Basketball ended in February so I had some more nights at home to settle in with a book. A road trip and a plane trip added to my reading time as well. I read a really good series set in Alaska and listened to a Fredrik Backman book. Here’s what I read in February:
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman
I was looking for an audiobook to listen to and realized I hadn’t read this Backman book yet My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry is about a little girl who is super smart, but doesn’t fit in at school. Her grandmother tells her stories about a land to help her cope with her parents divorce and their remarriages. However, when her grandmother passes away, Elsa starts to figure out that the characters in the stories are actually people in real life living in her building. I enjoyed the story.
An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott
I found An Old-Fashioned Girl from an account I follow on Instagram and enjoyed the story immensely. Polly grew up on a farm, but spends a few months visiting her friend Fanny. Polly has lived a simple live, but Fanny has riches and cares about looks and boys and gossip. They both begin to influence each other and learn important lessons as their friendship grows throughout the years.
The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai
The Kamogawa Food Detectives is a cute book full of short stories. They revolve around a father and daughter who track down food dishes for people who can’t remember how to recreate them from their memory. It has a lot of descriptions of Japan and food. There’s a cat at their restaurant, too. I just wished the author had put in more details of how they tracked down certain recipes.
Mary, Mother of God by Grzegorz Gorny
I read Mary, Mother of God over the course of several months. It goes over the historical evidence of Mary’s life from her childhood to her time with the Apostles after Jesus’ death. The most fascinating chapter was about the Holy Family’s time in Egypt. There are artifacts and buildings that mark their journey there. While it’s written from a Catholic perspective, I would recommend it to all people of faith to see the historical aspects that have been proven.
Summer of the Midnight Sun, Under the Northern Lights and Whispers of Winter by Tracie Peterson (Alaskan Quest series)
The Alaskan Quest trilogy was a fun read this month. I found the first book in my to-read pile and started reading it. I was captivated by the in-depth accurate descriptions of Alaskan life. It’s a Christian book series, but the plot is complicated and a bit unpredictable. Leah and Jacob are adult siblings who have spent many years living without their parents after their deaths. Both wonder if they will ever marry. Then, Leah’s long-lost love reappears in their village, leading a bounty hunter to them. That’s when things start getting messy as he has a twin. (There is death, a bear attack and a rape, but none are described in detail.)
Cottage by the Sea by Debbie Macomber
In one day, Annie loses everyone in her family in Cottage by the Sea. A rock slide in the early morning hours takes down the house with her parents, brother, sister-in-law and niece. Dealing with grief, she shuts herself off from the world until a friend mentions that she should go somewhere she could be happy. The place that comes to mind is the cottage by the sea where her family spent vacation time at every year. When she visits, she finds a job, some familiar people and is able to rent the same cottage. The sea starts to bring healing, but can she risk opening her heart again?
The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis
I’m slowly reading through the Narnia series again and enjoyed reading The Silver Chair this month. None of the original four children appear in this book, but Eustace (their cousin) brings a friend as they’ve been getting bullied at school. Their mission is to rescue the prince and along the way, they make several mistakes. The lesson is to always keep your eyes on your mission.
The Eyewall Seeker by Victoria Kimble
The Eyewall Seeker is the second book in a trilogy. Ash is heading into Hurricane Goliath to see if she can find her father who has been missing for almost 10 years. It’s the only way she can think of to save her mom from marrying Chip, who has shown himself to be a creep. She regrets that she can’t tell her mom that she’s going, but the signs and people she find along the way give her hope. I’m looking forward to the final book in the series to see how it all ends.
The Lola Quartet by Emily St. John Mandel
I’ve enjoyed all of Emily St. John Mandel’s books and The Lola Quartet is no exception. The book shows how decisions in high school can affect the rest of a person’s life. Gavin has become a journalist in NYC, but when his sister shows him a picture of a kid who looks like she could be his, he can’t help but wondering where his high school girlfriend is and what happened that she couldn’t let him know she was pregnant back then. There are so many twists and turns, I don’t want to give anything away. The book has a very interesting plot and is almost a thriller.
