Hello readers! Today I am bringing you my TBR for February. Where did January go? I always feel like January passes by so quickly. Personally, I read a lot of pages in January, but I am behind on my book goal. However, I am not sweating it. Even though I didn't do well on Buzzwordathon in January, as in I didn't finish even one book on that TBR, I am planning to spread it across my whole month in Februrary and do much better at it! First, I am going to name my general TBR, and then show you my TBR for Buzzwordathon. Other than that, I oddly don't really have any readathons going right now. None of the readathons I've seen for February have inspired me to read anything I didn't want to already. Every readalong and readathon I mention will be linked at the bottom of this post. Comment down below and let me know what books you are reading for Buzzwordathon!
I do want to post a disclaimer that there is an affiliate link at the bottom of this post! It will be clearly labeled and is for Better World Books, a place to buy very cheap, used books online. They also ship to a lot of different countries, for those of you who live abroad.
A Court of Wings and Ruin + A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
I am still participating in a readalong for this series. In February, we are reading both ACOWAR and the novella A Court of Frost and Starlight. I am really loving this series and I can't wait to read them both! This will most likely be my last month participating. I want to wait for the paperback to come out that matches the books I already have.
Synopsis (of book 1): Feyre's survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price ...
Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre's presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.
Trigger Warnings: drugging, kidnapping including incarceration, suicide ideation, sexual assault, murder, violence, torture
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
This is the next book for the Crabalong, which is a readalong of all of Sanderson's books within the Cosmere. I'm going to try to get ahold of a UK paperback because I don't want the hardcover and it is really expensive. I really enjoyed reading Elantris In January and I hope I like this one, too.
Synopsis: Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren's capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people.
By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker.
Trigger Warnings: rape, violence, death, animal torture
Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow
I didn't put this in my TBR post for January, but I should have. I am doing this readalong for US Presidential books. I am continuing to read this book in February, as it is really long. I have been reading a few chapters here and there. Even if I get behind on the readalong, I still want to keep reading this book and all the others.
Synopsis: The celebrated Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of America. With a breadth and depth matched by no other one-volume life, he carries the reader through Washington's troubled boyhood, his precocious feats in the French and Indian Wars, his creation of Mount Vernon, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention and his magnificent performance as America's first president.
Despite the reverence his name inspires Washington remains a waxwork to many readers, worthy but dull, a laconic man of remarkable self-control. But in this groundbreaking work Chernow revises forever the uninspiring stereotype. He portrays Washington as a strapping, celebrated horseman, elegant dancer and tireless hunter, who guarded his emotional life with intriguing ferocity. Not only did Washington gather around himself the foremost figures of the age, including James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, he orchestrated their actions to help realise his vision for the new federal government, define the separation of powers, and establish the office of the presidency.
One of the Good Ones by Maika and Maritza Moulite
This will be my first 2021 release of the year. It wasn't even on my radar until I was looking at the news section of Goodreads where they talk about new releases. It has been compared to The Hate You Give.
Synopsis: When teen social activist and history buff Kezi Smith is killed under mysterious circumstances after attending a social justice rally, her devastated sister Happi and their family are left reeling in the aftermath. As Kezi becomes another immortalized victim in the fight against police brutality, Happi begins to question the idealized way her sister is remembered. Perfect. Angelic. One of the good ones.
Even as the phrase rings wrong in her mind—why are only certain people deemed worthy to be missed?—Happi and her sister Genny embark on a journey to honor Kezi in their own way, using an heirloom copy of The Negro Motorist Green Book as their guide. But there's a twist to Kezi's story that no one could've ever expected—one that will change everything all over again.
Trigger Warnings: racism, racial slurs, mentions of lynching and torture, police brutality, murder, homophobia, drugging, kidnapping
Buzzwordathon
This round of Buzzwordathon has a theme of colors. So, a book with ANY color in the title. I had a lot of trouble picking, as so many books fit that description.
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
This was on my TBR for January, but I decided to save it for the Buzzwordathon. I do now own a copy of it, and I can't wait to read it!
Synopsis: Lyra is rushing to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule. North, where the Gobblers take the children they steal--including her friend Roger. North, where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world.
Can one small girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors? This is Lyra: a savage, a schemer, a liar, and as fierce and true a champion as Roger or Asriel could want--but what Lyra doesn't know is that to help one of them will be to betray the other.
trigger warnings: absent parents, child abuse, death, emotional abuse, violence
Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby
This one has been on my radar for a while, but I have been waiting to read it until the Buzzwordathon. All I know is, it is a thriller, and I really want to get to it this month!
Synopsis: Beauregard "Bug" Montage: husband, father, honest car mechanic. But he was once known - from North Carolina to the beaches of Florida - as the best getaway driver on the East Coast. Just like his father, who disappeared many years ago.
After a series of financial calamities (worsened by the racial prejudices of the small town he lives in) Bug reluctantly takes part in a daring diamond heist to solve his money troubles - and to go straight once and for all. However, when it goes horrifically wrong, he's sucked into a grimy underworld which threatens everything, and everyone, he holds dear . . .
Trigger Warnings: graphic violence
Blueberry Muffin Murders by Joanna Fluke
I haven't read a book in this series in a while. I have this unspoken goal to get to 3 books in any series each month. I hope that goal will help me to catch up on and finish more series in 2021. This series is VERY long, so I need to read them more often. Also, it has blue in the title, counting for this Buzzwordathon!
Synopsis (book 1): No one cooks up a delectable, suspense-filled mystery quite like Hannah Swensen, Joanne Fluke's dessert-baking, red-haired heroine whose gingersnaps are as tart as her comebacks, and whose penchant for solving crimes one delicious clue at a time has made her a bestselling favorite. And it all began on these pages, with a bakery, a murder, and some suddenly scandalous chocolate-chip crunchies. Featuring a bonus short story and brand new, mouthwatering recipes, this limited edition of the very first Hannah Swensen mystery is sure to have readers coming back for seconds.
Hannah Swenson already has her hands full trying to dodge her mother's attempts to marry her off while running The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden, Minnesota's most popular bakery. But once Ron LaSalle, the beloved delivery man from the Cozy Cow Dairy, is found murdered behind her bakery with Hannah's famous Chocolate Chip Crunchies scattered around him, her life just can't get any worse. Determined not to let her cookies get a bad reputation, she sets out to track down a killer.
Who would have the sheer audacity and the motive to kill the most punctual delivery man Hannah ever had? Topping the list is the high school football coach. What exactly was his wife doing, making the rounds with the milkman? Could Max Turner, owner of Cozy Cow Dairy, have had a secret he didn't want to share with his top employee? The more Hannah snoops, the more suspects turn up. Why has Lake Eden's most prominent prodigal son, Benton Woodley, just resurfaced? And what about the mysterious Mr. Harris who seemed interested in buying the property next to the dairy, but then disappeared? This is one murder that's starting to leave a very bad taste in Hannah's mouth. And if she doesn't watch her back, Hannah's sweet life may get burned to a crisp.
Trigger Warnings (for the series): murder, kidnapping, guns, mentions of domestic abuse
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Allibookgiraffe
Business Inquiries: aw.lavender.giraffe@gmail.com
Buzzwordathon on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1111928-buzzwordathon
Cosmere readalong announcement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujy8QJbhh1A&t=183s
ACOTAR readalong: https://twitter.com/acourtalong
↓ THIS IS AN AFFILIATE LINK ↓ (you may need to right click)
Trigger Warning Sources:
Important Links: