Buh bye February! I’m feeling pretty happy that March is here. I’m so ready for spring! We’re supposed to be getting into the 60s here this coming week. They’re saying we could still get snow, too, but I’ll take it!
Now, what did we read in February? Well, a few things anyway.
Cathy
The Martian by Andy Weir
“A mission to Mars. A freak accident. One man’s struggle to survive.”
The Martian is the book that the film with Matt Damon is based on. Astronaut Mark Watney is one of the first people to walk on Mars but after a severe dust storm, a wayward antenna, and an emergency evacuation, he’s left stranded on Mars. The book follows Watney’s diary-style daily logs about his time on Mars alongside updates from what’s happening on Earth and with Watney’s team in the shuttle as they head back home.
This book is quick-witted and humorous, Weir has written Watney as a “this is a disaster but let’s deal with it as best as I can” type of person. He’s surprisingly positive about the fact that he’s stranded on Mars and is able to find humour in the situation. The fact that he declares himself a “space pirate” about halfway through the book really amused me and there were definitely different parts of this book where I exhaled loudly through my nose (i.e. almost laughing).
Weir clearly knows a lot about NASA, science, what it could take to survive on Mars, you can see it in the writing and in Watney’s explanations of how things work. What I think sets Weir’s writing apart though is the way that he explains things – he explains rather complex science and maths in a clear way that doesn’t make you feel like he thinks you’re an idiot. So I feel as though I have a slight grasp on the science and technical parts of things even though I’m certainly not a scientist.
I really enjoyed this book and it’s probably going to be one of my favourites from now on so it gets 5 stars from me.
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The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
Magic graduate Ceony Twill is assigned to complete an apprenticeship in paper magic with Magician Emery Thane, although she really wanted to work with metal. One day, a practitioner of dark, flesh magic invades Thane’s cottage and rips his heart from his chest. Ceony has to face the evil magician in order to save her teacher’s life.
I’ve just started The Paper Magician and went for it as the blurb gave me The Starless Sea vibes (which I just finished re-reading). I want something that tells more of a story about the magic system and the characters’ individual growth. I’m only about 100 pages into this book so far and I’m enjoying the author’s writing style – descriptive but not overly fluffy. I’ll check back in once I’ve finished to see if I enjoy the story as much as I’m hoping.
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Joli
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (Audiobook)
Isn’t it awesome when you finally pick up a book you think you’d like but have never read, and you LOVE it?? Yep, I listened to Ready Player One on a whim because it was in the “available now” list of audiobooks at my library. I listened to much of it while working on a particularly difficult jigsaw puzzle and it just made for the best, coziest evenings!
I thought Ready Player One on audio was excellent. It’s read be Wil Wheaton, who made it super entertaining. The nostalgia was fun, the story was quick-moving but with great character development, and the depiction of life as we slide more into the online world and more out of the real one felt like it really could definitely happen. Even scarily so.
Overall, I loved this one. As an aside, though, I tried watching the movie a couple weeks later and angrily turned it off after about 1/3 because it was so NOT like the book. Do not recommend the movie if you’ve read the book!
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The Undoing of Violet Claybourne by Emily Critchley
I read Critchley’s One Puzzling Afternoon back in 2023 and ended up really enjoying it, so I thought I’d try this new one that just came out on March 5th. It has similar vibes: mystery, a woman looking back on her life as a teen, secrets…but it ended up not being quite as similar as I hoped.
I enjoyed the ambiance here of a fancy mansion filled with tantalizing, rich sisters. The setup was foreboding and I was looking forward to finding out what happens. Then, though, it gets dark. Like, really dark. And hopeless, and mean. It needed that, of course, to really tell the story, but it just felt a bit like a black hole of awful things happening with nothing good or bright to break it up. It’s just bleak and brutal, what happens to these characters. I wish there had been just a little more something hopeful to bring the vibe back up a little.
I will say the ending was great, I liked how there’s this final act of trying to make things karmically right. So overall, I’m going with 3 stars. If you’re into dark stories like this, you’d probably enjoy it!
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Love at First Book by Jenn McKinlay
My book club’s pick for February had to be a romance, so this is what we went with. I can’t say I was a huge fan, although it did make me want to visit Ireland. I feel like it’s unfair for me to review a book that I knew I probably wouldn’t like going into it, so I’ll keep it pretty short.
Predictable, cute, heartwarming ending.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
Molly
The Will of the Many by James Islington
This is a massive political fantasy, and I enjoyed every minute of reading it. The magic system is based on a pyramidal structure where the people in the lower tiers cede their will to those in the higher tiers, lending their physical and mental strength to those who hold power over them. It’s a timely analogy for capitalism (even if it is a bit on the nose).
Seventeen-year-old Vis is an orphan who splits his nights between working in the city’s prison and fighting in an underground ring for entertainment. His life changes irrevocably when he meets Magnus Quintus Ulsicor Telimus, a powerful Military Senator.
Telimus wants to adopt Vis and send him to The Academy in the hopes that Vis will uncover the truth behind the death of Ulsicor’s brother, who supposedly died by suicide while at the school.
Vis’s loyalties are tested as he enters The Academy and is approached by a group of rebels who want his help—and will reveal the secrets of his past if he doesn’t comply.
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A Conjuring of Light by V. E. Schwab
I finally got around to finishing the Shades of Magic trilogy, which I started a year and half ago. This series is hugely popular, and personally I think it’s a little over-hyped.
This installment was about on par with the others in the series. I found the writing style repetitive and I think the book was probably a bit longer than it needed to be.
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Sara
I think this should be more accurately titled What I Started Reading In February, because I’ve done a lot of reading without finishing a book!!
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
“The mists rule the night. The Lord Ruler owns the world.”
In a world after the prophesied hero rose to battle evil and failed, a group of thieves plot to overturn the tyrannical Lord Rule.
I’m on page 512 of 643…so I’m fairly confident in saying this book wasn’t for me! The characters felt flat, but my main issue was the stakes. Between learning about the complex magic system, being introduced to characters, learning the lore behind the villain and post-apocalyptic setting, and the coming of age/romance subplot focused on the deuteragonist, Vin, there was little room for showing the personal, emotional reasons for the characters to take on this impossible mission.
I’ll give a proper rating once I’ve finished the book!
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard
“A impulsive action can start a war. A timely word can end one. One gesture of friendship can change history.” [sic.]
The Sun-on-Earth, Last Emperor of Astandalas, rules over the post-cataclysm remnants of his multi-world empire as an equal to the gods. His secretary, Cliopher Mdang, has worked with him to restore safety to the magically ravaged lands, while patiently reforming the government to create a more just society. Even after those reforms, and after working directly with the emperor for most of his life, Cliopher could easily be executed for reaching out to the man behind the god with an invitation to a vacation on his remote island home.
This is a re-read! I obtained my first copy as an ebook and stayed up all night reading it, finishing it some time after the sun rose – which was no mean feat, given the hardcover edition clocks in at 899 pages. The plot is partly a fantasy political drama, but most of the focus is on the relationship between Cliopher Mdang, exactingly polite bureaucratic radical from the other side of the world, and the Emperor, Cliopher’s favorite boss and a man who has a religious order dedicated to worshiping him. They really want to be friends. Both of them would prefer if Cliopher didn’t get executed or magically immolated by the legal and mystical forces dedicated to upholding the concept of the god-emperor. They’re working on it.
This book makes a luxurious, cozy read, full of beautiful locations, complex, deep friendships, and patient, passionate work to make the world a more just, equitable, and beautiful place. I’ve appreciated the warm escape it provides in the chaos and confusion of the last few months. Five stars from me!
Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
Beautiful Swimmers by William W. Warner
I’ve also been working on a Pulitzer-prize-winning book about the Atlantic blue crab!
The crabs are interesting, but this book is also about the Chesapeake Bay, the history and development of the seafood industry, and the people who make crabs their livelihood. The text is gorgeously written, full of interesting information without devolving into impenetrable science terminology. If you’re interested in nature writing, history, or culture, Warner covers all of it with curiosity and good humor. Five stars!
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
Shuna’s Journey by Hayao Miyazaki
Does this technically count as a book for a book review blog? I don’t know, but it’s the only thing I finished this month!
Shuna, prince of a small, impoverished community, battles harsh climates and slave traders on his journey to discover the source of a golden grain and bring it back to his people.
Shuna’s Journey is a sort-of-a-comic-book/manga written by the man behind Studio Ghibli (Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro). I can’t give it higher praise or a more accurate description than saying that it is very similar in atmosphere, story, and beauty to the more serious of the Ghibli films. I say ‘sort of’ a comic book because it’s not told in the style of action- and dialogue-driven pages of sequential panels; instead, the focus is on gorgeous watercolor illustrations and relatively simple narration. A comparison could be drawn to illustrated childrens’ books, but I think a more accurate description would be an illustrated myth or fable. In fact, Myazaki’s afterword reveals that he based the story on the Tibetan folktale The Prince Who Turned into a Dog, though the end result is full of Miyazaki’s characteristic creatures and fantastical, mysterious environments – and nobody turns into a dog.
If you enjoy art, offbeat fantasy, mythology, or Ghibli movies, I highly recommend Shuna’s Journey.
Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads | Storygraph
That’s our list! What did you read in February?
