February 2023 Wrap-Up | a short month that feels long

Hey, everyone! I hope you’re all doing well. I have been pretty busy this past week and haven’t been able to work on posts as much. I’m hoping March will be a better month for the blog, so we’ll see.

BOOKS READ

I read 7 books this month, which I’m really surprised about! I had a busy schedule in February and it was a short month, so I didn’t expect to read almost twice as many books as I did in January.

An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X.R. Pan|🎧|★★★.5
The Chang’e inspiration is what initially drew me to the book. I liked the interwoven Chinese folklore. I didn’t love Luna and Hunter’s relationship; their attraction to each other and their connection wasn’t convincing enough for me. One of the highlights, though, was Hunter’s relationship with his little brother, Cody.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik|📖|★★★.5
I enjoyed the storyline and characters, but the pace was so slow until about the last 30% percent. The descriptions were overly so and I feel like we get a lot of extraneous details. Also, there’s no clear indication on POV changes. You have to read the first paragraph or so to figure it out. We get new POVs at random intervals, which made it a bit confusing.

King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender|🎧|★★★★
I listened to this on audio, and I loved the narration! It was expressive and the emotion in the narrator’s voice was great. King’s journey of accepting his brother’s death and his journey of figuring out his sexuality was done so well.

Of Starlight and Bone by Emily Layne (ARC)|📱|★★★★.5|review to come
This was so good! I loved the worldbuilding and the found family that Auri creates with the crew of the Kestrel. It ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, and I’m excited to be able to read the next book in the future.

If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang|📱|★★★★
This takes invisibility powers to the next level. I liked the concept of the Beijing Ghost app, even if things got taken a little two far. Alice and Henry’s relationship was one of the best parts of the story.

Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman|📖|★★★.5
This was not wholesome and sweet like the other Heartstopper books; this was kind of messy. But it was realistic: the anxiety and unknowing of how a long distance relationship will work out. Nick and Charlie’s personalities have changed. I know they’re older, but it was different to see them act differently and not as young and carefree.

Yesterday is History by Kosoko Jackson|🎧|★★★★
I liked the concept of this and even though some of the romance was a little too much, I still enjoyed it a lot. Andre was a great protagonist and I like how he learned about his mistakes along the way, even when I didn’t agree with him on some of his choices.

CURRENTLY READING

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

I started Spin the Dawn yesterday and am enjoying reading another book by Elizabeth Lim. I loved the Six Crimson Cranes duology, and I have been wanting to read this one since I discovered that they’re set in the same world. So far, I’m having a fun time reading it! It started off interesting and I love how it’s inspired by Mulan, which is one of my favorite stories.

I was a bit spotty this month and didn’t post every Tuesday and Friday like I normally do. I was able to blog hop a bit though and read a lot of posts, which I’m happy with. Even better, I remembered to mark them down so I could add them to this post.

MY POSTS

• January Wrap-Up|a cold and wet start to the year
• Let’s Talk Bookish: Do You Read Reviews and Spoilers Before or After?
• Give a Book Tag
• Review: The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix
• Let’s Talk Bookish: Reading Goals

AROUND THE BLOGOSPHERE

• Prutha @ Moonchild Lexicons: Book Review: Babel by R.F Kuang // A profound story about the power of translation
• Aria @ Book Nook Bits: My top reads of 2022
• Naemi @ A Book Owl’s Corner: Artificial Intelligence Meets Literature || Rewriting Synopses of Popular Books with ChatGPT
• 24hryabookblog: Annotate Your Books: Creating and More Thoughtful Reading Experience
• Sofia @ Read Rebelliously: My Friend Explains Books to Me
• Kashvi @ Misty Realms: 100+ Diverse Books Out in 2023

BLOGS I DISCOVERED

24hryabookblog – This blog has been around for a long time and posts a variety of content, which I really enjoy! The posts are interesting and engaging.

I didn’t much writing for my WIP this month, which I’m kind of disappointed about. I really want to finish this draft, but I’ve been busy with school work. The only I have done is for school and summer programs I’m applying for. The writing and journalism one involve so much writing for their application. I know they need it and everything, but it takes so much time. Luckily, I finished the writing one and the science one, so now I only have to focus on the journalism one. It’s one of the more involved ones; there’s a lot of questions to answer.

🎬 TV Shows and Movies: My family and I have started watching Star Trek: The Next Generation. We watched it when I was younger, mainly when my parents were trying to make me fall asleep, but I of course don’t remember a lot from then. We pick random episodes that look interesting, since there’s not really a linear plot line.

🏫 I went on another college tour, this time to Sonoma State University. It’s going to be one of my safety schools. I really liked the vibe of the campus and the dorms are so nice. I ate in their main dining hall, and the food was pretty good.

🎶 I went on a field trip to see the Mean Girls Musical. It was not meant to be educational at all, just a fun social field trip. I had a lot of fun with my friends. We got to walk about a mall beforehand and get lunch. The musical itself was pretty good. It was very loud, even all the way up in the balcony seats. It was also really long, around two and a half hours, but I liked the full group dance numbers and the way they did the bus scene.

February Goals:

• Read 6 books ✅️
• Post 7 times ❌️
• Work on WIP ❌️

March Goals:

• Read 5 books
• Post 8 times
• Work on WIP

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How was your February? Did you read any good books?
Do you have any fun plans for March?