Can you believe I got my Monthly Round-Up done by the end of the month?! I sure can’t…there’s a first for everything!
I didn’t read quite as many books this month (7 compared to 9 last month) and it was harder to pick a clear-cut winner (but I forced myself to!). I also didn’t finish a single audiobook this month (my current audiobook is 12 hours long and I’ve been listening to lots of podcasts lately).
On the personal front, I’ve been playing lots of tennis. It’s been fun and frustrating all at the same time (I’m super rusty and get really nervous during matches!). I’ve substituted some of my running with tennis and reducing the repeated pounding of regular running has been a good thing for my back and hip issues. And, turns out tennis can be quite a cardio workout!
Winners
- FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: I’ll Be Gone in the Dark
by Michelle McNamara (my review)
- Sunburn
by Laura Lippman (my review)
- Bachelor Nation
by Amy Kaufman (out March 6)
- Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties
by Camille Pagan
- I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
by Erika L. Sanchez (backlist)
Losers
- Castle of Water
by Dane Huckelbridge (backlist)
- The Flight Attendant
DNF’s
- Girls Burn Brighter
by Shobha Rao (out March 6)
- The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore
by Kim Fu
- The Great Alone
by Kristin Hannah (my quick thoughts)
- The Glass Forest
by Cynthia Swanson (my quick thoughts)
Announcements
- Leave a note in the comments section or email me at sarahsbookshelves@gmail.com to participate in my new “Readers Recommend” feature!
I’m starting a new feature where regular blog readers (i.e. those of you who do not have your own book blogs) share some of their best book recommendations (again, thanks to the Reader Survey for this idea!) and I’d love your participation! All you have to do is answer a few book related questions via email. Email me or leave a note in the comments if you’re interested in participating!
February Quality and Recommendation Sources
Reading Quality (Jan-Feb 2018 Cumulative)
- % Successful Books Attempted (includes DNF’s) = 52% (still above my 43% success rate from 2017)
- % Successful Books Finished (does not include DNFs) = 87%
Successful Recommendation Sources
- Tyler Goodson, Manager at Avid Bookshop in Athens, GA (Sunburn
, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark)
- Annie Jones from From the Front Porch podcast (Sunburn, Bachelor Nation)
- March 2018 Library Reads (Sunburn
)
- Megan Abbott, author of You Will Know Me (I’ll Be Gone in the Dark
- Ashley Spivey, The Bachelor Season 15 contestant and currently founder of #SpiveysClub Facebook Group, an awesome bookish Facebook group you should check out! (Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties)
- Read It Forward’s Favorite Books of February (Woman Last Seen in Her Thirties)
If you’re interested in tracking these types of stats, my “Rock Your Reading” Tracker does all the heavy lifting for you! Enter your book details and it automatically compiles everything into Summary Charts in real time! Go here for more details.
March Releases I’m Excited About
Bachelor Nation
Laura & Emma
Tangerine
Alternate Side
Most Popular Posts
Posts Actually Published in February
February 2018 Books to Read (and Skip)
12 Unconventional Love Stories for Readers Who Don’t Like Romance
Book of the Month February 2018 Selections: What Book Should You Choose?
Overall Posts
Book Club Recommendations
Behind Her Eyes and THAT Ending: Spoiler Discussion (#WTFthatending)
Am I the Only One Who Didn’t Love Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine?
Favorite Posts by Fellow Bloggers
I’m sorry for the light list this month…I honestly forgot to keep track of my favorite posts until the end of the month. I promise you’ll get a better list next month!
- Maintaining a blog consistently is tough and I know my motivation goes through ups and downs. Amy at Read a Latte‘s 5 Tips to Organize Your Ideas and Motive to Blog Again shares some helpful tips to get out of the downturns.
- Modern Mrs. Darcy‘s list of 50 Contemporary Books Every Woman’s Gotta Read contains a couple books I would absolutely include in my own version of this list…and many others I want to try!
How was your reading month?
I’m going to start I’ll Be Gone in the Dark today.
Do you live near Athens?
Wow! I’m impressed you have your round up done so early. Mine won’t be up until Friday (I hope!). Being a math teacher, I’m curious how you’re getting 87% for successful books. (5 of 7 would be lower.) How are you determining success? Does that number include both January and February books?
I really want to read I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, but am a little afraid of it! Soon, I hope.
I do not have a blog and I don’t do Facebook. Do i qualify for readers recommend?
You’re perfect for Readers Recommend! I’m adding you to the participant list. We have the next couple posts booked, but you’re #3 in line. I’m hoping to do about one per month. I’ll email you some questions to answer soon. Thank you for participating!
Sorry to hear you didn’t have luck with Lost Girls! I was looking forward to that one too. Sunburn is high up on my list of books for March, also because it comes recommended by Megan Abbott. Thanks again for including me here! 🙂
I think you’ll love Sunburn 🙂
My February reading is going well. Favorite book was The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish. My round-up will be posted on March 1.
I’ll keep an eye out for it!
I loved Mexican Daughter so much!!
I requested Great Alone, now I’m nervous for it.
Lots of others loved it, so maybe you will too!
You say “Read this” and I don’t even wait a day- saw Sunburn at library and grabbed it, will start tonight!
My reading was like the weather here- unpredictable.The good news was two 5 star novels.
I’m halfway through Laura & Emma and…not so much.
Sorry that you didn’t like Castle of Water!
I’m plowing through these running training books that have piled up for my next book club post. Then it’s back to reading for pleasure.
Hurry back to reading for pleasure!
Hi Sarah, I would love to join your Readers Recommend group…thanks!
Great – I’ve got you on the list! I’m doing about one a month and there are a couple people ahead of you. It’s looking like about July. I’ll email you with specifics closer to the time!
I would be interested in joining your readers recommend group. I’m not on Facebook does that matter?
Great! Just want to make clear that it’s not a group…I feature one reader’s recommendations in a blog post every month. I’ve got a couple people ahead of you, so it will probably be late summer. I’ll email you with details closer to the time!
I love the idea of a readers recommend feature, I can’t wait to see how that works! You’re giving me so many things to think about for my blog as far as changing things up and adding things here and there. I just got The Flight Attendant, I think you and Susie have different thoughts about that one so I’m curious to check it out. It’ll be my first book by him
Oh no! I don’t want Flight Attendant to be your first book by him! The Guest Room or Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands were so much better!
I enjoyed reading your round-up post. I’m interested in why you DNF The Great Alone, and I’ll link over in a bit. I’ve seen reviews all over the place for that book, so I think I’ll skip it. I’m a slow reader, especially for a book blogger. I don’t have time to even “DNF” a book, so I depend on readers like you in order to avoid books like The Great Alone. BTW I also enjoyed your 12 Unconventional Love Stories post!!!
Thank you! I do think it’s important to share the books I DNF with my readers for just the reason you said. Reading time is precious and I want to help people avoid books as well as find great ones.
I am so impressed by your ability to DNF books that you’re not feeling! I am still working on being able to do that.
Very excited that Bachelor Nation and I’ll Be Gone in the Dark made your Winners list!
Ha – I used to not be like that, but now time is just way too precious…
I’m so excited that the new Pagan novel worked out well for you; it was on sale today for $3.99 so I nabbed a copy. A previous novel of hers, The Art of Forgetting, is one of my faves!
I’m super excited for Tangerine as well, can it be the 20th already, please?
I think 7 is still a good number! 🙂 Shame nothing stood out this month for you, but looks like you had a mostly good month of books.
I’m liking it so far!
I feel like I’ve been commenting about We’ll Be Gone in the Dark on your blogs for ages, but I finally got to it and I loved it too! Getting back into tennis sounds like a lot of fun 🙂
Awesome! I feel like I’ve talked it to death…haha!