Leave it to me to find a way to invest funds into a new hobby. In my defense, I've only committed to purchasing books that my public library doesn't have, has an exuberant wait time on (over 3 months!) or I can't read for free elsewhere. However, with the discovery of BookOutlet discount books, I've been able to snag the best sellers for only $6...in hardcover format. Yes! I've also been growing my digital library of books with free reads from BookBub. Today, I'll share what titles I have in my library of books and how my February reading progress has gone.
My Library (Physical & Digital Books)
I have made a decision that if I'll own physical copies, they must meet the criteria of: having beautiful cover art and being hardcover bound. Who doesn't like an aesthetic coffee table piece? Plus, I feel I have a little more durability and longevity with hardbound books, in case of the event of another home catastrophe. When I am not using the Libby app to borrow from my local library, I use the Kindle app to access the free digital books that I've scored from BookBub.
February Reading Progress
I'm actually quite surprised with how many books I've read this month! I always wondered how people had time to read over 100 books in a year, but the goal isn't unrealistic. So far, I have read nine titles, and I am sure to add one more before the month is over. If I keep this trend up for the remainder of the year, I will have read 110 books! That's pretty neat, especially since my goal was only to read 12 books this year.
Here's what I've read and listened to this month:
If I had to choose a favorite book for the month of February, it would be This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron followed closely by Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.
I really enjoyed the magical/mythological setting of This Poison Heart with the characters being Black. Briseis is an adopted teen with magical powers connected to plant life. She and her two Moms go off on a journey that uncovers more to her roots than they ever imagined. The dialogue amongst the characters was familiar in the sense of growing up in a Black household; If ya know ya know.
Lessons in Chemistry was set in the 1960's when women had strict rules tied to the role of housewife and nothing else. The main character, Elizabeth was not having any of it and I loved it! She was an intelligent chemist and didn't hide it. Her story was filled with humor despite the tragic things she had to deal with.
For the most part, I enjoyed all of the books I dug into this month, even if some of them were way outside my usual genre interests.