February 2026 - What are you reading?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vera Wang's Unsolicited Advice for Murderer by Jesse Q. Sutanto. A cute, funny murder mystery that gave me the warm and fuzzies.

That being said, I have read many explanations of NFTs and they still make no sense to me, but that didn't significantly mar my understanding of the plot.

Vera Wang's Unsolicited Advice for Murderer was written for a 12-year old. Simplistic plot and characters. Total waste of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really like Kate Atkinson’s writing, she can be quite wry…I loved her recent short story collection (Normal Rules Don’t Apply), which features interwoven stories and has a fantastical element to it. I even liked Case Histories, though I’m not typically a heavy crime/detective fan.

Loneliness readers…I got stuck on Ilan (the self-centered artist)—if I skim past, will I be rewarded? Love the writing and the other characters, but am in a period where I have a low tolerance for a-hole male characters.

Rewarded? Not sure. It’s all build up to understand Sonia. But I wasn’t a big fan of the book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

Two Indian young adults in the US, their parents set them up. So far I like it but I’ve just started.

I recently finished The Night Watch by Sarah Waters and didn’t enjoy it. It is told in reverse chronological order and the first section is over long and dull. I LOVED Fingersmith so I kept at it, but I don’t recommend it.

I read it all and regretted it. The start is good, especially if you are a Jhabvala fan. But it’s too long and became a tortuous recitation of complaints by both lead characters about their miserable lives and how it was everyone else’s fault- especially colonialism. Wish I had spent the time on something else. Read the Anazon 1 star reviews. That’s exactly how I felt. Needed an editor badly at 700+ pages. Plus nothing is memorable except the complaining after having read it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai

Two Indian young adults in the US, their parents set them up. So far I like it but I’ve just started.

I recently finished The Night Watch by Sarah Waters and didn’t enjoy it. It is told in reverse chronological order and the first section is over long and dull. I LOVED Fingersmith so I kept at it, but I don’t recommend it.

I read it all and regretted it. The start is good, especially if you are a Jhabvala fan. But it’s too long and became a tortuous recitation of complaints by both lead characters about their miserable lives and how it was everyone else’s fault- especially colonialism. Wish I had spent the time on something else. Read the Anazon 1 star reviews. That’s exactly how I felt. Needed an editor badly at 700+ pages. Plus nothing is memorable except the complaining after having read it.

That’s funny- I can see how a reader might respond that way. I have felt like that after other books. But I LOVED this- just finished it. Bhatia and Sonia at the end in Goa? Loved that so much especially. The dog who kept getting stuck next to the toilet? I was even okay with the ghost hound and I’m not a fan of magic realism. I was so happy it was long, too! I wanted to start it all over again when I finished.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vera Wang's Unsolicited Advice for Murderer by Jesse Q. Sutanto. A cute, funny murder mystery that gave me the warm and fuzzies.

That being said, I have read many explanations of NFTs and they still make no sense to me, but that didn't significantly mar my understanding of the plot.

Vera Wang's Unsolicited Advice for Murderer was written for a 12-year old. Simplistic plot and characters. Total waste of time.

You can just say you didn’t like it. Your post gave me the opposite of warm and fuzzies.

[Anonymous]

Currently listening to War Against all Puerto Ricans. Reading Half American. Highly recommend both books.
I finished the Mad Wife and I finally got my turn for James.

[Anonymous]

Hamnet. Loving it!

[Anonymous]

I'm halfway through an epic historical romance written in the 1970s and set in India - The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye. I'm loving it. Fantastic setting with lots of detail about late 1800s India and great characters. It's 1000 pages, so I have about 500 to go, but it reads fast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Finishing The Golem and the Jinn, which I’m loving.
Just started Hamnet for my book club. Only a dozen pages in, but Inreally like O’Farrell’s writing so far.

This is one of my fave books.

It's one of my next in line reads 😍

I read The House in the Cerulean Sea and Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune. About magical children and rules around how magical people live, being true to yourself, accepting yourself, etc. LOVED both. Had them in my shelves for a while and really enjoyed both!! Can't wait for a possible third.

Also just finished Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson. A little meh. About generational wealth, privilege etc. Was supposed to be funny but didn't land it. At first thought I might dnf, then ended up enjoying it a bit, (mostly just Sasha) then the ending/last few sentences kind of ruined any positive feelings I had about the book, just seemed so unnecessary and didn't belong.

Agree on Pineapple Street. Had higher hopes for it and it fell flat. A pretty cover I guess?

I'm just starting Whale Fall about a small island of the coast of great britain and set in 1938 when times are changing for multiple reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm halfway through an epic historical romance written in the 1970s and set in India - The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye. I'm loving it. Fantastic setting with lots of detail about late 1800s India and great characters. It's 1000 pages, so I have about 500 to go, but it reads fast.

Did you read The Covenant of Water? Also set in India, across a big span of time. I loved it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm halfway through an epic historical romance written in the 1970s and set in India - The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye. I'm loving it. Fantastic setting with lots of detail about late 1800s India and great characters. It's 1000 pages, so I have about 500 to go, but it reads fast.

Did you read The Covenant of Water? Also set in India, across a big span of time. I loved it.

I haven't read Covenant of Water yet, but I plan to. I loved his book, Cutting for Stone.
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry is excellent as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Finishing The Golem and the Jinn, which I’m loving.
Just started Hamnet for my book club. Only a dozen pages in, but Inreally like O’Farrell’s writing so far.

This is one of my fave books.

It's one of my next in line reads 😍

I read The House in the Cerulean Sea and Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune. About magical children and rules around how magical people live, being true to yourself, accepting yourself, etc. LOVED both. Had them in my shelves for a while and really enjoyed both!! Can't wait for a possible third.

Also just finished Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson. A little meh. About generational wealth, privilege etc. Was supposed to be funny but didn't land it. At first thought I might dnf, then ended up enjoying it a bit, (mostly just Sasha) then the ending/last few sentences kind of ruined any positive feelings I had about the book, just seemed so unnecessary and didn't belong.

Agree on Pineapple Street. Had higher hopes for it and it fell flat. A pretty cover I guess?

I'm just starting Whale Fall about a small island of the coast of great britain and set in 1938 when times are changing for multiple reasons.

I really like Pineapple Street. It honestly felt like 300 pages of DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Expat, by Hansen Shi

Wary at first because I couldn't deal with the main character's self-loathing. It seemed almost cliche. But I'm glad I kept going. I'm now at about 40% and quite invested.

I ended up liking this a lot. First novel with lots of room to grow. I'm definitely looking forward to what he writes next. (A sequel, maybe?)

Also, I went down the rabbit hole after finishing - reading about the author, what it means (or doesn't) to write about the "Asian-American experience," inluding his and others' takes on "the Great Asian-American Novel." Thought-provoking, especially because I am not Asian and had not considered American Lit through that lens before.

[Anonymous]

Just borrowed The Correspondent from Libby. Excited to see what all the fuss is about!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Finishing The Golem and the Jinn, which I’m loving.
Just started Hamnet for my book club. Only a dozen pages in, but Inreally like O’Farrell’s writing so far.

This is one of my fave books.

It's one of my next in line reads 😍

I read The House in the Cerulean Sea and Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune. About magical children and rules around how magical people live, being true to yourself, accepting yourself, etc. LOVED both. Had them in my shelves for a while and really enjoyed both!! Can't wait for a possible third.

Also just finished Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson. A little meh. About generational wealth, privilege etc. Was supposed to be funny but didn't land it. At first thought I might dnf, then ended up enjoying it a bit, (mostly just Sasha) then the ending/last few sentences kind of ruined any positive feelings I had about the book, just seemed so unnecessary and didn't belong.

Agree on Pineapple Street. Had higher hopes for it and it fell flat. A pretty cover I guess?

I'm just starting Whale Fall about a small island of the coast of great britain and set in 1938 when times are changing for multiple reasons.

I DNF’d Pineapple Street. I found it completely underwhelming and gave up.