February Book Roundup

Happy Wednesday!

Hope you had a warm and springlike Tuesday yesterday! We had another hot day here which I am LOVING. After living in the south for so many years, I said I missed the seasons and was ready for them again...but I am 8 months into having temperate/mild seasons, and the return of this warm, sunny, bright weather has me second guessing if I really did miss those other colder seasons after all! I am in SUCH a better mood now that it's light, bright, and warm with everyone outside again!

Before I can jump too much into the spring days, I'm here catching up with my cozy February Book Roundup. If you've read a few of my previous book roundups, you know I've had quite the book funk for the past many months, and that somewhat continued through this month. I started a bunch that I ultimately put down and that you don't see in this post here, but I found some good ones despite that!

Here we go with what I read in February 2023! I'm going with a different format this time around for this book roundup- bullets instead of paragraphs. Hope that makes for some easier blogpost reading!

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Have heard ALL OVER of this author's first book (see below) but couldn't get that into it years ago
• Was hesitant to try this one but I was desperate for a new book
• I was super impressed by this one! Absolutely loved it!
• Loved the southern and Savannah vibes

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham- ⭐⭐⭐

• This is the one I tried years ago and couldn't get that into, but I was motivated to try it again after her other great book
• This one still fell kind of flat for me
• I don't get all the hype for this one, but it wasn't terrible
• If you're choosing between her two books, I would definitely go with her newer one (see above)

Movie Star by Jessica Simpson- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

• Jessica Simpson does no wrong! Everything she touches is gold
• Got super sucked into this one, wished it was longer and not another short e-book
• Loved that it touched on the height of her fame days in the early 2000s
• Had to Google that Mark Wahlberg is the supposed actor that this is about

Exiles by Jane Harper- ⭐⭐⭐⭐

• I have read all of this author's books and usually give her a solid 3 or 4 stars
• There were a lot of characters in this one; it was often hard to keep track
• Loved all the details of everyday life and everything that made it so realistic
• This one is definitely a slow burn for a "thriller"
• I would say it's more of a mystery than a suspense or thriller book though
• Gives springtime in Australia vibes
• This is part of a series but you could read it as a standalone; I didn't remember much from the other books and still was tracking with this one

The Sweet Spot by Amy Poeppel- ⭐⭐

• Meh, if you're skipping one this month, definitely skip this one
• I tried it, put it down, started some other books, and then ultimately came back to it
• I've enjoyed the author's previous books but this one just didn't do it for me
• Had a creative plot but a slow start
• Wasn't that believable, was a little too far-fetched and boho for me
• When reading, I felt bored, uninvested, that all of it was pointless, the characters were annoying
• I've seen good reviews for this one- it just wasn't for me!

That was my February 2023 reading life! Do you have any good suggestions for the current month of April? My roundups are only going to get better and better as all the highly publicized from the big name authors come out from March-October!

Make it a good Wednesday. I'm off to barre and then to get my hair done before some other work, tutoring, and a Zoom meeting. 🙂