What I Read: February 2020

February felt like a really long month for me. I know, it’s the shortest of the whole year, and we even got a bonus day! But still. It felt like the never-ending week filled to the gills with Monday after endless Monday. To go along with it, I didn’t read as much as I’d have liked to. I was in a bit of a funk. Feeling better now, but am using all the tissues because the beauty of Spring comes at the dastardly price - my dignity via seasonal allergies.

Here are the highlights of my reading last month:

Books 2 and 3 of The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher - SO much fun. Werewolves and vengeful ghosts took turns pestering our fearless professional wizard and I has here for it the whole time. I love this series, which feels like a paranormal hard boiled noir detective story, and I love that I know he will survive to fight again but nothing will - ever - be the same again. It’s a really fun escape and I’m saving the 4th for when I’ve finished a couple other ones I’m in the middle of reading.

Uncanny Valley, by Anna Weiner - This one was talked up a lot on the internet and I had high expectations. I’d been hearing Weiner’s writing compared to Didion’s, but for the modern age with Silicon Valley as the backdrop. However, I was severely underwhelmed and left feeling like there was a cloud over me that I couldn’t get rid of. I was unsettled by this memoir and am still working out why.

I think there’s a lot we as readers and people can learn from books we don’t enjoy - sometimes more so than we learn from what we do read and enjoy - and this book made me think a lot. It just left me feeling a bit unpleasant. Maybe a little resentful of the narrator’s privilege and how she treats it? Maybe a lot frustrated by her often flippant decision making and intense desire to be both in the thick of it, but also aloof and above the entire scene? Maybe slightly aghast at seeing the rich boys behind the proverbial curtain? Probably all of that. I mention it here because even though I didn’t enjoy it, It’s prompted so much reflection, and in my opinion self-reflection is never a lost cause.

Here for It: Or, How To Save Your Soul In America; Essays, by R. Eric Thomas - Definitely on the list of top 10 of the year already, this book was so much more than I expected. As someone who eats with her eyes first I promise you it is even more delightful, fun, and delicious, than the cover teases. This book details Thomas’ life in a series of essays that deal with faith, race, personal growth, career growth, and the incredible and ordinary experiences he’s had along the way.

The writing and tone of this book is one of the best I’ve read that also write about these personal topics. He has just the right amount of time in order to see his past younger self with grace and kindness, and it is incredibly refreshing that he is nice to himself, laughs with fondness at his past antics, and he owns his sh*t and honors the struggles he’s seen. It is phenomenal how he talks about his faith journey and how that has changed as he has figured out how to blend his religious feelings with being a gay Black man. This book is so inspiring, so joyful, so kind, so funny, and so beautifully written. I hope he writes many more.

Searching for Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede - We listened to this, the second book in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, and it is such a fun audiobook. It has some major plot advances upon where the first one left off, but is just as exciting, surprising, and cleverly written as the first one, Dealing with Dragons. It entertained all four of us which is always a great accomplishment.

I’m really excited about what I’ve been reading in March so far, but still, as always, wish I had more time to read. Let me know what you’ve been reading lately, I’d love to hear it!