What I Read: February 2022

 Hearts, flowers, chocolates...what's not to love about February???

Where I live in Maryland February is cold but there are also a few surprising days with sunshine and warmer temperatures. It's like a spring preview in the dead of winter. 

Also, this February I turned 40! I'm excited to finally be a real adult and hoping that the next decade is as much fun as all my friends make it look. 

Even with so much going on in this short month I managed to get a little reading done too. 

Here's what I read in February:

1. The Storyteller by Dave Grohl

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Dave Grohl became my new best friend in February as I listened to him tell me stories about his life for hours. While I was folding laundry, working on a very challenging puzzle, and even riding in the car with my kids (not recommended for little ones, lots of f-bombs and wild stories). 

Dave Grohl is the lead singer and founder of the band Foo Fighters. He has a million interesting, unbelievable, almost magical stories and I was here for all of them.

I LOVED this audio experience. Hearing Dave's words in Dave's voice elevated the book for me. I felt the same way about the Michelle Obama book too. Some people can just captivate my attention. 

2. No Land to Light On by Yara Zgheib

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I got this book from The Bookshelf and read through it on a weekend. It's short and the prose is very poetic so that helped. But honestly, this is the kind of story I can't sit in for a long time. 

The plot centers on a couple, Haidi and Sama, who met in America but are originally from Syria. They build a life together in Boston but when Haidi's father dies, Haidi decides to go back and help his mother bury his father. This happens at the same time as Trump's travel ban. Haidi can't get gack and Sama goes into labor with their child. It is a tense and gritty rendering of an impossible situation. 

I am a huge fan of stories of immigrants so I figured I would love this one. I liked it a lot but sometimes the language was a little too flowery for me. I love poetry but in this book, there were times I wished the author had been a little more direct and clean in her prose. Still, the story made me think and I felt deeply connected to the characters. 

3. Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

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Oh, Closon, why? I tried so hard to love this book which my book club picked for February. I just couldn't though.

Whitehead offers the story of Ray Carney, a furniture salesman in Harlem. The story is well-written and there are moments of light, but it never felt revolutionary or transcendent. Carney is trying to raise a family and keep his hands clean but he has a cousin who draws him into trouble despite his best efforts.

It was ok. I'm not sad I read it, but it just isn't a book I'll be recommending to everyone.

4. Beartown by Fredrik Backman

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I reread this on audio and that was such a delight. I usually can't do fiction on audio but since I already knew the characters and could remember most of the basic plot points, I was able to lose myself in the narration.

Beartown is a town that is focused on its hockey team. All the boys play and everyone's hopes and dreams are riding on getting wins. Backman examines what this does to the boys and the rest of the town. It is both an indictment and a love letter to team sports. 

This book totally held up for me. I noticed a little emotional manipulation but other than that, I was riveted. Now that I have a house full of teenagers some of the book's themes hit home a little harder. It is one of the most powerful and realistic books I've read about raising teenagers.

5. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

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In my book club, we often assign each other extra credit books. Can you tell we are a group of high achievers who like paper planners and read too much? Anyway, this was my extra credit book after our last meeting because I was so in love with Anthony Doerr's writing in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

This book uses a lot of the same techniques and themes (alternating perspectives, birds, etc) but it centers on just a few characters during WWII. Marie-Laure and Werner are two kids growing up in Paris and Germany, respectively. The reader goes on a journey with Marie-Laure to a coastal town where she lives with her reclusive uncle and his housekeeper and with Werner to German military school and then ultimately, into the war itself. 

This was hard to read as war was beginning to take over current headlines. But I really couldn't put it down. Doerr is a master of pacing and human nature. This book is historical fiction at its finest: it illuminates the past while remaining remarkably relevant to what is happening in the world today. Bravo!

6. Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

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This book. I started it in June and finished it in February. I can't say exactly why it took me so long but it seems to be a common experience. 

Shipstead tells the story of Marian Graves, a young girl with dreams of becoming a pilot. She flashes forward in time and space to Hadley, a young actress who is preparing for a role as Marian in a modern film about the pilot's mysterious trip around the world. Shipstead takes her time developing the characters and the plot is more about Marian growing up, learning who she is, and making mistakes along the way than her ultimate attempt to circumnavigate the world. 

I considered dropping it down to 3 ⭐️ but I gave it 4 because I finished it and when I did, I thought to myself, that was a good story. The writing is good, the plot is intricate and interesting, and the characters become so real you find yourself googling them just in case...but be warned, it's not a quick read by any stretch of the imagination. 

7. Super Fake Love Song by David Yoon

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I like to do read alongs with my kids every now and then and when I gave this book to my second daughter for Christmas she asked if we could read it together. 

This is the story of...Sunny Dae 🙄🙄🙄, a nerd who has found his niche and a nice group of friends. His brother, Gray Dae 🙄🙄🙄, was a super cool rock musician when he was in high school. When a cute girl, Cirrus 🙄🙄🙄 moves in nearby, Sunny tries to impress her by becoming more like Gray. Hijinx ensues. 

Apart from the names, I liked this book. It was a fun YA rom-com that didn't get too whiney or angsty. But those names...

8. Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson

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A friend loaned me this book when she heard that I write. It is by author and songwriter Andrew Peterson and it's his thoughts on how Christianity and the creative life can be embraced.

I had high hopes for writing advice but that part of the book was thin. Peterson did spend a lot of time encouraging creativity not just in "creative types" but in all types. He also advocates for spending your time with creative communities, building a practice (like gardening or knitting) that has nothing to do with your creative work, and saying yes to new opportunities. 

My one big frustration with this book (and it happens with a lot of books written by Christian men) is the name-dropping. But other than that, this book made me reflect about what it means to live creatively. 

Those are the books I read in February. What did you read? Leave a comment and let's talk.