Hello there!
I hope everyone is doing well!
Today I’m posting my February book review. In February, I read five books.
One
Book Title: The Edge of Lost by Kristina McMorris
Number of pages: 354
Genre: Historical Fiction
Book Summary: By Goodreads
On a cold night in October 1937, searchlights cut through the darkness around Alcatraz. A prison guard’s only daughter—one of the youngest civilians who lives on the island—has gone missing. Tending the warden’s greenhouse, convicted bank robber Tommy Capello waits anxiously. Only he knows the truth about the little girl’s whereabouts, and that both of their lives depend on the search’s outcome.
Almost two decades earlier and thousands of miles away, a young boy named Shanley Keagan ekes out a living as an aspiring vaudevillian in Dublin pubs. Talented and shrewd, Shan dreams of shedding his dingy existence and finding his real father in America. The chance finally comes to cross the Atlantic, but when tragedy strikes, Shan must summon all his ingenuity to forge a new life in a volatile and foreign world.
Skillfully weaving these two stories, Kristina McMorris delivers a compelling novel that moves from Ireland to New York to San Francisco Bay. As her finely crafted characters discover the true nature of loyalty, sacrifice, and betrayal, they are forced to confront the lies we tell—and believe—in order to survive.
Dates: January 30th to February 4th
My Rating: 3 Stars
My Review: I quite liked this book, especially because I love books where you can follow the characters over a long period of time. I fell in love with Shan’s character as a child and particularly liked how he was able to maintain his integrity and true self as an adult man.
Two
Book Title: The Little Book of Cottagecore: Traditional Skills for a Simpler Life by Emily Kent
Number of pages: 241
Genre: Non Fiction; Arts and Crafts;
Book Summary: (by Goodreads)
Unplug, relax, and return to the simpler life with these easy, step-by-step ideas for your favorite cottagecore activities including baking from scratch and easy container gardening.
Returning to the simpler life has never been easier. If you’re craving the aroma of freshly baked bread, spending more time in nature, or seeing the sunlight filtering through homemade curtains, then cottagecore is for you!
The Little Book of Cottagecore helps you make simple living a reality with delightful cottagecore activities you can enjoy no matter where you live. Whether you’re interested in baking pies from scratch, basic sewing and cross stitch, gardening, beekeeping, or making candles and soaps, this book is full of fun, hands-on activities that make it easy and enjoyable to unplug from modern life.
Full of step-by-step instructions and homegrown inspiration, you’ll find fun, practical ways to enjoy rustic and relaxing cottagecore activities in your everyday life.
Dates: February 5th to February 13th
My Rating: 3 Stars
My Review: This is a cute little book where you can learn many useful things.
I had absolutely no idea there was an actual science behind tea making and that some people actually take the time to choose the best water, to filter it, to measure temperature and so on.
I was tempted to try making some bread from scratch (I didn’t get suck into it during lockdown) but I still have the scar from the second degree burn I got while attempting to make bread back in 2015.
I love the idea of making candles and soap from scratch but decided I’m way to clumsy and prone to domestic accidents to be handling hot paraffin and lye.
Three
Book Title: Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score
Number of pages: 570
Genre: Romance; Contemporary Romance;
Book Summary: (By Goodreads)
Bearded, bad-boy barber Knox prefers to live his life the way he takes his coffee: Alone. Unless you count his basset hound, Waylon. Knox doesn’t tolerate drama, even when it comes in the form of a stranded runaway bride.
Naomi wasn’t just running away from her wedding. She was riding to the rescue of her estranged twin to Knockemout, Virginia, a rough-around-the-edges town where disputes are settled the old-fashioned way…with fists and beer. Usually in that order.
Too bad for Naomi her evil twin hasn’t changed at all. After helping herself to Naomi’s car and cash, Tina leaves her with something unexpected. The niece Naomi didn’t know she had. Now she’s stuck in town with no car, no job, no plan, and no home with an 11-year-old going on thirty to take care of.
There’s a reason Knox doesn’t do complications or high-maintenance women, especially not the romantic ones. But since Naomi’s life imploded right in front of him, the least he can do is help her out of her jam. And just as soon as she stops getting into new trouble he can leave her alone and get back to his peaceful, solitary life.
At least, that’s the plan until the trouble turns to real danger.
Dates: February 6th to February 16th
My Rating: 1 Star
My Review: BAD! RUN!
I simply cannot understand how this book is loved by so many and rated 4.49 on Goodreads.
The story is predictable and boring, full of cliches.
The writing is horrible.
These are actual quote from the book:
“He was too much. Too skilled. Expert-level. Professional ruiner of vaginas. And I didn’t know if I could keep up.”
“A thick, purple-headed leader in the world of erect penises. I got a little dizzy when Knox fisted it.”
Now, I’m no prude and I can appreciate a well written erotic novel or sex scene but this just sounds like cheap porn to me.
Plus, the book went on and on for 570 very long pages and I kept begging someone to put me out of my misery.
Four
Book Title: The Plum Tree by Ellen Marie Wiseman
Number of Pages: 420
Genre: Fiction; Historical Fiction;
Book Summary:
A deeply moving and masterfully written story of human resilience and enduring love, The Plum Tree follows a young German woman through the chaos of World War II and its aftermath.”Bloom where you’re planted,” is the advice Christine Bölz receives from her beloved Oma. But seventeen-year-old domestic Christine knows there is a whole world waiting beyond her small German village. It’s a world she’s begun to glimpse through music, books–and through Isaac Bauerman, the cultured son of the wealthy Jewish family she works for.
Yet the future she and Isaac dream of sharing faces greater challenges than their difference in stations. In the fall of 1938, Germany is changing rapidly under Hitler’s regime. Anti-Jewish posters are everywhere, dissenting talk is silenced, and a new law forbids Christine from returning to her job–and from having any relationship with Isaac. In the months and years that follow, Christine will confront the Gestapo’s wrath and the horrors of Dachau, desperate to be with the man she loves, to survive–and finally, to speak out.
Set against the backdrop of the German Homefront, this is an unforgettable novel of courage and resolve, of the inhumanity of war, and the heartbreak and hope left in its wake.
Dates: February 16th to February 22nd
My Rating: 5 Stars
My Review: My favorite book this month.
Gosh, this book left me a wreck. Christine’s life is not an easy one and you get to experience her fear, her hunger, her desperation, her grief. I felt this book deeply and loved every minute of it.
Five
Book Title: When Never Comes by Barbara Davis
Number of pages: 363
Genre: Fiction; Romance;
Book Summary: (by Goodreads)
Author Barbara Davis deftly explores an emotionally charged landscape of pain, loss, and despair—and the risk one woman will take in the hope of loving again.
As a teenage runaway and child of an addict, Christy-Lynn learned the hard way that no address was permanent, and no promise sacred. For a while, she found a safe haven in her marriage to bestselling crime novelist Stephen Ludlow—until his car skidded into Echo Bay. But Stephen’s wasn’t the only body pulled from the icy waters that night. When details about a mysterious violet-eyed blonde become public, a media circus ensues, and Christy-Lynn runs again.
Desperate for answers, she’s shattered to learn that Stephen and his mistress had a child—a little girl named Iris, who now lives in poverty with her ailing great-grandmother. The thought of Iris abandoned to the foster care system—as Christy-Lynn once was—is unbearable. But she’s spent her whole life running—determined never to be hurt again. Will she finally stand still long enough to open herself up to forgiveness and love?
Dates: February 22nd to February 27th
My Rating: 3 Stars
My Review: To be very honest, I neither loved nor hated this book. It was pretty much just meh for me. I can feel for Christy-Lynn as a young girl, teenager and adult woman but was unable to fall in love with the character. I hated that there had to be a male savior and that she even needed a random guy to take care of her. I think she could have gone on her journey all by herself and do just fine. The ending was predictable too.
Conclusions
Favorite Book of February: The Plum Tree by Ellen Marie Wiseman.
Main Mood: Emotional.
Main Genre: Both Historical and Contemporary Romance.
Total of Pages Read: 1,921
Average Rating: 3.0
March Reading List
The Lobotomist’s Wife by Samantha Greene Woodruff
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
The Last Green Valley by Mark Sullivan
The Second Life of Mirielle West by Amanda Skenandore
Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover
That’s it for February!
What have you been reading? What was your favorite book of the month?
Love,
Cheila
Pink for Days 