Nathan's February Wrap Up and March TBR

Nathan‘s February Wrap Up and March TBR

This was a really great reading month for me! I was able to read 10 books (8 full novels and two novellas) ranging from dark cosmic fantasy to legal fantasies to space opera to fantasy romance. I also love a good reading month where I get to experience a range of books.

Looking back at the February TBR I made at the end of January, I read most of what I wanted to. In that TBR I selected 11 books, and I ended up reading 8 of them. The only ones I didn’t get to were The Umbral Storm, Conqueror’s City, and The Liar’s Knot. I definitely need to get to Conqueror’s City in March because I read the first little bit and was enjoyed it (and I told the author I would review it!). So I’m going to push that one and Liar’s Knot (a sequel to Mask of Mirrors, one of my favorite reads of 2022) into March. I think I’m going to have to bench Umbral Storm for the moment and pick it up in the late spring/early summer when I have a bit more time.

In addition to reading and reviewing books, I also wrote up some movie/TV content, including a ranking of the MCU TV shows, a review of the campy sci-fi thriller M3GAN, and a discussion of why we likely won’t be seeing many more big epic fantasy adaptations on TV.

While I mostly write about books here, I have also been following some TV shows that I have really been enjoying. The Last of Us on HBO holds the “best current TV show” belt for me, and I will be writing up a full review of my thoughts at the end of the season. I also finished the second season of Vox Machina on Amazon, which was great as it focused more on the backstory of its characters. On the non-SFF side, Abbott Elementary remains the funniest comedy on TV, while the US-version of Ghosts remains delightful. I have been really enjoying Poker Face on Peacock (an old school case-of-the-week show created by Rian Johnson) and both the US and UK versions of The Traitors (I LOVE a good reality competition show). I watched the five episodes from the fourth season of You on Netflix and the show seems to have lost its vibe this season. Am I alone in thinking this?

But back to the books!

My February Reading Stats:

I read 10 books, which equated to 4,060 pages. 40% had over 500 pages, 40% had 300-499 pages, and 20% had fewer than 300 pages.

I had exactly a 50/50 split this month between physical and e-books.

I averaged a 3.8 star rating this month. This was slightly lower than January, but I also put a lot less emphasis on star ratings this month (something I am going to continue to do moving forwards). My reviews for the blog will continue to not have star ratings, and I’m not going to fret over quarter or half stars.

My Favorite Books in February:

First Place: The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan (Full Review) – the best sequel I have read in a really long time, this book took this series from “I like it” to “I love it”.

Second Place: The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi (Full Review) – I cannot get this novella out of my head; so much power and creativity in less than 100 pages.

Third Place: The Faithless by CL Clark (Full Review) – My favorite exploration of colonialism in fantasy with one of the most fascinating and complex sapphic romances.

Other Books from February I Highly Recommend:

Eleventh Cycle by Kian N. Ardalan (Full Review)
The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw (Full Review Coming Soon!)
The Stars Undying by Emery Robin (Full Review Coming Soon!)

My March TBR!

I usually plan on reading about ten books a month. I have selected eleven that I would like to get to in March. Two of these (The Liar’s Knot and Conqueror’s City) I rolled over from my February TBR (since I replaced those with The Lies of the Ajungo, The Salt Grows Heavy, and The Stars Undying). As always, this is just a general plan of what I plan on reading. If I’m not “feeling” something, or something else pops up that I would rather read, then I will make changes as I go!

Continuing Series:

The Liar’s Knot by M.A. Carrick

New Series and Standalones:

The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

Paladin Unbound by Jeff Speight

The Pale City by Marshall J. Moore

Conqueror’s City by Graham G. Porter

Advance Review Copies:

The Sword Defiant by Gareth Hanrahan

The Shadow of Theron by Kathryn Troy

A Quiet Vengeance by Tim Hardie