books Here are the 16 books I read in February. I had a few great ones and a few not so great ones this month.

Check out my various pages for ⭐️ ratings of these books:

I hope you find something that looks interesting to you. Below are a few notes on the books this month.

Total books for the year: 31

  1. 📖👩‍👧‍👦 How Lunchbox Jones Saved Me From Robots, Traitors, and Missy The Cruel by Jennifer Brown - I read this with my 10 year old and he liked it. I enjoyed it a lot because it was about a middle school robotics team and since we started one, it was really fun for me to read. I thought the story was well done and the characters and relationships were really good and well written for kids. It sparked some conversation and I really liked this one.
  2. 🎧📱 It’s Not You by Ramona Durvasula, PhD - A friend recommended this to me. I was really excited to read it, but then when I started, I just wasn’t sure it was relatable to me. But I stuck it out because there still were a few snippets that hit home for me. I enjoyed the ending a bit more. I think this was very well done with lots of great information and research written by a very knowledgable author. She did a wonderful job and I definitely had some wonderful quotes saved from the book, but I would say I only related to a small percentage of the book.
  3. 📱 All Fours by Mirando July - This was one absolutely fucked up book. The author had to have been on drugs during some or all of it. This was recommended to me from someone at a bookstore. It was not what I expected at all. I also quit this one last year, but I was determined to finish it. What a rollercoaster of a book.
  4. 🎧 One Hundred Years Of Lenni & Margot by Marianne Cronin - I started this last summer. I even remember when I quit it. But a friend said I should finish it. So I did. And I will say I suffered through because I was still not into it. I wanted to enjoy the idea of the book, but I just couldn’t get into it. I knew what was going to happen from the beginning and I just couldn’t connect with the characters at all.
  5. 🎧 Wish I Were Here by Melissa Wiesner - This was a cute and slightly magical book. There was great banter and silly situations and an overall really fun read.
  6. 🎧 Northwoods by Amy Pease - I was excited about this, but while I was really into it at the beginning, it kind of lost steam as the book went on. The action picked up toward the ending, but wasn’t one of my favorites.
  7. 🎧📱 North Woods by *Daniel Mason * - This was a very unique book. It took place in one house over many years and lives and told by various people and creatures. I really enjoyed many of the stories, but others weren’t as good. The audiobook had many narrators and was fun to listen to. What a fascinating idea to stay in one place and watch the lives of those who pass through.
  8. 🎧 Okay, Cupid by Mason Deaver - This was cute, but not earth-shattering. I had it on my hold list for a long time, but held onto it so I could read it in February. It was a fun twist on a love story and was a little cheesy (to be expected for a YA romance). I thought they did a great job with the characters and the LGBTQIA+ representation.
  9. 🎧 The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams - This was just silly. A funny story and a silly twist on a romance because a guy is trying to learn to be a better, more romantic husband and learns some tips from old books. Worth it if you don’t take it to seriously and need a few giggles.
  10. 🎧 The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins - Oh man. I wanted to love this book, but I just didn’t. I highlighted parts. There were some good ideas, but I struggled with some of the ideas overall. I felt like there was researched, but also not if that makes sense. I think I would have liked it more if it was more technical maybe. Or just less “here is what I learned and here are my experiences and I am going to find a doctor to validate these things.” The Let Them Theory wasn’t her idea, just ways she had used it. And while I liked the Let Them idea, I didn’t love all of the implementation. So take that as you will.
  11. 🎧📱📖 Coyote Lost & Found by Dan Gemeinhart - I absolutely loved this one. I enjoyed the first book and I needed to go back and read a summary before starting this one since it had been a long time ago since I read book 1. It took place during COVID (which you know I love) and was just a wonderful way to bring everything together from the first book, some hard, yet realistic topics (death, grief, moving, friendships, parents dating) and add a handful of funny moments, too. Just a wonderful story all around!
  12. 🎧 A Dark And Secret Magic by Wallis Kinney - I think what I love about witchy books are that there are so many consistent similarities, but each book is different. I liked that the FMC didn’t really know everything about her powers and learned more about them. There was some dark magic and a love interest from her past. I think this would have been way more enjoyable during October. It wasn’t my favorite witchy book, but I still enjoyed it.
  13. 🎧 Tired Ladies Take A Stand by Gretchen Anthony - I was super excited about this one. I loved the other book by Gretchen Anthony that I read. This had some really great parts, but had many spots that I kind of lost interest or was distracted. I was hoping for the major turn to happen earlier in the book and then for the characters to spend more time on that aspect.
  14. 📖👩‍👧‍👦 How To Win A Slime War by Mae Respicio - This was a really good kids book. My 10 year old and I read this for his school book club. He loved all the slime concoctions and I loved the topics that were gently sneaked into the book to cause discussions (bullying, standing up and speaking up for yourself, moving, making friends, owning a business, families struggling with money). It was a fun and fast-paced book. It’s also on the 2025 Maud Hart Lovelace award nominee list.
  15. 🎧 If He Had Been With Me by Laura Nowlin - I bought one of the most stunning hardcover copies of this book and had to read it. It was a bit slow at the beginning. But was a lovely book overall. The ending wasn’t a surprise since it was talked about at the beginning, but you still had all the feels. It wasn’t my favorite, but a good YA book that teens would eat right up.
  16. 🎧 Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney - This was weird. I liked a handful of aspects, but didn’t love how many of them were executed. There was an island filled with angry women (awesome, but ended up being kind of boring), a death that seemed added for a shock factor and unplanned. Then the ending was supposed to be a wild twist and by then I wanted more of an explanation or an epilogue. It just ended so abruptly and resulted in me feeling very meh about the book.

– Book Key –
🎧 - Audiobook
📖 - paperback/hardcover
📱 - ebook
👩‍👧‍👦 - read with kids

Andi

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