Thursday, February 28, 2019

February in Review


February may be a shorter month but I still managed to read a good amount of books (11) although (2) of these were kids books. 


Some of my armchair travels through February's books included visits to: Rhode Island, Maine, New York City and New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Victorian England, Sweden, Bristol England and the Norfolk Coast.



  1. Morningstar: Growing Up With Books; Ann Hood - 5/5 (audio-library-Feb)
  2. Good Riddance; Elinor Lipman - 3/5 (eGalley-Feb)
  3. Great Expectations; Charles Dickens - 4/5 (audio-library-Feb)
  4. Detective Inspector Huss; Helene Tursten - 3.5/5 (eBook-library-Feb)
  5. The Stranger Inside; Jennifer Jaynes - 4.5/5 (eGalley-NetGalley-Feb)
  6. You Are Light; Aaron Becker - 5/5 (my shelves - Feb)
  7. The Whole Wide World and Me; Toni Yuly - 4/5 (my shelves - Feb)
  8. Rules of Civility; Amor Towles - 4/5 (audible - Feb)
  9. Watching You; Lisa Jewel - 4.5/5 (library - Feb)
  10. The Au Pair; Emma Rous - 4/5 (eGalley - Feb)
  11. The Kingdom of the Blind; Louise Penny - 4/5 (Library audio - Feb)

Breakdown
Fiction - 10
NF - 1
YTD - 21
Audios   - 4
eBooks  - 4
print      - 3
audio/eBook Combos - 0

Borrowed from Library - 5
Off my physical Shelves - 2
Kindle - 4

 Favorite Book of the Month


Book Group Read

The Stranger in the Woods; Michael Finkel

Our book group read The Stranger in the Woods; Michael Finkel in February and everyone seemed to enjoy this non fiction selection. I had listened to this one in May of 2017 when it was first published.

                                                        ( GoodReads Brief Review from May 2017)

A captivating true story of a man who survived alone in the Maine woods for some 27 years. 

Chris Knight was always a shy individual who preferred spending time alone. At 20, and for the next 27 years he made the Maine woods his home, breaking into cabins for food and other necessities which included an ongoing supply of books to feed his constant thirst for knowledge. 

A fascinating story and what led to his being discovered and arrested. The scientific information and research on hermits was interesting but, the way the story was executed could have been improved.

We listened to this audio book on a road trip in May of 2017 - good narrator.

Plans for March


In addition to reviewing: The Kingdom of the Blind (listened to in February), I plan to finish: An Anonymous Girl and A Gentleman in Moscow (both in progress) and read at least the ones below.













How was your month in books?

21 comments:

  1. Quite the month with lots more good books that not so good.

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  2. You did fantastic!! I feel like Great Expectations is a classic I should read!!! Happy March!

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    1. Freda, I did enjoy Great Expectations and hope to try 1 or 2 more Dickens classics this year.

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  3. Hi Diane,
    I'm so impressed that you managed to read so many books in the brief month of February. I'm looking forward to hearing about your reads in the month of March.
    I never ever read as many books in February as I do in January, the company that I need to clean the house for in mid-Feb, etc.
    March is usually a good reading month for me, and I want to read The Woman in White (although I'm not sure I'll finish by the end of March--it's 600 pages or so), beginning The Radetsky March by Joseph Roth for the April Readalong, then I'm reading Midnight in Chernobyl, which is proving to be a slow read, but extremely fascinating. So there I am for now.
    I wish you a great reading month in March, and do keep posting photos of your beloved cats. They are so adorable!

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    1. Woops, Diane. I meant to mention that I read most of Stranger in the Woods and skimmed some as well, because I had it from the library and other readers were eager for it.
      I found it fascinating, and it's interesting because here in the Adirondacks, we've had lots of similar cases, and I do mean lots. Here the Adirondack Pack has about 6.5 million acres, and it is not difficult for an individual to "hole up" in various "camps" over a region of the park, as others have done, moving from one camp to another over the course of a winter, for example. The distances are such that lots of times these people can build fires in fireplaces and remain undetected. I was very interested in the social/family dynamics in this book. Best to you!

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    2. I think it's fascinating that individuals feel the need to escape society so badly that they can do this for long periods of time. I do love my alone time, but I'd be afraid of bears etc LOL

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    3. I really want to read The Woman in White, I've meant to tackle this one each fall for the last 10 years LOL

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  4. You read a lot of books and most were rated high. I'd say that's a great month! :-)

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  5. You had a great month! I've added a few of the titles you read to my TBR list and hope to get to them soon. I loved Morningstar, too! It's on my keeper shelf for a second reading in the coming years. Here's to a great month of reading in March!

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    1. Les, I read Morningstar because of your review so THANK YOU! Loved it.

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  6. Good March plans! I also want to read Daughter of Molokai and The Gentleman in Moscow so I look forward to seeing what you think of them.

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    1. I hope Daughter of Molokai is as good as the first book. My friend raved about The Gentleman in Moscow and so far I am enjoying it a lot.

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  7. You had an excellent reading month! I rather fancy Stranger in the Woods having read a lot of John Connolly's horror/crime series set often in the Maine forests about some very odd people. Will investigate that.

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  8. Cath, I hope you will try Stranger in the Maine Woods, its pretty fascinating.

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  9. Great month Diane! Pachinko is just amazing. I will post my February reading summary sometime today.

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  10. Ooh I've got the Au Pair and Watching You on my list to read and I'm hopeful about both! Glad you liked them. :)

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  11. I still have yet to read The Gentleman from Moscow, but I have heard it’s exceptionally good. Looks like your Feb reading was well-balanced—I cannot wait to read Kingdom of the Blind. I’m next on the list at the library!

    Happy reading in March.

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  12. Great month! I read and loved Morningstar last month, too... thanks to your review. You have some excellent reading ahead for March. Pachinko was a favorite last year and I'm still thinking about the Count in A Gentleman in Moscow.

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  13. It sounds like you had a great February in reading, Diane. I have been hearing great things about Au Pair. Daughter of Moloka'i is high on my list to read. I hope it is as good as it sounds. Have a wonderful March!

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