February Wrap up # 1

In the first half of February I've read 6 books and DNF'd 1.

The book I decided to DNF was The Girl with No Names by Serena Burdick. I read around 100 pages but felt the pace was too slow, the author used unnecessary slurs for the Romani people, and none of the characters were well-rounded or likable.

The first book I finished was Anger is my Middle Name by Lisbeth Zornig Andersen. This was an ARC that I've given its own review and I gave it 3 stars.

Then I picked up 2 poetry collections. The first was Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky. The poems have an over-arching narrative of soldiers killing a small deaf boy and as a result, all the citizens go deaf. Some of the poems were really moving and some had weird sexual overtones that seemed unnecessary and unrelated. I gave it 3 stars.

The other poetry collection I read was Homie by Danez Smith. I loved their previous collection titled Don't Call Us Dead and had high hopes for this. They had a friend who died by suicide and the whole collection was about friendships and what they mean to Danez. The poem to the friend was exceptional as were a few others, but most of the rest were just fine. I gave the collection 3 stars.

After reading some "meh" books, I decided to read The Dry by Jane Harper. The mystery kept me intrigued although I definitely predicted some of the reveals. The audiobook was particularly enjoyable as it was narrated by a man with an Australian accent. I awarded it 4 stars.

Completely on a whim, I chose to listen to Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson. This is a funny book of essays, mostly focusing on the author's anxiety and depression. She definitely has a wacky sense of humor but it really worked for me. I gave the book 5 stars.

Lastly, I finished Cleanness by Garth Greenwell. This book is a series of vignettes of an American teacher working in Bulgaria. The writing was incredibly beautiful but because of something triggering in the second chapter, I found myself not really wanting to pick it back up. Every time I did, I enjoyed myself. He is an incredibly skilled writer but I was definitely not in the best mindset to read some horrific things the character endured. Because I feel that I read it at the wrong time, I decided not to rate it.