February Wrap Up

Black History Month, baby!

Total Number of Books: 17
Total Number of Pages: 4,273
Physical: 4
eBooks: 8
Audiobooks: 5
Favorite (New) Reads of the Month: Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé AND The Swans of Harlem by Karen Valby

Physical:

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Neighbor Favor by Kristina Forest – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rootless by Krystle Zara Appiah – ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams is one of my favorite romances ever, so whatever she was coming out with next had some very big shoes to fill. A Love Song for Ricki Wilde wasn’t perfect, but I did really enjoy myself. The character of Ricki Wilde was so fresh and the writing in general was very vibrant. I felt like I was on the streets of Harlem, or the flower shop. There was the perfect amount of magical realism, reminding me of Ashley Poston’s The Seven Year Slip. Nightcrawling was a tough read, but a tremendous debut novel. I was just praying to the last page that everything would work out for Kiara.

eBooks:

Worst Wingman Ever by Abby Jimenez – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
With Any Luck by Ashley Poston – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rosie and the Dreamboat by Sally Thorne – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Drop, Cover, and Hold On by Jasmine Guillory – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Exception to the Rule by Christina Lauren – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Right Move by Liz Tomforde – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Swans of Harlem by Karen Valby – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Improbable Meet-Cute series was a short story collection put out through Amazon. They were all absolutely adorable. Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé was creepy and unsettling. Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé debut, Ace of Spades, was out of this world and her boarding school psychological thriller sophomore novel was just as good, if not even better. She takes the YA genre to a whole new level. The Swans of Harlem was an excellent nonfiction book about five of the first Black ballerinas and founding members of the Dance Theater of Harlem starting in the 60’s. The author covered the history of DTH through these women and how they came back together Hearing these ladies’ stories was so inspiring and moving—some continued careers in the arts, others left dance altogether. The book was incredibly vivid and filled with so much detail.

Audiobooks:

One in a Millennial by Kate Kennedy – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The World According to Joan Didion by Evelyn McDonnell – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Finding Jupiter by Kelis Rowe – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Serenade by Toni Bentley – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Toni Bentley, former dancer of the New York City Ballet tells the story of Balanchine through the construction and intricacies of his first American ballet Serenade.  Joan Didion sounds like she was the coolest lady ever, all the way through her death at 87. I’m really enjoying myself as I read through her books, so it was also fun reading The World According to Joan Didion, a look at how she observed the world as the author moves through her life.