Hello Readers! I spent the last few days of the month scrambling to finish up two books for review, so my end of the month posts are running a bit behind. Which is why I’m combining my Wrap-Up and Haul again. I apologize for the lengthy post. 🙂

Considering I spent most of the month reading the very chunky An Echo in the Bone, my seventh book in the Outlander series, I think I had a pretty good reading month. If you look back at My February TBR, you’ll see I managed to read six of the ten I’d hoped to read, bringing my total pages read to 3,033 pages. I added a few ARCs this month (one that was a very nice surprise on my birthday!) and I purchased a few other books I couldn’t resist on sale. I’ll be sharing those in my haul, as well.

Let’s see what I managed to read and add to my shelves!

Be sure to check out The Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction!

(Link to synopsis on Goodreads through the book title.)

February Wrap-Up

I started the month with One Night on the Island by Josie Silver. One of my most anticipated books of the year, it ended up being my favorite book of the month, as well. I adored this heartwarming romance!

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My Review
Available 2/15/22

Next I picked up Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. This book has been waiting on my shelf for years and I wanted to read it before I watched the adaptation. Sadly, this one didn’t live up to the hype for me. I could appreciate that it’s well-written and literary, but I think it’s just too soon for me to dive back into pandemic novels. I still gave it four stars because I know I would have enjoyed it more at a different time. I have watched half of the series so far, and I’m enjoying it more than the book, although it’s quite different.

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I had fun reading Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson, a bookish romance set in the publishing world. This one was charming and set around Valentine’s, so it was perfect timing.

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐
My Review
Available 2/15/22

Wanting to stay in the world of romance, I read Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover, a Kindle Unlimited title. I don’t always love Hoover’s books, and this one fell somewhere in the middle for me. It was entertaining, but forgettable.

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐.50

It had been almost 2 years since I read the previous book in the Outlander series, so before I even started An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon, I had to refresh my memory. I have to say the first 600 pages of this one was slow-going, but then it was classic Outlander. This one deals mostly with the American Revolution, which is probably why I struggled. I’m here for the romance! 😉 BUT now I’m ready for the next season of the adaptation, which starts on March 6th!

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Elsewhere by Alexis Schaitkin was a book that showed up on my doorstep in late January. It wasn’t even on my radar, but I’d read and enjoyed her previous book Saint X, so I was happy to give this one a try, as well. The publisher requested it be read by the end of the month. However, I’m not sure my head was in the right frame of mind for this speculative fiction novel about disappearing mothers. But what a gorgeous cover!

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐
My Review
Available June 28, 2022

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle was one of my most anticipated books for the year. I started this one while I was also reading Elsewhere, and it was strange, but interesting to be reading two books about disappearing mothers. The setting of Positano, Italy is what made this book pop. While I didn’t love it as much as Serle’s previous books, in the end I was satisfied.

My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐
My Review
Available March 1, 2022

February Book Haul

I added a few digital and physical books this month thanks to sales, Paperbackswap, an Early Reads selection from Sourcebooks, and some new ARCs.

My eARCs

Happy Birthday to me! Something Wilder by Christina Lauren showed up in my inbox and made my birthday extra special. I was especially wanting to read this one because I’m hoping to finally travel to Utah soon with my mountain-biking husband.

Synopsis:

Growing up the daughter of notorious treasure hunter and absentee father Duke Wilder left Lily without much patience for the profession…or much money in the bank. But Lily is nothing if not resourceful, and now uses Duke’s coveted hand-drawn maps to guide tourists on fake treasure hunts through the red rock canyons of Utah. It pays the bills but doesn’t leave enough to fulfill her dream of buying back the beloved ranch her father sold years ago, and definitely not enough to deal with the sight of the man she once loved walking back into her life with a motley crew of friends ready to hit the trails. Frankly, Lily would like to take him out into the wilderness—and leave him there.

Leo Grady knew mirages were a thing in the desert, but they’d barely left civilization when the silhouette of his greatest regret comes into focus in the flickering light of the campfire. Ready to leave the past behind him, Leo wants nothing more than to reconnect with his first and only love. Unfortunately, Lily Wilder is all business, drawing a clear line in the sand: it’s never going to happen.

But when the trip goes horribly and hilariously wrong, the group wonders if maybe the legend of the hidden treasure wasn’t a gimmick after all. There’s a chance to right the wrongs—of Duke’s past and their own—but only if Leo and Lily can confront their history and work together. Alone under the stars in the isolated and dangerous mazes of the Canyonlands, Leo and Lily must decide whether they’ll risk their lives and hearts on the adventure of a lifetime.

Expected May 17, 2022

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I was thrilled to also be invited to read Blake Crouch’s next novel, Upgrade!

Synopsis:

When the SWAT team gives the all-clear and Logan Ramsay steps into the basement, he has no idea that everything’s about to change.

Then there’s the hiss of aerosol. The explosion. The shrapnel that punctures his hazmat gear. Logan wakes up to find himself in a hospital bed, attended by doctors in their own hazmat suits, his wife and daughter looking on from behind the glass.

The doctors say he’s been infected by a virus–one designed not to make him sick, but to modify his very genetic structure. In a world where the next-generation gene-editing tool known as Scythe is widely available–and has already reaped disastrous consequences–the possibilities are too many and terrifying to count.

Except that after the fever, the pain, the fear…the virus is gone. And according to his government bosses, Logan’s got a clean bill of health.

But the truth is that with each day that passes, Logan’s getting smarter. Seeing things more clearly. He’s realizing that he’s been upgraded in ways that go beyond even Scythe’s capabilities–and that he’s been given these abilities for a reason.

Because a holy grail of genetic engineering–one that could change our very definitions of humanity–has just been unearthed. And now it’s up to him to stop it from falling into the wrong hands. 

Logan’s becoming something more. Something better. Even with the whole world hunting for him, he might be able to outthink his opponents and win the war that’s coming.

But what if it’s at the cost of being himself? 

Expected July 12, 2022

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I was also excited to be invited to read Megan Goldin’s next thriller, Stay Awake!

Synopsis:

Liv Reese wakes up in the back of a taxi with no idea where she is or how she got there. When she’s dropped off at the door of her brownstone, a stranger answers―a stranger who now lives in her apartment and forces her out in the cold. She reaches for her phone to call for help, only to discover it’s missing, and in its place is a bloodstained knife. That’s when she sees that her hands are covered in black pen, scribbled messages like graffiti on her skin: STAY AWAKE.

Two years ago, Liv was living with her best friend, dating a new man, and thriving as a successful writer for a trendy magazine. Now, she’s lost and disoriented in a New York City that looks nothing like what she remembers. Catching a glimpse of the local news, she’s horrified to see reports of a crime scene where the victim’s blood has been used to scrawl a message across a window, the same message that’s inked on her hands. What did she do last night? And why does she remember nothing from the past two years? Liv finds herself on the run for a crime she doesn’t remember committing as she tries to piece together the fragments of her life. But there’s someone who does know exactly what she did, and they’ll do anything to make her forget―permanently.

In the vein of SJ Watson’s Before I Go to Sleep and Christopher Nolan’s cult classic Memento, Megan Goldin’s Stay Awake is an electrifying novel that plays with memory and murder. 

Expected August 9, 2022

My Paperbackswap book

Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips – I’d almost forgotten I’d added this thriller to my wishlist. I honestly can’t remember anything about it, but it seems to have great reviews. Let me know if you’ve read it!

My Purchases

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev – I couldn’t resist picking up the ebook of this one after reading and loving her short story The Wedding Setup.
Throne of Glass 8 Book Bundle by Sarah J. Maas – I couldn’t believe when I saw this one on sale for $5.99! It’s been on my tbr for years.

I ordered these three books after I saw Leslie share that Target had a buy 2, get 1 free sale. I couldn’t resist, AND I had a gift card. Yay!

• Heartstopper: Volume 1 by Alice Oseman – I received Volume 2 of this graphic novel series in a book subscription box, but I knew I needed to read Volume 1 first. I’m happy I was finally able to add it to my shelf.
• The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood – This one is at the top of my tbr stack. Hopefully I can get to it this month.
• Anxious People by Fredrik Backman – I’ve been wanting to get my hands on this one for forever. I’m anxious to read it before I watch the adaptation on Netflix.

Free Books

Have you read either of these freebie books I picked up but knew nothing about?

• Love Off-Limits by Jenny Proctor – This romance set on a farm sounded super cute, and it has great reviews.
• Rewrite the Stars by Christina Consolino – I was intrigued by this book about a mom of three struggling with a crumbling marriage. It also has great reviews.

Love This F*cking Journey for Me by D.A. Sarac – I received this colorful and fun journal from the Early Reads program from Sourcebooks. I’ll be sharing a more detailed review with a look inside soon!

Amazon First Reads

This month we could choose two books from Amazon First Reads. I chose The Astronaut and the Star by Jen Comfort, a rom-com about a female astronaut tasked with training a Hollywood actor for a space film, and The Fallen Stones by Diana Marcum, a memoir about a journalist’s experience on a vacation to a butterfly farm in the Maya Mountains during a hurricane and a global pandemic.

How was your reading month? Have you read any of these books? Did you add any of them to your TBR? Let me know in the comments!

Happy Wandering!