February draws to a close.
And it's time to talk about all the books I read this month.
February being my Birthday Month I try to read some of my favourite books and authors. I do this little thing called Reading Favourites in February and I tried to read some old favourites and even re-read some beloved books of mine.
I had a good reading month.
I read 15 books.
A mix of old loves and new.
I read two memoirs.
Read a spot of kid lit.
Literary fiction.
Some Indian Lit.
A good solid reading month.
I also bought some books.
Read a ton on my iPad.
Got some ebooks.
Read a classic too.
I am so happy with how my bookish life shaped up this month.
FEBRUARY BOOKS:
1. Mukesh Starts a Zoo by Ruskin Bond: Started my month with a Chapter Book about something sweet and fun and funny. A young boy and his friends start a rag tag zoo and all sorts of hijinks ensue. This was sweet and a good time.
4/5
2. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen: Of course, my birthday month had to include an Austen. I had never read Mansfield Park before and I scarcely even knew what it was about. I read this slowly through the month and quite enjoyed it. Fanny Price was a very different Austen heroine than one is used to. She is meek and quiet and quite subdued, which makes sense because she lives with her rich aunt and uncle as a poor dependant, so obviously she'll be meek and subservient.
I liked the story telling and the people and of course, Austen is a joy.
4/5
3. Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaoud: This is very hard hitting and moving memoir about a young woman dealing with a devastating Cancer diagnosis and the battle to get better. It was such an illuminating read that I could not put down. I loved how it was written and the many amazing people we met in these pages.
4/5
4. Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead by Jenny Hollander: A thriller that sounded good but eventually I didn't enjoy at all. My most disappointing read of the month.
1/5
5. Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler: I adore Anne Tyler's books so much. I have read a few of her books and I love her way of writing about families and women, especially older women who most other books delegate to the background. I loved this story about a 52 year old woman who wonders if she's ended up in the wrong life. I really loved this book and a very loud and chaotic family at the heart of this book.
4/5
6. Homeland My Father Dreams of Palestine by Hannah Moushabek: I loved this book so much. It's a picture book about a Palestinian man reminiscing about his home that he can no longer go back to. A book that is beautiful and important. With everything that is going on in Gaza, everyone needs to learn more and read books like this.
5/5
7. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Euganide: Re-read this book after ages. I read this back in 2010. And I saw the film back then too. I remembered the broader strokes but not the nitty gritties of this story. This time reading this book made me oddly mad. These girls deserved better. They needed help and to get away from their toxic parents.
I still liked it. But it made me so angry. Even the tone of the boys narrating the story are such jerks.
3.5/5
8. Notes from A Small Room by Ruskin Bond: This was my birthday read and it was everything I hoped for. It was sweet and warm and comforting.
4/5
9. The Arsonists City by Hala Alyan: This book was such an immersive read about an Arab family.
Three siblings and their lives and issues and we go back in the past to see their mother in her youth and how her life changed over the course of a summer.
Lebanon, Syria, America and Palestinian refugee camps- this book took us so many places and in so many lives and stories. It did feel a litttttle long in the last quarter but overall this was a good read that talked about family, identity, dreams and guilt and love.
4/5
10. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Saffron Foer: Another re-read of a very beloved book. I hadn't read this is soooo long. And I found it just as gut wrenchingly beautiful and lovely and sad and crushing and original. If you haven't read this yet. Please pick it up. It's so so so good.
4/5
11. The Pig Flip by Joshy Benedict: I love graphic novels. I am so glad that more graphic novels are coming out of India and even regional languages are being translated, so all of us can read them. This beautiful graphic novel is about a man and his family all dealing with this addiction to gambling and cards. It was simple and beautiful and so rooted in things so many struggle with. There were also pigs.
I loved it.
4/5
12. Serious Concerns by Wendy Cope: Read some poetry and enjoyed it. It was decidedly modern and fun and funny and quite lovely. I definitely want to read more Cope.
4/5
13. The Perils of Moderately Famous by Soha Ali Khan: Another memoir was read. I went into this one hoping for it to be a fun read and something light and fluffy. It was but it was also so much more. This was surprisingly relatble and warm and very well-written. I loved this, it made me smile and even made me cry. My favourite chapters were ones about her father and her writing about Mumbai.
I am so glad I randomly picked this up. It was a good time.
4/5
14. Chronicles of an Hour and a Half by Saharu Nusatba Kannanari: This book was a tense and atmospheric read about a small town in Kerala and how one very rainy afternoon. rumours and gossip swirl and a frenzy is created on Whatsapp and the villagers want to set right an adulterous affair and all hell breaks loose.
The dread was dripping in every page. And this situation was so wholly believable and scary. Something about Mob Violence just really scares me.
I enjoyed it. I liked it. Just didn't love it.
3/5
15. The Poisoner of Bengal by Dan Morrison: People can do anything. Fall to any lengths for greed and money and do all sorts of evil things. I love true crime and I was very intrigued by this tale of fratricide in 1933 Bengal, in a zamindari family no less. I had never heard of this case and boy this blew my mind.
Full review coming soon. This was so well-researched and so mind boggling. People suck. And gosh the lengths they go through to get even and get their way. Yikes!
4/5
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So that's everything I read this month.
It's been Good.
Hope February was good to you too.
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