February has been brutal on the health front. The husband and I took turns with the viral, and just as we recovered, I came down with an allergic cough from hell.
All the momentum I had gained in January came to a crashing halt. All the projects I had lined up for this month went on the backburner. Looking at my project tracking database on Notion makes me want to weep.
But, I remind myself, there’s always next month. Once I have my allergies under control, I can pick up where I left off. It’s no wonder then that it’s been a slightly slower reading month, too. I did read a few interesting books, though, including two for the Book Bingo challenge.
Reading wrap-up for February
This month’s reading took me to Cambridge, England, the Adirondack forests, and the bustling streets of New York.
(Click on the book covers to purchase the book on Amazon.)
The Biscuit Tin Murders #1: A Fatal Fall at King’s College by Menna Van Praag (recommended by your favorite book blogger)
If there was one piece of advice Olive Crisp always followed, it was that “one should never attempt to solve a crime on an empty stomach.”
Olive Crisp, who runs a quaint cafe in Cambridge called The Biscuit Tin, loves nothing more than to bake delightful pies and croissants and to solve crimes. A calling seemingly at odds with the quiet, sleepy college town; until disaster strikes at King’s College.
When a student falls from the turrets of the college, the police rule his death as accidental. But Olive, urged on by her two best friends, Blythe and Millie, consults her tarot cards, which confirm her suspicions of murder, and they decide to take the investigation into their own hands.
What follows is a delightful little murder mystery peppered with cups of Earl Grey tea and slice of cake.
Clocking in at a short and sweet 151 pages, this is a delightful, cozy murder mystery that’s perfect for a breezy weekend read.
An Echo In Time by Boo Walker
Unable to catch a break in life or love as she approaches 30, Charli Thurman sees red lights at every crossroads. And given the Thurman family’s tumultuous history, she knows things will only get worse, unless she can break the cycle and figure out where it all went wrong. When her best friend introduces her to a “soul reader” who specializes in generational trauma, Charli is skeptical. Still, desperate to set her life to rights, she decides to take a leap and attends a family constellation therapy session, where she experiences an inexplicable memory of terrible violence. Whatever happened in the past, it has created an imbalance that’s still affecting her family.
As she works to puzzle out the pieces of her family history, Charli’s research leads her to Winchester, England, where she meets a charming pub owner named Noah, whose own family history is similarly twisted. As the mystery deepens around a tragic death in the distant past, Charli is resolved to find the truth, and create the fresh start she has been hoping for her whole life.
It’s an interesting premise, but the writing was shoddy, Charli was a thoroughly unlikable character with no redeeming qualities {making her behavior rather unbelievable and irritating}, and I have no idea why I continued to plod through this book.
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (Nominated for the 2024 Goodreads Choice Awards)
Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. But Barbara isn’t just any 13-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother, Bear, vanished 14 years ago, never to be found.
The story skips back and forth in time, uncovering the layers of secrecy surrounding the Van Laar family, the search for Bear and Barbara, and the cracks and fissures that the childrens’ disappearance caused in the Van Laar family.
There’s psychologically damaged Alice, Bear and Barbara’s mother, who is a pill and alcohol addict; Peter, a workaholic, authoritarian father; Peter, a rather harsh grandfather, and his mostly silent wife. But this dysfunctional family is interested only in maintaining appearances, placing more importance on their social circle and business connections than on family values and one another.
Barbara’s vanishing opens up a can of worms, revealing long-hidden secrets surrounding Bear’s disappearance over a decade ago. Did the family wrongly accuse someone for the crime, even though Bear’s body had never been found? Did the same person kidnap Barbara? Is the perpetrator a serial killer who is currently on the run or someone involved with the camp? And why is the Van Laar family so reluctant to talk to the detectives assigned to the case?
This is a genre-bending novel, combining together historical fiction, mystery, crime thriller, and women’s fiction, with a subtle commentary on class structures. It’s gripping, engaging, and highly engrossing. Probably my favorite book so far this year!
The Gods Time Forgot by Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez
Rua knows only two things: her name, and that she has no memories. So when the wealthy Harrington family mistakes Rua for their missing daughter, Emma, Rua goes along with the charade, hoping for answers about who she really is.
As she tries to blend into a society she doesn’t remember, she’s drawn to a firmly off-limits the Lord of Donore, a newcomer to Manhattan society who is somehow familiar to Rua.
With societal pressures mounting on both sides, Rua is determined to discover the truth about the missing Harrington daughter and her own past.
But when her memories begin to return, they’re of a world far stranger than New York.
Read my full review here.
Over to you: What was on your reading list this month?
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