What I Read in February 2020.
This month was SUCH a great reading month for me. I read a ton, read some great books, some not-so-great.
While I’m keeping my reviews here on the blog, I have been updating my goodreads account with what I’m reading, so you can see what I read in real time.
You can find my reading lists here and previous What I Read posts here. I’d love to hear below what you read this month!
What I read in February 2020
The Idea of You – 5 stars
OMG. I am still in deep sadness and denial that this book is over. I don’t even know how to talk about it. I read this after hearing Becca rave about it on Bad on Paper. IT IS SO GOOD. You should definitely read it and then listen to both of their podcast episodes on it. The book is about a woman who falls in love with a member of a boy band and they have a 20 year age difference. I thought this was SO well written. It was a gut wrenching story. There is a lot of sex in it but it is not a trashy romance, if you can believe that. The story was captivating. I loved the characters so much. This was a book that left me in book depression for days, and actually might have been why I hated one of the books below so much. I am still thinking about these characters as if they were real. READ IT!
Open Book – 3.5 stars
I really, really enjoyed this book. Jessica Simpson was ALWAYS my first favorite (in the Britney/Christina era, I only liked Jessica!) and heck, if you go back and read my Tuesday Things from ten years ago, I talk about how much I loved her. So obviously, I loved reading this! I think the real juicy stuff is about John Mayer. Sure, I wanted to read the Nick details, but most of it was released to the press before this book came out. When you read all the stuff about John Mayer in this book, you will be like whaaaaaat. There was so much in this book I enjoyed and even things I could relate to.
Chase the Butterflies – 1 star
This is the book I referenced above that I read after The Idea of You. And I don’t think I’ve ever given a book one star before (ever!) but I was not a fan of this. At all. The story starts when something terrible happens after a couple gets engaged and it goes from there. First (and this is my fault), I didn’t realize this fell more into the romance genre and while I love a good love story, I prefer the women’s fiction or even chick lit genre over true romance genre. Second, I was semi-invested in the story at the beginning, but nearly three quarters of the way though when you find out what is going on – the twist – I just COULD NOT. That is not my kind of read, I am not interested in it and I want to read things that are believable. No no no! It ruined the entire book for me. However, this book is highly rated in other places, so it may just be me.
Don’t You Forget About Me – 2.5 stars
I wanted to love this SO MUCH. But I had a hard time getting into this book. My kindle app said I was 45% of the way through and it was still SO slow moving for me. I also just… didn’t like any of the beginning? I didn’t connect with it at all. The ending turned it around for me a little bit, but I almost didn’t finish because it was so hard for me to get through! I went several nights without reading because I was actually dreading reading more of it.
Been There, Married That – 2.5 stars
I am so torn on this one too. This is a story about a hollywood author, married to the biggest producer in the business and the story of their divorce. The writing felt disjointed and was almost hard for me to understand. Really… no one in this story is likeable at all! They are all terrible. Parts of this were just so odd and disturbing (like the almond rehab thing), but I kept reading to see what happened in the end. The ending wasn’t even that great, but it was happier than expected. I’d love to hear if you read this one because I just don’t know how to describe it.
This is Not How it Ends – 4.5 stars
GAH. This book. It killed me. It is SO wildly emotional for many reasons. I started this last Friday night at 8pm and finished it at 3AM – I could not stop reading. (Also, this is a testament to how much I hate sleep and how I will do anything to keep reading.) This book is a classic love triangle, but you actually love ALL the characters and there are many twists. I loved the writing. The story is incredible. I have not read anything else by this author and I think she may be like Jodi Picoult – incredible stories but most of them involve trauma, death, sickness, etc. I realize this makes me seem unsophisticated/ridiculous/head in the clouds/etc but I am just not interested in reading that stuff. Real life is sad enough! I don’t need a super unrealistically happy book, but I do not want to read about certain situations, especially in depth. That’s the only reason this isn’t 5 stars for me. I so highly recommend this story as it is WONDERFUL.
That Weekend in Paris – 3 stars
Oh man. Okay so I just finished this one yesterday. Given my love for country music I thought I would love this! It’s a story of a country music artist and a songwriter who connect while he is doing a show in Paris. And I did enjoy it a lot, especially the first half. I felt like it was written for YA but I don’t think it is YA? And I thought this was on track to be a 4ish star read for me, but the last 1/8th of the book went off the rails! I actually had to go back to make sure I didn’t miss a portion of the story? When it jumps forward to 14 months later… and what happens… I’m like WHAT? These people don’t really even know each other!! Felt like the last quarter of the book was insanely rushed and a bit outrageous. Overall I did like this, just didn’t connect with the last quarter (though I was happy with the outcome).
Break Shot: My First 21 Years – 5 stars
Okay if you’re a life long James Taylor fan, you have to listen to this. It was wonderful and really went into his back story. It’s only 90 minutes long too. I told my parents they have to listen because they would probably enjoy it even more – they were alive during all the things he talks about! But I still enjoyed it so much. James also narrates it and I just love that. 5 stars obvi for my lifelong favorite.
Summer of ’79 – 3 stars
Another super fast read that was a follow up to Summer of ’69! I liked it and obviously will read anything Elin writes. And it’s always fun to catch up on characters when you get as invested as I do. I think what I loved most about it is that it just brought me back to a summer novel during these cold dreary months.
22 Comments on “What I Read in February 2020.”
OMG!! 9 books in a month? Wow, I have no children/few responsibilities and I was feeling proud of my 7-book February! 2 questions:
1. How do you have time to read so much/when do you read? Since I’ve gotten back into reading I basically never watch TV anymore, but I feel like you’re also so caught up on TV things!
2. Do you get books from the library or do you buy them all?? I struggle with the financials of buying books but I always want to read the newest releases and the library waiting list is a mile long!
I second both of these questions!
I’m an avid reader as well – and I only go through the library- my recommendation is to see if your library has ordered a “large print” of the same book title – the wait list is always shorter if you don’t mind the large print :) My library shows their recent “orders” on the catalog online and that is always helpful to get on the wait list right away.
haha omg so many questions!! okay so first i would say it’s more 7 books (the james taylor was a 90 minute listen on audible and the summer of 79 was only a few chapters!).
first, it probably helps that i am a pretty fast reader. especially with light reads! i read every night though, and i hate sleep, so i will ALWAYS sacrifice sleep to read. i have done this my entire life! i will literally read until the moment i cannot keep my eyes open anymore. it’s not unusual for me to read an entire book in one night if i have 5-6 hours. i love when i find a book that good and will easily survive on 3-4 hours sleep to enjoy that read! i also read in the school pick up line for max (30ish mins) and maybe a little in the afternoon if i have a break before dinner and they kids are playing.
second, when it comes to TV, i never just watch TV. i am *always* working when i watch a show, but it’s mindless work like editing photos. so for instance, if i watch grey’s and a million little things tonight, i’ll edit a few hundred photos during that time and do some other busy but required work that doesn’t take brain power (like i can’t write when i watch TV, you know?). but i never just sit and watch TV without working, so that helps! then i’ll read for 1-2 hours before bed.
i mostly buy all of my books, unless i’m sharing/swapping with a friend/family (my mom, aunt, cousin are all huge readers as well). i do not mind buying books at all but that is probably because as an author, i want to support other authors and know how important the actual purchase of the book is! i’m also impatient and want to read what i want right away (like i’d never have patience for the waiting list!). more often than not, i’m purchasing the kindle version so it’s slightly cheaper. i don’t love reading electronically (always would choose a book in my hands over that!) but i started when i was nursing the kids at night and didn’t want to turn on a light. and it kind of just stuck!
Omg thank you for this long and well-thought-out answer!! This all makes *so* much sense. I too love to sacrifice sleep to read, haha!
I’m jealous of your TV situation – I’m dying to be able to work remote so that I can do my mindless tasks with the TV on too!
I also buy all of my books because I can’t abide the library waiting list, lol, so I feel more validated now! Glad to hear from an author’s perspective that that’s your route too (I did buy both of your cookbooks, haha). Now if only all the books I want didn’t cost like $150 per month!! Thanks again for taking the time to respond! Love your blog.
I’m having so much fun following you on goodreads. I just finished “The Alice Network,” and I loved it SO much!
ahh thanks christy!
I finally got to reading Where the Crawdads Sing – so incredible. Not at all what I expected. While being a captivating read, it left me feeling sad. The whole feel to the book was very sad to me.
Also read Tell Me Everything by Cambria Brockman – more of a thriller but not scary. It was a fascinating look into people who lack empathy.
Lastly, I listened to Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. I did not plan on reading this as I was expecting the book to be something very different. But I loved it! Its lighthearted while exploring different relationships. Such a fun book to walk and listen to.
ahhh i loved both where the crawdads sing and little fires everywhere!!
The Idea of You was my first book of 2020 — also influenced by Becca and Grace! — and honestly I still don’t think I’ve recovered. The book hangover was REAL. (I also now have an out-of-nowhere and completely age-inappropriate fascination with Harry Styles, but let’s not get into that.) You articulated it perfectly: so well written, so captivating, so gut-wrenching, and somehow SO steamy without being trashy. If there is anyone here who hasn’t read it yet, DO IT. I loved the ending but am also one of the many readers clamoring for a sequel.
PS — I’m loving following you on GoodReads. I’m adding This Is Not How It Ends to my 2020 reading list now!
right?! that book is AMAZING!!! i honestly don’t think i need a sequel because i knew from the beginning that there was just NO way it could work. but the end still killed me!
I’m really enjoying these new posts! I just finished reading Such a Fun Age last night (very quick read, would give 4 stars) and I’m looking for a new book so this came just in time!
thank you lorraine!! i really enjoyed that one too.
OK, I read like 30% of Been There, Married That and had to stop. And I never stop in the middle of books!! But I agree completely that it was super hard to follow and disjointed and bordering on ridiculous. I’m glad I didn’t miss much by not finishing. Going to check out The Idea of You immediately!!
ahhh right?! i read the reviews once i finished and was like… thank goodness it is not just me. hah!
i finished where the crawdads sing in February and i thought it was just ok. i listened in the car and while i found the readers voice to be great…i just felt it took me a really long time to get into the book. without giving the ending away….ive never wished for a particular person to be the killer more in this book and then been so satisfied. not sure what that says about me ????
i’m currently reading jayz made in america and so far its just ok. i hope it will get better. and I’m one of the 5 people on earth who have not read all the harry potter books so like 1x per year i have been reading one of those. i love them ! im on book 4 right now Goblet of Fire. this one will take me a while since its on my kindle and i only find the time to read here and there on my kindle. for me…the key is to put down the phone before bed and that equals more read time. its just so hard !!!!
i’ve been trying to just read small bits. like if i have 5 mins before bed to read i will just do it. for some reason unless i have an hour, i have recently not been picking up a book. in march im going to try to read a little bit each day. im a child and make a chart for myself and cross off the days for something like a daily goal and for some reason it helps me :)
thank you for all the recos.
ohhh i forgot to say….i added jessica simpson audio book to my library queue. i cannot wait for her to read to me in the car !!!!
“What I Read” is a terrific addition to your blog! I am loving your book reviews and suggestions and am going to run over to Barnes & Noble on my lunch break to buy The Idea of You! I am impressed that you finish books that you don’t really like, I am far more lazy and will quit if it doesn’t grab me after a few chapters. I just finished Dear Edward and it was excellent. Also, if you haven’t read The Gifted School it is a really juicy read, kind of along the lines of the college cheating scandal. Have a great weekend!
I am loving your monthly book review roundups!! I seriously look forward to them every month so thank you!!
Gah!! The Idea of You. SO good. I read it over a year ago and still think about it regularly. It was so well written and I could not put it down!!!
Wow – thank you. I just finished The Idea of You and I literally said out loud, “No, that cannot be how it ends.” That was incredible. Going to dive into This is Not How It Ends next.
Jess! Oh.My.God. The Idea of You!! I went to add it to my Goodreads list after reading this post a few weeks ago only to realize I put it on there like two years ago and never got to reading it. But, I totally love and trust your recommendations so I was sold with the 5 starts and immediately requested it from the library. And, let me tell you, with the craziness in the world right now this book was like a oasis, a welcome reprieve, a much needed hideaway and left me with the BIGGEST book hangover of all time. I read it all in a day and was devastated when it was over. But, delighted when I went back to this post to realize that there are two Bad on Paper episodes about it. So, I’ll start to listen to those on my way home from work tonight. And, I totally think I’ll reread this just to experience it all over again. So, thanks for the recommendations always but especially right now when we all need a break from the realities of life. I’m on to This is Not How It Ends next. Keep the book reviews coming, I love and totally look forward to them.
I finished This Isn’t How it Ends last week (so darn good and sad all in one….I have not cried that much over a book in a long time!). So many feels.
And I finished The Idea of You last night. Dang it all, I want A follow up! It makes me so mad/sad that (spoiler alert) love didn’t win! I guess Other titles of love won but COME ON!!! So many feels that are, perhaps, escalated due to the current situation all over the world….