February Wrap-Up and Mini-Reviews

I read 0.5 books a day this month…

I managed 14 books this month! That’s 0.5 books a day! granted some are fairly short and several are on audiobooks which is speed up a bit. 6 of those 14 were featured in my Faebruary wrapup blog. The other 8 are listed in this post. I also started another book but didnt finish it. Based on my TBR post that’s leaves 1 book left. I’ll read that next month I think.

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But first,

Let’s hold me accountable.

I have two goals this year which involve acquiring books;

1. only buy two books a month,
2. only request two ARCs a month.

For buying books it only for books I, personally, spend money on including subscription boxes (one per box), but it excludes my audible membership and all free books and gifts. For the ARC’s I’ve focused on my request-button-pressing and not getting the requests approved because you don’t know if it will be approved, nor do you know when it will be approved. Therefore, only two request-clicks per month.

I will have this on my wrap-ups every month.

Before we delve into the book I read this year let’s check if I stuck to my goals:

• Only buy two books a month: 
  • NONE!! Whoop whoop!

Available credit from last month; 1

Total credit transferred to next month; 3

• Only request two ARC’s: 
  1. Nocturna
  2. Kingdom of Copper
  3. David Mogo, Godhunter

Available credits from last month; 1

Total credit transferred to next month; 0

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Now let’s get back to the books I’ve read and have a deeper look a look at them.

As a reminder:

• 5 ivy leaves is an amazing book that stuck with me, surprised me, one I could stop thinking about, I got lost in, etc.
• 4 ivy leaves is an enjoyable read something I really liked, but that’s it.
• 3 ivy leaves are either a disappointing read, or the book is just OK.
• 2 ivy leaves are a disliked read
• DNF = Did Not Finish

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Do You Dream of Terra-Two? by Temi Oh

ARC – NetGalley

The Story: This is an adult sci-fi book about a group of teens and a group of adults going on a space missing to Terra-Two. The book starts around the last few weeks before takeoff in an alternative 2012, and continues through to when the space ship has reached the end of our galaxy. Its a multi-perspective, character-focused drama with a heavy focus on mental health and how space could impact that.

My Opinion: I loved this book! I did a full review that will be out early March. But in short, I loved it! I loved the character, I loved the world, I loved the story. I was different for anything else I have read. And I really liked that it was a character-focused sci-fi and not action heavy and lots of guns… I’m still considering changing my rating from 4.5 to 5, but I can’t make my mind up.

Publication date: 7th March, but is already out on Audible.

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Godblind (Godblind #1) by Anna Stephens

e-Book – Library

The Story: This is the first book in the Godblind trilogy. A multi-perspective storyline following two groups of people who worship two different gods and the tension between them in this fantasy world.  It’s bloody gory!

My Opinion: I liked it, but there was a lot of rape and mentions of rape in here. It was too much for my liking, I was very surprised and the number of near rapes and intestines described in detail. If you manage to look away from that, the story is entertaining and interesting.

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Woman of Resistance: Poems for a New Feminism EDT by Danielle Barnhart & Iris Mahan

ARC – NetGalley

The story: A collection of poetry on feminism and what it is today. the collection features several authors both known and unknown.

My Opinions: I enjoyed this read, but there were several poems which went straight over my head. I wasn’t sure what they were talking about and I, therefore, had problems connecting with the poems. Which in turn affected my enjoyment of the collection. I’m not sure if this is due to my ignorance of social issues or if it was my inexperience with poetry, but I was a little bit disappointed. The poems I did understand was pretty good.

I have a few favourites: Elisabeth Acevedo’s poem An Open Letter To The Protesters Outside The Planned Parenthood Near My Job on pro-lifers. I got this poem and I felt for the poet. I connected with it and felt angry toward pro-lifers (which I do normally anyway). Really enjoyed this poem.

My other favourite was more of an experience. It was Anne Waldman’s Matriot Act. It starts off with a list of words with a few descriptive words next to them. All the word are related or similar to Patriarchy. Then later in the poem the author twists it and starts all the word with ‘m’ not ‘p’. Boom! Feminist bomb right there. Well played! Really enjoyed that realisation!

I also loved how The Well of Loneliness was referred to in Jill McDonough’s poem There Are New Worlds.

Rachel McKibben’s poem Shiv was also a poem that hit a cord. It was on point!

As an ARC and e-book, the formatting wasn’t the best which I presume will be a lot better in a printed version and a final version. But as I was reading it, I couldn’t help but wonder how a poetry collection like this could work on audiobook? And I could imagen that. Have the author or poet recite their own poetry the way they intended it to be read. I think I would benefit a lot from that. If this book ever comes out in audiobook format, I might give it another try.

Publication date: 23rd March 2018

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Quick and Easy Guide to Queer and Trans Identities by Mady G & J.R. Zuckerberg

ARC – NetGalley

The story: This is a graphic novel explaining LGBT+ for the non-LGBT + and for LBGT+ people wanting to know more.

My Opinions: I really enjoyed it! I did a full review, but it will be posted closer the due date. But I will definitely pre-order this and have it on my shelves. I even learned some new things about myself and being asexual 😁

Publication date: 23rd April 2019

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Transgressive by Rachel Anne Williams

ARC – NetGalley

The story: This is a non-fiction book and an essay collection based on the author’s blog. Written by a transwoman with a major in philosophy and gender studies, it explores what it means to be a transgender woman, woman, and a trans person in today society.

My Opinions: I loved this book! It was so fascinating and insightful! I highly recommend this book to everyone who is interested in gender, and everything related to that. I have a full review to come closer to the publication date so look out for that 🙂

Publication date: 21st May 2019

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Darksoul (Godblind #2) by Anna Stephens

ARC – NetGalley

The story: The sequel to Godblind. It follows the same characters as Godblind and the story starts straight after the first book.

My Opinions: I did a full review of this here, but watch out for spoilers especially if you haven’t read book 1 yet. I liked it more than the first book, but at the same time I have issues with this one and there were more thing I didn’t like vs thing I did like. Still, love Cry tho.

Publication date: 23rd August 2018

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New Suns; Original Speculative Fiction by People Of Colour edt. by Nisi Shawl

ARC – NetGalley

The story: This s anthology and collection of short stories written by AOC. There are 16 stories, all with a speculative item that range from heavy sci-fi to heavy fantasy.

My Opinions: I really enjoyed this book and did a full review of the individual stories which will be out nearer the publication date. I liked who most of these stories had an element of LGBT+ in them and most very fairly feministic. My favourite story was either Dumb House by Andres Hairston, The Freedom of Shifting Sea by Jaymee Goh, or The Robots of Heaven by Anil Menon.

Publication date: 18th March 2019

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Freshwater

Audiobook – owned

The story: This was this winters book club pick for my office. It follows Ada and her other personalities as she grows up in Nigeria and goes to university in the states. The book is told from the perspective of one of her other personalities or gods as they actually are. Ada is an ogbanje and tries to work through life as more than one person.

My Opinions: I enjoyed this weird read. Ye,s the main character has a personality disorder, but the book is told from the perspective of one of those personalities. It’s very fascinating. Also, it’s centred around some Nigerian lore of ogbanje or being born with one foot in this world and one foot in the other world and have to share one’s body with spirits.

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That’s it! Have you read any of these?

What was your favourite book this month?

Which book were you least impressed by this month?