Hello everyone,
We have reached the end of the shortest month of the year, but there is no doubt that it was a very eventful one. For me it was a good one; fun and productive, so I look forward to sharing some of the highlights with you in this post.
However, it has also been a month where awful things have happened in the world. The current events in Ukraine are horrific and terrifying, and it makes the idea of gushing about books online feel rather trivial.
Here in the UK, all COVID restrictions have been lifted, which seems a bit too early given that infection rates are still fairly high. It is a good thing in some ways, but I for one shall still be wearing a mask at indoor public settings. The thing which I find most unreasonable is that you will soon have to pay for lateral flow tests.
Anyway, on to the books! I managed to finish a total of five in February, which continues a pretty good start to the year. There were no five-star reads this time, but I still enjoyed most of them and they included another worldly mix of genres.
Here are the five books I read last month:
Hostage ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Things In Jars ⭐⭐.5
Blood Of The Lost Kingdom ⭐⭐⭐.5
Who Did You Tell? ⭐⭐⭐.5
Wild Swans (audiobook) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
As thrillers go, Hostage was just about as intense and as full of high stakes as you can get, so I really enjoyed that. Listening to Wild Swans on audiobook has been an absolute marathon with its 27-hour running length, but it tells a remarkable if very harrowing story that holds your attention throughout. The only disappointment was Things In Jars, which I found difficult to read and as such it fell a long way below my expectations.
At the moment my TBR for March is looking rather uncertain. I need to finish off The Paris Library, and then the only ones I know I am reading for certain are Pandora and A History Of Wild Places. However, I still have more books from some of my favourite authors on my unread pile, so it might be time to pick a few of those up!
I may have failed on the poetry front, but there was a major writing highlight in February when I was asked to become the editor for the Soccer 360 Magazine. I have written for the magazine since I was 18 years old, but it was such a nice surprise when the outgoing editor asked me to take over. It will make me busier, but I am so excited by this opportunity 🤩
There were a few days out during the month that I enjoyed. I spent a day book shopping in Bath, and visited Raglan Castle in Wales on a day full of travel delays due to adverse weather, but it was totally worthwhile. Also I went to the British Museum in London, to see the things I had not been able to during my previous visits to this vast landmark.
At the start of February I went back to working in the office three days a week after a near two-month absence. I was really glad about that, and it was nice to see my colleagues again. Also, I have to mention the chocolate cake I made a few weeks ago – it is my biggest ever baking success so for once I felt very proud of myself!
And that brings me to the end of the post. Usually at the end of a monthly wrap-up I do a list of my favourite posts from the book blogging community, but unfortunately I am not able to this time because of time constraints. I promise I will give some well deserved shout outs in my next wrap-up.
I hope you all have a wonderful March, and happy reading :)
Stephen Reads Books 