It’s time to recap what I read in February. I read another six books this month, bringing my total to 12. I need to pick up the pace a little to reach my goal of reading 75 books, but I’m doing okay. This month, my favorite book was The Husband’s Secret and my least favorite was probably The Shoemaker’s Wife.

1. Angel Falls by Kristin Hannah (4 stars)

This was a hard, heavy read. It involves a mother, Mikaela, who goes into a coma after falling from her horse and being kicked in the head, and the effect it has on her family. The main voices are her husband, Liam, their 9-year-old son, Bret, and the woman’s mother, Rosa. All three of them are such well-written characters and I felt myself falling into this story easily and intrigued to find out the outcome of the story. Throughout the pages, Liam discovers a secret Mikaela has kept hidden for years: the fact that she was married to movie star Julian True. It’s a story about the power of love, the sacredness of marriage, and the cost of keeping secrets. I really, really love this author.

2. Burning Up by Susan Andersen (3 stars)

I read this in the midst of reading Angel Falls because I needed something light and cute and romantic to even out the sadness of the other book. It was the perfect break, too! Burning Up is just one of those easy, cute romances with a hunky leading man, an adorable leading lady, and an interesting plot that made me keep turning the pages. I enjoyed it!

3. The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani (3 stars)

This was probably one of my favorite reads of Trigiani’s, right up until the last 100 pages. It followed the journey of two Italian immigrants, Enza and Ciro, and their unlikely love story. Ciro has to go to America based on a scandal he’s a part of and falls in love with the art of shoemaking, while Enza comes to America with her father to help her family (who lost their home and was struggling to make ends meet). Through a series of incidents, they both make a life there: Ciro as a shoemaker and Enza as a factory girl turned dressmaker. They make friends, experience life-changing events, and find themselves always coming back to one another. I feel like the last 100 pages simply dragged on and on, and certain events happened I wasn’t a big fan of, but it was still an interesting story and an enjoyable read.

4. The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty (5 stars)

I loved this book. I hadn’t heard of it until someone at book club mentioned it as a possible pick to read, and then I started seeing it all over the place! Funny how that happens. This book weaves together the lives of three very different people: Cecilia, mother of three with a seemingly content, if boring, life; Rachel, a middle-aged woman still trying to get over the loss of her daughter some twenty-odd years ago; and Tess, whose husband and best friend just announced they are in love with one another. I was immediately drawn to this book and these characters from the beginning page until the last one. There were times when I laughed, times when I was shocked, and times when I was deeply saddened. I loved Moriarty’s writing style and the easy flow of her words. It was poignant and moving, but also refreshing and fun. I highly recommend this book!

5. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (4 stars)

A couple of months ago, I found this fun reading challenge of reading every book that was either read or mentioned by Rory Gilmore on Gilmore Girls. I’ll admit that I’ve never seen the entire Gilmore Girls series. (I’m trying to rectify that!) But I saw enough to fall in love with Rory and when I found this challenge, I knew I wanted to attempt to complete it. So I marked 10 books on Goodreads that I want to read this year based on this list and The Kite Runner was the first book I completed. It was an easy decision to add this book to the list because A Thousand Splendid Suns by Hosseini remains one of my favorite books of all time, and I’ve been encouraged by others to read this one.

I really enjoyed this book, though it was by no means an easy read. But it was an important one. I’m still trying to process it. Hosseini’s books are ones that stay with you for a long time. It’s a story about bravery and cowardice, the quest for approval, friendship and honor, love and family. It’s a book that was hard to pick up at times, but I still couldn’t help falling into the story, the characters, the heartbreak and the triumph. I highly recommend reading anything by this author. He’s an amazing storyteller.

6. Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey (4 stars)

This was a cute romance novel to round out my month with. It was fairly predictable, a little cheesy, and not overly hot. (I like when my main characters have sex appeal that just oozes off the pages. OOZES!) But it was still enjoyable and easy to read. I like her books!

What was your favorite read for February?

I had a solid reading month in January. I set a goal to read 75 books this year, which is averaging around 6-7 books per month. I kicked 2014 off with six books read, my favorite being The Rosie Project and my least favorite being The Aviator’s Wife.

1. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (4 stars)

This novel was utterly charming. I loved the characters, especially Dr. Don Tillman, who reminded me of Dr. Sheldon Cooper (from The Big Bang Theory!) so much that I pictured him throughout the entire novel. It was an easy read, but also had a lot of social complexities to it, which also made it an interesting read. I heard it will be made into a movie and if anyone but Jim Parsons plays Don Tillman, my whole world is a lie.

2. In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner (4 stars)

I actually really enjoyed this book! I remember seeing the movie when it came out, but never read the book. (Though I can barely remember the movie at all.) The novel was a bit long, at over 500 pages, but I found myself settling in and really investing in the story. Jennifer Weiner’s novels are really hit or miss for them. Some novels, I adore, and some novels I feel like I wasted precious time reading. This one fell safely in the “hit” category, and it was a really enjoyable read.

3. Secret Agent Secretary by Melissa Cutler (4 stars)

Sometimes, you just want to read a really kick-ass romantic mystery with characters whose sexual tension sizzles off the pages and a storyline that moves fast. This is that book. It’s the second one from this author and I loved it just as much as the first one. Very well-written, though it does get a little heavy on the cheese toward the end. It left me feeling happy and satisfied.

4. The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin (2.5 stars)

I struggled to get through this book. The writing was good, but the story was just really slow and kind of tragic. It’s a fictional adaptation of Anne Lindbergh’s, wife to Charles Lindbergh, life. And she just lived a very hard one. Maybe I’m too much of a dreamer and idealist to appreciate this novel, but I just felt like she had a very lonely, sad life. She got to do some amazing things, for sure, but when you compare it to a loveless, unfaithful marriage? It just made me rather sad. Good writing, sad story.

5. Cowboy Justice by Melissa Cutler (3 stars)

One of my ways of helping me get through a book I’m struggling with (see above book) is by reading a cute romance novel along with it. So I bought this one from my new favorite romantic suspense author and I enjoyed it. I really loved the main character and the chemistry between her and her “cowboy” just oozed off the page. There was a lot of suspense and mystery and drama, along with dry wit and humor. I flew through this one in a matter of days.

6. The Girl With a Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson (3.5 stars)

I reviewed this book yesterday, and you can find that review here.

Do you ever read two books at one time?

It’s time for my last book review post for what I read in 2013! I ended the year reading 102 books. My highest reading month was August, when I read 13 books (also, coincidentally, the month I took a break from blogging and social media), while my lowest reading month was April when I read just five books. I’m not shooting to read as many books this year (I set a goal for 75 on Goodreads), because I want to focus on quality over quantity, and also not disregard some of my other hobbies for reading.

Anyway, here we go! December book reviews. My favorite book this month was Tempted Into Danger and my least favorite was Save As Draft.

95. My Wicked Little Lies by Victoria Alexander (4 stars)

This was a fun, quick read. I haven’t read too many historical romance novels this year, but this was a “free” paperback I picked up from my library (free meaning I didn’t check it out and can return it anytime I want) that I dived into one lazy weekend and couldn’t put down. It had a really interesting premise, great characters, and a fast-moving plot. I loved it!

96. Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed (4 stars)

This book is all kinds of wonderful. I love the way Strayed writes, and she was just as honest and blunt and real in her advice column. I found myself tearing through this book, so interested in each new column and feeling so deeply the pain and tragedy the people who wrote to her went through. In some ways, it was a trigger for my anxiety (since my anxiety as a whole, mainly comes when I get freaked out about tragedy happening), but mostly, it was just a blessing to read. Life is pain and heartache and trials… but it is also joy and excitement and happiness. I ended this book wishing I could write my own letter to Sugar because her advice is always so spot-on and based in truth. A must read!

97. Tempted Into Danger by Melissa Cutler (5 stars)

I devoured this novel. It was a simple Harlequin romantic thriller, but it was so good. It was so well-written, so filled with action and character drama and excitement and I could not put it down. I’m not typically one to want to read the next book in the series when it’s Harlequin, but I actually pre-ordered the next book because this one was so amazing. She definitely ranks up there with the better romantic suspense authors!

98. On Mystic Lake by Kristin Hannah (4 stars)

This was the first novel of Kristin Hannah’s that I’ve read, and I really, really enjoyed it! It involved a lot of hard things – cheating, mental illness, and death – but Hannah weaved together a wonderful story of hope, life, and the power of love. There were times when the main character annoyed me and I just wanted her to grow a backbone, but I suppose it was necessary for the character development throughout the story. I can’t wait to read more from her!

99. Fools Rush In by Kristan Higgins (3 stars)

This was a cute chick-lit novel, though a bit cheesy and there were times when the main character felt a bit far-fetched. I liked the natural pace of the love story, though, and there were some great characters in the novel. All in all, not one of the best chick-lit novels I’ve read, but an easy read.

100. Save as Draft by Cavanaugh Leigh (2 stars)

This book was okay, but I didn’t love it. I saw it had good reviews, so that interested me enough to pick it up. It’s told through emails, as the main character is searching for love. She tries Match.com, then ends up falling for her best friend, right after going on a great first date with a wonderful guy she met through the dating site. It felt a bit dated to me (because who really conducts all their conversations through emails?!) and I just didn’t like the main character all that much. None of the characters felt consistent throughout the story, and I was very confused by the ending. Never a good thing! Not a book I would recommend.

101. The Supreme Macaroni Company by Adriana Trigiani (3 stars)

You’ll see my review for this book on Wednesday!

102. Into the Fire by Suzanne Brockmann (5 stars)

My last book of 2013! Another stellar book from Suzanne Brockmann, as always. It was filled with action, character drama, and a wayward love story. It brought back some much-loved characters from Brockmann’s other novels and I flew through this book in a matter of days. As long as she keeps putting out books, I’ll keep reading them!

Books read in December: 8
Books read in 2013: 102

How many books did you read in 2013?