Monthly Wrap Up | February 2020


WHAT HAPPENED IN FEBRUARY
  • January was the longest month ever and then February passed in the blink of an eye. Time is trippy.
  • We got a brief taste of winter in February - and by brief I mean like, two days - but otherwise Florida decided to skip winter this year and move right on to spring. And, on a few days, even summer. This is not good. I am not ready. 
  • Things at the office felt unusually busy all month. Not bad, just busy. As the EA, there are at times some interesting things that fall within my purview. Last month one of those things was coordinating tickets for The Players Championship, an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It's a huge event that takes place locally and they switched to all mobile ticketing this year. So a lot of my workdays were actually taken up with working on the distribution of golf tournament tickets. LOL Never a dull moment. :)
  • I enjoyed the three day weekend mid-month but the downside is that there's now a long drought in holidays until late May. (Thankfully a week of R&R will happen before then.)
  • Lastly, we had an unexpected visit from family in North Carolina at the tail end of the month. It made for a hectic weekend, but it was also great to see them and we had a good time together.

WHAT I READ IN FEBRUARY


I read nine books in February and, considering that I was finally coming out of a months-long reading slump, and it was a short month, it felt like a huge success. There were a couple duds but overall I had some awesome reads and continued to feel like I wanted to just dive into all my books and read everything I own. :)

(* denotes an audio book)

FORMATS
Total Read: 9
4 physical books
4 audiobooks
1 e-book
(1 ARC: Great and Precious Things)

TOP OF THE HEAP
Epic and The Queen of Nothing
It was kind of a foregone conclusion that I would love Epic. I mean, it's Wes and Jamie. It's #Wesmie! I adored this visit with two of my favorite guys. My only issue: it was too short and I wanted more. The Queen of Nothing gave me just what I wanted after two books of slow burn: more Jude + Cardan. The scheming and plotting continued but I also got all the feels that I wanted.

THE ONE THAT MADE ME WANT TO HUG A CHARACTER
The Music of What Happens
I picked up the audio version of The Music of What Happens after reading Sam's review. It was equal parts sweet and funny and heartbreaking. Max and Jordan were so different but brought out the best in each other. They were also both struggling with issues that hurt my heart and made me want to just hug them and make it all better. 

THE ONE THAT WAS JUST WHAT I WANTED
The Dark Light of Day
Toward the end of the month I found myself craving something dark and twisted. Just some really messed up characters doing really messed up stuff. Oh, hello, T.M. Frazier, and thank for for totally delivering. The Dark Light of Day was exactly what I was looking for. I was totally sucked into Abby's world and the more twisted things got the happier I was. It definitely had me itching to read more from Frazier.

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE BLOG
I had 15 blog posts in January and shared eight reviews: 
I shared some of my five star predictions, the fictional characters I would follow on social media, and the books that gave me a serious book hangover. I also took part in the Favorite Things giveaway and was happy to gift several winners with signed copies of books. 

WHAT I'M CURRENTLY READING




WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE READ IN FEBRUARY?

27 comments

  1. Wow.. 9 books in February is great. Go you! ;)
    It's crazy it's already March right? Sometimes it really freaks me out how fast time is passing by. It feels like it was Christmas just last month. LOL!
    I hope March is another great reading month for you!

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    1. Thanks Maureen! And it is crazy that it's already March. Hopefully it'll be a great month for both of us. :)

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  2. Great wrap up, Tanya! Looks like you had a pretty great month of reading. Glad to see that you enjoyed Birthday Girl more than I did. I'm still keen to try more of her work though and I'm hoping to start with Credence. Hopefully we both like it ;) Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on The Honey Don't List. Hope March will be an awesome month for you!

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    1. Yeah, I think we talked about Birthday Girl before. It wasn't exactly what I thought it would be but I still really enjoyed it. Solid 4 star read for me. And I enjoyed her writing enough to definitely want to read more from her... like Credence!

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  3. Busy, busy, busy! :-) Happy March!

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  4. February went so fast! Congrats on reading 9 books. That’s way better than I did. I hope you’re having a great March!

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. Thanks Aj. I seriously doubt I'll get 9 books read in March even though it's a longer month. I'm off to a super slow start.

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  5. Do you know I never attended TPC when I lived in JVille. We had friends, who lived in Sawgrass, though, and we would try to catch a glimpse. Seeing a 2-star book on your list made my heart ache. I give you credit for finishing something that rated that low

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    1. It's actually taking place this week and that's where one of my bosses is today. I went once many years ago (20 years or more?) and decided I could check that box. LOL I was just glad the 2-star read wasn't one I'd purchased. It was just a freebie on the Read Me Romance podcast. :)

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  6. I can't believe it's March already! It already is starting to feel like spring here, but we barely had a winter at all!

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  7. I thought February flew by so fast too, it was weird. Like blink and you'll miss it! Glad it was a mostly good reading month though! That Holly Black series is calling my name one of these days haha

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  8. January's talent is that to stay as the longest month. I swear it's like this almost every year and February either follows or flies by so fast that you're left wondering "Was I productive at all this month?". And that sudden season change doesn't sound good. Like you're feeling the cold at one moment but then you blinked and suddenly you're melting like ice cream under the sun. On the nicer side of things, I hope you're having fun with The Honey-Don't List! I'm excited for this book.

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    1. I'm not sure what to think of The Honey-Don't List, Chai. I've been reading it for a solid week now and finally reached the 80% mark. It's kind of not really what I thought it would be so I'm sort of struggling.

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  9. February definitely flew by, but I guess I can't complain. Work sounds busy - hopefully it slows down a bit this month, though sometimes being busy is good because the day goes quicker!

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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    1. The work days did go fast but I'mm happily settle for some slower days about now. LOL

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  10. It sounds like you had a great month besides being so busy. I love that you got to read Epic this month.

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  11. I agree about time being trippy. It feels like we skipped right over February, lol. Glad to see the Queen of Nothing was a good read for you. I'm really hoping to get that book read in March since I don't have many ARCs this month.

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    1. I was just watching a YouTube video and the lady was just trashing The Queen of Nothing. Made me sad. :( I enjoyed every minute of it.

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  12. I felt like February was a busy month at my job too. It makes the day go quickly and if the work is interesting that is even better. I am hoping for a long spring. Summer needs to wait a bit. It sounds like you had a great reading month. Have a great March!

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    1. Fingers crossed for a long spring but I'm not too hopeful, Carole. LOL It's already hitting the 80's here sooo... it's coming. :)

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  13. February was a quick one but I'm not at all happy with this year so far... It can go sit on the naughty step. We may only be a week into March but that can also go have a word with itself. *sigh*

    9 books is pretty good! I'm glad you're coming out of your slump. :)

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    1. Still laughing at putting 2020 on the naughty step. It's definitely off to a less than stellar start. Surely it gets better from here.

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  14. Looks like a decent reading month especially after that slump!

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