February & March Reads

One of the best parts of my break was how much I read. The first part of February did not include much reading, but for the past six weeks I have consumed more books than I have in a long time.

I’m so excited to share what I have read with you. Clearly I have been in an historical fiction binge.

The Kitchen House: A Novel: Quite possibly, one of my new favorite books of all time, if you buy one book from this list, this is the one to buy. Absolutely exquisite, haunting, wonderful, cruel story about an indentured servant and a slave in the late 1700s/early 1800s.
5 stars

Glory over Everything: Beyond The Kitchen House: After finishing The Kitchen House, I had to know everything about the author. I went to her website and found that she had a sequel releasing April 4. So I did what any blogger would do and emailed her, requesting an advanced copy. You can’t imagine my delight when she returned my email and offered to send one to me personally. When Glory Over Everything arrived, I felt like the luckiest girl. I devoured it in the same manner as The Kitchen House. It is the perfect follow-up and incredibly satisfying. Readers could read it on its own, but you would miss out on so many nuances by not reading The Kitchen House first.
4.5 stars

Firefly Lane: I read this 450-page book in 24 hours. It was THAT good. It is a story about two friends over the course of 30 years (70s – present day). The author Kristin Hannah (author of two other favorite books of mine The Nightingale and Winter Garden) captured the beauty and challenges of friendship and motherhood in a way that left me undone. I found myself crying on an airplane as I finished the book. A fabulous read.
5 stars

Flight of the Sparrow: I discovered this book by accident, thanks to a recommendation on Amazon. It takes place in the late 1600s in the Massachusetts Bay colony and is based on the true story of Mary Rowlandson, who is captured by Indians. I have never read a book that took place during this period and was utterly fascinated and horrified by the story and the Puritans. The racism, interpretations of Scripture by the Puritans and way of life made for a very compelling read.
4 stars

Yellow Crocus: I found this book after searching for books like The Kitchen House and am glad I did! The book takes place over 20 years and is about the relationship between an enslaved wet nurse named Mattie and the baby she cares for. It is an incredibly quick read. I started it a Saturday night before bed and finished it the following morning. The characters and story draws you in quickly, but the storytelling is not nearly as rich as The Kitchen House. That said, I still really enjoyed it!
4 stars

Here are the books on my overly ambitious reading list for April. I know I won’t read everything, but it’s fun to see my stack.  

• Everything I Never Told You (I thought I would have this done for today’s post, but not quite!)
• Delicious (My book club’s May selection)
• Rules of Civility 
• The Invention of Wings
• The Perfume Collector

I think it is also important to note that I started two books during this span, but abandoned them both because I didn’t like them. I plan to write more soon about why I think it’s okay to abandon a book I don’t love.

At the beginning of March I started subscribing to Book of the Month, a monthly service where you get a brand new on the market hardback at a very low price. Come back tomorrow as I share more of the ins and outs of this awesome service + a crazy deal you won’t want to miss.

What have you been reading?