To-read: February 2020

I was going to title this post To-read: February 2019… Catch me having this issue till December.

| February aesthetic |
pale blue, snowflakes, lemony sunshine, tranquillity, white wool infinity scarf, fresh-scented candles, chill music, moonglade, cloudless starry night

Sooooo many books on my TBR list, and yet so little time in a whole life!

Wise people always say that the best approach to finish things faster is to be organized in handling them. That sounds like the best way to tackle a bookworm’s too-short-life-span problem!

Obviously, I have decided to be organized solely when it comes to reading.

Here is the list of books (in no particular order) I must read this month. If, by any chance, I happen to read more… Who’s ever said no to one or five extra sweets?

A Sky Painted Gold ~ Laura Wood
Goodreads

What’s it about? Growing up in her sleepy Cornish village dreaming of being a writer, seventeen-year-old Lou has always wondered about the grand Cardew house which has stood empty for years. And when the owners arrive for the summer – a handsome, dashing brother and sister – Lou is quite swept off her feet and into a world of moonlit cocktail parties and glamour beyond her wildest dreams.

But, as she grows closer to the Cardews, is she abandoning her own ambitions… And is there something darker lurking at the heart of the Cardew family?

A gorgeously dreamy coming-of-age romance set against a stunning Gatsby-esque backdrop, this is perfect for fans of I Capture the Castle and Eva Ibbotson.

Why do I want to read it? Honestly, I was running away when the ‘dashing’ peeped about (can an eventual love interest in a novel not be dashing/handsome/drop-dead gorgeous for once? also pls show don’t tell), but the ‘Gatsby-esque backdrop’ and the 4.24 Goodreads rating tugged my sleeve and said this for you.

Why this month? I’m on a Roaring Twenties roll.

Expected rating: Four shining stars

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Creekwood #1) ~ Becky Albertalli
Goodreads

What’s it about? Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

Why do I want to read it? Gay love story, and I’m a goner for gay love stories. Also, I’ve watched the movie and have been wanting to read it forever. And why the heck had no one told me this is part of a duology?!

Why this month? February should contain some pure romance, since it’s Valentine’s Day month and whatnot.

Expected rating: Five cute stars

Caraval (Caraval #1) ~ Stephanie Garber
Goodreads

What’s it about? Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show—are over.

But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.

Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic.

Why do I want to read it? For so many reasons that this answers needs a post of its own. However, for the sake of sticking to organization:

• the cover
• I wanna sip magic in a cup and buy dreams in a bottle
• mysterious mystical carnivals/spectacles/circuses are my obsession
• I wanna read Legendary

Why this month? I’ve read The Night Circus recently, and I’m in need of magic. It’s got romance, so I’m not cheating on February too much.

Expected rating: A firework (even though I’ve seen many bad ratings for it, but I want to cling to the hope that those were from rancid haters)

Circe ~ Madeline Miller
Goodreads

What’s it about? In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child—not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.

Why do I want to read it? My best-friend recs it + it’s a 2018 Goodreads choice award winner.

Why this month? I must be the only person on the surface of this Earth to have not read it yet, so I figured it was a good time to catch up.

Expected rating: Five strong stars

A Gentleman in Moscow ~ Amor Towles
Goodreads

What’s it about? The mega-bestseller with more than 1.5 million readers that is soon to be a major television series

He can’t leave his hotel. You won’t want to.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility–a transporting novel about a man who is ordered to spend the rest of his life inside a luxury hotel.

In 1922, Count Alexander Rostov is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel’s doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery.

Brimming with humor, a glittering cast of characters, and one beautifully rendered scene after another, this singular novel casts a spell as it relates the count’s endeavor to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a man of purpose.

Why do I want to read it? Well excuse me but that intro must mean something, mustn’t it. Plus, it smells like mystery and sarcasm and details, so hold my pen. Also, Roaring Twenties.

Why this month? It just fits the month’s aesthetic, I think?

Expected rating: Five generous stars

Aaaaand some nonfiction, because one can’t be feeding only on castles in the air.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft ~ Stephen King
Goodreads

What’s it about? “Long live the King” hailed Entertainment Weekly upon the publication of Stephen King’s On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported near-fatal accident in 1999 — and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower and entertain everyone who reads it — fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told.

Why do I want to read it? Far be it from me to read anything by Stephen King except his nonfiction (no, really, I’m sorry, but Horror ain’t my genre. I already struggle to sleep when I read Agatha Christie’s mysteries) BUT APPARENTLY THIS IS A MUST READ FOR ANY WRITER-APPRENTICE.

Why this month? Eeeeh. To be totally honest, I started reading it in December, but I was not in the mood for nonfiction, and I want to finish it.

Expected rating: Five solid stars

SO here is the February list, with some historical setting, some romance, some fantasy, GAYNESS, mythology, magic, Russia, and the King’s rules.

I chose only five books of fiction and one of nonfiction (let’s see how many more my low self-control will make me gobble) because this month is short(ish-ish) and I have to balance studies and work in as well. At least I’m sure that irl romance won’t be part of my schedule *whoops in single*.

What’s on your February 2020 reading list?