February 28, 2022 – Life and Other Disasters

Despite February having been a lot and me choosing to repress some stuff that is happening in reality (I know, it’s a kind of privilege), it was actually a pretty decent reading month for me. I got to everything I had set my eyes on and even a little more. So, at least in that department, I genuinely can’t complain much right now, even if most of the books wer only mediocre. Here’s what I read:

Take Me Home Tonight by Morgan Matson (3 stars)
The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton (5 stars)
A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson (1 star)
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (3 stars)
Prosper’s Demon by K.J. Parker (3 stars)
This was a short but engaging novella told from the perspective of a priest specializing in exorcisms and keeping demons at bay. Pretty sure that wasn’t the intention, but I felt really, really sorry for the demons. You know something’s off, when you go “hey, leave that demon in that child, you monster!” …

As per usual, click on the covers to get re-directed to Goodreads, where you are always welcome to add me as a reading buddy! OR find me on Storygraph, where I’m more active this year. My own reviews you’re able to find by clicking on the titles in the list above if there are posts for them.

As I’ve now said a lot, I’m using Storygraph really regularly now and it’s growing on me. I’m also low-key crushing my reading challenges and it’s making me happy. For a while there, I thought I had aimed too high with 15K words for this year, but it’s looking good. I’m now reading The Ten Thousand Doors of January (about 6% into the story) and even though it had mixed reviews, I’m enjoying it. I’m not even going to attempt to start a new reading experiment in March, I will try to alternate those.

I think it’s fairly understandable to say that I’m on edge right now. The Ukrainian border is closer to where I live than the other side of my own (very tiny) country. Geographically, this is probably one of the closest wars I have had to witness and I feel like I live in a 24/7 news cycle. At the same time, I’m confused and angered by some of the rhetoric used in media and by politicians alike, especially when it comes to refugees in comparison to coverage about previous countries that needed aid. I wish I could share some good resources here, but the ones I trust are all in German so … please, just be aware that there’s a lot of misinformation going around and be careful. Take care of yourselves!

Other than that, there’s things going on in my private life I want to talk about even less, BUT the weather is getting better. Yes, this is what it has come to. I’m talking about the weather … I can really feel it lift my spirits though and I’m hoping to get out more. I miss having places to go to, especially since I’ve been working from home in my one room apartment since mid-November now. So, this is honestly a good sign!

It also sort of started me imagining going on vacation for the first time in forever this year. I refuse to go on a plane or anywhere that is difficult to reach, but maybe a Berlin visit is due! I miss my second (or third or fourth) home. If I go, I want to go by train, because it’s such a nice deceleration to life and without the stress of how much luggage you can take in a carry on for a flight and such. I’m not sure when I’ll go, but I’m making all the plans for 2022.

MOST POPULAR POSTS OF FEBRUARY 2022

When I’m on other platforms and judging by my stats page, blogging has changed a lot over the years. I feel like it’s more of a second platform for many, next to video or image content on socials. Still, I’m dedicating this year to showing how valuable and kind of long term blogging as a medium is by sharing my top performing posts each month. (Hint: they are rarely ever the new ones!)

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (Book Review)
(originally posted in December 2020)
Do I know why this is the most popular book review I’ve ever written? Heck no. I wish I did, but I’m glad it’s doing so well and finding an audience. Even if I wasn’t 100% convinced by the book …
Something Different: Duskwood (Game)
(originally posted June 2020)
This game, I wish more people would play it so that I could talk about it with them. And also, that they’ll finally release the final chapter.
Are Sebastian Stan and I compatible (readers)?
(originally posted August 2021)
Look, with Pam & Tommy releasing, I just think a lot of people are rediscovering Sebastian Stan.
Are Chris Evans and I compatible (readers)?
(originally posted July 2021)
Interest for Chris always remains in waves.
Are Tom Hiddleston and I compatible (readers)?
(originally posted June 2021)
He almost got beat by Pedro Pascal for 5th place. It as SO close. But the reading experiments are just a huge draw to the blog.

MY FAVORITES OF THE MONTH

Speaking of reading experiments, while I love doing them, I love publishing them even more! There’s just something so very satisfying about getting all the necessary reading done, comparing tastes and trying to find common ground with strangers based on nothing other than books. One of my favorite parts is also trying to find the thing that connects all the books, to dive into the psyche of the celebs a little and see what draws them to the material. It’s such a joy! I know I posted the latest installment with Lupita Nyong’o at an inopportune time, but I hope it doesn’t flop.

ELSEWHERE ON THE BLOGOSPHERE

I love this community, so please share that love by also checking out the posts of fellow bloggers!

Stephanie read Fergie’s historical romance so we all didn’t have to. She was doing the good work!
Lay talked about musician’s that should write books and dang, do I agree! (No, it’s not just because Hozier was featured …)
Sumedha had her 1 (or 6?) year blogiversary and did a fun Q&A for the occasion.
Sabrina had some 3 star book predicitions for her upcoming reading.
Fadwa shared a great interview with S. Isabelle, the author of The Witchery. (very much looking forward to that release!)
My heart exploded with joy when I saw a new post from Lois pop up in my feed! It’s a book review about a story from the perspective of a cat.
Jayati did the Encanto book tag!
May talked about books from 2021 she didn’t talk about enough so far!
Maria discussed the pressure to review books.
Sofia challenged herself to read 100 pages each day for a week!
Kristin mentioned some books that are so good, it’s hard to review them.
Peyton compared Goodreads and Storygraph!