February Books

February was a month for literary fluff. Fluffy February! I did manage to sneak in a few more substantial books into my intellectual diet, but for the most part I floated forward on fantastic fluffy fun. Part of the reason for the quantity of easy reading was a free trial of Kindle Unlimited. My free trial ended on February 27th, and I had assembled a whole list of guaranteed safe authors to try during the trial. I didn't even have time for any re-reading--I read all new-to-me books in February. I downloaded a pile of books from Kindle Unlimited and read like wildfire. By the end I did suffer from a touch of genre fatigue from all of the regency romances that I crammed into those last two weeks, but it was worth it because tucked into that pile o fluff were some hilarious treasures. 

Favorite fiction from February: The Match by Sarah Adams. This book was absolutely hilarious and sweet and FUN. It is a joy to discover a clever new author, and that's exactly what happened! I would never have had the courage to take the plunge if I hadn't read a specific description of her style and content. Sarah Adams writes closed-door romantic comedies. "Closed-door" is different than clean in that it feels more real life and less "perfect" than many clean stories, but without any objectionable explicit scenes (that bedroom door stays closed as it should). I didn't even know that rom-com was a literary sub-genre, but I was sold from chapter one of The Match. Jeff agreed that I had never laughed so hard or so often in any other book. 

February Fiction:

1. A Convenient Engagement by Ashtyn Newbold: so sweet and funny! I love romances where they joke and laugh together. My favorite book in the Ladies of Devon series.
2. Marrying Miss Milton by Ashtyn Newbold
3. Romancing Lord Ramsbury by Ashtyn Newbold
4. Miss Weston's Wager by Ashtyn Newbold
5. An Unexpected Bride by Ashtyn Newbold: These five books are all in the Ladies of Devon series, and they were cute. The characters were lovable and the scenery was pleasant.
6. Chute Boss by Sophia Summers: New release, book two in the Lost Creek Rodeo series, written by three authors. Sophia Summers is my least favorite writing style of the three authors, so this book was so-so. Definitely a lightweight quick cowboy read, though the story pacing was odd. 
7. The Match by Sarah Adams: LOVED this hilarious book so much!!!
8. The Enemy by Sarah Adams: about the sister of the guy in The Match-- another fun prankster romantic comedy. The girl had a few body image issues which I don't really identify with, and it made me a little sad, but that topic ended up going in a positive direction. The rest of the story was hilarious, so it was balanced.  
9. The Off Limits Rule by Sarah Adams: FUN. I really liked this one. It's set in Nashville. The sequel comes out on April 1st.
10. To Con a Gentleman by Sarah Adams: clever and fun with a fresh plot. A con woman tries to scam the son of a duke but he sees right through her.
11. To Catch a Suitor by Sarah Adams: sequel, about the sister in To Con A Gentleman. This one was a tad maddening because both guy and girl (ahem, gentleman and lady) had lifelong unrequited love for the other and they simply would not talk to each other about it. 
12. Suits and Spark Plugs by Aspen Hadley: this was an interesting love story wherein the heroine dates Someone Else for the first half of the book. It was kind of frustrating. Fun, but frustrating.
13. The Ace of Hearts by Ashtyn Newbold: cute Regency romance, wherein the lady writes anonymous relationship advice letters and gets into a massive tangle.
14. The Jewels of Halstead Manor by Kasey Stockton: fun spunky Regency heroine and a mysterious castle. I liked this one.

Along with the fluff, I did manage three nonfiction reads in February. They were intense and illuminating, so I must've needed lots of fluff to balance out my reading. Every time I read a little from my current nonfiction and then went back to the fluff, it was literary whiplash. From feminist empowerment to swooning Regency romance. From the Black experience to upper-crust Charleston. Sometimes I felt a little guilty about enjoying the easy white fluff, but at the same time grateful for the real stuff that kept me grounded. Push and pull. Balance. 

Favorite non-fiction from February: The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates. This book made me a better human being. I was skeptical yet curious about the perspective of a White woman billionaire philanthropist. Melinda Gates told such amazing stories and explained the process of assessing needs and figuring out the best way to help those in need, especially women. I ended up loving her thoughtful compassion, and she taught me a whole lot about conditions in the world and all of the wonderful women who are just doing their best with what they have. Such a powerful memoir! I listened to Melinda Gates read her own audiobook, and it was splendid. The only downside to the audiobook was I couldn't underline all of the excellent parts!

February Non-fiction:

1. The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates (audiobook): So meaningful. Loved it. 
2. Homie: Poems by Danez Smith: this was definitely outside of my usual realm. It is a book of poems written by a nonbinary Black person. Several of the poems used strong language. None of the topics were explicit; the poems just used specific words that I don't ever speak aloud or enjoy hearing or reading. Somehow the rough poems didn't rough me up too much. The author struck a balance between a whole lot of worlds with words. The poems were short enough that I could read a little bit, learn a little bit, and then recover before going back to it the next day. I wouldn't want my kids to come up behind me and read lots of these poems over my shoulder, and yet, the author put the Black experience into such profound concise pages, I kept reading. This book taught me from a completely different angle and it was worth reading. 
3. Wolfpack by Abby Wambach (audiobook): another stretching, expanding book for me, in a different way. It was a girl power, be yourself, don't apologize for any of it type of book. Retired pro soccer player and married lesbian Abby Wambach put the commencement address she gave at a women's college into book form. She gave another often-marginalized perspective that helped me be a better human being. 

I appreciate a variety of voices contributing to my views. As a straight, married, white woman who is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it is easy to hide in my secure little bubble and ignore the real people outside. I don't want to get stuck in that comfy close-minded bubble of tradition. I want to look and love and value those outside my bubble, like Jesus did. The challenge is to maintain my own self and values among all of those outside voices, like Jesus did. 

Another challenge is to balance those different, often discordant, voices with time spent tuning into the voice of the Spirit, so I can maintain a Christ-centered perspective. It changes me to read firsthand accounts of people who are different than me. They matter. I matter. We matter. We all have choices and agency and it is a big scary beautiful thing. Reading these alternative perspectives helps me feel more open to new ideas and to different people. It feels important and valuable to learn about them and love them, even when my own religious beliefs and lifestyle and skin color are different. Different does not mean better or worse than. It just means different. I don't want to be tolerant; I want to be an ally, someone who sees and cares and tries to see and care more. I want to be the kind of person who embraces differences while embracing myself at the same time.

So I keep doing my best to balance my book intake, to "seek out the best books," so I can learn more, do better, and be better. 

Whew, I did not expect to go that deep when I started writing about my February Fluff!