Favourite book of February

Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (New Zealand. Uses the reading of Great Expectations as a catalyst for terrible events. Recommended.

Oh my. Hmm.

I guess Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi was my favorite book of the month. It's a comedy science fiction, and it is truly hilarious. The text is available online at Scalzi's website for free.

I've heard it may be in print again sometime, which I find exciting since I prefer actual physical books to reading on a computer (it was only printed in a limited release, before I'd heard of him, and I can't afford the $90+ people are asking for their copies) .

Definitely Celtika by Robert Holdstock. It's the first fiction I've read since late December/early January. I enjoyed the twist on the story of Merlin and how the author mixed in Greek and Finnish myth. Looking forward to when I can get my hands on part two of the trilogy, The Iron Grail.

It's been a bit of an average month for me, reading-wise, but there were three I rated as 8/10:

The Complete Maus - Art Spiegelman
Black Dog ~ Stephen Booth
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

I'll be posting all my reviews for February tomorrow night

Phobos by Ty Drago - 5 stars (4.95 out of 5)
High Profile by Robert B. Parker - 4.5 stars (4.55)
The Lasko Tangent by Richard North Patterson - 4.5 stars (4.39)

I didn't finish any books this much, shameful, I know. I started a few, the most interesting of which is the Trial of Socrates, but I'm only a couple chapters into it.

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally was definitely the highlight of a pretty dull month, where most of the books I read were ones I had to get out of the way so now I can read some books I really want to read.

Toss-up between Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden and If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor. Both highly recommended.

So far either March or Sorcery and Cecelia - even though I haven't finished the second. It's charming!

In Cold Blood, hands down.

Runners-up:
The Girl Next Door
And Then There Were None

I'd have to say The Meaning of Everything by Simon Winchester. It was fantastic.

February was sort of a tough one...everything I read was either really great or terrible. Here are the books I have A's to this month: Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, Ida B, Elsewhere, and Devil and Miss Prym.

It is very difficult to decide between Mermaid Singing by Charmian Clift and The secret city by Fred Goodman, as I gave them both five stars. But I see that others had the same problems...;-)

Definitely Suite Francaise. This is a beautifully written book and a compelling story. Highly recommended.

For me, it was Team of Rivals. a tour de force narrative describing Abraham Lincoln's uncanny political genius. Doris Kearns Goodwin is a terrific writer of biography and historical narrative. I enjoyed Suite Francaise also, but thought it a bit hopeless in its outlook. I recommend it for the same reasons as above.

I just finished Thirteenth Tale and loved it. I love a good story with lots of twists to keep me guessing. After reading for so many years, its disappointing to figure out the ending of the story early. I guessed the ending here and was totally wrong! I loved it. I highly recommend it, if you haven't read it yet.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I didn't expect to like this book, but it won me over, and by the end I couldn't put it down.

#17-zcannon-I know. That is a wonderful story. You are really cheering for them at the end. Although the end is not a surprise, since we're told what's going to happen, its a wonderful read!

I guess I would say my favorite of February was The Giver by Lois Lowry just because it was different from most of the crime dramas that I've been reading.

And close second, but I will still give it a mention because it was a non-fiction book was The Innocent Man by John Grisham.

All the books I read were good but not great. None of them stick in my mind as being my favorite.

I did find a great short story. I'm not a fan of Stephen King's horror but I do enjoy some of his short stories (Shawshank Redemption, The Body and Secret Window, Secret Garden are 3 of my favorite stories). So I picked up Everything's Eventual : 14 dark tales to see if I could add to the list. Overall it was so-so, but I did find a gem. It was a story of the same name, Everything's Eventual. King got me hooked and I wanted to find out more about Dinky Earnshaw. Made me wish it was a longer book.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck ... I had forgotten how much I loved Steinbeck's books!

I gave three books a 5-star rating in February. To narrow it down to just one, I think I would choose A Short History of Nearly Everything.

The Emperor of Dreams - Clark Ashton Smith

My only book for February was War and Peace but it may be my favorite book for the year. I agree with zechristof on Team of Rivals, it was excellent. All of Lincoln's rivals had college degrees compared to his one year in a schoolhouse. He showed more ability than all of them and completely outsmarted Salmon Chase. He also showed a lot of courage in selecting them since they were all after his scalp to start.

--> #20

Dinky's story is very interesting... he appears again in Dark Tower 7, where you see where this strange job of his has led him.

Good to know, paghababian. The Stand (which I hear is related) and the Dark Tower Series are books of King's that I want to try eventually. I've heard a lot of good things about The Stand but mixed reviews about the Dark Tower Series.

art_grrl: greetings from John Steinbeck's hometown! Please consider visiting Salinas if you get the chance. The National Steinbeck Center is excellent, Steinbeck's home is restored and serves lunch on weekdays, and many of the buildings and places he describes in East of Eden are still here. Steinbeck is buried here in his mother's family's plot (Hamilton).

East of Eden is my favorite Steinbeck, also. The chapter in which he introduces Cathy made my hair stand on end. I read the beginning of it aloud to my husband, something I normally never do, and he said it was on his mind for days.

stringcat3 (and art_grrl): I just visited the Salinas valley and Monterey, which really brings the story to life again, and I re-watched the old 50's movie of East of Eden -- still amazingly good, although it deals only with a small portion of the book. I think it is surely one of Steinbeck's best books, certainly the most personal and sensitive, although I still have a soft spot in my heart for "little" Cannary Row.

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My favorite book of February was probably Crazy in Alabama by Mark Childress. See my little reviews at http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=8988, or the comments section of my library.

The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey.

Another Personal Finance book. Honestly, I'm not obssessed with personal finance, it just happens that this book and the one for January were that good.