do a light jog this weekend, so baby steps 🙂
And I cannot wait until you start Dead Letters.
I’ve been so out of the loop, I appreciate your links to others’ great posts all the more. Happy reading, Sarah!
I’ll have to go see what your thoughts were on Behind Your Eyes, because I didn’t really have any interest in it, despite the hype. I did enjoy Dark Matter, though.
You didn’t miss anything except being able to talk about the ending….whether you like it or didn’t.