February is a short month for sure, but if anyone out there is keeping track, this February has been an unusually slow month for You Think Too Much. Last February when I was basking in the warm fuzzy glow of my sabbatical, I posted 22 times in February! And it wasn’t even a Leap Year, so I had one less day to do so. This February, counting this post will make a whopping total of 4 posts. Argh. (I do want to thank my friend and follower, Molly, who did actually notice that my posts have been falling off lately…it’s always good to know someone’s paying attention).
I don’t know how it is for other bloggers, but in my world, if I’m not posting, it’s probably not a good sign. And as I’ve already said, 2012 had a rocky start. But now the sun is shining, my crocuses are about to bloom, and I’m declaring the corner on this year officially turned. After a slow reading start, I’ve now read 20 books in the first two months of the year, which is very exciting. And in even better news, a few of them have been quite good.
First, a brief shout-out to the good books I read in January but did not review:
Ready, Player One, by Ernest Cline. I have no idea why I didn’t review this book. Well, actually I do. See the rocky start of 2012 mentioned above. This is such a fun romp of a book, that also raises interesting questions about the increasingly virtual nature of our lives. Highly recommend.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See. Really interesting story about “old same” relationships between married women in China.
The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse, by Louise Erdrich. Great stuff happening with gender in this novel.
The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate, by Nancy Mitford. Good if you want a little Downton Abbey-tasting fiction.
And my February reads:
The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes. An interesting reflection on memory, but I find it hard to really like a book when I don’t like the narrator. I didn’t like this narrator.
The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain. Fascinating novel about Hemingway’s first wife, reviewed (kind of) here.
The Girl of Fire and Thorns, by Rae Carson. This was a big fantasy month for me, most of these picks taken from Daisy’s top ten list on The Broke and the Bookish. This should be a nice series to follow.
An Object of Beauty, by Steve Martin. Steve Martin, Renaissance man that he is, was a philosophy major as an undergrad, as my friend who is a philosophy professor would like for everyone to know. It doesn’t seem fair to be able to do so many things fairly well.
The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear, by Patrick Rothfuss. The first two books in the Kingkiller Chronicle, also from Daisy’s top ten list. These are really great books and I’m very much looking forward to the next in this series. The characters are compelling, the story is interesting, the author has a sense of humor. These books are long, long, long, but I breezed through them.
So Much Pretty, by Cara Hoffman. Reviewed here (though my father referred to this post as a rant…you be the judge).
The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly. Interesting, but quite dark.
The Name of the Star, by Maureen Johnson. The first in a young adult series that promises to be very fun. How can you go wrong when you combine a boarding school in London, a student from Louisiana, and Jack the Ripper? It took forever for this book to get here, but it was worth the wait.
The Near Witch, by Victoria Schwab. Also young adult, and I would say, just okay. A little too much on the kissing for me.
What I might finish before the month actually ends:
The Odds: A Love Story, by Stewart O’Nan. His newest novel. Very short and next week is break week for me, so the chances are good.
What I’m eagerly waiting on:
1222, by Anne Holt. I think I read about this in a Shelf Awareness newsletter. I’m always craving good mysteries. It’s on hold at the library.
What I couldn’t finish as an audiobook:
The Last Gunfight: The Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral by Jeff Guinn. Oh, enough already. Just get to the damn gunfight, will ya?
As you can see, that’s quite a bit of reading, and very little blogging or reviewing. I promise to do better in March. And in fact, during this week of break I am (among other things) stockpiling posts for when the semester resumes.
In other news:
I’m contemplating a move to WordPress. Any thoughts? Stay tuned.
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