How are you? I hope you guys had another great month of reading. It’s such a pleasure to connect with so many of you through our online book club and hear what is in your book stacks. I managed to get in seven great reads during the month of February in a variety of genres this month. This month I’m sharing a great fictional memoir, a genre-bending thriller, science fiction, young adult, a nonfiction memoir, and some good old-fashioned literary fiction. I am hoping you find a book or two in this month’s stack that can make its way over into yours.
I’m still working my way through the MomAdvice Reading Challenge and tackled four categories for this month. It has really helped me to broaden a bit outside my normal genres. I hope you are enjoying working your way through it too.
Just as a reminder, I read many more books than are just featured here, but try to feature the ones that are my absolute best picks. If you want to see more of what I am reading, please feel free to friend me on GoodReads! You can find me right here and I am always happy to connect with people there too! There is nothing more motivating than seeing what other people are raving about and my to-be-read pile continues to grow with all of my new friends on there! In fact, many of the books featured are ones that I have found through my friends on GoodReads.
7 Must-Read Books from February 2017
Carrying Albert Home happened to be our selection this month for the MomAdvice Book Club so it was the first one I wanted to tackle in preparation for our discussion.
Described as Big Fish meets The Notebook, this was one of the strangest, funniest, endearing reads I’ve read. This is the “mostly true,” story of Hickam’s own parents who went on a wild road trip with an alligator.
I told you it is unlike anything I’ve ever read.
Elsie isn’t sure that being a coalminer’s wife is all that it is cracked up to be and she longs for a different kind of life. After a whirlwind romance though, she finds herself married and the proud owner of an alligator that was gifted to her by an old flame.
Baby alligators are cute, giant alligators are a lot of trouble…especially when your husband isn’t so fond of him. Elsie & Homer decide it is time to take Albert somewhere warmer and the three go on an epic road trip that is both bizarre and wildly charming.
I doubt you won’t be swept away in this unlikely love story of a pretty girl, a simple coalminer, and their adorable alligator.
If you want something highly original, add this one to your book stack!
Reading Challenge Category Completed-A MomAdvice Book Club selection
4 Out of 5 Stars
I love a good storyteller and Kimmel delivers classic storytelling magic with her memoir, A Girl Named Zippy. Set in a small town in Indiana, Kimmel shares stories of her childhood with humorous storytelling that rivals some of my favorite David Sedaris reads.
I had picked this one up numerous times at the library, but each time I seemed to have a trouble connecting with it. The audiobook on this though, is perfection and a great one if you prefer short story escapes with your dishes like me!
If you are a child of the ‘70’s you will relate to the parenting and antics of this fun family. As a girl growing up in a small town in Indiana, I found this one highly relatable in so many ways.
Reading Challenge Category Completed- A book that takes place in your state or town
4 Out of 5 Stars
In anticipation of the upcoming film, I wanted to make sure to read the true story of the Polish zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski who saved over 300 Jews from the Nazi’s.
There is SO MUCH to learn about in this book as Ackerman jams this story to the brim with the habits of its animal inhabitants as well as the survival techniques that were used to survive during this horrific time in history.
If you want to be inspired by a truly resourceful woman, Antonina is a powerhouse who was able to tap into basic animal instincts, even when it came to the Nazi soldiers, to protect those who were hiding secretly in her zoo.
Although the waters of storytelling are a bit choppy in this one, Ackerman delivered a story that I doubt I could ever forget of beauty and survival even in our history’s darkest moments. The author could have benefited from a bit of finessing in her storytelling instead of, at times, what felt like a book report.
Do read this one before seeing the film though. I highly doubt they can capture the animal magic as beautifully as it is told through this story and you will have loads of fun facts for your kids over dinner!
Reading Challenge Category Completed-A book that’s becoming a film
4 Out of 5 Stars
I devoured This Is How it Always Is in less than 24 hours and found it to be a compelling read as a parent. This fictional story is about a little boy named Claude who knows that, more than anything, he wants to grow up to be a girl.
Lucky for Claude, he has two parents who deeply desire for him to be happy and it is with his happiness in mind that they work together to help Claude be who he is. When they feel Claude’s happiness is at stake, they decide to move to a town who will be more open to who he is and Claude becomes Poppy.
Their new friends and neighbors do not know about Claude and it is a secret that they keep to protect her. The question becomes, what happens when people find out and what’s next for Poppy.
Frankel shares that she is the mother of a little boy who is now a girl, but reassures readers this is not their story, but a fictional story to discuss more of a broader social issue that roads are not always clearly defined for each child.
If you are looking for a book club book that will lead to a good discussion, you will find a lot to talk about in this beautiful story.
Read our interview with Frankel this month as we discuss this beautiful book!
5 Out of 5 Stars
The latest big buzz thriller is called, Behind Her Eyes, and is a fun and highly imaginative psychological thriller. Her marketing team started the hashtag #wtfthatending that you can tweet when you finish. As a seasoned thriller reader, I thought I had it solved and then I didn’t… And then I REALLY didn’t.
It’s impossible to talk about this book without a big reveal so let’s focus on the generic plot points and say that this is a love triangle between a gorgeous wife, her dashing husband, and the slightly frumpy secretary. When the wife decides to pursue a secretive friendship with her husband’s secretary, a game of cat and mouse begins.
Here’s the thing, the reader will never guess the cat or the mouse and I told my husband, bewildered, that I was almost finished with the novel and still clueless where it is going. And then…well, #wtfthatending.
You’ll love it or you’ll hate it. I sat in the middle for a bit, not sure what to think about it. I will say, in the end, I appreciate that this wasn’t the same old, same old, BUT a reader must set aside a bit of reality for this genre-bender.
I’m excited to have Pinborough join us this Sunday to share more about her writing process for this book and what else we should read from her 20 (!!!) published works. Stay tuned and don’t say I didn’t warn ya!
4 Out of 5 Stars
Oh, I am a sucker for a good YA novel and this one did not disappoint AT ALL. Immigration is a hot button topic and it is addressed through this book through the children of two immigrants who find each other one fateful day and fall in love.
Natasha is from Jamaica, but does not consider it to be her home after growing up in the states. When her father gets pulled over, they discover their family is living in the states illegally and they are to be deported. Grounded and a head full of science, she couldn’t be more of an opposite of Daniel, when they meet.
Daniel is Asian-American and is working hard to fulfill his parent’s destiny for him to become a doctor. He wants to be a poet though and has always been a dreamer and a romantic.
12 hours before Natasha is to be deported, they meet and a beautiful relationship develops between the two. Although this sounds like a simple love story, it’s beautifully woven with many supporting characters that all have found their way in the threads of Daniel & Natasha’s destiny.
If you are a big fan of Eleanor & Park, I just know that you will love this sweet story that Yoon has developed. It’s no surprise that this one has been a National Book Award Finalist and a #1 New York Times bestseller.
Meaty enough for a book club or sweet enough for an escape this month, I can’t recommend it enough!
5 Out of 5 Stars
Reading Challenge Category Completed- A YA Novel
All the Birds in the Sky was selected by our local book club this month and also happens to be a book club selection for MomAdvice this year too. I was really excited to read this one because it was a coming-of-age story and is a science fiction/fantasy novel so it was a bit out of my usual comfort zone for reading. This is a highly quirky story of two kids that both have unusual special abilities. Patricia is magically gifted and Laurence is a scientific genius. They lean upon each other through the early years of not fitting in and then. Later, they go their separate ways when Patricia is selected to attend an academy for magic while Laurence focuses on inventing things like a machine for a billionaire that will allow for intergalactic travel to save humans after they have destroyed their own world. When technology brings them back together they think it is forever except for the whole world coming to an end thing.
This was quirky and had some laugh-out-loud moments, but I wasn’t in love with this one. The first half of the book was highly enjoyable and the second half hit a bit of a lull for me. This is one of those books that you have to truly appreciate quirk and fantasy to enjoy it. While it held my attention, it definitely did not end up being a favorite like I had hoped this year. Too many random elements and disjointed storylines made this one a difficult one for me to pick up and get into.
Reading Challenge Category Completed- A sci-fi/fantasy book
3 Out of 5 Stars
What did you read this month? Looking for book ideas? Check out our entire Book section of the site! Don’t forget to friend me on GoodReads! xo
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