I promise I’m trying to be better about updating this, but life has been incredibly busy lately. I finally have a few minutes, so I’m just going to stream-of-conscious talk about book stuff for a bit. 🙂

February was an okay reading month. I re-read a book from my childhood (A Horse Called Wonder by Joanna Campbell) for my local book club whose theme was “Childhood Reads”. This was such a nostalgic romp and reminded me how much I loved this Thoroughbred series. I think I read these books from age 6 or 7 to age 11 or 12 maybe? It was also wonderful reading a book where the lack of technology was palpable – no texting, no social media, no internet even – just kids being kids and feeling their emotions and connecting with animals. Sometimes I really miss those days…

I also read a few NetGalley arcs: Here Lie All the Boys Who Broke My Heart, He Knows When You’re Awake, Shiny Happy People, Postscript, and Limelight. I’ve fallen behind on my NetGalley arcs – and as much as I love having them, I also think forcing myself to read some has made reading feel more like a chore than a hobby. Which is definitely not the goal at all!

I’m also trying to catch up on my Book of the Month selections. I finished All the Tomorrows After by Joanne Yi this weekend and I really liked it – solid 4 stars. I did “cheat” and listen to the audiobook, but I really enjoyed this story about a young girl reconnecting with her estranged father and figuring out what she wants next in life. It has a complex relationship between her and her mother, the death of a grandparent, a first love, and shows someone who is biding their time senior year to make it through so they can be on their own and independent. I liked the very short chapters and the first person narration a lot.

And last night I finished A Good Animal by Sara Maurer for book club tonight (this month’s theme is a book with/about animals). I figured the title was rather on the nose for the theme. I’m very conflicted about this one. I gave it 3 stars overall. It is the author’s debut novel, and it’s a coming of age story set in 1995 on a sheep farm in upstate Michigan. Everett is the main character, a 17 year old boy who has been farming sheep all his life – and loves it. When he imagines his future self, it’s owning the farm he grew up on, living there, raising sheep, having a herd of his own, cutting and selling hay, and living the life he has lived to this point. The writing in this book is solid – I’ve never lived on a sheep farm, let alone spent time with sheep outside of the occasional petting zoon environment. The descriptions of their lanolin scent, behavior, etc. fully immersed me. Everett as a main character is simultaneously likeable and deplorable. He’s young, he’s trying to figure it out, he doesn’t like school, he does dip and drinks beer, he is diligent around the farm, he is messy and makes mistakes with girls. At times he is incredibly deep and profound in his thoughts. And at other times he seems like an immature, not much going for him hick. He falls in love with a girl named Mary who has hopes and dreams and aspirations that will carry her to California or New York City. They have a genuine young love, that gets incredibly messy and tragic. I gave this 3 stars because there were some areas I wish I had more insight into, and others I wish I had less (it’s a LOT of sheep y’all). I think this was 272 pages, and even though I read it over the weekend start to finish, it took a lot of hours to get through it. When books can feel a little sloggy or I find myself re-reading sentences because my mind drifts or I don’t fully understand what I read, I tend to detract points for that. However, I haven’t read a story quite like this one, so for its novelty I give it credit. This was also a BOTM pick.

There are a lot of books I have on my radar that I want to read sooner than later. I still haven’t read Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas, and with the announcement of ACOTAR books 6 and 7, I feel like I need to prioritize here. Also, I finally picked up a copy of The Correspondent and want to prioritize this. Here are some of the other books I want to read this year:

• Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• Buckeye by Patrick Ryan
• This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum
• The Future Saints by Ashley Winstead
• The Second Chance Cinema by Thea Weiss
• The Secret World of Briar Rose by Cindy Pham
• The Love Variations by Victoria Lee
• Binding 13 by Chloe Walsh
• Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghey
• The Shippers by Katherine Center
• Cherry Baby by Rainbow Rowell

And there are so many others! What are some things you do when your TBR keeps growing but life is interfering with your reading time? Now do you see why I’m so bad at updating here – I can write blog posts or I can catch up on all this literary goodness!

Until next time…