Reading Roundup: February 2021
- Caroline Marolda
- Mar 7, 2021
- 5 min read
Happy March, everyone! February is the shortest month, but that encouraged me to make the most of those 28 days and read as often as I could. I managed to finish three books, all of them fiction. So, let's discuss them!
Don’t worry: links to each book are included, and spoilers are not!
I was really excited when I received a copy of The Midnight Library as a Christmas Gift. It had been on my TBR list for a few months and it received a lot of praise since its publication day, so I was happy to finally start reading it. Plus, my sister recently read it, too, so I was glad to have someone to discuss the book with.
Nora Seed is caught in a place between life and death known as the Midnight Library. When she enters the library and discovers a plethora of books showcasing just how many different ways her life could have gone, Nora gets the opportunity to step into those lives and try them on like pairs of shoes. By reevaluating her life to figure out what truly makes her happy, Nora determines what she needs to do to make her life worth living.
I absolutely adored this book! It was beautifully written and made me question my existence (don’t worry, I mean that in a good way), and it ended up being the inspiration behind my previous blog post because it shows how drastically different life could be with just one decision. Showing lives where Nora was achieving childhood dreams and also lives that were mundane was an aspect of the book I appreciated because it’s a reminder that you don’t have to change the world in order to live a good, fulfilling life. You can find happiness in small day-to-day tasks. If you’re a fan of literary fiction, please do yourself a favor and read The Midnight Library. I promise you won’t regret it.
I’ve read a decent number of Reese’s Book Club picks and loved them, so I was looking forward to reading The Proposal. The book is the second one in Guillory’s “The Wedding Date” series, but you don’t have to read the books in order. Characters from the first book show up though, so keep in mind that you’ll be aware of what characters from the previous book end up together.
Nikole Paterson, a freelance writer in L.A., is only five months into a relationship with someone when they suddenly propose to her at a Dodger’s game. Still in shock from the scoreboard proposal, two strangers, Carlos Ibarra and his sister, help pull Nik out of the madness. Carlos is there for Nik once the flop of a proposal goes viral, and after hooking up, they decide to keep things casual—Carlos’ schedule at the teen clinic he works at keeps him busy, and Nik is looking for a rebound after everything that happened with her last relationship. But when Nik and Carlos start to push the boundaries of what a hookup relationship entails, someone must come clean or call things off.
Although I thought The Proposal was good overall, I wanted to like it more than I actually did. There were times where information was being too spelled out for the reader, rather than letting the audience figure things out on their own. I noticed this particularly in the beginning of the book when all the characters are being caught up with how bad the proposal was, and while I understand that the audience was getting introduced to different characters, it was redundant to read. Also, even though I could see Carlos’ confession to Nik coming, how he did it was so cringey to read. I remember thinking to myself, “I’m sorry, WHAT is happening here?” That moment easily wins the Least Favorite Part award.
But that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the book—there were several things I really did like: the empowered female characters, the representation, the fun interactions between Nik and Carlos. One scene that made my heart happy was when Carlos and Nik were cooking enchiladas together because it reminded me of the times my boyfriend and I cook meals together. With all of that being said, it’s likely that I’ll eventually read the other books in the series, but they’re not at the top of my TBR.
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird is my most recent library book. I enjoyed reading Silver’s debut, One Day in December, this past holiday season and had been looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of Lydia Bird ever since.
Lydia Bird lost her fiance, Freddie, after he’s involved in a car accident on her 28th birthday. The two have been together since they were teenagers, and Lydia never imagined a life without Freddie since he first entered it. To help her cope, Lydia starts taking pills to help her sleep at night. Each time she takes one of her pink sleeping pills, her dreams transport her to another life, one where Freddie is alive and the car accident never happened. But when her two lives grow increasingly different from each other, Lydia realizes that she can’t keep visiting her second life when there’s someone in her real one wanting her to stay.
Where do I begin with this book? It’s so beautifully written; Silver captures Lydia’s grief in a way where readers feel it, too. I cried a grand total of five times while reading The Two Lives of Lydia Bird because Lydia’s grief was just that palpable and it reminded me of all the emotions I felt and still feel after losing one of my best friends. Lydia Bird is similar to The Midnight Library in terms of the “visiting another life” aspect, but the plot similarities stop there. I actually anticipated the book having more romance in it, but it was more about Lydia overcoming her grief than anything else. Yes, there was a little bit of romance, but I’m glad the plot was centered on Lydia’s character development as she tries to overcome losing her significant other.
And there you have it! I’m feeling confident about my reading progress for 2021 so far; my goal is 25 books and I’ve finished six, so reaching my goal is going to be a walk in the park if I keep up my current pace of three books a month. Hopefully in March I’ll keep that momentum going strong and also read a classic novel, which is another one of my goals for this year. What did you read in February?
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