Everything I read in February
The four books I read this month + two addicting fanfics
Oh, February, the month of audiobooks and comfort reads. I spent most of the month interviewing which took a lot out of me and resulted in me picking up only one physical book (plus two *extremely* long fanfics). I suspect I might be in a reading rut.
I could use some inspiration on what to pick up next. I’m going to have another look at some of my most anticipated reads list but I also want to hear from you. So what books have you loved lately?
I want something that leans on the literary side (I did recently check-out French Braid from my library) or perhaps a good mystery that will captivate me. Drop me a note in the comments and maybe we could use this as a way to crowd share some book recs as a community.
Onto the book talk
Pictures of You by Emma Grey | Romance | Highly recommend, amazing on audio
Grey’s debut novel, The Last Love Note, blew me away last year—the audiobook was fantastic, the characters layered, and the setting vibrant. I quickly added Grey to my auto-read author list and finally managed to pick up Pictures of You. I decided to listen to this one again, because ya girl is nothing but a sucker for a good Aussie accent, and you guys! It was so, *so* good. Dual-POV, past-present timeline, a memory issue, lots of pining and a main character who lives for a regency soaked-shirted (is this a word?) gentleman. That’s all I’m going to say about the plot, because I think this one was better going in blind.
Is She Really Going Out with Him? by Sophie Cousens | RomCom | Highly recommend, amazing on audio
Continuing my Sophie Cousens journey and perhaps my favorite of her novels yet?! This time around we have, Anna, a recently divorced mother of two who would rather sit on the couch, Googling Paul Hollywood fanfic (I mean same), than get back into the dating pool. But that all changes when her office rival is vying for her column and results in Anna pitching an article series where she let’s her kids play matchmaker for her. I adored this one: from Anna’s hilarious Google search history to the mature female lead to the unexpected found family. I couldn’t recommend this one more.
James by Percival Everett | Historical Fiction | Would recommend
Literary novels and I have a fraught relationship. Sometimes they knock my socks off and other times I’m kind of like, eh I liked it but didn’t love it. James falls into the latter category. I appreciated the story and liked seeing how Everett gave shape to a well-known literary character that is often overlooked/hyper stereotyped. I could see this being a phenomenal companion novel for students in school reading Huckleberry Finn and believe it’s a book that is better suited for group discussion.
Promise Me Sunshine1 by Cara Bastone | RomCom | Would recommend
If there is one thing you can count on Bastone to do, is write characters that feel emotions deeply and don't shy away from them. Lenny is in the depths of grieving the loss of her best-friend-soulmate, working the odd nannying job, and spending a lot of time on the State Island Ferry. She is barely surviving, until she meets Miles who helps her tackle her 'live again' list her best friend left her. A slow burn that will have you rushing each chapter to witness these characters grow and learn together. At times Lenny's quirks were a bit much for me, but I could overlook that for the charming way Bastone writes. I have to say (and it pains me) but I didn’t love it as much as I wanted to, and prefer Ready or Not.
The Auction by LovesBitca8 | Dramione FanFic | Highly recommend (minus the ending)
If you read my January in books review then you’ll know how much I loved The Right Thing to Do Dramione fanfic so it’s no surprise that I also loved this alternate universe (AU) telling of that tale. The premise was captivating, the romance was a slow burn and the storyline addicting. I didn’t love it as much as The Right Thing to Do, because 1/less banter and 2/the ending was somehow both abrupt and drawn-out, leaving much to be desired which, with a 300,000 word work of fiction shouldn’t be the case.
This fanfic is sadly no longer available on AO3, because it’s being traditional published in July. I am very curious to read the adaptation and I hope since this will be a three book series, that it will give us the ending we deserved.
Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love by isthisselfcare | Dramione FanFic | Highly recommend
If you are looking for a purely fun, adventurous, low-stakes Dramione fanfic to read then look no further (keep in mind this is also being adapted into a traditionally published book, but I checked and it’s still on AO3 so download it while you can). I *loved* this fanfic’s portrayal of Draco soo much. He was snarky, full of himself, and absolutely hilarious. This is another great introduction into the world of fanfic as the story reads close to canon and is really just the author putting Draco and Hermione in absolutely ridiculous situations together.
Thanks for reading and supporting Short Story Long. If you like what you read then please do share, like or drop a comment with your favorite book you read in February. I appreciate it so much and it really helps me out!
Thank you NetGalley for my eARC. All opinions are my own.
It’s Jane Austen’s 250th anniversary. I suggest you read Persuasion. It’s beautifully written.
You make me want to read fanfic so much! I'm going to have to work through some on summer break.
For book recs, I finally finished The Beartown series. It was great but an emotional investment.