February Wrap-Up

Hello, and welcome to what is a rather surprising reading wrap up for me, exploring new books and genres I don’t tend to read.

In total I read six books with one DNF. I thought I’d read more considering how quickly I flew through them all at the beginning but I got distracted by my crochet blanket this last couple of weeks or so and I’ve not really picked up a book since. Oops.

Let’s just dive right in.

Books DNFed:

Virgin River by Robyn Carr

If I start watching a series whether on TV, Netflix or any other streaming service and I later discover it is based on books, I will try to make a point of reading the first book. I like to see where the inspiration came from and why people thought it would make a good show. I can see that instantly with Virgin River because it is character driven and there are so many character interactions that work well on screen. My main reason for DNFing this is the writing style. It was very simplistic, and not at all what I expected. Also the language was rather crass and uncomfortable in places, making it an unenjoyable read. As I do quite like the Netflix series, I think I’ll ditch the books and just carry on watching the show.

Books Read:

The Inn at Eagle Point, Flowers on Main, Harbour Lights, A Chesapeake Shores Christmas, and Driftwood Cottage by Sherryl Woods (Chesapeake Shores Novels #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5)

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What started off as a simple desire to read the book that inspired the Hallmark series Chesapeake Shores has become a slight obsession. I’ve fallen in love with these books, following the various romances of the rather dysfunctional O’Brien family in the quaint, idyllic, family-built seaside town of Chesapeake Shores. It is surprising because I don’t usually enjoy romance-centric books, and I avoid them. However, I’ve always had a fondness for small-town, family stories, which these are, so I’m glad to find some I take to as books. I think it shows that it is just the case of finding the right ones for me, and these are some of them. There are a few small quibbles with each book but for the most part, they’re nice, relaxing reads and it’s a certainly a series I’ll be returning to.

Before The Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, translated by Geoffrey Trousselot

The biggest mistake was reading this book whilst having a few not so good days. It packs an emotional punch so having all that at night before bed on top of crippling thoughts, doubt, fear and self-confidence was not brilliant, but that isn’t to say I didn’t like it. I actually really enjoyed it even though ‘enjoyment’ is not necessarily an accurate portrayal of the feelings and thoughts I had while reading it. It is a very good, thought-provoking read, pondering interesting questions about life, relationships, how we all feel about events happening around us, and I certainly took to that. With the beautiful writing it was a match made in heaven and it has certainly tempted me to keep my eyes open for more Japanese translated fiction.

And there we have it.

What books did you read in February?

Thanks for reading and have a brazzle dazzle day!
xx