Last Month in Review: February 2013

It hasn't been a great year for me in terms of my reading productivity.  As Goodreads never fails to remind me, at my current pace, I'm at least 2 books behind schedule to complete my year-end goal of 125 books read in 2013. Le sigh. 

Here is where I stand:

1. The Outcast by Sadie Jones. Audio book read by Dan "I play Matthew on Downton Abby" Stevens.  The first book I completed in February was a frickin' audio book, and I didn't finish it until February 11, for goodness' sake. I liked it very much, however, and it wasn't shabby listening to Matthew's voice for several hours during my daily commute. Of course, I finished listening to this before I discovered the terrible things that Julian Fellowes did to Matthew's character in the season finale. 

2. Flora by Gail Godwin.  This is an excellent novel and one that will no doubt make my Top Ten list come year's end. With any luck I will write up a full review, but here's what I wrote up for my bookstore's shelf tag for it: In this novel, Godwin has produced a literary masterpiece of a life told in reflection. Helen, the book’s narrator, looks back in her old age to the summer of 1945, when her cousin Flora moves from Alabama to North Carolina to take care of her. A precocious, moody, and sensitive child, Helen is devastated by her grandmother’s death and her father’s temporary abdication to Oak Ridge for the war effort, but determined to maintain a certain snobbish propriety in the face of Flora’s country ways. Godwin channels the spirits of Jane Austen and Eudora Welty in this brilliant examination of loss-haunted lives, all redolent with Southern atmosphere.

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling. I've been participating in a complete Harry Potter readalong, sponsored by Alice at Reading Rambo and it's been great fun. 

Really, how can you take this seriously?

4. Dark Triumph by Robin LaFevers.  This was a completely over-the-top historical romance/fantasy novel for the YA crowd.  Second installment of the His Fair Assassin trilogy. That's right, the one with the tagline, "Why be the sheep when you can be the wolf?" I expected (and was fully rewarded with) a rollicking good time, some girrrrl power, a few interesting historical notes, a good bit of predictability, and nothing approaching realism. Perfect for a day when the snow is softly falling outside. I can't remember the last time 500 pages went by so quickly!

5. The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud.  Fantastic novel. Not sure if a review is forthcoming or not. 

6. Revenge by Yoko Ogawa.  Creepy collection of short stories.  If you'd told me that this was the same person who wrote the sublimely restrained The Housekeeper and the Professor, I'd have scoffed at you. 

7. Letters from Skye by Jessica Brockmole.  Very disappointing. I just might write a review.  

8. Parallel by Lauren Miller.  Another YA, with a review to be published here on Sunday, March 3, 2013. 

9. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler.  Review here. Pretty compelling story.  Who knew what a pistol she was?  (Apparently a lot of people and I'm just late to jump on the Zelda bandwagon.)  I was so taken by the character of Zelda that I've ordered a copy of her book and have dabbled in internet research on her life. 

What about you?  What have you read in February that you loved? Hated?