February Round Up of 20 books read and reviewed
It's a short month and we read a LONG book that took up a lot of reading space, but we did manage to review 20 books that might lead you to your next great read or steer you away from something you decide isn't for you. In case you missed any of our reviews, the links are here for your convenience. This month I thought I'd list our book reviews by our star ratings instead of by publication order. Let me know if you prefer one way or the other.
Our Buddy Read for February was the epic and extra-long Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. If you haven't read this classic yet, read our thoughts to help you decide if you want to tackle this one.
5-star reads this month:
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson - the story of the horse women librarians of Kentucky and the 'blue people' who were discriminated against
Recursion by Blake Crouch - mind bending sci-fi about memory manipulation
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes - another telling of the horse women librarians of Kentucky with a different flavor
The One in a Million Boy by Monica Wood - a unique little boy helps a 100+ year old woman with long lasting effects
4-star reads this month:
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger - a couple of mysterious deaths in a small town and a young teen who has to grow up quicker than expected
A Murderous Relation #5 by Deanna Raybourn - the most recent addition to the Veronica Speedwell mystery series set in Victorian London; available March 10
The K Team #1 by David Rosenfelt - the first in a new series where a retired cop and his K9 partner work as PIs to help a judge who is being blackmailed; available March 24
4-STAR MINI REVIEWS
Storm Front #1 by Jim Butcher - fantasy with faeries, wizards, vampires and more as a detective wizard tries to solve a murder case
Her Final Breath #2 by Robert Dugoni - Crosswhite is back in action trying to solve a serial killer before she becomes the next victim
The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey - a newly licensed female lawyer in India who is working for her father's firm gets her first case: help three widows in seclusion keep their inheritance
Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs by Dave Barry - this humorous book is a compilation of of bad songs based on a survey he did
Blue Heaven by C.J. Box - a thriller with bad cops, a good PI, a good rancher neighbor and two kids who saw something that put a lot of people in danger
3.5-star reads this month:
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor - an award winning sci fi novella trilogy of a young woman mathematical genius who travels to another planet, meets new species and makes friends, then returns home to try to save her town
The World According to Tom Hanks by Gavin Edwards - an unauthorized biography filled with quotes and snippets of Hanks' life and movies
Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier - loosely based on a real man, the story is of a man who becomes a honorary tribal member of the Cherokee as a child and eventually tries to save them against the government
Running with Sherman by Christopher McDougall - nonfiction about a rescue donkey who is trained to race
3-star MINI REVIEWS:
The Blue by Lucy Clarke - an adventure tale of a couple young women who join a yacht crew to see the world but get more danger and tragedy than they bargained for
Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence - nonfiction; a woman librarian writes love or hate letters to specific books
The Day the World Came to Town by Jim deFede - a factual telling of the hundreds of people whose planes had to land in Newfoundland on 9/11 when America closed the airports
We hope that if you missed any of these reviews during February, you'll click through and check them out now. Leave us a quick note if you've read any of these and have an opinion or if you have a recommendation about what we should be reading. Let's Talk Books!