February Reads - Late Again…

 Hi Guys,

Again sorry this one is late too. I will try to get March out on time. 

February was a mixture of wet, windy days where I just wanted to hibernate and lovely sunny days where I got to go outside and explore new walks. I took lots of walking books out of the library. I love that you can borrow books and maps! I borrowed an Ordnance Survey map of the Colchester area and scanned the bits where I would regularly walk so that I could save them on my phone. 

I got the train to Manningtree and explored there, I have been reading a book on Essex Witches so it was great to see the history of the town. Manningtree Library has a lovely little museum in the back room, it made my OCD go a little crazy as there is no rhyme or reason to it but it was fun and interesting. I picked up a few charity shop books on my adventures. 

So here is a breakdown of my February Reads:

1. Scarred: The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM the Cult that Bound My Life By Sarah Edmondson and Kristine Gasbarre, Narrated by Sarah Edmondson - Read on Audible between 29/01/2024 and 03/02/2024. This book has been on my TBR pile for a while. I had watched the TV Series The Vow when it came out. I also follow Sarah Edmonson’s podcast, A Little Bit Culty. As I knew a lot about NXIVM before reading this book I felt that the book did not add anything to what I already knew about the topic and Sarah’s story. I liked that the book was read by Sarah Edmondson as you can hear her emotions as she recounts certain parts. I think it is a great book but definitely one for someone who does not know anything about the topic or a good read before listening to A Little Bit Culty, which i strongly recommend if you are interested in cults and psychology.

2. The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett - A paperback found in a charity shop read between 01/02/2024 and 07/02/2024. I attended a book event at Waterstones in Colchester last year. It was an informal discussion group, hosted by author Lauren North (sometimes LC North). We got around talking about out favourite authors and lots of people mentioned Janice Hallett. I picked up this copy in my local charity shop, 3 for £1 deal. I absolutely loved this book. It is written as a series of audio files recorded on an iPhone. It is a great story with lots of twists and turns that gets you guessing about ‘who done it’! You question the characters and whether they all exist. I feel that if you are going to read a Janice Hallett book then you should read a physical copy or digital, as a lot of the complexities of this book is how it is written on the page. I’m not sure how this would come across in an audiobook. 

3. A Beauty and the Beast Retelling - The Fey Collection, Book 1: The Rose and the Thorn by Katherine MacDonald, Narrated by Sasha Higgins - An Audible Audiobook read between 31/01/2024 and 11/02/2024. I found this book on Audible after chatting to the author on Threads. It’s a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. At first I did not enjoy the narrator but I persevered and ended up really enjoying the book. The story is different to the Disney version, the curse is explained that two sisters, one good and one evil, the evil sister cursed the beast to stay in a castle with fading magic. There are lots of twists and turns in the book. I really enjoyed the retelling and will definitely seek out the other books in this series. 

4. Cursed Objects: Strange but true stories of the World’s most infamous items by J.W. Ocker, Narrated by Tim Campbell - This is an Audible audiobook read between 11/02/2024 and 12/02/2024. This was an easy background listen. Quite interesting about objects with stories. I had to google photos of some of the items to fully understand what they were describing. It was a varied collection of stories and objects and quite entertaining due to the narrator. 

5. Bridgertons Book 5: To Sir Philip, With Love by Julia Quinn, Narrated by Rosalyn Landor. - An Audiobook read between 13/02/2024 and 15/02/2024. When book 4 of the Bridgertons series ended I had a preconception that book 5 would be dull, I was very much mistaken! Eloise has not featured that much in previous books but she is a really interesting character. If you are reading the books after the Netflix Series then this Eloise is very different. She felt lonely and isolated when Penelope and Colin got engaged so she pursued her penpal, Sir Philip. He is tortured by his past and as their relationship develops Eloise helps to heal him and his children. 

6. Overcome: A memoir of Abuse, Addiction,Sex Work, and Recovery by Amber Van de Bunt, Narrated by Amber Van de Bunt - An Audiobook read between 23/02/2024 and 24/02/2024. This was a really interesting autobiography. A great example of going from misfortune, to completely owning your life. It was raw and full of emotion. I could relate to some of the issues, on a much smaller scale! I really loved that Amber decided to narrate her own story on Audible. I also loved that her husband wrote a postscript regarding his experiences of their relationship. 

7. The Librarian Chronicles Book 1: The Librarian, by Christy Sloat, Narrated by Piper Goodeve - An Audiobook read between 24/02/2024 and 25/02/2024. I stumbled across this book on Audible for free and I knew that I would love it! The concept of the book is entering history books in order to check that the historians have given a correct version of the event or person. This book follows Emme who took over from her Gram and inherited her library. This is when she was introduced to the world of the Librarians. She makes lava the mistakes that Librarians should never make, falling in love with her source. This book follows the challenges she has in learning the ways of the Librarian and in her everyday life. 

8. The Librarian Chronicles Book 2: The Archivist, by Christy Sloat, Narrated by Piper Goodeve - An Audiobook read between 25/02/2024 and 29/02/2024. This book follows a different Librarian, Savannah who is more experienced unlike Emme in the previous book. She has known about the Librarians her whole life. She follows Scottish historical figures. Her current mark is Malcolm Walsh. She learns how his story is incorrect and makes a huge decision that she has to live with! She brings the hero, out of the pages of the book to modern life! Emme gets involved and gives them a choice, which leads to a happily ever after. 

I really enjoyed the mix of books that I have read this month. I hope you have enjoyed my reviews. Please drop a comment below or contact me if you want to connect! I will update with March Reads soon.

Enjoy the spring sunshine, 

Sammie