February was a little slow but I knocked some books out this month! A couple were actually novellas and one was a book about flowers and another about flour but they count!

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz (a mess)

The Social Climber by Amanda Pellegrino (I had low expectations but I actually enjoyed it and I felt it really tied together all the loose ends so many books do not)

We Should Not Be Friends: The Story of a Friendship by Will Schwalbe (a strange memoir where I learned virtually nothing about the author)

Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (only read this for the Kindle challenge, didn’t find it very good, seemed dated)

Ghost Music by An Yu (strange, interesting, great cover)

For Better and Worse by Margot Hunt (not bad)

The House on the Water Margot Hunt (eh)

What the Neighbors Saw by Melissa Adelman (Enjoyed the DC setting and it was more “literary” than expected but the ending was a little disappointing. The husband Sam was the absolute worse though! A real cautionary tale.)

Buried Deep by Margot Hunt (ok)

Beware the Woman by Megan Abbott (good but the ending was silly which colored the whole book)

But You Have Friends by Emilia McKenzie (sad, weirdly flat, I didn’t get a good sense of the author. Again, why write a memoir?)

My Other Husband by Dorothy Koomson (not bad story but could have been tightened up)

Perfectly Nice Neighbors aka Those People Next Door by Kia Abdullah (not bad but could have been tweaked and a lot better)

Music for Wartime: Stories by Rebecca Makkai (okay, they all seemed familiar)

Other People’s Secrets by Louise Candlish (very bad)

Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers by
Jessica Roux (thorough!)

The Vanishing by Wendy Webb (one of the worst books I’ve read)

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano (quick-paced but forgettable)

Künstlers in Paradise by Cathleen Schine (the grandson was awful, also quick-paced and forgettable)

The Pain d’Avignon Baking Book: A War, an Unlikely Bakery, and a Master Class in Bread by Uliks Fehmiu with Kathleen Hackett (fascinating story)

Holding by Graham Norton (the show was much better)

A Day Like This by Kelley McNeil (I don’t think she knew what the story was! She mashed like 3 possible endings into one that didn’t make sense)

The Sixes by Kate White (not good! lots of references to college students as “coeds” which seemed about 60 years out of date at time of publication)

The Downstairs Neighbor by Helen Cooper (okay)

City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita (true waste of a good idea and location)

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell (another waste of a good idea)

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman (a lot of sex for a book that reads like it was written for 10-year-olds)

Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy (excellent!)