I started of this month pretty strong by finishing seven books by mid-February. However, I guess my “productivity” kind of fell off a cliff since then because I’ve only finished one book since then! But I still have plenty to share for my February 2026 book blog wrap-up. As usual, feel free to bop around to whatever section(s) interest you.
Book Reviews
I posted four book reviews in February. From earliest to latest they are:
- The Scoundrel and the Siren by Christy Carlyle
- The Land of the Living and the Dead by Shauna Lawless
- Nightshade and Oak by Molly O’Neill
- The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson
Blog Statistics
Every month I share some statistics from Google Analytics because I think it helps put expectations into perspective for other micro-bloggers like me who are out there. These statistics are from Google Analytics 4.
My top five posts for total page views are (as of February 27):
- STEMinist Romance Books: 779 views
- February 2026 Book Releases: 542 views
- Arthurian Retellings Reading List: 428 views
- Dungeons and Dragons Romance Books: 215 views
- Book Review: Gild by Raven Kennedy: 171 views
Since February is a shorter month I didn’t reach the same number of views as January. At the time of writing this post I have ~6,500 views, which is about 1,000 views less than last month. Also, for whatever reason, this past Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday had lower views than usual despite posting on two of those days.
Currently, I’m sitting at 271 followers. I think this is one more than last month.
#BeattheBacklog
I finished five books that I had on my TBR prior to 2026. Those books are THE BOY, THE MOLE, THE FOX AND THE HORSE by Charlie Mackesy; THE COURTING OF BRISTOL KEATS by Mary Pearson; COUNT DOWN by Shanna Swan; SWORDHEART by T. Kingfisher; and THE LOVE OF MY AFTERLIFE by Kirsty Greenwood.
Other Bookish Items
I finished eight books in February:
- THE BOY, THE MOLE, THE FOX AND THE HORSE by Charlie Mackesy
- THE COURTING OF BRISTOL KEATS by Mary Pearson
- WHEN STARS ARE SCATTERED by Omar Mohamed (audiobook)
- COUNT DOWN by Shanna Swan
- NIGHTSHADE AND OAK by Molly O’Neill (ARC)
- THE LOVE OF MY AFTERLIFE by Kirsty Greenwood (audiobook)
- SWORDHEART by T. Kingfisher
- THE TRIDENT AND THE PEARL by Sarah K.L. Wilson (ARC)
I went to a couple of used bookstores this month, an independent one and 2nd and Charles, a chain. I found some classics I’ve wanted (1984, Huckleberry Finn, Watership Down) along with a copy of JAMES. The main reason I went to 2nd and Charles was to scope out their used CD section because I want more soundtracks to listen to. I didn’t find anything I had in mind, but I bought an apparent soundtrack to Camelot with Julie Andrews and Richard Burton. (Never heard of it in my life, but I was intrigued.) I also purchased a brand new blue-ray DVD of Doctor Who: The End of Time (1 & 2).
Other Media Wrap-Up
THE WITCHER (SEASON 4): I forgot to mention this in last month’s wrap-up, but we finished watching the latest season of The Witcher. While I miss Henry Cavill, I thought S4 was fine without him. There are so many storylines going on right now that Hemsworth didn’t have a lot of screen time. The time he had I thought he was ok as Geralt. Since I haven’t read any of the books I can’t compare the adaptation to it. But I wasn’t as invested in this season largely because I didn’t really care about the Rats that Ciri got involved with.
GHOSTBUSTERS (2016): I finally watched this version with the all-female cast of leads. It was great. I had a fun time watching it and laughed a lot.
PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION: I haven’t read the book, but I really enjoyed the movie, which is saying something because I don’t usually gravitate to “chick flicks.” But I thought the chemistry between the two actors was excellent. And I loved the flashbacks to their international travels together to build the story.
I also watched a number of other things, largely the Olympics, when I had time. I watched a recording of the US women’s hockey gold-medal game and decided to not even bother with the men’s. If you know you know. And I watched a 51-minutes long video on Nebula about how the last 70 years to the present contributed to why Cuba is in such dire straits at the moment. It is, as usual, complicated, but the U.S. has a decent part of the blame, both historically and more recently.
Non-Bookish Items
The snowcrete finally melted away, which is nice because getting around had been a bit difficult, both with driving and walking. I’m absolutely shocked my little spinach plants didn’t die under all that snow and ice. I’ll take that win. It’s been nice to have weather that’s above freezing. The crocuses and hyacinths are popping up now!
My husband painted our kitchen and downstairs bathroom, which is awesome. We couldn’t decide on a paint color that would go well with the cream cabinets we inherited. (TLDR is you basically have to choose a medium to dark color or it’ll make cream look dingy.) We decided on a nice green shade because it’s our favorite color and I want a cozy, Hobbit-ish house, lol.
Finally, it’s about time for me to get a new laptop. My little Microsoft Surface works just fine. I don’t really want a new device, but I’ve got very little disk space left and have had to offload files to an external hard drive just to have a little bit of space to work with. I don’t have big files on it, but I guess all the MS updates over 8 years have added up. (I even uninstalled Copilot to get space, hehe. Stupid AI.) 117 GB of disk space just doesn’t cut it anymore, I guess. I’ll probably upgrade to the Microsoft Surface Laptop, but the current one (13.8″ screen) has been out since 2024, which means there must be an update around the corner. So I’ll hold off until a newer version comes out.
And that’s it for my February 2026 Book Blog Wrap-Up! How was your February?
I had a similar month to you, I had read a lot by mid-February but then I slowed down a lot. I think that’s normal, but I hope we both get back there.
Your bookstore trip sounds great, and it looks like you were pretty successful, even if you did not find those CDs.
I hope we both get back up to speed with our reading, too! Yea, my bookstore trips were pretty successful over all, particularly with finding those classics.
It sounds like a pretty good month, even though it’s short. I think i only read 7 books total, although I posted 8 reviews. And yay for the snow melting! Our snow is almost gone too, and I love seeing leaf buds already on some of our trees.😁
Yay for leaf buds! I was just in Norfolk, VA and their trees down there are getting leaf buds. I haven’t noticed that too much in northern VA yet.
I love the Camelot soundtrack. It’s one of my favourite musicals and I’ve actually done the show three times so I hope you enjoy listening to it. Congratulations on getting your kitchen painted and hope it has the cosy feel that you wanted.
What fun that you’ve done the Camelot show three times!! I can’t believe I’ve never heard of it until now. I listened to a little bit of the soundtrack and it sounds fun. Wish I could see the original cast, though I’ve since learned there is a film version of it, just not with Julie Andrews.
It’s not the best film ever -Richard Harris really isn’t my idea of King Arthur – but it’s a fun watch if you get the chance.
I’ve been meaning to look into THE BOY, THE MOLE, THE FOX AND THE HORSE since it was a Barnes & Noble pick, yet I never get around to it.
A family member gifted it to us for our anniversary last year. The drawings are lovely, but tbh I wasn’t very impressed with the content. It’s probably fine for kids. But the storyline is made from encouraging sayings, which doesn’t do it for me as someone who’s not into quotes or platitudes. I’m also pretty jaded atm, so that doesn’t helped either. 😅 TLDR is it’s good if you’re someone who likes encouraging quotes.
Well done on getting to a fair few backlist books recently, it always feel good getting some of those crossed off. What did you think of the Kingfisher title? I havent heard of Camelot either but it looks like there may be clips on YouTube and I’m curious 😂
I really must try something by Emily Henry soon. I keep forgetting there are a few adaptations around/due soon. Glad you enjoyed the vacation one. I’m tempted to check it out too.
Glad your spinach plants survived the cold. I’m hoping my dahlias will return later in the year but I’ll have to wait and see. Hope you have a lovely month 🥰
I liked the Kingfisher book! It’s still cozy fantasy, so the stakes are lower, but I enjoyed it more than other cozies I’ve read. I’ll probably try the next book in what now seems to be turning into a series of standalones I think?
I hope your dahlias fared ok during the winter and that you get to see some new blooms this year. 🙂
Thats great that you enjoyed it when cosy novels dont always work for you. Im reading another of hers this month but I heard this morning that it’s dark as opposed to cosy 😂 I hope you enjoy the next one too 🥰
Thank you.
I read The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse and have some…thoughts on it that will be posted on my blog.
I haven’t heard of the other books but they do sound good judging by the title.
Have a great March.
I love the 2016’s Ghostbuster! I’m sad to see all the hate it got, I think it’s a fun movie and tbh, the more modern humor fits me more than the ones in the original 🙈