February Wrap Up // Is This the ‘Good Place?’ Because I’d Like to Stay Here!

Greetings, booklings! 

I hope ye are fairing well and that February was a positive month for you! It took until about halfway through February for me to stop thinking it was January, and then it feels like I blinked and now somehow there are no days left?!? Like, whoa!

February was a very good month for me, I feel like I managed to squeeze a lot into a very small amount of time, including binge-watching a whole 3 seasons of a TV show, reading a LOT of books compared to my monthly average, and having some great personal experiences!

COOL THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN FEBRUARY

• I visited the Sky Garden in London, which is a building with a 360 view. The viewing space is also full of beautiful and bold plants and landscaped garden areas. I’d definitely recommend this if your heading to London, because it’s completely free – it’s not quite as high as the Shard, but it has a very good view of it!
• I attended the London launch for Samantha Shannon’s The Priory of the Orange Tree which was absolutely AMAZING (blog post to come)! It was also chaired by Alwyn Hamilton. SUCH GOOD BOOKISH VIBES. 😀
• I did my first buddy read in 5 years with my interwebs friend and fellow blogger, Tony, and it was so much fun swapping plot theories and character insights! I definitely want to do more of these again in the future because you really think about what you’re reading in so much more detail!
• I had my first ever Wagamama’s, and I liked it! YUM.
• I started looking into the possibility of being a volunteer mental health listener for those who are struggling or are lonely, which I think could potentially be a very rewarding experience if it develops further!

What were your personal highlights this month?

 

Total Books Read:  5| ARCs: 2 | Rory Gilmore Challenge: 1 | Backlist: 2

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black | ★| Comments: I DID NOT LIKE THIS BOOK. AT ALL. You can read my extremely ranting review over on Goodreads. This was my first foray into Holly Black’s work and I was not impressed. Can anyone advise me if I should give this author another go?!

The Quiet at the End of the World by Lauren James |★★★★| Comments: I really enjoyed this novel that explored the idea of an infertility crisis. It had great characters and a plot that kept me guessing! You can read my full review here.

Dry by Neal and Jarrod Shusterman |★★★★| Comments: I wasn’t 100% sure this was going to be my sort of thing, but I REALLY enjoyed it. What do you do when water runs out? Chaos and social Psychology ensues! This was gripping, full of action and had interesting characters.

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab |★★★★| Comments: I enjoyed this much more than the first book. Marcella and June were great new characters and I loved the Psychology of them. Schwab’s writing is clever, witty and easy to gobble up, but I still can’t shake the fact that I just don’t feel very emotionally connected to her characters??? That’s the main downside for me, but otherwise a solid read!

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum |★★| Comments: Eh, this was okay. I would have enjoyed it much more if I were younger, and also if I didn’t know the film SO well. The film has more magic and fun for me, although it was cool every time I came across something new that didn’t make it to the big screen!

What did you read this month?

 

The Good Place (Seasons 1-3) |★★★★| Comments: I feel like this series has defined most of my February! BINGE WATCH ALERT. Protagonist Eleanor dies and gets into the ‘Good Place’ only to discover she’s supposed to be in the ‘Bad Place’. I really wasn’t sure about this at first, but its just so funny and easy to watch, and the twists keep on coming! Now I keep going “what the fork, man!” and “shirtballs!” on a regular basis (you can’t swear in the Good Place). Also, props to the girl who plays Janet, I feel like she deserves an Oscar for playing like 30+ people on a regular basis!

Deadpool 2 |★★★★| Comments: This was an excellent sequel with just as much humour as the first. I didn’t enjoy the story quite as much (the New Zealand kid was kinda annoying) but I loved all the XMen links!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society |★★★★| Comments: A wonderfully heartwarming tale about the impact on the island of Guernsey post WW2 when it was occupied by the Germans, and how a book club brought neighbors together. It will make you cheesy grin the whole way through!

The Post |★★★| Comments: An excellently acted film about how The Post newspaper came to fame through publishing classified documents in relation to the Vietnam war. It also follows the first female publisher of an American newspaper. A very interesting story but a little too dry for me to rate it higher!

Suicide Squad | ★★★★| Comments: I thoroughly enjoyed this DC supervillain romp. It’s fast-paced and funny with great music, and I loved the way they contrasted the dark streets with bright splashes of punk colours at every opportunity. The main villain was kinda ‘meh’ though!

For the People (Season 1) | ★★★★| Comments: I thoroughly enjoyed the latest new series offering from Shona Rhimes which follows the legal prosecution and defense teams in New York, pitted against each other on a daily basis in high profile and high stake cases. It has all Shona’s usual trademarks; characters that talk really fast and bond over food, romance drama, and some stunning speeches that make you go ‘whoa’!

What did you watch this month?

 

This month I’m loving my new magnetic bookmarks! I actually featured these on my Chrismas Bookish gift guide post back in December, but I decided to finally treat myself with my Christmas money!

I had been in the market for some new bookmarks for a while. Previously, I’ve always used boring ones with bland designs, but when I came across these I just couldn’t resist! They were purchased through Neverfades Bookmark Etsy shop and most are between £3.50-£4.05, but because they ship from Germany the costs did add up. BUT THEY WERE SERIOUSLY WORTH IT! These give me so much joy each time I open my current read, and when they’re not being used they sit on my bookshelves! 😀

What did you buy this month?

 

 

Blogs Posted: 3 | Book Reviews: 2

Most Popular: Discovering (and Loving) my First Brandon Sanderson Novel

 

• Kat at Novel Waffles and Tracy at Truffle’s Literary Wonders ran The Blogiful Design event, providing us with lots of awesome tips and tricks to rock the blogging world (many of which I have bookmarked!), and they also advise that they will now be taking blog design commissions!
• Cristina at Girl in the Pages gives us her ALA book event recap (and makes seriously debate moving to America so I can attend these amazing bookish events!)
• May at Forever and Everly writes an amazing review of ‘The Weight of Our Sky’ and convinces me to buy it, ASAP.
• Marie from Drizzle and Hurricane Books tells us the truth about book blogging statistics, both the good, the bad, and the sensible!

Let’s Chat!
How was the month of February for you? What have you been reading, watching and discovering? Did you read more books or less book than in January? Should I give Holly Black another go? Let me know in the comments!