M. Suzanne Terry

Happy February! I am reading a lot of love stories, and some books about books, with a little dystopia thrown in for good measure. Also, shout-out to Black History Month, but really, every month is a good month to read great books by Black authors.

One of the perks of listing out my monthly TBR is that I get super pumped about all the great things I get to read soon. Sometimes I get so excited that I read them as soon as I put them on next month’s list. Hence my January reading of two books that were originally on my February TBR:

• A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson – audiobook has multiple narrators [series], meant to be a 52 Book Club read for February. This audio is great. I really like the way it was set up.
• The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – Read an audiobook published before you were born (I presume it means the book was published before I was born, not the audio version) [series], meant to be a Libro.fm book for February. It isn’t my favorite Sherlock Holmes story, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.

I am still finishing up some of my January reads but here’s the plan for February.

Book Clubs

• The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters [general fiction]
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood [general fiction]
• We’ll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida [fantasy/nonrealism/sci-fi/etc. – magical realism really should be its own category on my TBR]
• I am working on the day Rise & Shine meets to talk about our favorite books in the romance genre, but I have a few listed below for other challenges so I can at least read along with them in spirit.
• I Think They Love You by Julian Winters [romance-ish]
• Life Hacks for a Little Alien by Alice Franklin [general fiction]

Theme/Goals/Genre Challenge

• A Year by the Sea by Joan Anderson [travel memoir]
• What Goes With What by Julia Turshen  [cookbooks/entertaining/food] 
• Slay by Brittney Morris [general YA]

52 Book Club

• Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan – Set in Winter [general fiction]
• The Maidens by Alex Michaelides – 300-400 pages long [dark academia]
• The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer – found family trope [fantasy/nonrealism/sci-fi/etc.]
• Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao – has a moon on the cover [fantasy/nonrealism/sci-fi, etc.]
• Experienced by Kate Young – cover font is in a primary color [romance-ish]
• How To Read a Book by Monica Wood – a standalone novel [books on books/writing]

Libro.fm

• The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson – Listen to a genre outside your comfort zone [general nonfiction, specifically true crime, which is what fits the prompt]
• It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover – Read an audiobook adapted into a TV series or movie [romance-ish – heavy on the ish]
• I’m So Not Over You by Kosoko Jackson – Listen to an audiobook by a Black author [romance-ish]

Bad Bitch Book Club

• What I Ate in One Year by Stanley Tucci – A book about food that isn’t a cookbook [foodie memoir]
• Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake – A queer romance with a clinch cover [romance-ish]
• Priest by Sierra Simone – A romance novel featuring an unconventional relationship [romance-ish; series]

Nowhere Bookshop

• Books: A Memoir by Larry McMurtry – A bookish memoir/biography [books on books/writing]
• Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray – Book with BIPOC rep written by a BIPOC author [general fiction]
• The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters – Award-winning book [general fiction]
• Daughter of the Merciful Deep by Leslye Penelope – Fantasy book by a female author [fantasy/non-realism/sci-fi/etc.]

Overeducated Women With Cats

• Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami – A book that’s been on your TBR for more than five years [favorite authors]
• The Fury by Alex Michaelides – A book with an unreliable narrator [mystery/suspense]

That’s the list! I hope you get some time to read things that feed your soul, make you think, or help you relax this month!