“Though February is short, it is filled with lots of love and sweet surprises.”
Charmaine J. Forde
Goodbye February, the last month of winter for us Northern Hemisphere dwellers and extra special this year with the 29th sneaking in for a wee visit – did you know that in Scotland in 1288, Queen Margaret passed a law allowing women to propose to their chosen sweetheart on February 29th – any man who declined the proposal on this day would have to pay a fine of a silk gown or a kiss.
Another fun fact about February is that the name of the month comes from the Latin word februa, which means “to cleanse.” Seeing this month as one for cleansing feels very apt, we’re starting to come out of the darkest winter months and seeing the first tentative signs of spring. For me, it’s the first ‘proper’ month of the year – January is too blue and too cold to be doing anything other than hibernating. Anyway, to books!
After a slow start to the month, I decided to create a ‘mini theme’ to get back in the swing – primarily stories about love, unsurprising in the month of Valentines day. In a bid to avoid being too cliched I approached this theme with a view of including different types of love. In Love Poems, it is a very traditional view of romantic love, in Here and Now, we see how a community can truly love a member who is rapidly losing their memory and in The Modern Break-Up we see the messy aftermath of what may or may not have been love.
There are a couple that don’t fit the theme, but all in – February ended up being a good month for reading.
Books Read:
| Title | Author |
| Love Letters of Great Men | Edited by Ursula Doyle |
| Little Moments of Love | Catana Comics |
| Love Poems | Fall River Press |
| The Modern Break-Up | Daniel Chidiac |
| Julia | Sandra Newman |
| 1984 | Geroge Orwell |
| Seeking Slow | Melanie Barnes |
| Here and Now | Santa Montefiore |
| Beach House Summer | Sarah Morgan |
| Stardust | Neil Gaiman |
| Beautiful Broken Things | Sara Barnard |
| The Sound of the World by Heart | Giacomo Bevilacqua |
| You Had Better Make Some Noise | Phaidon |
Total keeping: 7 out of 14
I’m keeping the love this month, although honestly – the Love Poems book is staying more because it’s beautiful than because it is a die hard favourite. Little Moments of Love will always have a place on my shelf as I adore the comics within, they feel so representative of my own relationship and never fail to lift my mood.
It was great to revisit The Sound of the World By Heart – it feels like such a love letter to New York, the graphics are gorgeous and the story really gets to my heart. I’m hoping to go back to NYC this year, so I’m looking forward to my own New York City love letter!
You Had Better Make Some Noise is a small but powerful book, filled with words we could all do to read – the world needs our protest more than ever as governments around the world look to strip more people of their rights. I also learned that the pages inside this one can be pulled out to make postcards so I’m looking forward to sharing the words within, with those around me.
Total heading for new homes: 7 out of 14.
Getting rid of a duplicate – and honestly, I’ve put a couple of these onto my Kindle, but I’ll still take it as a win. Light reads such as Beach House Summer are the perfect re-read for a sunny holiday and the kindle is the best format for me to revisit it.
The Modern Breakup – this book is like listening to a not super close friend who will not stop talking about their breakup, which ironically, is a major part of the plot. I loved the premise of it, with all the different narrators loosely connected to the same event but I struggled to get through it because I wanted to give the lead a strong talking to about ‘getting over it’. That being said – I don’t think I’m the target audience, I loved the part [and related to] Mum, so I think I’m a little old – I feel like the version of me from university would have loved it!
I really wanted to love Julia, the premise of revisiting the world of 1984 from a female perspective is so interesting and there were definitely elements I enjoyed, but I didn’t love it the same way I was expecting to – I think I may have built it up a little too much in my head. A favourite part for me, was seeing beyond the boundaries of London and meeting the soldiers from across the sea, it really scratched that itch of ‘what happens next’ that often comes when I finish a book. I love it when authors include a one year later epilogue at the end of a novel. Another stand out moment for me, which only a woman could have written – was the scene of Julia and Winston bumping into each other after their stays in the Ministry of Love, his complete obliviousness to the changes in her are comical and really drive home how callous he has become in 1984. So whilst not a new favourite, it was definitely worth reading, I’m passing this copy onto a friend who is keen to add it to her TBR list.
Having a theme helped me get back on track this month, and I’m thinking I might use ‘Spring in Paris’ to get me going in March – I seem to have acquired a lot of books about a city I’ve never even been to!
I feel like the right books are leaving this month, I’m looking forward to passing some onto friends, and I have a few earmarked for donation, all in all – I’d say February was a successful month!
Do you ever theme your reads? Or does the thought seem too restrictive? let me know your views!
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