My Month Is Booked: February 2025

Welcome to the first My Month is Booked linkup of 2025! :] January sure felt long, but I didn’t manage to read as much as I’d planned to. (We’ll see if I make up for it this month — I’m in the middle of too many books!)

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I meant to do a recap of my 2024 favorites in my January MMIB post but forgot to, so what better time than the present!?

• Favorite Historical Fiction
  • Salt to the Sea (Ruth Sepetys)
  • The Girl from Provence (Helen Fripp)
  • The Women (Kristin Hannah)
• Favorite Magical Realism
  • Remarkably Bright Creatures (Shelby Van Pelt)
  • The Magic All Around (Janie Chang)
• Favorite Cozy Reads
  • The House in the Cerulean Sea (T.J. Klune)
  • The Spellshop (Sarah Beth Durst)
  • Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe (Heather Webber)
  • The Magic All Around (Jennifer Moorman)
  • Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers (Jesse Q Sutanto)
• Favorite Memoir
  • Educated (Tara Westover)
• Favorite New-To-Me Authors (I will likely be reading everything they write…)
  • Kristin Hannah
  • T.J. Klune
  • Ruth Sepetys

And now…onward to the books that I read in January!

The Modern Navajo Kitchen, by Alana Yazzie – You know me and my love for cookbooks! This was a fun read + the author flawlessly weaves bits about Navajo culinary traditions while sharing both traditional and modern/fusion recipes. She also includes information on different cooking utensils you may need + where to get the rarer ingredients (e.g. juniper ash, blue cornmeal).

I tried Fry Bread when I was in Minnesota + am excited to try making it sometime! :] (May also be headed off to New Mexico for a conference later this year, so I’m looking forward to hopefully trying lots of foods while I’m there!)

The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah – I’m a Kristin Hannah fan + this was no exemption. It follows the life of Leni Albright, a girl forced to mature quickly due to the toxic childhood she grows up with at the hands of her father, an abusive alcoholic who is haunted by his memories as a Vietnam POW. Her family goes off the grid in a harsh, wild, and beautiful remote corner of Alaska.

This book was pretty high up there on my list of Kristin Hannah books to read, and it absolutely didn’t disappoint, despite the many times where things felt so bleak/hopeless, I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue.  (I’ve been a little emotionally distraught this month because of my cat, so I probably should’ve read something happier…) There were heartbreaking + touching moments and also parts that were quite difficult to read (e.g. where I wanted to reach in to strangle one of the characters).  It was definitely a difficult one to put down!

The Measure, by Nikki Erlick – A mysterious wooden box appears at the front door of every adult in the world. It’s engraved with the words, “The measure of your life lies within” and contains a string that lets  you know how long you will live. The Measure follows the lives of 8 different people, how they navigate life afterward, and how their lives intertwine.

This was such a thought-provoking read + the author delved into so many things that I felt paralleled what happened when Covid first started (+ also how things are going now, unfortunately). I read it as part of a would-be book club meeting but ultimately wasn’t able to attend — it would make for such great discussion though. (I’ve been trying to get friends to read it so I can talk with them about it, hahaha.)

Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus – A woman in STEM even now is a difficult place to be — imagine it in the early 1960’s through the eyes of a chemist named Elizabeth Zott who ends up as the reluctant star of a cooking show. This hit the perfect balance of poignancy + humor.

This had been on my to-read list for a while but I will admit to putting it off kindasorta because of the cover, which (to me) gives off a completely different vibe to the actual storyline. Definitely one of my favorites + I wish I’d read it sooner, but better late than never!

(As a bookshop.org affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases if you click the link (at no cost to you).)

• What are you reading this month? I’m in the middle of a lotttt of books right now, so hoping to have finished them by the end of next month…
  • The Dallergut Dream Department Store, by Miye Lee (short audiobook, so will be done soon!)
  • Onyx Storm, by Rebecca Yarros (I read the 1st 2 books last year so I’m kinda happy I didn’t have to wait as long to find out what happens next…)
  • Wicked, by Gregory Maguire (this may take a while — it’s a lot longer than I thought it’d be!)
  • The Vanishing Half, by Britt Bennett (my book club’s pick for February in honor of Black  History Month!)