The month of love . . . February . . . well, every month should be a month of love, but this month we get to celebrate love! Remember, God is LOVE… so there’s something amazing to celebrate right there. (1 John 4:8) I’m loving God, my family, my books and reading progress, and my art class activities. So much happiness and fun!
My February Word of the Month
Way
My February Haiku of the Month
Life along the way:
Peacefulness in surrender
To one who knows all.
Bible Verse of the Month
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” – John 14:6
My February reading diary is at the bottom of this page, after the book list.
My Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/lindajm
☆ – I own the book and am ready to read.
★ – I’m reading it.
✓ – I finished reading it. Yay!
⇗ – Still reading at the end of the month.
DNF – I did not like it or finish it.
∅ – Stalled – I started but didn’t finish.
↓ – I didn’t even start. Complete fail!
My Personal Challenge This Month
My February reading goals are to continue with the reading challenges I’ve chosen for 2022. I’ve chosen the following books for February. Hopefully there will be a good balance of paperbacks, hardbacks, Kindle books and Audible audiobooks. I’m still trying to decide what to do about my usual February 14 annual subscription to Audible. It is a good chunk of change. Is this the right time for it? But it is my annual Valentines Day gift to myself – because basically, I have no sweetheart to give me anything else, nor would I even want a box of chocolates considering the negative impact that would have on my physical health, and I’d just as soon the roses remained on the rose bushes! I just want to read as much as possible this month and am trying for at least nine books of various thicknesses.
A few book choices for this month
✓ Christian: Adventures in Prayer, by Catherine Marshall
This is a short book about prayer by one of my favorite authors. Last year I read two of her novels: Christy, and Julie. Great books! …. Later …. I finished this book on February 9, 2022. This is the best book on prayer I’ve read. It is unique and useful. And short, and concise. Wonderful, in other words. My Goodreads review – ★★★★★
✓ Juvenile Historical Fiction: Heart of a Samurai, by Margi Preus
I read this to continue my quest to read all the Newbery list books, this 2011 Newbery Honor Book is available to me now on Kindle. Here’s my Goodreads review. ★★★★★
★ Naturalist Memoir: Shadows on the Klamath: A Woman of the Woods, by Louise Wagenknecht
This is a book I hoped to read in January but didn’t get to then. This will be my first go-to book for February. No doubt. A brand new hot-off-the-press third memoir by a woman who grew up in the area I now live in. This should work as part of my California reading and writing challenge for 2022.
✓ Narrative Nonfiction: American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century, by Howard Blum
After ditching the last audiobook I decided to listen to this one, about labor unions and the bombing of the Los Angeles Times building on October 1, 1910. The term “American Lightning” refers to motion pictures. I finished this on February 11. Here’s my Goodreads review. ★★★★
✓ Juvenile Fiction: The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, by Rodman Philbrick
This will be my Newbery List book of the month. It is a 2012 Newbery Honor Book. [Later] Finished 2/15/22. Great book for teen boys. It was mostly enjoyable. Here’s my review – ★★★★
✓ Nonfiction: A Grief Observed, by C.S. Lewis
I found out I lost a dear friend, so I’m reading this. [Later] Short book, but worth reading if you’re grieving. My Goodreads review. – ★★★★★
★ Christian Art: Breath for the Bones: Art, Imagination, and Spirit: Reflections on Creativity and Faith, by Luci Shaw
Recommended by my art business mentor.
✓ YA Fiction: Fever 1793, by Laurie Halse Anderson
An audiobook. This one I’m reading for the 50 State Challenge on Goodreads. This is set in Pennsylvania. [Later] Finished 2/15/22. My Goodreads review. ★★★★
★ Fiction: The Secret Keeper, by Kate Morton
Next audiobook… fiction, set in England. My second experience with a Kate Morton book.
★ Christian: The Bumps Are What You Climb On, by Warren Wiersbe
I have a Kindle copy. I’ve had a few difficult years – quite a few, really – and would like to know what he has to say about life’s difficulties and how we can view them. I’m reading this on Kindle – one short chapter at night before sleeping. Like medicine!
✓ Juvenile Fiction: Mountain Born, by Elizabeth Yates
This is a 1944 Newbery Honor Book. [Later] Finished 2/25/22. My Goodreads review. ★★★★★
☆ Christian: Ragged: Spiritual Disciplines for the Spiritually Exhausted, by Gretchen Ronnevik
I’m reading this for the Christian reading challenge I’m doing this year.
☆ Christian: The Ambassador’s Call: True Stories, Allegories & Miraculous Memoirs, by Gregory Addie
This author mentioned his book in a comment on YouTube. I looked for it on Amazon, read the sample chapter, and decided I had to buy it.
☆ Christian: Enough: Discovering Joy through Simplicity and Generosity, by Adam Hamilton
I bought this in 2018 when I was living in Idaho. It survived the 2020 fire. I hope to read it this month.
☆ Classic Fiction: All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque
I bought this in 2018 and never read it, but fortunately my copy survived the fire of 2020 and I plan to read this novel this month.
☆ Christian: A Tale of Three Kings: A Study in Brokenness, by Gene Edwards
I’ve been feeling so broken lately, I think this is a good time to read this. My pastor recommended it.
☆ Nonfiction: The Library Book, by Susan Orlean
I have a copy of this book, therefore I must read it. Great bonus, of course, is that it is about books – even if it is about burning books – and I know a lot about burning books. It is a California book, so that’s a bonus too.
☆ Historical Fiction: The Children’s Blizzard, by Melanie Benjamin
I meant to read this in January and hope I’ll get to it in February. This will be my second time to read a historical novel by Melanie Benjamin. The topic fits the season. There’s snow outside my door as I’m writing this. This book was sent to me by the Goodreads Giveaways program. The story was inspired by a terrible blizzard that hit the Great Plains here in the USA back in 1888.
DNF Biography: A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir, by Donald Worster
After looking at my list I saw that I’m low on audio-reading material, so I purchased this to listen to in February. I LOVE nature, so what better time to be reading about the life of John Muir? [Later] I DNF’ed this book because the writer made it clear in the introduction that he’s most concerned with trying to prove Muir was a liberal who hated Christianity. So, no thanks. I sold the audiobook back to Audible.
My February 2021 Reading Diary
February 1 – Stay strong and carry on. February is here. I started reading the biography of John Muir but was unhappy the author said in the introduction that Muir was a liberal who hated Christianity. I do not believe any of that was true, so I felt the biographer was too unreliable to be trusted. I’ve started reading Louise Wagenknecht’s third memoir, Shadows on the Klamath: A Woman of the Woods. I liked chapter one.
February 2 – I had to DNF the John Muir book. I felt the author was too biased to be able to tell me the plain truth about John Muir. I prefer to read from non-biased sources – not too far left or right – I try to avoid the wingnut versions of anything, especially life.
Anyhow, after that, I needed another audiobook and found American Lightning: Terror, Mystery, the Birth of Hollywood, and the Crime of the Century, a narrative nonfiction about the 1910 bombing of the Los Angeles Times building during a labor dispute.
February 5 – Sunny days make me feel like going outside, but I still got a lot of reading done today. I finished reading Heart of a Samurai, an adventure retelling of the life of Manjiro and a 2011 Newbery Honor Book. Here’s my Goodreads review. ★★★★★ After that I started reading The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, a 2010 Newbery Honor Book.
February 6 – It is so hard to keep multiple books from accumulating on my Goodreads “Currently Reading” list. Right now I have eight again! Five are Christian books, one is a Newbery fiction, one is a paperback memoir, and one is my nonfiction audiobook. I managed to read a little bit of each the last couple days. Now I need a nap.
February 9 – Finished: Adventures in Prayer – My Goodreads review – ★★★★★ Started: Breath For the Bones: Reflections on Creativity and Faith.
February 11 – I changed audiobooks today. I finished listening to American Lightning and started Fever 1793. Here’s my Goodreads review for American Lightning. ★★★★
February 12 – I finally got confirmation, from his sister, that Dennis Day passed away on September 3. I last heard from him on August 22, so I suspected this was so, especially since he last texted me from a hospice hospital in Sacramento. So, I’m now reading
A Grief Observed, by C.S. Lewis.
February 15 – I finished reading A Grief Observed, by C.S. Lewis. My Goodreads review. – ★★★★★ I also finished reading Fever 1793, fiction by Laurie Halse Anderson. Here’s my Goodreads review. ★★★★ Not-so-cheery reading the last few days! I had to find a new audiobook… it will be The Secret Keeper, by Kate Morton. One more book finished… The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. Here’s my review – ★★★★
February 21 – It is cold outside today! Slowly I’ve added more books to my currently reading page at Goodreads so now I’m back up to 12. There’s no way I can read 12 books at a time. Yesterday I read a chapter or so from 7 of them. I’m feeling a little frustrated because I can’t focus on just one book at a time. Right now there are 2 novels (one is audio) plus 1 juvenile novel, plus 7 Christian books and a diet book, and a memoir. I think the diet book and the devotional are long-term, so they don’t even count… just like if I put a copy of the Bible in there – well, I read that all the time every day so it isn’t really a time-limited thing to read. I still think I’m reading too much at one time.
February 25 – I finished Mountain Born by Elizabeth Yates, a short 1944 Newbery Honor Book. Finished 2/25/22. My Goodreads review. ★★★★★
February 27 – Get ready to March! I’m still reading daily – nearly done with one more book. The rest will have to carry over to next month.
February 28 – 3:35 am… this just happened. My son phoned me at 2:40 am and I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. It sounded like he was in a ditch or somewhere without good cell phone reception. I thought he’d been injured while driving or riding one of his ATV’s or motorcycles… then phoned me from some remote location. Scared me terribly especially since I couldn’t understand what he was saying. We were on the line about 10 minutes. I finally hung up and tried to call him back for a better connection but he didn’t answer. So I called 911 and his friend who works for the police department there got the job of going to his house to try to see if he was home. He was! Apparently he pocket dialed me in the middle of the night while asleep! What a terrible thing. Scared his old mother!!! I prayed for him! Of course. And good news – he’s just fine…. but he got woken up in the middle of the night by his friend the police officer. LOL
I’ve read a few of those. I like Edwards books. Most I’ve read are more like booklets. Small, but meaty. It’s been decades since I read All Quiet On The Western Front, but I remember enjoying it. Some of your other choices look really interesting.
I haven’t had so much time to read while and since I had COVID. When I was sick I didn’t have enough physical and emotional energy to read. It was one illness that I couldn’t use to catch up with my reading.
I’m so sorry you’ve been sick, Barbara, but am pleased as can be that you and your husband have survived and are recovering. I guess sometimes we just need to rest, not read.